Most disapppointing part of today's game.

Npliam wrote:

You can point at all sorts of things that would've helped BYU today, but two simple things ultimately lost us the game:



1) Di Louigi's fumble (-7 points)

2) Chamber's dropped TD pass (-7 points)



The inability to do something as simple as holding onto the ball cost us two scores, which would have completely changed the chemistry of the game.

No, those weren't the 2 things that cost us the game. We couldn't stop their offense because we couldn't get off the the blocks and we didn't have enough time for the receivers to get open before the pocket collapsed.



We still would only have scored 28 points. They scored 35 and could have scored again in the last couple of minutes. Our front 7 in particular got worked.

35 points isn't bad considering the number of 3-and-outs we had... most of the possessions that weren't 3-and-out were over quickly. You can't expect the defense to stay out there all day and hold AFA scoreless. They gave the offense numerous opportunities to tie the game in the second half, and they never did.



And spare me the "QB's didn't have enough time" story. It's no coincidence that Heaps always got the ball off and Nelson ended up rushing TWENTY times. The o-line could've done better, but Nelson displayed little ability in finding receivers. Even the announcers said that he rarely checks more than one or two options before he bails. This is nothing new. At least not to most of us.



Any other problems which can be pointed to are simply things which aid in scoring. The fumble and the dropped pass actually WERE scoring opportunist which were wasted right on the spot. Take away JJ's fumble and it's 21-7 BYU. That changes everything from that point through the rest of the game.

bplewe wrote:
We always beat Air Force because we play assignment football so well; we always have someone right on the pitch man. Today they were wide open except for 3-4. I'm no defensive expert; what happened there? Was it inexperience in the linebackers, or the passing threat of Jefferson keeping the safeties in the backfield?

I was shocked at how many times the corners and edge of the field weren't covered. I'm not sure what the reason for it was, but it was unacceptable. Then again, the first "option" in the option offense is typically the run down the middle, and the way our d-line was playing today, I'd not be surprised if the issue was that they were trying to stack too many guys in the middle... which was the case several times throughout the day (and the announcers themselves pointed it out)

it was sad knowing that every time they didnt pass the ball they were going to get at least 4-5 yards... Do that every play and you'll always score. It was sad that I would get excited when jefferson would drop back and pass because that meant that was one less down of AF getting a guaranteed 5 yards and thus gave us a prayer of making them punt. Didn't happen that often. :(

DEFINITELY need an option here for DECISIONS BY THE COACHING STAFF...far and away the most disappointing part of the game.

Cougarbib2 wrote:
Why isn't the 1 yard punt followed by the 12 yard punt a candidate?



On the pre-game KSL much was made of how Bronco had a humbling experience in Colorado Springs when coaching d for New Mexico and then developed a personal passion to never repeat that experience. Then the later mentioned that Bronco was totally uninvolved with the D this tear and delegated it fully. Maybe the obsessed master of defending the option delegated too much.



G



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I had this exact same thought durring the week leading up to the game reading about how Bronco has paid the price and learned to defend the option, only to read about how Bronco will not be coaching up the D on stopping the option. I love it. Anyways, the most critical issue of this game is the JJ fumble because at that point AFA starts to pass more and we can stop those passes or they end up stopping themselves. Jefferson had several poor passes that were incomplete and we would have had a lot more if we had gone up by two scores or three with the Chambers TD. Crap Chambers should have caught the one where the PI call happened, he should have caught both.



Another thing I'm not sure you saw was the interception Logan should have had in the middle of the field. Jefferson threw it right at him but not one dam person can catch a ball on this team.

I'd say that the most disappointing thing I saw today was a lack of heart from the Cougs. The D-line didn't have their motor running on half the plays, people didn't finish plays or wrap up tackles, we got pushed and we didn't push back. I can take a loss, especially to an AFA team that looks good this year, but what I can't take is losing like that.

I voted for the OC playcalling, but the difference to me was not hitting the qb.



When you are playing the option, the defense is simple. You can break it down as easy as, The D line hits the fb, the linebackers hit the qb, and the DBs hit the pitch option (most times it is rb, sometimes it is wr.) It gets a little more tricky if you break it down further, but that is basically it. And this is true for any run, whether it is up the middle, to the side, wherever. It is actually easier to defend the option in a 3-4 than a 4-3.



For me the difference was not HITTING the qb. If you are 2-3 steps away from the qb, (I counted no less than 20 times in the game) then you need to tattoo him, even if he makes the pitch, it's the same as if he is going to pass, refs generally give the same leeway if he is in the act of pitching to stick him. The next time he goes to pitch, he is going to have one eye on the pitch, and one eye looking out for you. Several times we had a guy running towards him, and he would pitch and they would just turn around. That to me was the game.

BlueIsBetter wrote:
I voted for the OC playcalling, but the difference to me was not hitting the qb.



When you are playing the option, the defense is simple. You can break it down as easy as, The D line hits the fb, the linebackers hit the qb, and the DBs hit the pitch option (most times it is rb, sometimes it is wr.) It gets a little more tricky if you break it down further, but that is basically it. And this is true for any run, whether it is up the middle, to the side, wherever. It is actually easier to defend the option in a 3-4 than a 4-3.



For me the difference was not HITTING the qb. If you are 2-3 steps away from the qb, (I counted no less than 20 times in the game) then you need to tattoo him, even if he makes the pitch, it's the same as if he is going to pass, refs generally give the same leeway if he is in the act of pitching to stick him. The next time he goes to pitch, he is going to have one eye on the pitch, and one eye looking out for you. Several times we had a guy running towards him, and he would pitch and they would just turn around. That to me was the game.

It did seem like our offense did a lot of standing and watching on the option, like "uhhh, let's just wait to see if he pitches it first, that way we know who to hit." You have got to ATTACK against an option offense, but our defense didn't attack, they waited.

Italics wrote:

I voted for the OC playcalling, but the difference to me was not hitting the qb.



When you are playing the option, the defense is simple. You can break it down as easy as, The D line hits the fb, the linebackers hit the qb, and the DBs hit the pitch option (most times it is rb, sometimes it is wr.) It gets a little more tricky if you break it down further, but that is basically it. And this is true for any run, whether it is up the middle, to the side, wherever. It is actually easier to defend the option in a 3-4 than a 4-3.



For me the difference was not HITTING the qb. If you are 2-3 steps away from the qb, (I counted no less than 20 times in the game) then you need to tattoo him, even if he makes the pitch, it's the same as if he is going to pass, refs generally give the same leeway if he is in the act of pitching to stick him. The next time he goes to pitch, he is going to have one eye on the pitch, and one eye looking out for you. Several times we had a guy running towards him, and he would pitch and they would just turn around. That to me was the game.

It did seem like our offense did a lot of standing and watching on the option, like "uhhh, let's just wait to see if he pitches it first, that way we know who to his." You have got to ATTACK against an option offense, but our defense didn't attack, they waited.

Man, I absolutely LOVED hitting the qb... I can't understand why you wouldn't just stick a guy 3 feet away, especially the qb. There is a reason that a qb keeps running away from the play after he hands it off, he is legal to hit if he is close enough to the ball. Now, I wouldn't blow my assignment, but if my assignment WAS the qb, you can believe he wouldn't get 3 steps away without eating grass. I wonder if they were told NOT to hit the qb. Seems like you would teach them when to hit, and when not too. That qb got away easy on every single play and he played with a lot of confidence because of it.



And guys that stand around watching a play unwind, I loved seeing someone standing there, watching their own team get tackled. Come in, lower a shoulder and send them 5 yards. Coach used to always say,"If a guy is standing around, give him a chair." It's the polite thing to do, after all... ;)

BigCougsFan wrote:

After seeing OU throw it all over FSU today, I sure hope Jake plays more next week. A lot more.

He better! Then if it doesn't work... We can put all the blame on our WR's. JJ could do some damage if he just fixes his fumble-itis. This has been with him, his whole career at BYU.

Yes. I know they have worked hard w/ J.J. on the fumbles. I love J.J. He's explosive, elusive, really exciting - and he fumbles game after game. Uggghhhhhh!!!!!! (And the reveivers!!!! Dropping catcheable passes! Uggghhhh!!!)

:skeptic:

Ddawg wrote:
(And the reveivers!!!!...Uggghhhh!!!)

:skeptic:

Firefly fan huh?

Defensive line play.. I thought Fuga and Richardson got blown up at the point of attack consistently.. Then the rest of the defense seemed a step slow.. Here is to a better showing vs FSU!!!



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I pinned it on the receivers this game, but really where is the All of the Above options???

I'm not sure any part of the team gets a passing grade for this game; Dline gets an F, Oline gets an F, receivers get an F, secondary gets an F, QBs get D or worse, receivers get an F, kicking game gets an F (good early in the game, but a failure after that). Wow, we were so bad, I'm not sure what to make of it. I don't think we're really that bad, but can everybody play bad on the same day? I guess so. DiLuigi had a nice game except he fumbled twice and fumbles going into the end zone. Nelson was ok running, but couldn't complete a pass, then he fumbles too. I can't recall a worse passing day for BYU (at least in the last 40 years).

I think what stung the worst for me, was the awful play of our most experienced "stars."



Matt Reynolds was awful; how many false starts did he have? I stopped counting. And his pass blocking and run blocking were horrible--he looked lost, like a rookie freshman--very disappointing.



Neil Chambers is a junior? he played like a high schooler, couldn't catch the ball, fumbled twice, had a recovered fumble for a TD--then he fumbles that one too. I'm not sure he belongs on the field.



Andrew Rich got burned, fooled, and succored on numerous plays. If he's the anchor on the defense, we're in trouble, because he didn't know where he was either. He did make some plays, but he blew a lot too, not what I expect from a senior safety.



I don't know where to start with our receivers, did they think this was a backyard, barbecue game? Where were their hands? Chambers, Jacobson, Muhleman, Wilson (had a pass bounce off the front of his helmet), Ashworth--did anybody catch a pass? Awful!

bball wrote:
I think what stung the worst for me, was the awful play of our most experienced "stars."



Matt Reynolds was awful; how many false starts did he have? I stopped counting. And his pass blocking and run blocking were horrible--he looked lost, like a rookie freshman--very disappointing.



Andrew Rich got burned, fooled, and succored on numerous plays. If he's the anchor on the defense, we're in trouble, because he didn't know where he was either. He did make some plays, but he blew a lot too, not what I expect from a senior safety.

I agree with the rest of your sentiment, but not these two statements...



There was something wrong with Riley's cadence, because he had 6 false starts to Jake's 0. That is a qb issue, not a lineman issue it seems. And the blocking comes more down to this rediculous idea of putting him in at LT when Jake is in, and RT when Riley is in. I wonder if Anae thinks that it is like a video game, where you can just do things and real rules don't translate. LT is a very different position than right tackle, and you can't expect that just because someone is good at one, they will be good at the other.



And Andrew Rich looked like the only one that HAD a clue, and was tackling. I can't count how many tackles he was in, and he was in the backfield a lot of times, too. You might be confusing #22 Rich with #24 Steven Thomas, who did not belong on the field got beat on several occasions one for a rediculous touchdown.

I read somewhere that Reynolds was doubled over in pain much of the game with flu symptoms. I heard ksl say afa was calling signals at the line in a way designed to imitate BYU cadence and officials were not calling it. I read that indted of falling on and recovering the JJ fumble, Chambers tried to pick it up and advance it - a rookie mistake.



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[quote="Cougarbib2"] I read that indted of falling on and recovering the JJ fumble, Chambers tried to pick it up and advance it - a rookie mistake. [quote]



I saw the play and that's exactly what happened. Chambers wanted to showboat by being the one to get the TD. Instead he costs us the momentum of the game by trying to be a hero instead of a team player. This kid needs to be benched until he gets a clue.