BYU QB Battle: Tie Goes to the Younger
by Staffieri on Sep 18, 2010 9:24 PM PDT
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PrintLast week at Air Force the coaches turned the second half of a losing effort over to Riley Nelson, to see if he alone could lead the Cougars back to victory, the result? 0 points scored on offense. This week it was Heaps turn to take over the second half of the Florida State game. The result? 0 points. After finishing the the entire off-season, deadlocked, why we expect anything different after another set of completely equal opportunities during the season?
For those of you who think that Jake Heaps faced a tougher defense, think again, the Air Force Falcons just held the Oklahoma Sooners, yeah that same team that killed the Florida St. Seminoles, to just 27 points, including shutting them out in the 4th quarter.
The funny thing about this whole controversy is that when the BYU Cougars rotate the quarterbacks by possession, the offense has scored 47 points in 8 quarters of football. In the other 4 where BYU goes with just one...0 points scored. The worst part is that when handed the reins completely, both quarterbacks actually played worse. Nelson stopped gaining yards on the run and Heaps became a completely inaccurate passer. So why are we all psyched up to have the coaching staff settle on just one guy? Maybe the competition was a good thing...or maybe not anymore, that's what the fans want right? A decision to be made?
Those who know me, know that I wanted Heaps to red-shirt right from the get go in order to let a young team develop and let him come in after getting his feet wet, and have 4 straight years to play with a more experienced team. Now that Heaps has lost the opportunity I have been forced to change my tune. It is apparent that we can't get the ball to our most potent threat on offense, MacKay Jaobson, and after teams realize one QB lacks arm strength, and the other lacks touch and accuracy, they pack the box and take away our only other playmaker, JJ DiLuigi.
So our coaches and fans have choice now. Play to win some more games this year, or prepare for next season. If you choose to say, hey, we got this. Then I say, and history says, something about the two quarterback system throws teams off...stick with it. If you fall into the camp that says we will continue to field an inept offense, we may as well use the next nine games as practice for him to get ready for next year. Then you have to go with the youngster.
So the big question is why has Coach Mendenhall not made a decision yet? I had a revelation at breakfast this morning in Tallhassee when a complete stranger, Steve from Georgia (who so kindly invited me to eat with he and his sons as I was alone) asked me the same question. Coach Mendenhall is big on delegating and letting people learn through their own experience and sometimes mistakes. I personally feel that Coach Mendenhall doesn't want to make the decision because he wants his quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator (both men who would like to be head coaches someday) to take accountability for making a HUGE decision in the early part of their careers. He doesn't want to dictate to them what he thinks should be happen. They have to man up and make the call.
That being said, I think that the call has been made and that we will see Heaps the rest of the year and maybe bring Riley in with a Tim Tebow (freshman year) type roll.
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My vote is for Heaps....
We stopped rotating QBs at the end of the 1st quarter/start of second. So Heaps played the last 3 quarters and he led the offense to 10 points. Heaps was a whole let better than Riley Nelson, and here is why.
1. Florida States Stadium is a much more intimidating place to play than Air Force. Although Air Force may have the better defense, I think that Heaps played extremely well in that environment as a freshman.
2. The whole offense looks better with Heaps out there. No False starts, (3-4 offsides), DiLuigi had a few good runs (which would never be there with Nelson in the game b/c the defense is stacking the box, and even though we didn’t score in the second half we did move the ball.
Give him a chance to now come back to Provo and play at home next week and I think his confidence will only grow.
disagree... and agree.
1. “Heaps played extremely well”. There may well be reasons to start Heaps, but his performance against FSU is hardly a good reason. Yes, he scored a touchdown on a nice throw, but that opportunity wouldn’t have even been there without huge FSU blunders on that possession. The rest of the game he missed open recievers, failed to get rid of the football taking sacks and didn’t protect the football.
2. I’m not ready to blame Nelson for the false starts, but I do think there is more running room for Diluigi when Heaps is in. Teams are just packing the box against Nelson, not believing he can beat them with his arm. While Heaps hasn’t shown he can carry the team, defenses respect his arm and that creates some space for the running game. But do we really believe we can have a largely ineffective QB and DiLuigi is going to lead us to a victory?
I think Nelson has a better arm than he’s shown these past two games. Remember that in camp they had very similar success throwing the ball. We are probably a better team with Nelson in… BUT the difference is small. Our W-L record will likely be similar with either QB. That being the case, I think you take your lumps with Heaps and hope he develops some confidence as the schedule gets a little easier. Maybe be ready for some big wins at the end of the year.
by Blue2th on Sep 19, 2010 9:03 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I say play Heaps and then occasionally bring in a Wildcat offense featuring Nelson.
Nelson needs to consider a position change to wide receiver if he has any hopes of making it to the next level. Heaps is clearly a QB star in the making and we need to build the offense around him.
Out of context...
Maybe it wasn’t written properly in my first post, but the “Heaps played extremely well” quote you used was taken out of context. I think that he did play very well considering that he is just 18 y/o, it was his first significant/consistent playing time, and that it was on the road in one of the most storied and intimidating stadiums around. Yes, he has a lot of work ahead of him, but given the situation i think he handled it well and didn’t make any more mistakes than what could be expected.
We can agree to disagree, but...
I didn’t take anything out of context. I stand by my comment. I didn’t copy your whole post, but that doesn’t mean I misrepresented your comments. You want to give Heaps some credit. I get it. How many good balls did he throw? Does he look ready to lead this team against some of the good teams left on our schedule? There are reasons to start Heaps, but not because of that performance.
by Blue2th on Sep 20, 2010 4:56 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Not Intimidating...
Mark, I am not sure if you were at the game (not a knock, literally not sure). I was at the game and I had heard so much about the “Hostile Environment” of FSU. I was actually unimpressed with their fans in terms of noise and craziness. I was actually going to do a piece on it, but thought it would come off wrong, since we got our butts kicked.
For starters the entire south section of the bowl was only about half full and that was with the band sitting in in the stands. The only time FSU fans got loud was when they played the war chant or whatever that is.
I was not at the Air Force game, but have played there and the cadets when I played were way more vocal than the FSU fans. Had this game taken place in the late 90’s or early 2000’s it may have been different, but I didn’t sense any intimidation in Tallahassee.
I was surprised to see (on TV) all the empty seats.
I’m surprised the FSU fans have bailed after a few mediocre seasons. I’m also surprised there aren’t enough BYU fans in Florida to scoop up the unsold seats. Is it a numbers game where there just aren’t enough Cougar fans in Florida? Or was it that after the beating we took last year, BYU fans were a little hesitant to subject themselves to more Seminole abuse?
by Blue2th on Sep 20, 2010 5:11 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
It's not just mediocre seasons
There is a fissure among the fans. Many of the older generation are angry about how Bowden’s departure happened.
From the progressive side, there is nothing but excitement over the potential Jimbo Fisher offers us. Our defense actually has a playbook this year and all of our coaches carry their own weight with recruiting.
It will take time to fill the void ripped out by Bowden.
'Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football.' John Heisman
Staffieri
Hope you don’t mind, but I posted this as a fanshot on Tomahawknation.com.
Part of our rebuilding process will be in getting more fan participation during games and outside perspectives like this need to be addressed.
'Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football.' John Heisman
I don't mind at all...
The FSU fans I ran into were great fans. I was prepping myself for Mormon hating, drunk, abusive fans, and everyone was great. Just a little quiet is all. But really surprised to see so many empty seats for a progressing team.
I actually met an FSU fan at breakfast the day of the game and addressed the Bobby Bowden/Jimbo Fisher deal. Same sentiments were shared, that basically FSU nation is split on the coaching change, and that it will take some time.
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