In a wonderful Holiday edition of the podcast (and by Holiday edition, I mean it was recorded during the Holidays), Adam and Matt talk about the current state of Cougar hoops. They both express a lot of optimism about the remainder of the season, possible breaking into irrational exuberance. They answer #TweetBag questions and speculate about the destination of Jake Heaps. Matt also gets another case of the giggles. This and so much more available here and on iTunes.
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In a mammoth edition of the Rise & Shout Podcast, Adam is joined by Dick Harmon of the Deseret News to discuss Jake Heaps’ decision to leave BYU. Adam and Dick also chat about the season and the big picture of independence and conference affiliation. Matt then joins the podcast to help dissect Heaps, the coaching staff, and the 2011 season. Your TweetBag questions are answered, and Adam coats his innards with the 23 flavors of his favorite beverage. All this and much more available here and on iTunes.
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by Matt Mangum
matt@loyalcougars.com or on twitter @matt_mangum
It became official yesterday that Jake Heaps was leaving BYU. It has been interesting to follow some of the conversation on twitter regarding Heaps’ big move. I’ve recently discussed the idea of Jake Heaps transferring here on the blog. In that post I wrote that I felt it would be a mistake for Heaps to transfer. I still feel that way. I think it’s unfortunate that this has worked out this way, but at the end of the day Heaps has to do what he thinks is best for him. Having already discussed what I think a transfer means for him, I am now more interested in what his decision means for BYU football.
The answer is: not much.
Aside from the Nelson versus Heaps debate, the loss of Heaps changes very little in the short term. Most would agree that Nelson was the likely starter going into the 2012 season. He would have lasted until he got hurt or faltered. At which point Heaps may have had a chance to finish off the schedule. Many people feel that Heaps would have done better with the schedule BYU had in the second half of this season than he did with the first few games. But that belief is anchored in the quality of the opponent, not in the development curve of Heaps. Heaps has not progressed as expected. Does that mean he will not in the future? No. He just isn’t there yet. Neither of them were ready in 2010. Heaps was not ready when 2011 began. Nelson didn’t blow him out of the water, Heaps simply did not perform.Was it a scheme problem? Partially. But a better scheme doesn’t make throws more accurate, make decisions in the pocket or stay focused after taking a hit. Heaps just wasn’t ready in 2011. I don’t see the gap between them being big enough in 2011 or 2012 to make a huge difference. If the gap had been larger, there would never have been a question about who to start.
In the long term, Heaps’ transfer will have negligible impact on recruiting. For the most part BYU recruits from the same places and from the same pool of players repeatedly. Most of these players will know the story and will see it for what it is. It was a singular bad situation. This will be ancient history in 18 months or less. BYU also relies heavily on finding students who love the program and want to play specifically at BYU. Those players will not be dissuaded by Jake Heaps’ decision. Ben Olson didn’t stop Jake Heaps from coming to BYU and Jake Heaps won’t stop Tanner Mangum from coming to BYU.
I don’t wish anything bad on Jake Heaps. I don’t held this decision against him. For me, he simply becomes a quarterback at another school. It’s not at all personal for me as a fan nor should it be. Early last year I was among those that felt his talents were being squandered under the two quarterback system. I wanted Anae to give him the keys. He got the keys and made some incremental progress. This season I was disappointed with his lack of continued growth. I was continually mocked on the Rise and Shout podcast for being a Riley Nelson hater. But the fact of the matter is that when Nelson came in, the offense immediately began to get in the endzone more frequently. When that happens, the choice is clear. The team has to do what is in their best interest to win football games and Jake Heaps has to do what he feels is in his best interest to get to the next level or achieve his other goals. That’s what happened here. That’s life.
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by Matt Mangum
matt@loyalcougars.com or on twitter @matt_mangum
If we had all just read Rivals.com in August, we would have known that this was coming. BYU and Tulsa are officially going to square off in the Armed Forces Bowl.
BYU and Tulsa have played 7 times. BYU holds a 6-1 advantage in those matchups. Many of you will best remember the 2007 matchup. Max Hall threw for 537 yards. It was a 55-47 shootout that ended with a gut punch in the final minute when Andrew George fumbled the football. (George totally redeemed himself later) I’m not sure I can even talk about it without getting upset. So here we are in 2011 preparing to face Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl in Dallas, Texas. This season Tulsa’s losses came against the following schools: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State (who should be playing for a title), Boise State and Houston. Those are all decent teams and Tulsa doesn’t have much to be ashamed of there. In 2011 BYU lost to Texas, Utah and TCU. Neither of the team’s complete schedules shed much light on the matchup. There is one common opponent, Central Florida, and both teams beat the Golden Knights by a score of 24-17.
Tulsa boasts a quarterback, G.J. Kinne who has thrown for over 2800 yards and 25 TDs. Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson’s combined statistics are over 2800 yards and 25 TDs. Kinne threw for over 300 yards in five different games. As individuals, Nelson and Heaps only topped 300 yards a couple of times. That is an eery stat to me when I think about this game in the context if the 2007 matchup. The good news is that these are almost entirely different teams and the comparison is purely historical. The bad news is that Tulsa is not UTEP. This is a serious matchup against a team that can score points and move the football. This is a good chance for BYU to measure how far they have actually come this season. It should be exciting for fans and players. There are going to be alot of decisions to be made this offseason and this game may provide a good measuring stick to make quality decisions. If it does not go well, BYU heads into an offseason of uncertainty. If it does go well, it provides some serious framework for this offseason and next year.
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By Matt Mangum
matt@loyalcougars.com or on twitter @matt_mangum
A couple of months ago I read an article detailing why Jake Heaps should consider transferring to the University of Utah. Since that time, there has been a lot of other speculation about what Jake Heaps may decide to do with his football career following this season. I don’t buy for a minute that he is not seriously weighing out his options. I hope that nobody reading this article beleives that either. However, I think he would be making a mistake if he left.
Where is he going to go? Jake’s time at BYU has been stormy. In two years he has worked with two very different OCs and inside of two different offensive systems. It was pretty clear that Robert Anae had little to no confidence in Jake Heaps last year. Towards the end of the season he opened things up a little bit. However, I left that season with the feeling that Anae did not feel comfortable giving Heaps the keys to the car. The entire situatuation in 2010 was a debacle. In my opionion it was as much of a coaching failure as anything. The team started the season without a single quarterback prepared to play. So after Anae got fired and Doman was promoted to OC, Doman put together a new offensive system that should have been a place for Heaps to thrive. There were two problems with this: Heaps was not ready for primetime at the beginning of 2011 and neither was Doman’s offense. This combination was a little bit of a nightmare to watch.
So where am I going with this? Jake Heaps and the staff never seemed to dedicate any time to simply developing Jake Heaps as a quarterback. He has some great raw skills. If this is going to work, he needs time to bring those skills up to the FBS level. At BYU he has an OC with confidence in Heaps’ future. He has already spent a year working with the new system. If he transfers to another school (wherever it may be), he’ll have to sit out a year anyways and he’ll have to learn a third offensive system. He would also not learn some of the intangible lessons that he will learn if he stays. If he does stay, the right move is to redshirt him next year. This would allow him time to bring his skills up to the FBS level and time to mature as a football player and leader. I believe that this combination gives him the greatest chances of success with his remaining years of eligibility. Moving to a new system will set his career back two years with only two years of eligibility and will not provide the same growth opportunity as a leader. Staying and redshirting is likely the most difficult thing for him to do. But in the end, doing the difficult thing will likely produce the best results.
So what about Bronco? Is he going to leave for UCLA or some other crazy situation when 2011 ends? I think Bronco may get some attention from schools and his name will be mentioned in some of these conversations. The main reasons that I believe Bronco would consider leaving are: BCS access and the ability to create a new coaching staff from scratch. I believe that many of Bronco’s comments about conference realignment indicate that he would love to be with a program that had access to the BCS system. I think that is more important to him than TV contracts. He’s a coach, he wants to win championships. For this same reason, I think he would also prefer to coach a team in a conference. I am absolutely putting words into his mouth here. But, if I were in his shoes, that’s how I would feel. He also had to wait for several years before he was able to get a coaching staff together that espoused his philosophies. Were he to start at a new program, he could likely put together a similar staff of his own right away.
I think the chances of Bronco leaving are higher than the chances of Jake transferring. If Bronco gets some attention, it would be from a program with real clout. I don’t think those same types of programs are going to be coming for Heaps. I think that Heaps transferring would be a mistake, but I am not sure that I could say the same thing about Mendenhall leaving. He could be offered a job at a prestigious program for a higher paycheck. From a professional standpoint, it would be a good move for him. Heaps on the other hand is a college sophomore who wants to play in the NFL. Transferring to a lesser program where all of his current problems may still exist, will not help him got to the NFL. A Bronco departure would be worse for the program than a Jake Heaps transfer. I think this is why the mere thought of a Bronco departure gets me concerned. Is the program really in danger of losing Mendenhall? I’m not sure. But I’d feel much better about it if we knew Bronco was going to stay for the long haul. The two are in very different stages of their respective careers but could be facing some similar choices. I hope they both stay, but I’m afraid that one or both of them will decide to leave.
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In a fantastic episode 46, Adam is joined by KSL’s Greg Wrubell, who helps Adam break down what actually happened between BYU and the Big East. Greg also offers his perspective on the men’s basketball team and its young season. Matt comes on after Greg to talk hoops, preview the Hawaii game, and to answer an excellent collection of Tweetbag questions. All this and continued banter about Dr Pepper Ten available here and on iTunes.
In a bite-sized edition of the podcast, Adam and Matt quickly review their take-aways from thumping New Mexico State. They then dive head-first into discussing the breakdown in talks between BYU and the Big East. They discuss why they are not panicking and why they both agree that it’s the right decision for BYU football. Adam also compares Dr Pepper Ten to sewer water. All this on Episode 45 of the Rise & Shout podcast, available here and on iTunes.
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Episode 44 is action pack and its dulcet tones are sure to make you happy. Adam begins with Matt. They discuss the thrashing of Idaho and preview the future thrashing of New Mexico State. They also talk a little about the men’s basketball team and they’re opening season loss to Utah State. Adam is then joined by BYU basketball legend Jeff Chatman. They discuss his career at BYU, his decision to come to BYU, his son’s decision to come to BYU, and talk about football as well. All of this and much more on a podcast that is sure to be more exciting than listening to nothing at all. Available, as always, here and on iTunes.
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Adam is joined by brother co-host Matt to discuss all things BYU sports. They answer your questions from the TweetBag, including discussing Team Riley vs. Team Jake. They play America’s new favorite podcast segment, Answering Machine, and Matt gets caught up in a case of the giggles. They conclude with talking about the upcoming hoops season. All this and a ton more available here or for download on iTunes.
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By Adam
adam@loyalcougars.com
@ajmangum
On our last podcast, Matt and I discussed why following the BYU conversation on Twitter was often akin to CougarBoard, and how Matt has almost abandoned Twitter because of the ‘woe-is-me’ BYU fan attitude surrounding conference expansion.
I’m reaching that point on the debate between Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps. In a game in which a couple of special teams miscues led to an almost insurmountable hole, I think fans lost sight of the fact that there was a lot of improvement demonstrated by the Cougars. Brandon Doman called his best game, and the defense continues to be solid (if unspectacular). Honestly, I feel like the two sides are like squabaling teens arguing between Team Edward and Team Jacob.
So let’s step back and talk facts. Here are some of most pertinent facts about for each QB. As always, most of these stats are courtesy of the supremely excellent site CougarStats.com.
Jake Heaps Facts
Riley Nelson Facts
I’m sure some of you will accuse me of cherry-picking stats (maybe true) and of being a Heaps-hater (not true). Read what I said about Heaps’ 2010 season; I really thought he was going to get better, that 2011 was going to be a step toward becoming a QB who was mentioned in the same breath as some of the other Cougar greats.
But that did not happen.
And please stop with the “Well, we’ve got to play Heaps because we need to develop him for next season.” First off, since when can a QB only develop by playing? There are a lot of examples of QBs who sat for a couple of seasons, learned the offense, matured, and became excellent QBs. Playing can work, but it’s not the only way.
I’m not against the debate. I don’t think Nelson is the second coming of Steve Young. But let’s use facts and not act like some teens arguing between vampires and werewolves.
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