BYU vs. Air Force

[ERCougar]

From today's paper:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...arterback.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...gars.html?pg=2

On the other hand....

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars...lcons.html.csp

Last, but not least: Gordon Monson.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars...ugars.html.csp

I think all of these could be read as Bronco taking responsibility for his staff's decision.

From Wrubell's tweet today:

Bronco speculating on Heaps benching: "Might have been something (Anae/Doman) didn't like in terms of his decision making or maybe demeanor"

Bronco's REALLY throwing them under the bus if this is an accurate quote (and Bronco was the one to make the call). I don't see Bronco as the type to do that.

[Surfah]

I think all of these could be read as Bronco taking responsibility for his staff's decision.

From Wrubell's tweet today:


Bronco's REALLY throwing them under the bus if this is an accurate quote (and Bronco was the one to make the call). I don't see Bronco as the type to do that.

Something is up. And I think only the coaches know what. This is all bullshit. As the head coach how can you not know why a certain player is benched? I don't believe for a second that Bronco was not involved let alone uninformed as to why Heaps was benched.

[ERCougar]

I still haven't had a chance to see the game, but given that good teams can make decent teams look bad and bad teams can make decent teams look good, I still don't think we know much about anyone yet. BYU beat Washington, who beat Syracuse yesterday. They lost to AFA, who scored 65 points last week, early in the season with young linebackers and an unsettled QB situation. To be suddenly convinced we're not winning 7 games seems as dumb as being convinced we were winning 11 after last week.

Same goes for Utah. They beat a Pitt team who beat...New Hampshire. They also beat UNLV. Opponents' records? BYU's opponents: 3-1. Utah's: 1-3.

We don't know much about either team.

[ERCougar]

Something is up. And I think only the coaches know what. This is all bullshit. As the head coach how can you not know why a certain player is benched? I don't believe for a second that Bronco was not involved let alone uninformed as to why Heaps was benched.

Sure, but Bronco can't keep being Riley's cheerleader (if that's what he really is) and make statements like this in public. Something'll break.

[Top Ute]

Something is up. And I think only the coaches know what. This is all bullshit. As the head coach how can you not know why a certain player is benched? I don't believe for a second that Bronco was not involved let alone uninformed as to why Heaps was benched.

This is one of the more bizarre personnel decisions I can ever recall seeing out of BYU, and definitely Bronco. This kind of mutual mystification was par for the course under Crowton, but it's uncharted waters for Bronco. It's really surprising to see this out of a staff with the continuity, experience and success of this staff.

Bronco's never been a look-ahead type of coach, and that's suited him well. He needs to escape that mindset and think about which QB will make BYU better by season's end, and into next year, W-L in 2010 be damned. Which is why I think the staff will decide on Heaps as the starter much sooner than later. Nelson's effort yesterday in the second half could not be viewed as inspiring.

[Surfah]

Sure, but Bronco can't keep being Riley's cheerleader (if that's what he really is) and make statements like this in public. Something'll break.

Something is broken already. With all of the speculation I think it's safe to say that our coaches are not on the same page. This is Bronco's problem and he needs to fix it.

[Surfah]

This is one of the more bizarre personnel decisions I can ever recall seeing out of BYU, and definitely Bronco. This kind of mutual mystification was par for the course under Crowton, but it's uncharted waters for Bronco. It's really surprising to see this out of a staff with the continuity, experience and success of this staff.

Bronco's never been a look-ahead type of coach, and that's suited him well. He needs to escape that mindset and think about which QB will make BYU better by season's end, and into next year, W-L in 2010 be damned. Which is why I think the staff will decide on Heaps as the starter much sooner than later. Nelson's effort yesterday in the second half could not be viewed as inspiring.

Aw shit. I have to agree with you.

[MarkGrace]

Sorry, but that is just nonsense.

Diluigi holds on the ball and we would have had an additional seven. Chambers dropped two catchable balls in the end zone. Field position was terrible with our punting game. Turn a few key plays around, get some momentum and confidence, and the outcome could have been entirely different. To say that it was over early in the third quarter is silly.

Maybe. But read through the game thread and I wasn't the only one feeling that way. The majority thought the game was over early in the 3rd -- Hot Lunch's prediction was that if we didn't get a really short series out of AFA on their first possession in the 2nd half we were cooked. That guy knows a lot more about playing football than I do.

[MarkGrace]

Aw shit. I have to agree with you.

It's Sloan 2.0. You have to try to win every battle but rarely think about winning the war.

[Surfah]

Maybe. But read through the game thread and I wasn't the only one feeling that way. The majority thought the game was over early in the 3rd -- Hot Lunch's prediction was that if we didn't get a really short series out of AFA on their first possession in the 2nd half we were cooked. That guy knows a lot more about playing football than I do.

Like I said, I don't know that the game was out of reach that early, but with the way our defense was playing yesterday they weren't going to beat anyone no matter what we were doing on offense.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Maybe. But read through the game thread and I wasn't the only one feeling that way. The majority thought the game was over early in the 3rd -- Hot Lunch's prediction was that if we didn't get a really short series out of AFA on their first possession in the 2nd half we were cooked. That guy knows a lot more about playing football than I do.

You brought this up in the context of coaching decisions:

That game was already lost. That's why I'm hoping Anae was just trying to make some good come out of it.

I don't give a shit what a bunch of anonymous fans say on an internet message board. If you think a coach should throw in the towel when his team is down by one touchdown in the third quarter to a team they have beaten six years in a row, then you are smoking something.

[Green Monstah]

I don't have time to read the previous 12 pages, but is anyone throwing the receivers under the bus? We should. They were horrific: Ashworth, Chambers, Hoffman and the TEs. No one could catch a pass to save their lives.

Sure, Nelson didn't throw for many yards, but his receivers didn't help him one lick.

[byu71]

The coaches made the decison to go with Riley at half time. The game wasn't out of hand before they came onto the field in the 3rd Qtr. I could speculate that the team wasn't all that gung ho on the decison and that was a reason for the let down. Then again maybe they were gung ho and tried to hard to prove Riley was the man.

[Viking]

You brought this up in the context of coaching decisions:



I don't give a shit what a bunch of anonymous fans say on an internet message board. If you think a coach should throw in the towel when his team is down by one touchdown in the third quarter to a team they have beaten six years in a row, then you are smoking something.

There's no chance that game was over. But after the first series in the 2nd half, it looked clear that the team had given up on the QB and on itself, especially after some key dropped passes. I haven't seen more quit in BYU since the Crowton years.

Was too bad. I think they'll rally back but Heaps is probably going to come into the game in Tallahassee in the 2nd half if Riley is showing no traction.

[YOhio]

I haven't seen more quit in BYU since the Crowton years.

You must have missed the past two TCU games.