Come Get Your Hot and Fresh Nelson Crow!!!

I still contend that this is a bridge system to break in Jake--and thank goodness for Nelson. In fact I really believe that a more situational system would be better. Nelson should have played instead of jake on the second to last series--and we all know it. We needed experience and ball control. And there will be other 3rd and short situations that Riley will be superior to Jake.

So by game 3 or 4 when Jake is up to speed, he starts, and Riley comes in situationally. Part of dropped passes has more to do with velocity than the different rotation on the ball.

Nelson did good. I am glad to have him for half the game, tonight. He is able to do things that Jake cannot, and vice a versa. It will be better when we can have this be a situational qb split rather than a tradeoff. The defense will be less prepared when that happens. Us running the ball OUTSIDE the tackles was the difference tonight. i am glad we gave up on trying to establish JJ up the middle... Square peg, round hole. A few of Riley's throws were very suspect, as were Jake's tonight. And they both made great plays and led good drives. Ironically, I think that without the play of either qb tonight, we lose this game.

I like that idea dmcougar. One of my concerns right now is the length of time each QB can sit there on the sidelines before getting his next series. It's fine right now but when it gets cold in November, these guys will need to stay warmed up on the sideline. Overall, I thought it was very interesting to see these QBs in action. Both were very impressive. If Ashworth comes up with a two more easy catches and Jacobsen makes the easy one that hit him right in the face, I think all of us are a bit more impressed with Jake Heaps tonight. Jake and Riley both had great interviews after the game, great young men.

I just hope the receivers who dropped passes aren't running to the sideline saying, "but coach, he's throwing it too hard!"



Sure, as part of Heap's development he will learn to adjust his velocity for certain passes, but this is no excuse for the dropped balls tonight.



A few words you will never hear Mel Kiper Jr. say, "This young man would be a great NFL QB prospect if only he didn't throw the ball so damn hard."



Our receivers need to nut up and catch the balls thrown to them.

Jumanji, have you ever played football? I mean real football, instead of just playing jungle board games in your room (see what I did there?). QBs need to have finesse, it's a HUGE part of being a good QB.

One, maybe two of the drops were too hard, the others were catchable and should have been caught. Especially the last one dropped by ashworth on the sideline, it seemed to have some touch on it. If the receivers are getting both hands on the ball the should be catching it . . . The exception would be a short pass like a short one over the middle would be tough to catch with velocity. Most of the drops were a ways away and should have been caught. If we clean up the drops we may have won this by 2-3 TDs.



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Nelson Crow? Nelson played exactly like we thought he would. Heaps played exactly like we thought he would. Both would have played better had they gotten the others snaps? YES. Another concern I have for this game is that our O line did protect really well. Heaps had a ton of time and so did Nelson but they both seemed off a bit. I wonder how they will play when they face some real pressure.



Heaps did an incredible job recognizing coverages. For example on the Jacobsen drop, he immediately new they were in zone and blasted the ball at Jacobson as soon as he cleared, but Jacobson was not ready...unfortunately. I have not seen anticipation like that on a throw since John Beck and neither has Jacobsen.



Overall, when Jake was in the game I was on the edge of my seat and intrigued. When Nelson was in the game it was great and all but I didn't feel like I was watching BYU football. Both QBs did well. Here's to a victory next week.

Schmoe, to answer your question, yes.



I'm not sayin all balls were perfectly thrown with ideal velocity, but I'm not ready to place the blame on Heaps for several of those passes. I'm sure you are aware that receivers/tight ends were dropping passes by Heaps AND Nelson throughout fall camp. Does Nelson have the same velocity problem?



I'm not sure what kind of coaches you've had in the past (hugs and cupcakes) but my coaches would place the blame on those who dropped passes that hit their hands/chest.



If you could talk to Jacobson, Ashworth, Wilson, etc., they would tell you those balls should have been caught.

C'mon now, Jumanji, I was just being facetious. Obviously you should catch the ball if it's in your ZOC (zone of catchability). I just found it funny that everyone was talking preseason about how Heaps had all the throws and the finesse and was so much more polished a passer and now we're saying that he needs to learn finesse and polish etc.

apology accepted. :)

Of the four drops I saw on TV, only one was thrown too hard. The one in the end zone hit the receiver in the hands, and he dropped it. That wasn't too hard. Jacobsen down the sideline? Went through his hands and hit him in the chest. That was a deep ball, and not too hard. The one to Ashworth cutting towards the middle was thrown hard, high, and behind him, and was probably too hard. So, if the recievers had done their job, Riley leads us to two touchdowns, and Heaps one touchdown and two field goals. I can see exactly why Bronco had a hard time choosing between the two. I was afraid it was because neither was good enough to be a true starter. Now I think it is because both of them are good enough to be a starter. What a great problem to have.



Great read by Nelson on Diluigi's touchdown btw. After watching this game, the only team I have serious doubts about beating this year is FSU. I know they played Samford, but still. Here's to hoping we surprise them in two weeks the way they surprised us last year. I am not too worried about the rest of the conference and I hope we beat them all on our farewell tour.

With such a young team, I fear all our road games. I do have a lot more confidence after today and seeing how mistake free we played in all aspects of the game. Bronco puts so much emphasis on execution, it's nice to see the young guys actually get it done.



Our MWC opponents are going to be amped up to play us and beat us this year; however our home schedule is very kind and I would be shocked to lose a game at LES this year.



On the road we have AFA, Utah, TCU, and yep, even the surprising USU aggies who will have it out for BYU and Riley. the only roadie I feel comfortable about is CSU. By then Heaps should be well seasoned and dominant, but the other 4 road games above are all scary to me (USU not really that scary but the thought that there's even an iota of a chance to lose to them is a horrific thought; they would be unbearable) with such a young inexperienced group.



I'll feel better about next weekend if we find out that Rembert isn't playing.

craigoscarson wrote:
there can be only 2

:lol:



Nelson played better today, no doubt. He brings a 2nd running threat opposite JJ DiLuigi that opens up the offense. I also like the option BYU is running with him right now. And he does seem to have a softer touch on his throws.



Heaps threw some perfect passes, things of beauty, but he didn't make as many good decisions. The problem with his series early on is that he would throw it 3 times in a row, whereas Nelson was getting 1-2 JJ rushes per series. And JJ is the best player on our offense, hands down.



Nelson seems like a 4 yards per play guy. Heaps seems like a 12 yards once every 4 plays kinda guy. Advantage Riley.



Great news: Neither guy threw an interception. Neither lost a fumble. Neither got sacked.



Also, I thought that UW's run defense was weaker, which would lead to one thinking that Nelson would do better. With Rembert out, stats show that the Falcons may be weaker on pass D this year, so maybe that game will be more of an advantage to Heaps.



Bronco probably will and should start Nelson next week, and trade off every series, just like against Washington. There's no bringing Jake's blue-shirt back now, so let's get him ready to burn up some MWC fools with his deep ball! TCU, for one, had more trouble against the pass with Oregon State than they did against the run, even with Jacquizz Rogers...

QuarterbackU wrote:
Another concern I have for this game is that our O line did protect really well.

Taken completely out of context, this is a great quote. What a great problem to have and be worrying about! I'm concerned about BYU because we're protecting our QB too well!!! :)

I spent an hour talking to UW players after the game. The O/L garnered tremendous respect and the best player on the team is on the O/L. The read on the JJ TD was excellent because in that defensive set, UW has no one topic up a back for a pass coming out of the backfield. The UW offense and special teams self destructed on several occasions. Locker was not sharp. We handled him well. Polk gave us more problems than Locker, which surprised me. I will ask the linebacker that dropped the near pick if he thought the pass lacked touch and was uncatchable when he is in a better mood. Riley's first series was pathetic. Heaps first series was more pathetic with overthrown balls and inaccurate passes. I started to wonder how many points we would spot UW swapping them while we fiddled with two aBs who were not able to move the ball. After that both QBs played well with Riley being more effective at getting to the end zone. BYU nearly self-destructed on a late Nelson drive with penalties. Nelson was especially fun to watch on the run out the clock drive. Both Nelson and Heaps were willing to scramble and take a hit running the ball and Bronco uses them aggressively because he has the luxury of being able to risk an injury. This makes them both more effective. And you could not assume Heaps would always throw and Nelson would always hand off, pitch, or tuck and run. They were tough to defend and UW players acknowledged that defending twovQBs gave them problems. Nelson did not prove he could throw deep. Both QBs had some bad throws. I liked what I saw in both of them most of the time but was more confident in Nelson at this time. I am much more optimistic about the season and expected more penalties and turnovers. On the other hand- UW made so many mistakes that they lost a game they could have won. If we clean up our dropped passes, we win next week on the road and AFA will not handle our O/L. If we run like we did(nt) in the first half we lose. If we run like we did in the 2nd half we beat a very good AFA team handily on the road if our defense plays as well as they plaed Saturday. The defense and a great special teams effort and UW mistakes sealed the win Saturday in a game most experts and gamblers thought we would lose. My optimism for a 10 Win season has returned although I see it as being possible - not assured - given our road schedule.



Go Cougs



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mizzoucoug wrote:
Yeah it's clear that Nelson was the man, but anyone talking about how hard Heaps' passes are is blowing smoke. 6 dropped passes...if you can get a hand on it it's a catch. Period.

So, what you're saying is we should credit him with an INT on his first pass that hit two UW defenders in the hands?

DoubleA wrote:
Heaps: Clearly a more polished passer. He does need to learn the balance between finesse and power. However, you can teach finesse--you can't teach power.

Signed, Jamarcus Russell, Brady Quinn, and Tommy Grady.

scott715 wrote:
Nelson had the better game. His running opens up the game, is more exciting and has lower risk. But his throws are still wounded ducks. He should have had an interception there near the end..

And Heaps' first pass should have been an INT also.

snoscythe wrote:

Yeah it's clear that Nelson was the man, but anyone talking about how hard Heaps' passes are is blowing smoke. 6 dropped passes...if you can get a hand on it it's a catch. Period.

So, what you're saying is we should credit him with an INT on his first pass that hit two UW defenders in the hands?

No, that would be TWO INT's.

Cougarfan87 wrote:
So, if the recievers had done their job, Riley leads us to two touchdowns, and Heaps one touchdown and two field goals.

This makes me laugh and again shows Riley still isn't getting the respect he deserves. This sounds like your are saying if the recievers had done their jobs Heaps would have been better than Nelson. It seems that Heaps was the only one who had recievers drop a ball, there were a couple of drops while Nelson was throwing as well. How about this, if the recievers had done their jobs we would have scored TD's evertime BYU had the ball. It still smacks of fall camp were people were saying Heaps was better because he was going against the 1's and Nelson's numbes were inflated because he was going against the 3's. I think this game has shown both QB's are very good and both can run the team at any time.



I will admit I was very bummed after the first 2 BYU series thinking we were going to have a long year based off the QB play but the rest of the game made me feel a lot better about it. Although I was more comfortable in this game the times Nelson was playing and I thought he did a great job of leading the team, but I can see the potential in Heaps.



This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here but I hate the 2 QB system and yesterday did nothing to change my mind about it. It doesn't allow one QB to completely get into rythm and it was frustrating for me to see the QB's switched every series. I wish the decision would be made to have 1 QB, I don't care who, but just have the one. I still think it would have been best to blue shirt Heaps this year but that is a moot point now.



BTW I don't recall seeing Apo out on the field, did I just not see him, was there something I didn't hear about? I was kind of surprised at that. I did notice Hoffman getting a lot of time and a lot of balls thrown his way, which he dropped most of them but still a big kid and a big target.