BYU, do you know the way to San Jose?

[Eddie]

I listened to the post game until about 1:30, and they basically made the argument that We'd have lost 20-7 instead of 20-13 if Riley wasn't out there giving their all.

Nate Meikle is clearly part of the collective as well, with his fifth grade assessment of "well, the coaches have watched these guys in practice, so clearly they know better."

Clearly, coaches have never been wrong before.

I have been saying this for a long time. I always get shouted down with the retort of "why didn't he beat out Nelson?!" Yeah well sometimes coaches are stupid and sometimes they suck at their jobs. Unfortunately BYU has a case of both.

This should be easy for Doman to figure out, shouldn't it? Isn't it HIS story - do a degree, anyway. Doman was what - 3rd or 4th string? He only got in to play because all of the guys ahead of him were hurt and couldn't go.

And when he finally gets into a game, all he does is run of a winning streak of 14 games in a row.

Yeah - the coaches are there for every practice. But you can't just see what happens during practice. There is more to it.

The more I think about this supposedly great story of Riley fighting back and winning the starting job with grit and hard work, the more annoyed I get. When Heaps won the job, they tried to switch him to safety but he wouldn't have it. Then he requests to playe special teams to "get on the field and help his team" and the coaches allow it?

If I were coach and my 2nd string qb asked to play special teams, my response would be: I need my qbs ready to play, including the 2nd string. I can't risk i juring my qb2 on special teams. If you insist on playing special teams, that's fine. But we'll be moving you to 4th string qb so a player who is less at risk will be getting 2nd team reps and be prepared to play if needed. Or you can switch to safety or slot and play all the special teams you want.

I don't have a problem with players fighting to be where they want to be. Heck, if the coaches had their way Steve Young would've been playing defense instead of sitting in the 7 spot on the QB depth chart. But he fought and worked his way up to start. Good for him. If Riley wanted to fight to be the QB, good for him. But if he can't perform as the QB, then it is time to play someone else. Let him keep fighting if he wants to, but play someone who can do it.

[Coach McGuirk]

BYU Football @byu_cougars_fb Congratulations to our punter Riley Stephenson for earning his fifth FBS Independent Special Teams Player of the Week honor!

[smokymountainrain]

Holy hell.

[Cougarmandias]

I took my wife out to the temple and dinner on Saturday for our anniversary instead of watching the game. I fully expected that this sacrifice would earn me some nice blessing.

It turns out the sacrifice *was* the blessing.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I took my wife out to the temple and dinner on Saturday for our anniversary instead of watching the game. I fully expected that this sacrifice would earn me some nice blessing.

It turns out the sacrifice *was* the blessing.

This is a good lemons-lemonade post. Well done, sir.

[Flystripper]

It is about more than Riley and the bad offense. After the loss to Utah there was nothing to play for. Independence is awful, I have basically lost all interest in BYU football. I'd much rather be watching them play CSU, Wyoming, AFA, SDSU with games that might still mean winning a conference.

Don't get me wrong, Riley is awful and the offense is boring and painful, but the lack of interest runs a lot deeper than that. I watched every minute of 0-3 against Utah in 2003, that offense was every bit as unproductive as this year.

You hear that SJS? Another one joins our ranks.

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[The_Douger]

Let me preface this comment by saying I absolutely hate when we lose, but if this loss leads to expediting some of the things that need to happen regarding the coaching staff, then I'm ok with it.

[Flystripper]

This is where I sit. I am just losing the interest neccesary to put in the investment to go down to the games. If I lived along the WF it might be different but I am losing the belief it is worth it. The program is waning the intensity and excitement it brought out of and to me. I think it is due to many reasons, a mixture of self-inflicted wounds and challenges outside of BYU's control.

Dropping like flies SJS!

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[Jeff Lebowski]

I've got 'em but let's do lunch anyway.


BYU Football has now been put in a position that makes succeeding as a quality football program extremely difficult. Lack of a quality conference, poor late season schedule, increased academic standards for athletes, the honor code, and the rise of quality alternative programs (i.e. U of U and USU) for LDS athletes are hamstringing the program in a way that will make it difficult to recruit the number of high-caliber athletes that BYU needs.

Consider that many players from BYU's glory days would not even qualify academically under current BYU standards. Nor were many of them raise the bar type of guys in high school to the degree that BYU now wants.

Tell me about these new increased academic standards. I must have missed that.

Also, how do you figure that the honor code is new?

(You are right. You do sound just like byu71 now)

[Moliere]

I love BYU football today as much as I did in 1996 and 2001 (per Hawaii game). I hate Riley. I used to defend him but now I know he sucks. I'm a slow learner. I'm afraid my love might not last through the Bronco era.

Ill hit the Notre Dame game this year, but I couldn't imagine going to LES every Saturday and watching Riley play hero ball.

[TexTechCoug]

I don't believe it is a systemic problem. There are systemic challenges, but the root of the problem is Bronco.

Bronco fired Anae because they didn't get along and, due to his mancrush on Doman, promoted Brandon to a position he was not qualified or equipped to handle. Doman sucks as OC and has over the course of two seasons made our offense into a joke.

Bronco's mancrush tendency also has given us 3 years of horrible QB and personnel decisions. Anyone with half a brain can see that Nelson is awful, but Bronco won't budge because of Riley's grit.

Finally, Bronco is a stubborn asshat and thinks everyone not name Bronco knows anything about football, so when we complain he just digs in his heels like a 5 year-old determined to show he is right.

BYU can still compete, I don't hate independence, Mendenhall should only ever be the DC against option teams, Brandon should be looking for a new day job, as should Weber.

BYU needs a new coaching staff, keep Kaufusi and Cahoon and pretty much jettison the rest of the staff.

[byu71]

Tell me about these new increased academic standards. I must have missed that.

Also, how do you figure that the honor code is new?

(You are right. You do sound just like byu71 now)

You must be quite young. He said the glory days and those days ended at least in 1996 if not earlier.

Go back prior to Tuckett being let go or I guessed he resigned and tell me the academic standards weren't easier and the HC wasn't as strictly enforced.

If you do that and are realistic, you will sound like me too.

[Jeff Lebowski]

You must be quite young. He said the glory days and those days ended at least in 1996 if not earlier.

Go back prior to Tuckett being let go or I guessed he resigned and tell me the academic standards weren't easier and the HC wasn't as strictly enforced.

If you do that and are realistic, you will sound like me too.

No I won't.

Shaka also said that the admin is the problem, not Bronco. That is crazy crazy talk. Look what you are doing to the poor guy.

[Surfah]

I've swung completely over to your view. You now have a disciple. The admin has created an environment that will make it tough for BYU to be competitive in a major conference. Holmoe and Bronco are gritting their teeth and doing their best but as of now the situation is untenable. For a variety of factors BYU now does not have a big enough talent pool to pull quality athletes.

Dude, I cannot disagree more with you. The talent pool isn't big enough? That is a lame excuse for the failures of this team.

The talent on this team is arguably the best it has been in a long time. Maybe ever. I'd argue we have legit talent and damn near every position except on the OL and defensive backfield. We have WRs and LBs that would start at most other programs in the country. We have a talented DL. We have a 17 year old true freshman running back who looks to be more talented than CB ever was.

I fully believe that this team was a John Beck or Max Hall senior season away from something special. This team has failed because of poor coaching and personnel management (see Riley Nelson).

[Jeff Lebowski]

Preach it, Surfah.