The Heaps Reclamation Project

[kccougar]

I don't remember that. Was Beck sitting merely because he was hurt? If so, it wouldn't seem to relate to this situation.

John was hurt and the coaches sat him for the Utah State game to let him heal up. John himself said later that it was very enlightening for him to sit that game out because he realized that the team performed well and that it was a huge weight off his shoulders to know that he didn't need to do it all himself.

[TheAzzuri]

To the original question, which is a good one, I don't really have any idea. I don't think anyone does, least of all Heaps. That's the most troubling thing of all.

It's been mentioned that the O Line played harder for Riley, or at least it appeared that way. I think D did as well. They are probably tired having to clean up the mess that the offense frequently leaves them.

However, I think the problems are larger than just Heaps. The offense is a complete mess right now. I know it's been said that the positional coaches dont' do a whole lot besides recruit, but I think that's BS. True, it's Doman (and ultimately Bronco's) "fault," but there isn't an offensive unit on the field that's performing up to snuff. There have been moments, but nothing sustainable. The whole offense just looks crowton-esque. There is no identity right now. Given that we play mostly high school teams from here on out (TCU just lost to SMU), who cares about the rest of the season? If we're about to join the big boys, figure it out from the top down and I think the Heaps situation will sort it out. He's a BYU QB so he's in a position of visibility (yes, that he asked for and brought on himself), but he's still a 19 year old kid.

Oh, and recruit a D1 running back for hell's sake. Seriously. Or hope to hell that Adam Hine/Timo is the second coming of Ronnie Jenkins. I'd be happy with Curtis Brown.

[Shaka]

I will support it if the coaches start him next week but it may not be the right answer to curing what ails him. Also keep in mind there may not be anything to cure. The possibility grows greater every day that Heaps may not be cut out to be a good college QB.

After thinking a bit I'd like to add to this statement.

It's imperative that an attempt at fixing what is wrong with Heaps takes place. Right now no one knows what to make of him including fans and coaches. Based on his high school performance and practice performance it would seem he has all the tools. However his game performance contradicts this in a major way. We have to find out if Jake has the goods or not for the sake of the football program. I'm not sure Jake can get fixed if he's thrown back in and suffers through the season.

I think Jake is in such a hole that he needs to be deconstructed and rebuilt. I don't think this can occur if they throw him back in this week. There is a very good chance will perform well for three games and then go to pieces against TCU suffering from the same problems that plague him now only the teammate, coach, and fan backlash will be much worse. If you think we had a QB controversy last year just wait until Jake messes up at TCU and Hawaii. Not only the fans be calling for Nelson, Hill, Lark, and Munns but quite possibly players and coaches. The whole process will be brutal for all involved and possibly put Jake beyond repair.

I think they should take the heat off Heaps and start Nelson for at least two games. This will give time for the coaches to try and figure out a way to help Jake. Jake can work on his game with relatively little pressure and be pressed into action if (some say when) Nelson gets hurt. Hopefully this will give Jake enough time to maybe get some issues resolved. It will also give him the chance to start earning back the respect of his teammates.

If Nelson defies the odds and does well finish the season with him. After the season Bronco can hire a dedicated QB coach and continue with the Heaps rehab. If Jake needs to use his redshirt year it may be a good thing.

[TripletDaddy]

It could be argued that Jake should have worked on his raw skills over the spring and summer and that maybe now is the time for him to work on them as a backup. It could also be argued that he has hasn't shown much as far as being a leader and has lost the respect of his teammates.

This thread is not about Riley Nelson. It's about bringing Jake back from the brink. He has become progressively worse as the season wore on and in spite of Hsaru's assertion that the receivers let him down on third down Heaps sucked badly against USU.

I will support it if the coaches start him next week but it may not be the right answer to curing what ails him. Also keep in mind there may not be anything to cure. The possibility grows greater every day that Heaps may not be cut out to be a good college QB.

No question that if the rumors are true, Jake should have already been doing this work.

My theory is that the time to get to work on Jake is now. he is finally humbled. He is teachable. He knows his job as a starter is tenuous at best and that he is now no longer viewed as the heir apparent. In short, this will reveal what Jake is made of mentally. This will reveal his character. Jake should not be penalized if the coaches are not giving him what he needs. Katy Lied has been beating that drum for awhile and if she is right, then much of what ails Jake is correctable. And better to address it this season in real games rather than wait until spring and begin during drills.

This season is a waste now. Jake is clearly pegged as the future. Let's ride out this season, give him what he needs, and see if he really can live up to that. And I'm not talking about beating crappy teams. I'm talking about working hard off the field and becoming a leader. If the rest of the schedule is as soft as we think, use Lark as back up. Accommodate Nelson by running more wildcat especially against soft D lines we will likely see in the second half of the season.

Abandoning Jake now for a grab bag of Nelson and Munns sends the wrong message to mentally fragile Jake, creates an even further schism in the locker room, and will cut any legs out from Jake that he barely has now. The coaches can send lots of messages this week, one of them being to the team: "hey morans, you need to play hard every down, regardless of which guy is under center. We make that call, not you." Jake has undoubtedly received his message loud and clear this weekend. He has been put on notice.

The bigger question is who will put Bronco and Doman on notice? We need a QB coach. Doman can't do both.

[TheAzzuri]

After thinking a bit I'd like to add to this statement.

It's imperative that an attempt at fixing what is wrong with Heaps takes place. Right now no one knows what to make of him including fans and coaches. Based on his high school performance and practice performance it would seem he has all the tools. However his game performance contradicts this in a major way. We have to find out if Jake has the goods or not for the sake of the football program. I'm not sure Jake can get fixed if he's thrown back in and suffers through the season.

I think Jake is in such a hole that he needs to be deconstructed and rebuilt. I don't think this can occur if they throw him back in this week. There is a very good chance will perform well for three games and then go to pieces against TCU suffering from the same problems that plague him now only the teammate, coach, and fan backlash will be much worse. If you think we had a QB controversy last year just wait until Jake messes up at TCU and Hawaii. Not only the fans be calling for Nelson, Hill, Lark, and Munns but quite possibly players and coaches. The whole process will be brutal for all involved and possibly put Jake beyond repair.

I think they should take the heat off Heaps and start Nelson for at least two games. This will give time for the coaches to try and figure out a way to help Jake. Jake can work on his game with relatively little pressure and be pressed into action if (some say when) Nelson gets hurt. Hopefully this will give Jake enough time to maybe get some issues resolved. It will also give him the chance to start earning back the respect of his teammates.

If Nelson defies the odds and does well finish the season with him. After the season Bronco can hire a dedicated QB coach and continue with the Heaps rehab. If Jake needs to use his redshirt year it may be a good thing.

I agree that Heaps needs to be rebuilt, and it might do him good to sit a couple of games. But, I'd replace Nelson with Lark in your scenario. You or I could probably win these next three games, but it will give Lark some meaningful snaps and give a chance to show what he can do. If Heaps can be saved, that's clearly the best case scenario. If not, I think Lark is a more viable solution over the course of this year and next.

I say this because I think Riley Nelson is a known commodity; Lark isn't. Maybe Lark sucks, maybe he doesn't. Get him some meaningful downs to find out. I say all this with the caveat that RN should see the ^%#^$ field. He's a great football player, but with a bad arm. I love his fire and the team does too. Find some ways to work him in. Get him some situational snaps, put him in the slot, line him up in the backfield, whatever. He's a good open field runner. Watching him bowl over three Aggie players to get a first down was my favorite offensive play of the year thus far.

[Shaka]

This season is a waste now.

I think everyone on the team and the coaches would completely disagree with you. I also disagree with you. You do not throw everyone under the bus for the sake of Jake.

[Shaka]

I say this because I think Riley Nelson is a known commodity; Lark isn't. Maybe Lark sucks, maybe he doesn't. Get him some meaningful downs to find out. I say all this with the caveat that RN should see the ^%#^$ field. He's a great football player, but with a bad arm. I love his fire and the team does too. Find some ways to work him in. Get him some situational snaps, put him in the slot, line him up in the backfield, whatever. He's a good open field runner. Watching him bowl over three Aggie players to get a first down was my favorite offensive play of the year thus far.

Everyone thought Heaps was a known commodity. Look where that got us. At this point Riley is almost as big of a mystery as Jake. Just like Jake he has never had starter snaps in practice (remember he split all of that with Jake last year) and the chance to be the guy. I'll tell you this much, right now Riley is more accurate than Jake. He isn't pinpoint but he deserves a shot to see if he can't build on last week.

People need to quit bringing up Lark. He's barely in the mix. Last summer fans were always saying that Lark should be ahead of Nelson. One problem, he couldn't beat him out. This season there were those insisting that Lark would get the nod if Heaps went down. He didn't. Lark will get a start only if both Nelson and Heaps go down.

[GrizzledVeteran]

I only remember Ja. Beck playing at USU because Jo. Beck was hurt. Maybe there was another time. Ja. Beck did have a great game, though.

John Beck had two sprained ankles and BYU started Jason because USU sucked beyond description and they knew they could win with Jason in instead of John.

[GrizzledVeteran]

I think the best thing for Jake would be to play his next game on the road, so he doesn't have the home crowd disadvantage of everyone calling for his head.

[TripletDaddy]

I think everyone on the team and the coaches would completely disagree with you. I also disagree with you. You do not throw everyone under the bus for the sake of Jake.

What do you mean throw people under the bus? Who would be thrown under the bus?

[Shaka]

What do you mean throw people under the bus? Who would be thrown under the bus?

Everyone on the team. It's not fair to to the team to say season's over, and then use it as the sole reason to try and rehabilitate a struggling quarterback.

The season is far from over. It isn't wrecked because we lost a couple of games. I for one am anxious to see how things work out. If we improve I may be buying some airline tickets to a couple away games.

[TripletDaddy]

Everyone on the team. It's not fair to to the team to say season's over, and then use it as the sole reason to try and rehabilitate a struggling quarterback.

The season is far from over. It isn't wrecked because we lost a couple of games. I for one am anxious to see how things work out. If we improve I may be buying some airline tickets to a couple away games.

It isn't the sole reason, by any stretch. There are lots of reasons....first and foremost being upside. Jake has more of it. bronco said as much after the game when he noted that jakes teammates see the potential (whether that is true is another story but it reveals what Bronco is thinking). Other reasons include the fact that Jake can throw the ball, another legitimate reason to continue to build around him. This isn't about any one reason at all, at least not in my opinion.

It comes down to this...which player has more upside? Neither is the complete package right now so which one do you invest in and develop? You cant effectively develop both this season. Clearly there is more riding on Jake than Riley so it makes sense to continue to ride that horse.

As far as the season being over, I'm not speaking literally. But what exactly are they playing for besides bowl eligibility, which I already mentioned? Bronco is wise to invest this season for next, especially if the B12 is looming on the horizon. Jake gives us the best shot IF he can get right, but he needs real games to do that. they do need 3 more wins to make it to the armed forces bowl, but that isn't much of a goal. They will get that with little problem. It is a little odd that you will go to away games only if they improve. Seems to underscore the assertion that there isn't much reason to go to away games because the season is, well, over. Not literally, but effectively.

[MarkGrace]

Just watched the Furious Monkey highlight video. Damn, that thing was a highlight video and did not make me feel good about our quarterback situation.

I wouldn't mind a look at Lark, either.

[Hsaru]

It isn't the sole reason, by any stretch. There are lots of reasons....first and foremost being upside. Jake has more of it. bronco said as much after the game when he noted that jakes teammates see the potential (whether that is true is another story but it reveals what Bronco is thinking). Other reasons include the fact that Jake can throw the ball, another legitimate reason to continue to build around him. This isn't about any one reason at all, at least not in my opinion.

It comes down to this...which player has more upside? Neither is the complete package right now so which one do you invest in and develop? You cant effectively develop both this season. Clearly there is more riding on Jake than Riley so it makes sense to continue to ride that horse.

As far as the season being over, I'm not speaking literally. But what exactly are they playing for besides bowl eligibility, which I already mentioned? Bronco is wise to invest this season for next, especially if the B12 is looming on the horizon. Jake gives us the best shot IF he can get right, but he needs real games to do that. they do need 3 more wins to make it to the armed forces bowl, but that isn't much of a goal. They will get that with little problem. It is a little odd that you will go to away games only if they improve. Seems to underscore the assertion that there isn't much reason to go to away games because the season is, well, over. Not literally, but effectively.

He isn't wanting to go to away games because we could improve, I doubt he'd be looking into tickets if we were 5-0 and riding high with Heaps, there is a different reason.

[CardiacCoug]

I think the best thing for Jake would be to play his next game on the road, so he doesn't have the home crowd disadvantage of everyone calling for his head.

Agreed. I think you start Riley against SJSU - the worst thing you could do to Jake would be to put him out there again with the fans booing and calling for Riley and bench him again in favor of Riley after a few series.

It wouldn't hurt Jake to have to watch a couple of games from the bench. And if Riley starts to look decent, it wouldn't hurt Jake to redshirt next year while Riley plays and then try to win the job for his last two years.