What were you thinking.....honestly...

[EuropeanFootballMale]

No, by having some of the greatest skill position players surrounding him during his three years and being held way below his per-game season averages in all three games. Hall was never the decisive factor in any BYU win against Utah.

I've got to agree with this. BYU beat Utah in spite of max hall. For some reason he didn't perform against Utah.

[EuropeanFootballMale]

I honestly thought we had a shot at 10 wins again. I saw losses against FSU and TCU, toss ups against Washington and Utah and was pretty confident about the rest. Not in my worst nightmare did I see 1-4. I still think the biggest disappointment of the season so far was the defensive effort against AFA. That was ridiculous.

[Portland Ute]

McCain was about a B-B+ corner at Utah. He played well but had several wtf moments that the fans will always remember(and forget that he was overall pretty good).

The cb position is scrutinized by Utah fans about as much as qb is at BYU.

My ADR6300 is having unauthorized sleepovers.

If McCain was possibly a B- corner at Utah, I'm curious who you think gets an A. Smith, Weddle... ?

[Portland Ute]

I figured BYU would be 9-3/8-4 before the season. Now becoming bowl eligible depends on beating a resurgent Aztec team at home.

You're probably crushed.

[BoylenOver]

You're probably crushed.

Now you're not even trying. Come on, you used to be good at this.

[Jarid in Cedar]

If McCain was possibly a B- corner at Utah, I'm curious who you think gets an A. Smith, Weddle... ?

That didn't translate well. B to B+ is what that meant. Weddle was by far the most skilled, accomplished he would earn an A. smith was the most physically gifted. Probably an A- due to the brevity(compared to Weddle) of his career.

My ADR6300 is having unauthorized sleepovers.

[TripletDaddy]

Having gone through the Matt Barkley drama, I can honestly say that I never expected Heaps to go undefeated, but I did expect him to lay a foundation for a solid future. True freshman generally can't win all your games for you. Thus far, I am actually really pleased with Heaps. He has a lot of work to do, but he has the tools.

I was thinking we would win approx 7 games. I was obviously off on that. I am thinking we will likely win around 5 games now. Interestingly, that may be enough to go a bowl this year...a sad commentary on the state of the college football bowl system.

I'm going to bump this and ask again for your predictions for the rest of the season. Most of us participated in this thread about 20 days ago. We have had almost a full month to learn more about this squad. Today, BYU is 3-5 with 4 games remaining: vs UNLV, @ CSU, vs New Mexico, @ Utah. BYU must win 3 of its remaining 4 to go bowling.

1. Has Heaps lived up to your honest expectations as a true freshman QB? feel free to take into account the lack of talent around him as well as his own foibles.
2. Has Bronco done a good job this season as a coach, Yes or No? Why?
3. Predict the final string.....W/L by opponent.
4. If BYU goes bowling, does the team ride the mo' to a win or does it implode for a loss?

My answers:
1. Yes. I thought he would make mistakes and hoped to see the raw talent that would provide a foundation for his junior and senior years. I am troubled by some of his decision making, even for a true freshman, but I think it is fixable. I am still high on Jake Heaps and am happy to have him. But I wasn't expecting much. Technically this is a backhanded compliment because I am acknowledging that he has accomplished little.
2. No. I feel that Bronco let the team get away from him this season. His offseason acknowledgment that he is absent in key team meetings rubbed me the wrong way. This year's team makes me question his recruiting acumen, esp the ability to plan several years out to anticipate fluctuations in talent. I think it is obvious now why we dont see many D1 coaches announce a platoon QB system going into the first game of the season. Firing Hill may have been the right thing to do, but NOT firing Anae when his offense is statistically miserable raises question marks. Some of his post game comments have been ridiculous, reaching its crescendo when he proclaimed that he was happy with progress after getting pummeled yet again for another loss. These recent announcements that he is now doing the basic things that all coaches should be doing from Day 1 also leave me a bit cold.

I think Bronco is a great coach. I don't think he is has done a great job this season thus far, although I'm happy with the progress he is making! I think Bronco has had an excellent career at BYU. All coaches have bad seasons. Ask Urban. Ask Pete.

3.I'm sticking to my gunzz.....BYU finishes 3-1 and goes bowling.
UNLV: W
New Mexico: W
CSU: W (barely)
Utah: L (not barely)

4. BYU has traditionally under-performed in bowls. The Utes have the historical bowl mojo. When they go to bowls, they win. For whatever reason, BYU does not. This team does not strike me as a team to break that mold. I think BYU goes to a crappy bowl and loses to a crappy opponent. I also reserve the right to strap on my blue goggles after the bowl invite and change my prediction to a big fat W.

[UtahDan]

Heaps at this point reminds me of Jeff George or Jay Cutler. The laser rocket arm (winking at you Peyton Manning) is mesmerizing. So mesmerizing that it temps one to not focus on the bad judgement and the difficulty with other throws. The difference of course is that those two guys are finished product and this kid is, well, a kid. From a fan's perspective I think you would prefer to have seen progress instead of, arguable, regression. Still, I think he was brought in too soon and asked to do too much and it unraveled his confidence. That is not really his fault. My belief is that Bronco should have gone with the older guy and been ready to take the heat from the fans in an effort to protect his young guy, then bring him in later in the year or next year. Do all the people who said "all things being equal, give the young guy experience and throw him into the fire" still think they were right?

Anyway, the real question, I think, will be what does he look like through the first few games of next year. If there is real improvement, then he is who you thought he was when you recruited him. If there isn't, then he is who he appears to be now. I don't think anyone will know until this time next year.

[Flystripper]

1. No. Jake should be better at this point in the season. The crappiness of of the skilled positions around him have made him look worse than he is but he should still be ahead of where he is at even considering the horrible 2 headed QB monster. Jake was here for spring, summer, and fall. In addition, at this point Jake has had quite a lot game reps against decent competition even with splitting reps early in the season. We should be seeing big steps in improvement thus far and we have not. IMHO Jake and Doman share the blame on his slow development thus far.

2. Bronco has done an overall poor job as a head coach this season. However, so far he has done a decent job as a DC this season (for 3 games). The 2 headed monster was a mistake. It hurt both Riley and Jake. Any time you have to fire one of your assistants mid season it does indicate that there was poor management from the top.

3. 5-7 I thought the team would go 7-5 or 8-4 at best so really it comes down to the losses at AF, USU, and CSU (maybe). AFA and USU are on Bronco. Yes I know Hill was the DC, but he needed to be more involved especially against USU when he already knew how shitty Hill was in preparing for variations of the option (AFA and UNR). This season is on Bronco because even with our shitty O our defensive problems against option teams could have been corrected with just a bit more proactive management.

UNLV - W
UNM - W
CSU - L it is a winnable game
Utah - L blowout loss

4. I don't think BYU goes bowling, but I do admit that it is still possible.

[Flystripper]

Do all the people who said "all things being equal, give the young guy experience and throw him into the fire" still think they were right?

All things are never equal even when they appear to be.

[Goatnapper'96]

I am disapointed in Heaps' progression, but I am not as convinced it is all him. I just think the offensive side of the ball is an absolute mess and some direction and clarity would put him in far better circumstances to succeed. Saying that, I was expecting him to be better.

I think Bronco is doing a good job as a HC this year, however I think he did a poor job in some aspects the past few years. I think bad head coaching reveals itself in time and not so frequently at the present. I think Bronco lost his way a bit and it took some time, and some serious beatdowns by inferior programs (notice I said programs and not teams) to wake him up and bring him to his senses. I think he has refound them and I think his influence on the program will be noticeable the next couple of years.

I think the team wins the next 3 and goes to a bowl game and I think they win the bowl game. I also think Heaps will have his best game of the year in the bowl game.

Edit: I was expecting at least two more wins at this point. I thought BYU would beat USU under any circumstances and then win at least 1 out of 2 between AFA and Nevada.

But I am a homer that did not see the issues with Mendenhall building up that others saw.

[Goatnapper'96]

All things are never equal even when they appear to be.

The biggest issue with Heaps development was the shitty play of the defense early in the year. If the defense played the way it has the past 3 weeks, and the way most of us were expecting this year, I think the AF game and Nevada games are close throughout. Perhaps BYU still wins, but nobody is asking the freshman or junior qb to come back and keep up with the opponent who seems to be scoring at will.

The gameplans BYU used the past few weeks is what BYU wanted to do all year but it was not possible against AF, FSU and Nevada.

[jay santos]

1. Has Heaps lived up to your honest expectations as a true freshman QB? feel free to take into account the lack of talent around him as well as his own foibles.
2. Has Bronco done a good job this season as a coach, Yes or No? Why?
3. Predict the final string.....W/L by opponent.
4. If BYU goes bowling, does the team ride the mo' to a win or does it implode for a loss?

1. Emphatically no. I'm still holding out hope for his future, even in the short term. But he has been awful and there are no excuses--coaching, talent, schedule--that can account for it.
2. Incomplete as the season's in progress but Yes and No, mostly yes. I think a large degree of coaching is done in the form of recruiting and program management before the season starts. In that area, he gets a C. The roster is not that talented and it's his fault. I think some of his midseason adjustments have been good, ie taking over as DC and moving to smash mouth offense. I still don't think the two QB system was bad, though he admits he thinks it was a mistake.
3. W-L-W-L for 5-7 I just don't think we have the firepower to beat CSU on the road.
4. If they do make it, it will all depend on the opponent. I'll put the threshhold at about #60. If we play team ranked better than #60 (which would be likely in a bowl), we lose.

[Surfah]

I am disapointed in Heaps' progression, but I am not as convinced it is all him. I just think the offensive side of the ball is an absolute mess and some direction and clarity would put him in far better circumstances to succeed. Saying that, I was expecting him to be better.

I think Bronco is doing a good job as a HC this year, however I think he did a poor job in some aspects the past few years. I think bad head coaching reveals itself in time and not so frequently at the present. I think Bronco lost his way a bit and it took some time, and some serious beatdowns by inferior programs (notice I said programs and not teams) to wake him up and bring him to his senses. I think he has refound them and I think his influence on the program will be noticeable the next couple of years.

I think the team wins the next 3 and goes to a bowl game and I think they win the bowl game. I also think Heaps will have his best game of the year in the bowl game.

But I am a homer that did not see the issues with Mendenhall building up that others saw.

Along with what you said though, I wonder how long we see Bronco as a HC. I think he's realized this season what it takes to sustain a program. I am not saying he took his foot off the pedal, but I think he realized that he can't leave everything to his assistants. I just don't know that Bronco wants that grind forever. I may be completely off on all of this, but I could see Bronco being perfectly content as a DC the rest of his career.

[jay santos]

Along with what you said though, I wonder how long we see Bronco as a HC. I think he's realized this season what it takes to sustain a program. I am not saying he took his foot off the pedal, but I think he realized that he can't leave everything to his assistants. I just don't know that Bronco wants that grind forever. I may be completely off on all of this, but I could see Bronco being perfectly content as a DC the rest of his career.

Good point. I think he'll have to identify a successor at DC over the next few years, and if he can't find one it's probably not a bad guess that he'll bow out early. He knows what it takes to win and it might just require more from him personally than he's able to give long term.