BYU's offense: Pro-style or Spread?

[BemidjiCoug]

They should use the pistol. BYU's RB's and Nelson would thrive under the system.

[jay santos]

I liked the idea of having an offense like Wisconsin and Stanford, but our OL is far from the huge, crushing OL that Jay Santos talked about.

Our OL typically ranks among the heaviest lines in the nation.

[Hsaru]

Our OL typically ranks among the heaviest lines in the nation.

I think the only teams that would consider our OL crushing is the dregs of the MWC, our run blocking has looked anything but physical against BCS teams.

[cougjunkie]

Tom Osborne already has a day job as AD at Nebraska. Besides he and and Bo Pelini have their own problems with a QB who is very fast and runs the option somewhat well but can't pass accurately, has very poor throwing mechanics, and can't read a defense very well (or at all). Many Nebraska fans want to bench him (RS-Sophomore) in lieu of an unproven RS-Freshman who they hope can pass a football with proper throwing mechanics...and to the correct team.

And BYU doesn't want Tommie Frazier as a coach. Frazier has tried the coaching profession and it ddin't work out all that well. A better option (pun intended) is Turner Gill. He's off to a rough start at Kansas and might be available soon. Best of all he's a proven QB coach. He was Frazier's QB coach (who should have won a Heisman) and Eric Crouch's QB coach who did win a Heisman (and maybe should not have).

But I think the best QB coach for Riley Nelson just might be Scott Frost who was Nebraska's QB in 1996-97. He's currently the WR coach at Oregon. Nebraska wanted to hire him but Frost wanted a promotion to OC. I bet Frost remembers enough Nebraska power option and can mix it with some Oregon style spread. But the cost for getting Frost would probably be a OC position and I doubt Brandon Doman would be cool with that.

Good call Frost could also help Uale since he played some safety with the Jets.

[jay santos]

I think the only teams that would consider our OL crushing is the dregs of the MWC, our run blocking has looked anything but physical against BCS teams.

We're talking BYU/LDS demographics in this thread. Our thing is 6-4 320 lb linemen and we do pretty good at it. I'm not sure what's wrong with our OL this year.

But they've been pretty darn good for the previous 4-5 years. IMHO, Grimes was a good coach. He got the ball rolling and Weber has picked up where he left. I've been generally very happy with the line play most of the last decade.

[Sizzle]

We're talking BYU/LDS demographics in this thread. Our thing is 6-4 320 lb linemen and we do pretty good at it. I'm not sure what's wrong with our OL this year.

But they've been pretty darn good for the previous 4-5 years. IMHO, Grimes was a good coach. He got the ball rolling and Weber has picked up where he left. I've been generally very happy with the line play most of the last decade.

And I would argue the line has disappointed since Grimes left. They've been alright, but IMO underperformed.

[KillerDog]

And I would argue the line has disappointed since Grimes left. They've been alright, but IMO underperformed.

I agree that our run game is struggling but I think it isn't the fault of the line. Last year we ran fine with the same line and the same RBs. What is different? Running back coach and offensive coordinator. Line coach is the same, RBs are the same, Oline is the same, but rb coach and OC are both different and now we can't run for shit. My opinion is that the rb coach doesn't have the rbs hitting the holes hard and our OC isn't willing to stick with the run. As a result, we can't run the ball. I suppose you can blame the oline but it doesn't make any sense.

[USCoug]

What kind of a spread offense? There are many different variations. Ones that throw more, or run more, personnel used, etc.

[Sizzle]

I agree that our run game is struggling but I think it isn't the fault of the line. Last year we ran fine with the same line and the same RBs. What is different? Running back coach and offensive coordinator. Line coach is the same, RBs are the same, Oline is the same, but rb coach and OC are both different and now we can't run for shit. My opinion is that the rb coach doesn't have the rbs hitting the holes hard and our OC isn't willing to stick with the run. As a result, we can't run the ball. I suppose you can blame the oline but it doesn't make any sense.

Except watching the game, there don't appear to be the holes one would expect to see with as senior of an OLine as we are bringing back.

Last year through 5 games we averaged 120 yards per game. This year we are at 94. Take out the Utah game and we are averaging 115 per game. Not a huge difference between this year and last to start the season. And before you claim the numbers are skewed because of a 200 plus game against Utah State, last year we had a 220 yard game against Air Force. We also had 146 against Washington, 76 yards against FSU, 91 yards against Nevada and 65 yards against Utah State. This year we had 91 yards against Ole Miss, 43 against Texas, 11 against Utah, 127 against UCF and 200 against Utah State.

So, looking at those numbers from early last year, it almost seems like we don't run the ball as well with Heaps. A big part of it is because he doesn't generate yards on the ground like Riley does (Riley averaged 50 yards rushing in 3 games last year, that is a nice boost to the rushing average) where Jake lost about 10 yards per (thank you sacks counting as rushing yards).

Now, later on in the year our ground game started picking up steam with the emergence of Juice and I think Jake being more comfortable helped loosen up defensive fronts as well. As did easier competition. After Utah State, there were 2 games where we didn't gain 200+ yards rushing. TCU and Utah... the two losses.

To me, that just underscores the importance of rushing the football. Maybe I'm off, but I think of all coaches, the RB coach is probably the least important coach on a football team. You can really make a difference in terms of ball security and pass protection IMO, but getting guys to run hard is mostly about desire that has to come from the players, not the coaches. Just my take.

This week will be interesting, because SJSU is currently ranked 95th in the country in run defense. Riley's skill sets makes us a lot more dangerous on the ground, but competition also looks like it is loosening up significantly as well.