Where did Bronco/Anae/Doman go wrong?

[Borderline Divine]

If a Ute fan may wade in here...

Losing Harvey Unga hurts more than I realized it would.

Having a stellar or even steady running game would take a great amount of pressure off whoever the starting quarterback is. Plus Tonga and Unga were great blockers.

I don't think Nelson is your answer. But I can see the logic in giving him at least the first half against FSU so as to keep Heaps from becoming shell-shocked and possibly injured.

I can't say I think much of your current backfield, but you play the hand you are dealt. DeLuigi was fumble prone last year as well and Kariya would be honorable mention All Big Sky.

You also lost not one but two very good TE's. Which begs the question: Couldn't a little mission-juggling have given George a full year as a senior starter? He'd come in pretty handy this year...

[jay santos]

Losing Harvey Unga hurts more than I realized it would.

Having a stellar or even steady running game would take a great amount of pressure off whoever the starting quarterback is. Plus Tonga and Unga were great blockers.

I don't think Nelson is your answer. But I can see the logic in giving him at least the first half against FSU so as to keep Heaps from becoming shell-shocked and possibly injured.

I can't say I think much of your current backfield, but you play the hand you are dealt. DeLuigi was fumble prone last year as well and Kariya would be honorable mention All Big Sky.

You also lost not one but two very good TE's. Which begs the question: Couldn't a little mission-juggling have given George a full year as a senior starter? He'd come in pretty handy this year...

Agree that loss of Harvey and Pitta/George is making a huge impact on the offense.

[New Mexican Disaster]

Mila Kunis has crazy eyes.

And the offense produced enough to win if the defense was not totally run over like a freight train. I'm alright with Nelson for a few more games, but to me it is clear that the overall objective should be to prepare Heaps by getting him as many reps as possible so that you can use Nelson as a very effective wildcat qb and replacement for Steven Thomas.

Kristen Bell I could work with.

[Top Ute]

Not unless they got A LOT better by losing 5 starters from last year. Nevada was 119th in Passing D last year and 118th in Pass Efficiency D. They gave up 297 ypg and 33 TDs through the air and pretty much made every QB that played against them look all-world.

On paper, it looks like the perfect game for Heaps to start.

Last year, maybe. Nevada's pass D is improved from last year, and CSU's hyped true frosh QB didn't light the Pack secondary on fire either.

[DapperDan]

Last year, maybe. Nevada's pass D is improved from last year, and CSU's hyped true frosh QB didn't light the Pack secondary on fire either.

Eh, CSU is awful. Let's see how improved Nevada looks after Cal.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Eh, CSU is awful. Let's see how improved Nevada looks after Cal.

I will be watching tonight with great interest. Does anyone know the Vegas line?

My ADR6300 feels remorse

[Goatnapper'96]

Losing Harvey Unga hurts more than I realized it would.

Having a stellar or even steady running game would take a great amount of pressure off whoever the starting quarterback is. Plus Tonga and Unga were great blockers.

I don't think Nelson is your answer. But I can see the logic in giving him at least the first half against FSU so as to keep Heaps from becoming shell-shocked and possibly injured.

I can't say I think much of your current backfield, but you play the hand you are dealt. DeLuigi was fumble prone last year as well and Kariya would be honorable mention All Big Sky.

You also lost not one but two very good TE's. Which begs the question: Couldn't a little mission-juggling have given George a full year as a senior starter? He'd come in pretty handy this year...

I agree with you about Unga. George graduated from HS in 2002. He grayshirted the 2002 season, was on a mission for the next two seasons and then redshirted 2005. He played 06-09. I don't know how to have stretched his elgibility any farther. Saying that I doubt if BYU had George, or even Pitta, this year that would change things a great deal.

Right now the majority of BYU's best, or at least most talented, skill players are all either true or redshirt freshman- including the most important skill position which is qb. The coaching staff still sucked it against AF, mostly on defense IMO, but I really think the fan base needs to pull the string and wait to see how it all develops. This core of coaches are very good at what they do but the circumstances are unique and the only thing that will fix it is likely some time.

[jay santos]

Mila Kunis has crazy eyes.

Looking better now than when she was on 70's show. Voice of Meg Griffin? I did not know that. I don't think I could get past that.

[jay santos]

I listened to the first half of the weekly Bronco show with Wrubell on the way to work. It seems pretty clear that the strategy of who to play and when has EVERYTHING to do with developing Heaps and not much to do with the relative abilities of Heaps and Nelson.

I think they'll develop Heaps as slowly and carefully as they feel they need to, regardless of how many games we lose this year. I can't argue with this strategy.

[Sizzle]

Good comments, K-Dog, and I definitely think they should have picked Jake after the spring. He clearly performed better (despite the fact that even back then they were selling us this "they're even" crap), was deserving the moment he showed he was better, and that would have given us months to get the team on the same page and backing him up as their QB.

I understand why they held off, but I just don't buy into that line of thinking. I know they didn't want him to feel entitled, I know they felt like he hadn't paid his dues and that might irk the upperclassmen, I get all of that. And I think they felt he wasn't in the position to command the respect of the team and be a leader, and you need that at quarterback. On the other hand, you have Riley Nelson, who seems to have that mentality of the kind of kid you want to go to war with. He tough, determined, gritty, all of that.

But here's where I think the coaches whiffed on their leadership evaluation: in sports, not only do you have to have those innate leadership qualities, but you also have to be the best on the field to get the other guys to buy into you; if not, you're just Rudy. (Ok, maybe not always, but more often than not it plays out this way -- the very best players tend to be the leaders other players respect most)

I keep have Jazz flashbacks with this whole thing, but it again reminds me of another scenario the Jazz were staring down when Boozer and Deron were young. Raja Bell was one of the veterans on the team and really tried to assert himself as a leader. In many ways he was Riley. Hard-nosed, paid his dues, the coaches loved him, etc. The problem was, the other guys he was trying to "lead" (like Deron, AK and Booz) were just flat out better than him and so he didn't have their respect. He would say something to them, and they'd blow him off. And I'm sure we've all been there before. I can remember being an underclassmen in HS and having some older player tell me something and thinking, "kiss my ass, you suck and I'm better than you are anyway." It creates a sort of resentment among the younger, more talented players, and the older, more experienced players.

So that brings us to where we are now. I think a lot of players are having a similar reaction to Riley, because he's just not as good as the other kid, or the he's not as good as the kid he's trying to lead. In theory he has those qualities of a leader that you want, but he doesn't have the ability to back it up. The players around him don't respect his talent level as a QB.

I thought Raja left before Derons rookie year. Am I remembering wrong? Do you mean Captain Crunch or JetLives24x?

[Sizzle]

I listened to the first half of the weekly Bronco show with Wrubell on the way to work. It seems pretty clear that the strategy of who to play and when has EVERYTHING to do with developing Heaps and not much to do with the relative abilities of Heaps and Nelson.

I think they'll develop Heaps as slowly and carefully as they feel they need to, regardless of how many games we lose this year. I can't argue with this strategy.

This is where I'm not 100% sold on it being correct. Yes, coaches know more than we as fans, yadda yadda, but I think if you have an allegedly solid O Line you can afford to put the guy you know will eventually be your starter in. Would we be 0-2 right now? Maybe. But the offensive chemistry would probably be better off quicker instead of wondering who will play, what type of offense they will run, etc and that ultimately it will give the offense enough time by the end of the year to be clicking on all cylinders. I'd rather struggle early and finish strongly that start strong and fizzle or wallow in indecision all season and have to go through the same issues next year.

[Goatnapper'96]

This is where I'm not 100% sold on it being correct. Yes, coaches know more than we as fans, yadda yadda, but I think if you have an allegedly solid O Line you can afford to put the guy you know will eventually be your starter in. Would we be 0-2 right now? Maybe. But the offensive chemistry would probably be better off quicker instead of wondering who will play, what type of offense they will run, etc and that ultimately it will give the offense enough time by the end of the year to be clicking on all cylinders. I'd rather struggle early and finish strongly that start strong and fizzle or wallow in indecision all season and have to go through the same issues next year.

I don't think one can really argue with this point. My guess is the compelling reason to sacrifice this is to maximize the chance to win now.

I also doubt that the indecision goes forward to next year, or if it does it is probably an indicator that messrs Heaps ain't gonna be all that a bag of chips.

[Top Ute]

Eh, CSU is awful. Let's see how improved Nevada looks after Cal.

I don't disagree that CSU is awful, but BYU's offense is closer to CSU's than it is Nevada's (top 10 nationally).

[DapperDan]

I don't disagree that CSU is awful, but BYU's offense is closer to CSU's than it is Nevada's (top 10 nationally).

In passing O CSU is sadly better (74 vs 91), but for total O they are abysmal (115).

Nevada is 76th in Passing D after playing powerhouses CSU and Eastern Washington. EW had 432 total yards against Nevada (270 passing). This is not a good defense. However, if they look decent against Cal I'll consider being concerned.

[Hot Lunch]

In passing O CSU is sadly better (74 vs 91), but for total O they are abysmal (115).

Nevada is 76th in Passing D after playing powerhouses CSU and Eastern Washington. EW had 432 total yards against Nevada (270 passing). This is not a good defense. However, if they look decent against Cal I'll consider being concerned.

I am excited for the Cal/Nevada game tonight. It will be interesting to see what type of team Nevada is.