I'm officially worried about Heaps' accuracy

[jay santos]

The reason the INT against WYO was worse was that anyone on CUF could have thrown a better pass. That was among the worst INTs I have ever seen thrown.

I look at which one has the more plausible excuse from the Heaps luvrs.

Wyoming: large amount of drops by the WR's has caused Heaps to completely change his throwing style to baby our WR's to allow them to catch the ball. The INT against Wyoming was a result of Heaps trying to spend too much energy redoing his mechanics and taking velocity off all his throws.

Utah State: Heaps was frustrated with WR's and coaches and threw the ball up in the air to prove a point.


Edge to the Wyoming INT for the more plausible excuse.

[Jacob]

The reason the INT against WYO was worse was that anyone on CUF could have thrown a better pass. That was among the worst INTs I have ever seen thrown.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201010...rs/watch#watch

It was a terrible pass, but no need to over-react.

Also, it doesn't get more bone-headed than this Favre pick from last year's NFC title game. And it was a terribly thrown ball.
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smhiIIekc8g"]YouTube - Brett Favre throws game-changing INT in NFC championship game...[/nomedia]

[KillerDog]

I hope we continue to take care of the ball by running the ball. The Heaps interception was likely the reason we ran draw plays from the spread on 3rd and 7. Frankly, I thought it was the right call and I thought the boos were coming from a place of ignorance.

I agree with Goat. Our offense asks too much mentally of the QB to start a freshman. We have to find a way to do better at managing missions, managing the honor code, and preparing kids to compete. Nelson should have been more developed by the time Hall left. The whole reason Gaskins sat down was so Nelson could develop but we failed to capitalize on it because we didn't develop the kid. Heaps should never have even considered that he could start. I would rather sit the freshmen and risk that they transfer than play them and lose. Either Lark or Munns should have been worked with to time his mission better. I understand we can't just tell the kids not to go but can't we encourage them to go at a time that won't kill their ability to play football and our ability to field a team. If either of these kids had stayed in Provo, we aren't looking at a horrible season.

[MarkGrace]

KD, you've twice made reference to Nelson's lack of development, so what do you think could have been done with the kid? If you don't have a D1 arm, then you don't have a D1 arm, so it's hard to blame it on a lack of development. There's probably a reason no D1 programs save USU offered him out of HS -- and I think we did because we saw the lack of continuity coming in our stable of QB's and were desperate enough to hope he could be a stop-gap. I guess I just don't see what was there to be developed.

[TheBYUGuy]

It is definitely most important for BYU to win three more games and get bowl eligible. Utah's BCS prospects would be greatly helped by that.

Just FYI, what BYU does the remainder of the season has no bearing on whether Utah gets to a BCS bowl (if you're assuming that Utah beats BYU). Each of BYU's other games will equal 1 win and 1 loss for Utah's opponents.

However, if you want to hope that BYU wins its next three games, I am not going to rain on your parade. Go Cougs!

[SoCalCoug]

Does anyone remember how Kyle Van Noy wasn't finding his way into games because the DC didn't trust him? Hill gets fired, Van Noy gets PT, and all of a sudden he's a star of the defense. Even when he was put in the game in certain packages by Hill, he looked a bit lost. Suddenly, and coincidentally, when Hill is gone and Bronco takes over, Van Noy figures it all out and is able to actually play?

I think the same thing's happening with Heaps. Anae is mismanaging Heaps. He's not putting him in a position to succeed, and he's not allowing him to grow into the position. It's clear Anae doesn't trust him, and that's got to be having a big effect on him.

[Jacob]

Does anyone remember how Kyle Van Noy wasn't finding his way into games because the DC didn't trust him? Hill gets fired, Van Noy gets PT, and all of a sudden he's a star of the defense. Even when he was put in the game in certain packages by Hill, he looked a bit lost. Suddenly, and coincidentally, when Hill is gone and Bronco takes over, Van Noy figures it all out and is able to actually play?

I think the same thing's happening with Heaps. Anae is mismanaging Heaps. He's not putting him in a position to succeed, and he's not allowing him to grow into the position. It's clear Anae doesn't trust him, and that's got to be having a big effect on him.

And Indy was excoriating KVN for his pathetic statistical (as in no statistics) output and for his character. I haven't seen him attacks Heaps character, so maybe the 2 are not quite analogous.

Still, I'm with you on this even though Heaps has looked worse the past 2 weeks.

[jay santos]

Does anyone remember how Kyle Van Noy wasn't finding his way into games because the DC didn't trust him? Hill gets fired, Van Noy gets PT, and all of a sudden he's a star of the defense. Even when he was put in the game in certain packages by Hill, he looked a bit lost. Suddenly, and coincidentally, when Hill is gone and Bronco takes over, Van Noy figures it all out and is able to actually play?

I think the same thing's happening with Heaps. Anae is mismanaging Heaps. He's not putting him in a position to succeed, and he's not allowing him to grow into the position. It's clear Anae doesn't trust him, and that's got to be having a big effect on him.

For the past few games, we've thrown more in the first half than the second half. What this means is that the coaches had more confidence in Heaps than he deserved. Heaps ends up hurting the team with interceptions and other poor play, and the coaches move to a more conservative game plan in the second half to minimize the damage Heaps can do. Doesn't jibe with your theory does it?

[Portland Ute]

Just FYI, what BYU does the remainder of the season has no bearing on whether Utah gets to a BCS bowl (if you're assuming that Utah beats BYU). Each of BYU's other games will equal 1 win and 1 loss for Utah's opponents.

However, if you want to hope that BYU wins its next three games, I am not going to rain on your parade. Go Cougs!

Beating a 6-5 team with a "national name" ( ) in a respected rivalry game is a lot more impressive to voters than beating a 3-8 team.

As far as computers, you are right. It won't make a difference.

Human, however, are more easily tricked.

Utah needs a solid win over a recognizable "bowl" team with a winning record to end the season to gain/maintain some clout in the Harris and Coaches Polls.

[Jacob]

For the past few games, we've thrown more in the first half than the second half. What this means is that the coaches had more confidence in Heaps than he deserved. Heaps ends up hurting the team with interceptions and other poor play, and the coaches move to a more conservative game plan in the second half to minimize the damage Heaps can do. Doesn't jibe with your theory does it?

That's backwards. vs WYO and SDSU was got solid leads and went with the running game to maintain and run the clock. Saturday he threw his TD in the 2nd half. TCU is...well...TCU.

But none of that goes to SoCal's main point, which I though was more about Heaps being mishandled than not having the confidence of the coach, though there is certainly some of that, and maybe deservedly so.

[TheBYUGuy]

A couple thoughts:

-The pick 6 was the same play they ran in Logan near the goal line when Heaps threw the ball about 8 feet over Hague's (or was it Mendenhall's?) head? My immediate thought on Saturday was that it was an incredible overcorrection to what happened against USU.

-I agree with shoganai and the pilgrim to an extent. It makes sense why he would be throwing behind crossing receivers if he takes velocity of the ball and he's not used to his new throwing style yet. Think about it.

(I'm not a QB or physicist any real or imaginary world, so these numbers are made up) If a guy is 7 yards downfield, Heaps might normally throw it to a spot 2 yards in front of the receiver at 60 MPH where it would hit Kasen Williams in the hands and he would catch it in stride. Now, if another receiver is running the same pattern, I imagine Heaps would throw to that same spot 2 yards in front of the guy, but he would take something off it. If the ball is traveling to the same spot at 45 MPH, it is going to be behind the receiver. It's probably a catchable ball, but the receiver has to stop momentum and reach back to catch it.

When it comes down to it, Indy is right that he just hasn't been accurate most of the time. If it's something with changing velocity and the spot where he needs to throw the ball, that can be improved over time I think. It could also be just a mental thing for Heaps as well.

[SeattleUte]

I think Heaps is a bust. FWIW, just my opinion.

[MarkGrace]

-I agree with shoganai and the pilgrim to an extent. It makes sense why he would be throwing behind crossing receivers if he takes velocity of the ball and he's not used to his new throwing style yet. Think about it.

He's consistently been behind receivers all year though.

[TheBYUGuy]

Beating a 6-5 team with a "national name" ( ) in a respected rivalry game is a lot more impressive to voters than beating a 3-8 team.

As far as computers, you are right. It won't make a difference.

Human, however, are more easily tricked.

Utah needs a solid win over a recognizable "bowl" team with a winning record to end the season to gain/maintain some clout in the Harris and Coaches Polls.

I think that BYU this season would need to have at least 8 or 9 wins before they would be able to trick the human pollsters into thinking that Utah is getting a decent win.

[creekster]

I think Heaps is a bust. FWIW, just my opinion.

WOw, I bet nobody saw THAT coming!