BYU vs TCU 2011: The long-haired assassin goes to Dallas

[KillerDog]

Exactly. Nelson's red zone turnovers killed any chance this team had to win. And those turnovers were on him. A guy with a week arm throwing off his back leg and throwing as he is going to the ground is about as stupid as you can get.

I don't think many people here ever thought Nelson was the answer at QB for BYU. This game just highlighted that fact for us all. Nelson will have the apparent bounce back games until we play Hawaii because Bronco will shrug this game off as a one time thing. Personally I say get Lark some snaps, but I have been saying that since it was clear that Heaps was not right. This team is going to be 8-4 or 9-3 with anyone at QB. Its time to see who can beat GT, Utah and Boise in 2012 because we are going to get a few extra weeks of practice as a result of our crappy bowl. The bowl game won't mean much, but the practice time will. Especially if you want to see what Lark can do.

This is correct. The coaching staff have collectively done a poor job of reassessing the QB position. The "other two" need to get a chance to come up to speed and then a competition needs to ensue. The last time they were truly allowed to compete, Lark was just barely home from his mission and Munns was still preaching the word. This whole debacle can be fixed if a coach shows the kind of brash confidence that Riley has. I expected Doman to at least have that as a coach. Sure, he is iffy on his ability to judge talent and iffy on his play calling (although that seems to be improving) but he should be able to make dramatic and confident decisions. Maybe one day he will also know how to anticipate the failure of his fair-haired boy. Had he done that we might be in decent shape right now instead of staring at a QB controversy for the next couple of years.

[KillerDog]

He didn't throw that ball into the ground. It was in the receivers hands and he dropped it then the receiver laid there while TCU covered up the ball. Riley should have taken the sack but to say the turnover is all on him is ridiculous.

The receiver was 5 yards downfield and tried to come back to the ball but it was so far off the mark that he couldn't get it. I don't think your description of him lying there is accurate. I've re-watched that play about 20 times. the fumble is completely on Nelson. TCU covered that ball before the receiver even finished sliding from coming back and trying to get the ball.

[oxcoug]

The receiver was 5 yards downfield and tried to come back to the ball but it was so far off the mark that he couldn't get it. I don't think your description of him lying there is accurate. I've re-watched that play about 20 times. the fumble is completely on Nelson. TCU covered that ball before the receiver even finished sliding from coming back and trying to get the ball.

The turnover is (a) on Nelson but (b) it looks to me like Holt should have made a hell of a lot more effort than he did. Every kid who has played football since his pre-teen years the way Holt has knows that when there is any question about a ball being live or not your job is to become a snarling, hissing, clawing wolverine and punch your opponent in the balls until possession is beyond dispute.

Some coach should have been in Holt's grill coming off the field for not going mental to get after that ball.

But the blame is still on Nelson.

[jay santos]

He didn't throw that ball into the ground. It was in the receivers hands and he dropped it then the receiver laid there while TCU covered up the ball. Riley should have taken the sack but to say the turnover is all on him is ridiculous.

I blame Nelson for that one. He was going down and he made a frantic backwards pass which was very risky. It was a really dumb play. But I've expressed several times that with Nelson you have a guy that makes things happen. You take the good with the bad.

[jay santos]

Nelson's rushing stats

4 sacks for -36 yards

19 rushes for 120 yards

I think it's difficult to overstate the positive effect on an offense that a QB that runs for 120 yards in a game has. His 112 pass rating was a failure, but combined with the running and given the opponent and the nature of the game, trying to come back from large deficit, I put his performance as a B-.

[Coach McGuirk]

Slept on it. Coaching is still suspect number one and Riley is not the answer at qb.

[EuropeanFootballMale]

I'd take Nelson as starter for 4 more years if it meant Bronco was gone today.

[Moliere]

The receiver was 5 yards downfield and tried to come back to the ball but it was so far off the mark that he couldn't get it. I don't think your description of him lying there is accurate. I've re-watched that play about 20 times. the fumble is completely on Nelson. TCU covered that ball before the receiver even finished sliding from coming back and trying to get the ball.

You might be right. I was at the game in the play was on the other side of the field so I didn't get a good look. The replay on the TV at the game was not very good also. Regardless the ball hits you in a hand you need to catch it or jump on the ball and play until the whistle blows and I didn't see the receiver do that.

It was a stupid play by Nelson but there seem to be a lack of effort on the receiver as well.

[BemidjiCoug]

We lost by 10,Riley cost us 14, but no doubt he should be the starter, eh? Gotcha.

And I love how you guys can predict so accurately what would have happened had another qb been in the game.

Heaps played like shit against opponents that aren't top 25 caliber teams, hell some of them wouldn't crack the top 75 teams in the nation (this year). I'm not saying that Nelson is great. I just think that with Doman as the O coordinator Nelson is the much better fit.

Your right I can't predict how Heaps would have played. I can just look at how he as played against teams that are worse than TCU and make a judgement on that.

Heaps in the Game: 80 points in 20 quarters of play 14 of which weren't scored by the offense

Nelson in the Game:158 points 17 quarters of play 7 of which weren't scored by the offense

I'm sure heaps was just playing down to his competition and would have stepped up his game on national TV with a defense all over him. Yeah I'm sure he would have been great.

[Viking]

How he bounces back vs. Idaho should be telling. I love indy

[New Mexican Disaster]

There is absolutely no way we would have ever been in the game if it were not fro Riley Nelson's ability to put pressure on the defense with his running. We would have had our asses handed to us like we have the last few years when we try to throw to our slow receivers and take sack after effing sack.

Nelson made some incredibly stupid errors, and that is a shame because his play is the reason that we were even in the game in the first place. If he can learn to stop trying to throw when he is in the grasp he is going to be good enough to let our defense win some tough games.

[venkman]

There is absolutely no way we would have ever been in the game if it were not fro Riley Nelson's ability to put pressure on the defense with his running. We would have had our asses handed to us like we have the last few years when we try to throw to our slow receivers and take sack after effing sack.

Nelson made some incredibly stupid errors, and that is a shame because his play is the reason that we were even in the game in the first place. If he can learn to stop trying to throw when he is in the grasp he is going to be good enough to let our defense win some tough games.

Agreed. With our D and receivers who can make plays, Riley is a QB we can win with. His judgement errors can be fixed.

[Shaka]

I can predict what would have happened to Jake. TCU would have put on even more pressure and he would have been in deep doo doo. With no chance to avoid the rush and the poor offensive line play Jake would have been a sitting duck. He would have lived with those one or two yard outs.

[Hsaru]

I can predict what would have happened to Jake. TCU would have put on even more pressure and he would have been in deep doo doo. With no chance to avoid the rush and the poor offensive line play Jake would have been a sitting duck. He would have lived with those one or two yard outs.

Texas had a better defense. Much better D Line, better Lbers, better corners, safeties might be a wash both weren't that good.

[Shaka]

Texas had a better defense. Much better D Line, better Lbers, better corners, safeties might be a wash both weren't that good.

Texas didn't bring as much pressure as TCU brought last night. Better but not that much better. TCU has some nice linebackers and a decent D line. Our line was consistently getting blown up by them.