BYU vs. Air Force

[Uncle Ted]

Do you remember what defensive scheme Bronco built his entire freaking career around? Yeah, I barely do either. If by stubborn, you mean "doesn't follow the whims of internet message boards", then yeah, I guess he's stubborn. If there's one thing Bronco has shown, it's that he wants to win and will adapt the system (on both sides of the ball) to do it. Sure, he's got some loyalty to veteran players, but that loyalty has given us one of the most consistently good teams in the country. We have a little hiccup in week 2 (!) where we have a brand new linebacking corps and no quarterback, and suddenly he's a stubborn "pussy" who only cares about saving face, is lucky to have inherited Crowton's recruits, and doesn't know how to evaluate talent. Even better is when people get on him about having boring press conferences.

I wonder if there's another coach in the country with four consecutive 10+ win seasons that takes this much crap from his fanbase.

Yes, maybe BYU can replace Bronco with Dan "ten wins no excuses" Hawkins. He may be looking for a job after his contract is up with Colorado.

[ERCougar]

It's never too early.

Pretty funny.

I'm not saying Utah's bad, and I'm certainly not saying BYU's good. I'm saying we don't know much of anything yet. I watched Utah against Pitt and I'm not nearly as smitten with Pitt as some on here (UD... )--I thought they looked pretty bad, were poorly coached, and still almost won. They may have looked bad because of Utah, which was my point in the part of the post you cut out, but unless New Hampshire is about to become the next Boise State, I'm looking more right than not. UNLV looks like it was a good win...but it's still UNLV.

Anything you disagree with there?

I'd think a long-time football fan like yourself would be hesitant to make big big conclusions after week 2.

Yes, sometimes it is too early.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I'm not saying Utah's bad, and I'm certainly not saying BYU's good. I'm saying we don't know much of anything yet. I watched Utah against Pitt and I'm not nearly as smitten with Pitt as some on here (UD... )--I thought they looked pretty bad, were poorly coached, and still almost won. They may have looked bad because of Utah, which was my point in the part of the post you cut out, but unless New Hampshire is about to become the next Boise State, I'm looking more right than not. UNLV looks like it was a good win...but it's still UNLV.

Anything you disagree with there?

I'd think a long-time football fan like yourself would be hesitant to make big big conclusions after week 2.

Yes, sometimes it is too early.

Yeah whatever toughguy.

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[BoylenOver]

I'm not saying Utah's bad, and I'm certainly not saying BYU's good. I'm saying we don't know much of anything yet. I watched Utah against Pitt and I'm not nearly as smitten with Pitt as some on here (UD... )--I thought they looked pretty bad, were poorly coached, and still almost won. They may have looked bad because of Utah, which was my point in the part of the post you cut out, but unless New Hampshire is about to become the next Boise State, I'm looking more right than not. UNLV looks like it was a good win...but it's still UNLV.

Anything you disagree with there?

I'd think a long-time football fan like yourself would be hesitant to make big big conclusions after week 2.

Yes, sometimes it is too early.

If the W/L of Utah's opponents make you feel better about BYU losing by 3 TD's, who am I to dissuade you? And I like how New Hampshire is invoked multiple times, but AFA's opening game against Northwestern St fails to receive a mention.

[Non Sequitur]

Do you remember what defensive scheme Bronco built his entire freaking career around? Yeah, I barely do either. If by stubborn, you mean "doesn't follow the whims of internet message boards", then yeah, I guess he's stubborn. If there's one thing Bronco has shown, it's that he wants to win and will adapt the system (on both sides of the ball) to do it. Sure, he's got some loyalty to veteran players, but that loyalty has given us one of the most consistently good teams in the country. We have a little hiccup in week 2 (!) where we have a brand new linebacking corps and no quarterback, and suddenly he's a stubborn "pussy" who only cares about saving face, is lucky to have inherited Crowton's recruits, and doesn't know how to evaluate talent. Even better is when people get on him about having boring press conferences.

I wonder if there's another coach in the country with four consecutive 10+ win seasons that takes this much crap from his fanbase.

I never said Bronco hasn't had success, and I never said he won't be able to bring us out of this. In fact I've said many times that this will be a very good team eventually. My point is that Bronco now finds himself in a PR nightmare, and PR relations are not at the top of his resume.

My fear is that Bronco is an idealist, rather than a pragmatist. I honestly think that he believes if you do the right thing then "Magic Happens". He makes no effort to demonstrate that he is in charge and will do what it takes to fix things. He doesn't take responsibility and he does nothing to convince anyone that he has the ability to turn things around. Who's going to follow that kind of leadership?

As to the four 10+ seasons, that's great, but Crowton also had a lot of early success before the wheels fell off and the players stopped following him. Hopefully Bronco learned something from watching the that debacle.

[ERCougar]

If the W/L of Utah's opponents make you feel better about BYU losing by 3 TD's, who am I to dissuade you? And I like how New Hampshire is invoked multiple times, but AFA's opening game against Northwestern St fails to receive a mention.

Well, because AFA hung 65 on Northwestern State. I'm not really even saying Pitt's a bad team. I have my doubts about them, but we'll see. It's too early to tell (sense a theme?).

Nope, not trying to feel better about a bad loss. This may seem really strange to Utenation, but I take no comfort out of Utah being a paper tiger. I've never even taken a sign about Utah to a BYU game (crazy, I know). If you follow this thread, I wasn't really even talking about Utah--I was talking to BYU fans who are ready to write off the season after week 2. The Utah thing was just thrown out there as a sort of "hey, we could even be as good as Utah, especially by the end of the year". If I had to put money on a team right now, I'd put it on Utah (I'd also put money on AFA over Pitt, but that's beside the point...), but not with nearly the same level of confidence as some on here. Apparently (and surprisingly), you're part of the some.

On a side note, I don't get the animosity here. I'm not a Ute hater. I cheered for them in the SUG, I thought they got screwed in 2004, I cheered for them in their NCAA runs. I cheer for them every time they play out of conference (I have no idea how I'll feel next year, but I suspect I'll even cheer for them in the PAC-whatever). It's true that I carried on about how they were lucky to beat TCU in 2008, but every objective fan out there who saw the game would agree with me and for the life of me, I can't figure out why you can't just accept it--I'll fully admit that BYU's had plenty of lucky wins. I think some Utah fans may be in for a rude awakening when they hit the PAC-whatever, but I think most reasonable fans would agree with me that they're not likely to win the conference for a while. BYU's in for an even ruder awakening when/if they hit the Big 12. I refuse to label Utah as an elite academic institution, and having done both undergraduate and graduate work there, I'll stand by that. None of that should peg me as a hater, as most objective people would agree with those points. I think it's lame to make signs and wear T-shirts about your rival in games not involving said rival, but I think you even agreed with me on that.

[ERCougar]

Yeah whatever toughguy.

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Hehehe...looks like my buddy must have worked you last night.

[jay santos]

A few thoughts.

1. I blame the defensive secondary more than any other position offense or defense for that loss. Thomas was terrible both against the run and the pass. Nearly every long pass completion was Thomas' fault and he was never there making a big play against the run. Our corners were consistently ten yards downfield trying to fend off blockers when the QB hit the corner on the option. Rich was the only one that played well.

2. QB play was really awful. I understood the decision to go with Nelson. 1) he outplayed Heaps against Washington 2) he outplayed Heaps in first half against AFA 3) we were behind on the road in a conference game and it was not the time to learn on the job.

3. I think it's ridiculously stupid to think Anae is purposefully giving Nelson enough rope to hang himself so Nelson will look terrible and he can get his way of getting Heaps as his QB. Almost as dumb as some of the Schmidt conspiracy theories circulating 2001-2002.

4. As much as Nelson outplayed Heaps for six quarters, he looked about as bad as you could look the last half against AFA. When the game's obviously over and Nelson's doing terrible, I don't know why you don't throw Heaps back in. I believe Heaps is obviously the long term answer and possibly the medium term answer (as in as soon as 4-6 games) but probably still not the short term answer. I believe in winning games over giving youth experience, but Nelson really did look awful. I'm still pretty undecided on it. I'm fine with any direction for the short term.

5. We really miss Pitta. Without the playmaker WR's that BYU rarely has (sorry OC and MJ--you don't fit the bill), we need big physical TE's that can catch the ball in traffic to help open things up. (not to mention a running game--sorry JJ you are not Unga)

6. This team is really not that good. Reminds me of 2005, 2002, and 1997 (years we started new QB with lack of supporting cast) more than 2001 and 2007 (new starting QB with great supporting talent).

7. I don't know what's going on with the coaches. I've rarely noticed an obvious coaching/preparation advantage as we had over Washington. And completely the opposite against AFA. I've generally been pleased with the coaching staff for a few years and feel we've evolved with Anae/Reynolds/Doman really coming together as a great O staff and Hill/Bronco coming together as a great D staff. Maybe Bronco's absence this year on D is not a good thing? I'm not down on the coaches yet.

8. I'm not on Facebook, so I don't understand completely, but let's not get excited over a Facebook status. And I read the exchange between Van Noy and Bradley's brother and I don't speak teenage urban, but I think that exchange was fairly innocuous. Let's stay out of the player's business. They're kids, they want to play, they're competitive. No worries. When you win, everyone's happy. When you lose, people say crap.

9. No matter what we do, we're going to get blasted by Florida St. Let's use it to get ready for the rest of the year.

[KillerDog]

I am really interested to see what the coaching staff does next. It is clear to me that we are weaker at linebacker and QB than I otherwise thought. I don't know yet on the receivers. It is hard to judge the receivers in their current position. They have an offense that lacks the sync we expect from BYU and they are the position where that is most obvious. Second position where that lack of sync comes through is the offensive line and I think we're seeing it there too.

Air Force is always good early in the season and has been the 4th best program in the conference. It is not surprising that we would struggle on the road with a young team against the team that is supposed to be right behind us in the conference race. I am reminded why we are leaving the MWC for independence. This game was a total set up by the MWC brass to have BYU lose. Think about it. BYU, with a young team, will play UW in week one and in week three at FSU. In the meantime, we want to sneak in a conference game so let's put it against AFA on the road. By comparison, Utah played UNLV in SLC in the same slot.

Anyway, back to BYU football. I don't know why we weren't running DiLuigi more. He can play. Ball security can be worked on. I do know why Heaps never saw the field again. The int was just a part of it. The biggest part was AFA playing a D where they dropped 8 regularly and Heaps completing 33% of his passes in the first half. If we go with Heaps now, we are going to lose some games and may ruin his confidence. We might lose those games anyway but I don't want his confidence ruined early.

[Shaka]

Things are set up to give Heaps the nod this week. Nelson is demoralized with the squandered opportunity and I think he would be able to take the demotion with class and not cause a distraction.

With that said I would not be surprised if Nelson starts against FSU. If he is given the nod then he needs starter reps in practice to try to develop some kind of chemistry with his receivers and offensive line. This two two QB experiment was interesting for one game but it needs to be put to rest. If Heaps is slated to start then he should get the reps.




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[Flystripper]

A few thoughts.

1. I blame the defensive secondary more than any other position offense or defense for that loss. Thomas was terrible both against the run and the pass. Nearly every long pass completion was Thomas' fault and he was never there making a big play against the run. Our corners were consistently ten yards downfield trying to fend off blockers when the QB hit the corner on the option. Rich was the only one that played well.

2. QB play was really awful. I understood the decision to go with Nelson. 1) he outplayed Heaps against Washington 2) he outplayed Heaps in first half against AFA 3) we were behind on the road in a conference game and it was not the time to learn on the job.

3. I think it's ridiculously stupid to think Anae is purposefully giving Nelson enough rope to hang himself so Nelson will look terrible and he can get his way of getting Heaps as his QB. Almost as dumb as some of the Schmidt conspiracy theories circulating 2001-2002.

4. As much as Nelson outplayed Heaps for six quarters, he looked about as bad as you could look the last half against AFA. When the game's obviously over and Nelson's doing terrible, I don't know why you don't throw Heaps back in. I believe Heaps is obviously the long term answer and possibly the medium term answer (as in as soon as 4-6 games) but probably still not the short term answer. I believe in winning games over giving youth experience, but Nelson really did look awful. I'm still pretty undecided on it. I'm fine with any direction for the short term.

5. We really miss Pitta. Without the playmaker WR's that BYU rarely has (sorry OC and MJ--you don't fit the bill), we need big physical TE's that can catch the ball in traffic to help open things up. (not to mention a running game--sorry JJ you are not Unga)

6. This team is really not that good. Reminds me of 2005, 2002, and 1997 (years we started new QB with lack of supporting cast) more than 2001 and 2007 (new starting QB with great supporting talent).

7. I don't know what's going on with the coaches. I've rarely noticed an obvious coaching/preparation advantage as we had over Washington. And completely the opposite against AFA. I've generally been pleased with the coaching staff for a few years and feel we've evolved with Anae/Reynolds/Doman really coming together as a great O staff and Hill/Bronco coming together as a great D staff. Maybe Bronco's absence this year on D is not a good thing? I'm not down on the coaches yet.

8. I'm not on Facebook, so I don't understand completely, but let's not get excited over a Facebook status. And I read the exchange between Van Noy and Bradley's brother and I don't speak teenage urban, but I think that exchange was fairly innocuous. Let's stay out of the player's business. They're kids, they want to play, they're competitive. No worries. When you win, everyone's happy. When you lose, people say crap.

9. No matter what we do, we're going to get blasted by Florida St. Let's use it to get ready for the rest of the year.

These are really good thoughts and I pretty much agree with them all.

[Jacob]

3. I think it's ridiculously stupid to think Anae is purposefully giving Nelson enough rope to hang himself so Nelson will look terrible and he can get his way of getting Heaps as his QB. Almost as dumb as some of the Schmidt conspiracy theories circulating 2001-2002.

I agree with this. The only possibility I see that is similar is that Anae decided that alternating series a asinine (which everybody already knew prior to the first game) so he decided to go with 1 QB, so he went with Bronco's QB.

IOW, he was giving Nelson the rope to hang himself. But he was also giving him the opportunity to prove himself. He wasn't setting Nelson up as a fall guy, or trying to lose the game. He made a decision to go with one QB. That's the right decision. Probably, going with Nelson as the guy is the wrong decision, but he can fix that at any time. I hope he does.

[ERCougar]

I agree with this. The only possibility I see that is similar is that Anae decided that alternating series a asinine (which everybody already knew prior to the first game) so he decided to go with 1 QB, so he went with Bronco's QB.

IOW, he was giving Nelson the rope to hang himself. But he was also giving him the opportunity to prove himself. He wasn't setting Nelson up as a fall guy, or trying to lose the game. He made a decision to go with one QB. That's the right decision. Probably, going with Nelson as the guy is the wrong decision, but he can fix that at any time. I hope he does.

This was more what I was saying. I don't think there was sabotaging going on--that just hurts everyone. I think Anae was giving Nelson a real shot, probably under some pressure from Bronco, and would be ready to go with whatever he showed.

[Blueintheface]

9. No matter what we do, we're going to get blasted by Florida St. Let's use it to get ready for the rest of the year.

Doesn't anyone want to talk about how Nevada is going to Pistol-fuck this BYU defense? Forget FSU, we have a 1-3 start staring us in the face. That is unless this defense can learn to trust in their own assignments and if they haven't given up by week 4.

[beefytee]

He makes no effort to demonstrate that he is in charge and will do what it takes to fix things. He doesn't take responsibility and he does nothing to convince anyone that he has the ability to turn things around. Who's going to follow that kind of leadership?

As to the four 10+ seasons, that's great, but Crowton also had a lot of early success before the wheels fell off and the players stopped following him. Hopefully Bronco learned something from watching the that debacle.

This comment is laughable. Have you forgotten that half of those 10 win seasons came off of 1-2 starts? We only have to look to the FSU game last year for a game with no leadership and lack of preparation.

Now the wheels may fall off this season. I think thing are now more fragile than they've been at any time in the last 5 seasons, so the wheels may indeed fall off.

But trying to claim that Bronco doesn't have the leadership or ability to turn things around is just ludicrous.