The Official Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Thread

[oxcoug]

I think Nelson will materially improve his passing,

I want to believe this - but I can't see any reason to. Why do you?

[Shaka]

That's not saying much though since our SOS was one of the worst in the country. Tulsa wasn't a bad team. They also finished 3rd in Conference USA.

San Juan Sun expressed my feelings best without any of the emotion I've attached to this season (though with his use of terms like fraudulent and cognitive dissonance it felt like a Foyer post).

That SJS is an articulate fellow.

[jay santos]

I want to believe this - but I can't see any reason to. Why do you?

I thought he improved last year to this year. And had basically nothing invested him by the coaching staff during that time period. I don't expect drastic improvement, but I expect a little.

The most improvement a QB makes is between his first year starting and second year starting. That was Heaps this year and should be Nelson next year.

[Hsaru]

Something is very clear after watching what Doman put out there on offense after a month to prepare, he is not and definitely was not enough of a master of his craft to make such a huge program-changing decision early into the season, deciding that it wasn't his fault but his young QB's fault for the complete dysfunction of almost every player on the offense. His "gut decision" as he called it cost us our QB for 2013 and 2014, and if we had an offseason competition our 2012 QB.

If we still had Anae and complete continuity in offensive scheme and play-calling you go ahead and make the decision to bench the QB, but when you have a first year OC clearly scrambling from week to week to put out fires and find something that works, looking for any reason on a selfish level to try and get the heat off himself for the poor performance of the O, I don't think you allow him to make that decision especially when you have a team like SJSU coming up.

That Tulsa performance was a disgusting display of offensive gameplanning/playcalling, did we get a single positive thing out of the 3 back sets he kept trying to trot out there to make our run game "dangeorus"?. Seems like only a handful of plays were executed with any sort of precision.

[Shaka]

When are you going to realize that the scheme change/Anae replacement was in part driven by the Heaps camp? Jake did not like Anae. Why don't you place some of the blame on Jake?

[Surfah]

When are you going to realize that the scheme change/Anae replacement was in part driven by the Heaps camp? Jake did not like Anae. Why don't you place some of the blame on Jake?

I have no idea how much of this is true. But if it is then the handling/benching of Heaps is even more curious.

[Shaka]

Most of what I heard was on TBS chat which a certain someone's mother participated on at the time. There were blogs going crazy about Anae handcuffing Jake. I heard about the rift from others as well. I'm pretty sure it was discussed ad nauseum on this board and CB. Jake felt hamstrung by Anae because of the conservative play calling. This disgust was illustrated when Jake purposely lobbed a ball downfield vs USU for an interception.

[Surfah]

Most of what I heard was on TBS chat which a certain someone's mother participated on at the time. There were blogs going crazy about Anae handcuffing Jake. I heard about the rift from others as well. I'm pretty sure it was discussed ad nauseum on this board and CB. Jake felt hamstrung by Anae because of the conservative play calling. This disgust was illustrated when Jake purposely lobbed a ball downfield vs USU for an interception.

I am aware of the stories, my point is I find it difficult that an 18 year old kid had much to do with the firing of Anae and promotion of Doman. And if Heaps was responsible, then one would think that Doman would have handled the whole situation a bit more delicately, no? If anything, to me this reflects more poorly on Bronco than anyone else.

[mtnbiker]

Something is very clear after watching what Doman put out there on offense after a month to prepare, he is not and definitely was not enough of a master of his craft to make such a huge program-changing decision early into the season, deciding that it wasn't his fault but his young QB's fault for the complete dysfunction of almost every player on the offense. His "gut decision" as he called it cost us our QB for 2013 and 2014, and if we had an offseason competition our 2012 QB.

If we still had Anae and complete continuity in offensive scheme and play-calling you go ahead and make the decision to bench the QB, but when you have a first year OC clearly scrambling from week to week to put out fires and find something that works, looking for any reason on a selfish level to try and get the heat off himself for the poor performance of the O, I don't think you allow him to make that decision especially when you have a team like SJSU coming up.

That Tulsa performance was a disgusting display of offensive gameplanning/playcalling, did we get a single positive thing out of the 3 back sets he kept trying to trot out there to make our run game "dangeorus"?. Seems like only a handful of plays were executed with any sort of precision.

Man, when will you stop whining and crying about Heaps? He's gone. Let it go. Who cares anymore where the blame lies? Hopefully all parties will learn from it and do better in the future.

A bigger thing to me, that nobody seems to mention, is how the team responded to each QB. The team rallied around Nelson. They were excited to have him in the game. I don't think that's about a bunch of upperclassmen hating Heaps for not paying his dues; it's more about Nelson's energy and willingness to lay it all out for the team. If you're a coach and see the team rally around someone like that, what do you do? You play the person that not only gets his own job done, but also gets the entire team fired up.

I had high hopes for Heaps, but he didn't do the job. In some cases, he didn't even try. Nelson did. I think the coaches made the right call on that one. I hope Riley can continue to improve, and I hope the coaches can, too.

[Viking]

Man, when will you stop whining and crying about Heaps? He's gone. Let it go. Who cares anymore where the blame lies? Hopefully all parties will learn from it and do better in the future.

A bigger thing to me, that nobody seems to mention, is how the team responded to each QB. The team rallied around Nelson. They were excited to have him in the game. I don't think that's about a bunch of upperclassmen hating Heaps for not paying his dues; it's more about Nelson's energy and willingness to lay it all out for the team. If you're a coach and see the team rally around someone like that, what do you do? You play the person that not only gets his own job done, but also gets the entire team fired up.

I had high hopes for Heaps, but he didn't do the job. In some cases, he didn't even try. Nelson did. I think the coaches made the right call on that one. I hope Riley can continue to improve, and I hope the coaches can, too.

Hsaru is a Heaps family member, I believe, so as much as I'd wish she would go away, I can understand the emotion involved.

[Shaka]

I am aware of the stories, my point is I find it difficult that an 18 year old kid had much to do with the firing of Anae and promotion of Doman. And if Heaps was responsible, then one would think that Doman would have handled the whole situation a bit more delicately, no? If anything, to me this reflects more poorly on Bronco than anyone else.

I said Heaps bares partial responsibility not all of it. It's also known that Doman and Reynolds weren't having warm fuzzies for Anae.

You're absolutely right about Bronco. Letting any recruit have any sort of say regarding personel is a bad thing. I've posted elsewhere that the Heaps era should give Bronco a lot of opportunities to mature as a coach when it comes to high profile recrutes. I think Bronco is smart enough to have learned his lesson.

[dabrockster]

Something is very clear after watching what Doman put out there on offense after a month to prepare, he is not and definitely was not enough of a master of his craft to make such a huge program-changing decision early into the season, deciding that it wasn't his fault but his young QB's fault for the complete dysfunction of almost every player on the offense. His "gut decision" as he called it cost us our QB for 2013 and 2014, and if we had an offseason competition our 2012 QB.

If we still had Anae and complete continuity in offensive scheme and play-calling you go ahead and make the decision to bench the QB, but when you have a first year OC clearly scrambling from week to week to put out fires and find something that works, looking for any reason on a selfish level to try and get the heat off himself for the poor performance of the O, I don't think you allow him to make that decision especially when you have a team like SJSU coming up.

That Tulsa performance was a disgusting display of offensive gameplanning/playcalling, did we get a single positive thing out of the 3 back sets he kept trying to trot out there to make our run game "dangeorus"?. Seems like only a handful of plays were executed with any sort of precision.

One thing is very clear. You have such a hard on for Jake it has rendered you with any rational thought nor the ability to lay any blame at the hands of your lover..

[Surfah]

Watching the replay of the game, KVN really saved our ass in that game. His two huge plays on that series after Riley's pick were amazing. The first one he read the play and beat the TE that was to block him to the play. The second he freelanced a bit and waited for the blocks to set up and then shot through the open hole for the sack. The dude is a beast. I am expecting big things next year out of him.

[MarkGrace]

That was more than 17 years ago, but just last week BYU did the same thing to Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl. With 11 seconds left and his sideline screaming for him to spike it, BYU quarterback Riley Nelson instead gave his team the "fake spike" call, and receiver Cody Hoffman picked up on it. Tulsa relaxed. BYU scored a weenie touchdown to win 24-21.

"We have a fake spike play," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall explained afterward. He might have been bragging.

The touchdowns counted -- for Marino, and for BYU -- but that's a cowardly move. Look, there's a saying that goes, "All's fair in love and war," and maybe that's true. I don't know. But all's not fair in sports. It's an athletic competition, not a life-or-death battle for land. There's something to be said for losing with honor.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/1...eak-tomfoolery

This guy is a weenie.

[Jarid in Cedar]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/1...eak-tomfoolery

This guy is a weenie.