Was that a worst case scenario for our QB situation?

[Hot Lunch]

Your ribs must be really hurting then, because I can only imagine the laugh fest you had from watching your boy Hays sling the pigskin around.

I loved how he flashed the U sign after each semi good play he had though. Sadly, he didnt have the opportunity to pop it out much.

Hays didn't look like a complete fool throwing the ball straight up in the middle of the of the field not knowing who was around. Both Hays and Riley threw the same amount of picks on Saturday didn't they? I would say ASU is a little bit better competition that SJSU.

[Shaka]

I honestly thought that Riley started out the game playing well. He progressively got worse as the game went on. I thought he was really bad in the 2nd half. I actually laughed out loud when he played 500 (3 flys up) in the 3rd or 4th quarter.

That little play was far more concerning to me than the picks. That can't happen again.

I thought he played well through the first and most of the second. He went downhill when he threw the first pick and continued to play poorly through the third. I thought he picked things back up in the fourth quarter.

[Tone Loc]

Hays didn't look like a complete fool throwing the ball straight up in the middle of the of the field not knowing who was around. Both Hays and Riley threw the same amount of picks on Saturday didn't they? I would say ASU is a little bit better competition that SJSU.

Only if 3=2.

[cougjunkie]

That little play was far more concerning to me than the picks. That can't happen again.

I thought he played well through the first and most of the second. He went downhill when he threw the first pick and continued to play poorly through the third. I thought he picked things back up in the fourth quarter.

After BYUs last TD, Riley went 4-10 for 61 yards. Not sure he ever picked it up after that. I am not sure what happened but he seemed to lose a little of that swagger.

[Blueintheface]

After BYUs last TD, Riley went 4-10 for 61 yards. Not sure he ever picked it up after that. I am not sure what happened but he seemed to lose a little of that swagger.

Getting popped a few times probably had something to do with that. I'm sure also playing 4 quarters of football for the first time in forever played a part as well.

[Surfah]

After BYUs last TD, Riley went 4-10 for 61 yards. Not sure he ever picked it up after that. I am not sure what happened but he seemed to lose a little of that swagger.

I think losing that swagger was maybe the realization that he's now a game manager and not a game saver. It's a whole different animal coming in with nothing to lose, than starting and trying not to lose. I am not a fan of the two QB system and Riley's redzone play hasn't been particularly inspiring, but maybe using Heaps like Leak and Riley like Tebow could get the ball into the endzone more.

[Guest]

I honestly don't believe the issue is really Jake vs. Riley. I do believe Jake has had issues with confidence but I believe that is more to do with the terrible game plan and play calling coming from Doman. It also hasn't helped Jake when the O-Line has played well below their ability and the WRs have not been able to solve their drops.

Riley simply adds a different dynamic with his ability to run and is a much more vocal leader than Jake but as we saw against SJSU, the play calling was still pretty poor in certain situations.

On pass plays Doman goes the Crowton route and tries to out think the DC only to the detriment to himself. Really good Offensive Coordinators, will continue to go back to what works well and Doman has not done this. Against SJSU, how many times did we throw to the TEs in the 2nd half? Holt had only 1 ball thrown his way in the 1st half, none in the 2nd half. Wilson had no balls thrown to him in the 2nd half.

My point is, from a passing game, put your players in a position to be successful and then gradually put in more and more plays. I am hoping that Doman figures it out but I just did not like how he threw Heaps under the bus when he bears a lot of the responsibility for the offensive failures.

[smokymountainrain]

Against SJSU, how many times did we throw to the TEs in the 2nd half? Holt had only 1 ball thrown his way in the 1st half, none in the 2nd half. Wilson had no balls thrown to him in the 2nd half.

This has been a pattern all season with Doman. Use the TEs in the first half (still probably not enough) and then go entirely away from them in the second half. Makes no sense, but it seems that a lot of what Doman has done early on makes no sense.

[Pelado]

We have a rare opportunity to use the rest of the year to prepare for the next two (which could be very big) the way our schedule is shaped. It really disappoints me that we're squandering that right now.

How many starts did Bosco have before the national championship season?

[Surfah]

How many starts did Bosco have before the national championship season?

Did Jake get to sit a year watching a Davey O'Brien winner in an established offense? Your point here is meaningless.

[TripletDaddy]

Did Jake get to sit a year watching a Davey O'Brien winner in an established offense? Your point here is meaningless.

Jake was a true freshman, asked to carry the load when the QB went down with an injury (how was he injured? I don't remember but I'm willing to bet that he was popped while running around) and he subsequently went 6-4, needing a few games to get going and hit his stride. Not bad for a true freshman!

[Guest]

This has been a pattern all season with Doman. Use the TEs in the first half (still probably not enough) and then go entirely away from them in the second half. Makes no sense, but it seems that a lot of what Doman has done early on makes no sense.

That is my point. Hoffman is very rarely targeted. With his body, I would be doing slants all day long. Which, if you remember from last year, was very successful. Doman refuses to use what worked great last year as he wants to clearly show everyone that he is different than Anae. There was many things that Anae did not do well but there were many things he did that were great! Focusing and mastering a handful of plays for one. No Huddle is another. Anae's biggest downfall was his refusal to expand his playbook and gameplan against superior talent. I have no idea what Doman's offensive strategy other than he doesn't want to be Anae.

[MarkGrace]

2. Doman stated Jake had renewed his efforts in practice and is working on his issues. He also said that much of Jake's problems are in his head and that dealing with the pressure has been an issue.

This thing is all in his head. I don't doubt his ability to make throws at all, which is why I'm not buying the get better in practice or redshirt stuff. Those aren't going to fix what ails him. I'm not sure what is going to, but that he has the tools to be doing all this stuff on the field as has already been evidenced in practice.

I'm wondering how much the end of the Utah game has messed with him. I'm still of the opinion that his play was fine through Ole Miss, Texas, and Utah. Was it great? No. But he was good enough in at least half of those games and showed enough flashes to believe something good was coming. You look at those games (on the road in the SEC, on the road in the B12, rivalry game), and they are situations where our quarterbacks/offenses have universally not performed well over the last few years. With that as a benchmark, I think Jake showed well enough to believe that he was start to put it together when the competition leveled off.

Then we hit the Utah game and get our asses kicked, and like it or not, people are going to take that out on the quarterback. So we hear the boo birds at the end and noticeable excitement when Riley comes in. In the very next game is when we start to see the deer-in-the-headlights Jake that looks utterly confused and has a constant wtf look on his face, which continues through Utah St. A handful of months ago fans we're lining up blocks deep to get his autograph at fan events and didn't even know the other guy was alive, now they're booing you and cheering for the other guy. Can't be easy to process for a 20 year old kid.

[MarkGrace]

That is my point. Hoffman is very rarely targeted. With his body, I would be doing slants all day long. Which, if you remember from last year, was very successful.

Or if you remember this year from the Utah game.

[Guest]

Or if you remember this year from the Utah game.

I don't remember anything from that game except for the score and how shitty I felt afterwards.