BYU vs. Air Force

[cougjunkie]

Bronco said playing time will be situational this week. I hope that means Riley is situated on the bench.

[Blueintheface]

Bronco said playing time will be situational this week. I hope that means Riley is situated on the bench.

Has Bronco ever directly answered a question in his life? He really should go into politics.

[MarkGrace]

Situations, opponents will determine QB reps more, Bronco says
Published on Sep 13, 2010 11:08AM 0 Comments
Saying the Cougars are "anxious to put the Air Force game behind us," coach Bronco Mendenhall conducted his Monday morning news conference at Legends Grille today and said the team learned that it needs to work on fundamentals now as much as ever as it prepares for Florida State.
As far as the big quarterback question is concerned, Mendenhall's major news Monday is that the rotation will now be based more on situations and the strengths and weaknesses of opponents, rather than the set every-other-series formula that bottomed out against the Falcons.
"Reps might become more situational," he said.
He reiterated that he has given the "power" to make the QB calls to offensive coordinator Robert Anae and quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman. However, he set he met with the offensive staff Monday morning and injected more of his opinions into what should be done.
"We're trying to be as effective as possible in grooming and training [Jake Heaps]," he said. "It seemed wiser at that time just to play a little more experienced and mature young man, even though Jake is very, very capable and is going to be a fantastic player and probably this year. It just seemed wise to protect him a little bit in that game."
Mendenhall said he is "closer to having an opinion this week" regarding how and when quarterbacks Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson should be used than before.
Asked to share that opinion, Mendenhall mentioned Nelson's maturity and leadership capabilities being weighed against Heaps' superior throwing ability.
It was fairly apparent that Mendenhall is leaning toward Heaps playing more this week against FSU, after the Seminoles struggled to stop the pass against Oklahoma.
"We need to throw the ball more effectively than we currently are. If you look at the Air Force game, we ran the ball effectively but had very little success throwing the football. The Washington game was more representative of the balance I think we're hoping to get. In order to beat Florida State, it will have to be more toward the [opening-game] plan than the [Air Force] plan, and that will probably affect which quarterback plays and how much."
He acknowledged that Nelson ran with the football too much against Air Force.
"Probably couldn't hold that up for 12 games," he said.

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Other odds and ends:
* Most of the players graded out in the high 60s and low 70s from the AFA game, as opposed to high 80s and low 90s in the Washington game.
"Pretty much every weakness was exposed," against the Falcons, he said.
* Regarding the struggles of punter Riley Stephenson, Mendenhall said the issues that were expected in Week I surfaced in Week 2, ironically.
* Asked if he was happy about the preparation for Air Force, Mendenhall said it was similar to what it was prior to BYU wins over the academy. He blamed a breakdown in fundamentals more than a lack of preparation.
* Regarding what went wrong last year against FSU, Mendenhall said he didn't prepare the team adequately for the caliber of of athletes that the Seminoles had. He said the Cougars "underestimated" the ability of FSU QB Christian Ponder.
* The coach said the team is excited to play a recognized national power such as Florida State and travel to one of the most storied venues in college football, Doak Campbell Stadium. He said BYU's move to independence means "there will be more and more of these places" on the Cougars' future schedule.

More later

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogs/b...heaps.html.csp

[falafel]

Bronco said playing time will be situational this week. I hope that means Riley is situated on the bench.

I have a feeling it will be the other way around.

[Coach McGuirk]

Well since OU threw the shit out of the ball, I expect Riley will be the star of the game.

Put that with OLB's that seem to be in a mud run and a repeat of last year is on the horizon.

[Coach McGuirk]

Maybe I'm wrong, Bronco hinting that Riley is going situational,

"it's what (Nelson) does so well, but if you look at wear and tear, he probably couldn't hold that up for 12 gms."

[Top Ute]

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.

Good grief, that Nevada game is a monster game for BYU. If it comes out of that game like it did against AFA, there will clearly be blood in the water going up to Logan against an improved Aggie team that will for the first time in eons, truly expect to win. BYU needs to get its mojo back with a big win.

[cougjunkie]

Maybe I'm wrong, Bronco hinting that Riley is going situational,

"it's what (Nelson) does so well, but if you look at wear and tear, he probably couldn't hold that up for 12 gms."

Read what Gracey posted, Riley's ass is going to the bench.

[Clark Addison]

Read what Gracey posted, Riley's ass is going to the bench.

Wrubell agrees with you. For the three people here who don't follow him, here is what he said:

My quick read on today's press conference: series-by-series QB rotation is history; Jake Heaps will get most of the snaps at FLorida State

Of course, this isn't the first time that Wrubell said he expects Heaps to get most of the snaps, so he could be wrong.

[Green Monstah]

Yeah whatever toughguy.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

I'll illustrate home skillet's point. In 2008, UCLA played Tennessee (then ranked #17 I believe) early in the season. It was a close game, and what appeared to be a gritty win for the Bruins against a nationally ranked SEC powerhouse. After watching that game, I thought the Cougs were screwed for sure when we played UCLA in Provo a week or two later.

We know the result: BYU 59 UCLA (was it 0?? Sorry Hurricane Ike prevented me from watching the game). As it turns out UCLA and Tennessee were not very good.

Personally, I think Utah's better than the Cougar faithful are giving credit for and BYU is probably better than the Utes give us credit for (but not much). The loss was tough, but I still don't think I'd make the Utes a lock for a W this November.

[cougjunkie]

I'll illustrate home skillet's point. In 2008, UCLA played Tennessee (then ranked #17 I believe) early in the season. It was a close game, and what appeared to be a gritty win for the Bruins against a nationally ranked SEC powerhouse. After watching that game, I thought the Cougs were screwed for sure when we played UCLA in Provo a week or two later.

We know the result: BYU 59 UCLA (was it 0?? Sorry Hurricane Ike prevented me from watching the game). As it turns out UCLA and Tennessee were not very good.

Personally, I think Utah's better than the Cougar faithful are giving credit for and BYU is probably better than the Utes give us credit for (but not much). The loss was tough, but I still don't think I'd make the Utes a lock for a W this November.

Here is the thing come November Utah has a stretch of games against TCU, Airforce and Notre Dame. While BYU is playing UNLV, Colorado st. and New Mexico.

That is the opposite of the stretch of games Utah and BYU have right now. BYU is in by far their toughest part of the schedule Utah their easiest. That will change come mid-october, early november.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I'll illustrate home skillet's point. In 2008, UCLA played Tennessee (then ranked #17 I believe) early in the season. It was a close game, and what appeared to be a gritty win for the Bruins against a nationally ranked SEC powerhouse. After watching that game, I thought the Cougs were screwed for sure when we played UCLA in Provo a week or two later.

We know the result: BYU 59 UCLA (was it 0?? Sorry Hurricane Ike prevented me from watching the game). As it turns out UCLA and Tennessee were not very good.

Personally, I think Utah's better than the Cougar faithful are giving credit for and BYU is probably better than the Utes give us credit for (but not much). The loss was tough, but I still don't think I'd make the Utes a lock for a W this November.

ERC's main schtick on the board is to denigrate Utah's football prowess at every opportunity. For him to deny it garners a "whatever" from me.

I agree with the logic on early season polls, but that was not what brought up the comment

[Jarid in Cedar]

Here is the thing come November Utah has a stretch of games against TCU, Airforce and Notre Dame. While BYU is playing UNLV, Colorado st. and New Mexico.

That is the opposite of the stretch of games Utah and BYU have right now. BYU is in by far their toughest part of the schedule Utah their easiest. That will change come mid-october, early november.

The season starts on Halloween.

[ERCougar]

ERC's main schtick on the board is to denigrate Utah's football prowess at every opportunity. For him to deny it garners a "whatever" from me.

I agree with the logic on early season polls, but that was not what brought up the comment

Lest there be any doubt, I'll come right out and say it--I'd trade the last 6 years results with Utah. I said over and over that I'd love to be going to the PAC 10. I think we're set up nicely for the next while, be it independent or B12, and I like Bronco, so I like where we're at, but you've got 2 BCS bowl wins.

That TCU 2008 discussion is really eating at you, isn't it?

Anyway...back to the post,

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?

You know way more about football than I ever will, so educate me. Please translate your "whatever" to one of the following specific points that would contradict my argument:
1) Pitt looked good against Utah
2) Pitt was well-coached.
3) Pitt didn't almost win the game. (never mind...ignore this one. I don't want another TCU discussion...)
4) New Hampshire is the next Boise State, and any team that can beat them is automatically a good team.
5) UNLV is not just a good win, it's an awesome one.

I guess I can see why you'd leave it at "whatever".

[Jeff Lebowski]

Lest there be any doubt, I'll come right out and say it--I'd trade the last 6 years results with Utah. I said over and over that I'd love to be going to the PAC 10. I think we're set up nicely for the next while, be it independent or B12, and I like Bronco, so I like where we're at, but you've got 2 BCS bowl wins.

That TCU 2008 discussion is really eating at you, isn't it?

Anyway...back to the post,


You know way more about football than I ever will, so educate me. Please translate your "whatever" to one of the following specific points that would contradict my argument:
1) Pitt looked good against Utah
2) Pitt was well-coached.
3) Pitt didn't almost win the game. (never mind...ignore this one. I don't want another TCU discussion...)
4) New Hampshire is the next Boise State, and any team that can beat them is automatically a good team.
5) UNLV is not just a good win, it's an awesome one.

I guess I can see why you'd leave it at "whatever".