# ND versus BYU



## coyoteslayer (Sep 10, 2007)

Dodger this Saturday there will be another "Holy War" since both schools are religious. It looks like BYU will lose this holy war especially with Riley playing QB. This game is Catholics against Mormons. I'm teasing Dodger. I don't want you to throw another fit. BYU defense didn't look as good against a second string QB yesterday. BYU will be getting spanked again this Saturday.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I hate to agree with you on such things Slayer since you are little more than a byuhater, but I think you are correct. Its gonna be a long day for the Cougs in South Bend. The only question I have for such a die-hard utahute fan as yourself - how are those travel plans for a bowl game coming? Got your tickets yet? 

And tough of a year as my Cougars are having, - they at least have something that seems to allude the utahutes - a win over a Pack-12 team! Of course at this point, arguing about the two teams at this point is kind of like arguing about who has the ugliest girlfriend. Sure, you might win the argument, but is it really a win?


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

I for one as a lifelong Irish fan am worried about this "sandwich" game for the Irish. Coming of an emotional win against Stanford and now a top 5 ranking with a realistic chance of playing for the national championship if they win out it is a classic sandwich game! I think the Irish Defense will keep them in any game it is a question of if we can score points against BYU's defense. I really hope they don't pay attention to the "noise" and keep focused on the next opponent to set up a HUGE showdown in Oklahoma the following week.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I'd not worry about that Orvis. Oregon State showed how to score on BYU. Go over the top to the corners. BYU's DBs are better than they've been, but still a step or two slower than any decent team's wide-outs. And with the read-zone played inside the box, and man-press coverage on the outside with inferior athletes will not bode well for the Cougars. 

I've not seen any Irish games this year so I can't speak of them. I know they haven't lost, and they have certainly beat better teams than BYU has this year. And BYU's offensive is marginal at best.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

There are not many wideouts in the country with speed like Brandin Cooks or Marcus Wheaton. Preston Hadley did an ok job on Wheaton, even if he did score two TD's. Jordan Johnson just could not hope to contain Cooks. It was not even fair how much faster Cooks was. BYU will get beaten by Notre Dame, but there is not the speed mismatch outside in this game that there was against Oregon State.


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## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

I actually think BYU will make a game of it---IF Riley can play like a senior and not some error prone freshman. I would even give BYU the win if they had a QB like they've had in the past--someone who can get the ball to great receivers. Go back and look at the OSU game--Riley was throwing short duck balls to wide open receivers. Anyway, I feel a little sorry for Riley. He won over the players and the coaches who have put too much emphasis on heart than talent. He should have never been playing for a Div 1 college. I think he would have been better playing at a place like Snow College and then transfer up to Weber or some place like that. I admire a man's grit and determination, but without the talent, it will only carry you so far. Hopefully, this year will be a wake-up call to Doman and Mendenhall. Hopefully, they will start searching for a QB that can get the ball to receivers. If they don't the program will go downhill because the good receivers will choose to go to a college that has a QB.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

The thing I noticed last week is that as the game wore on, Nelson's passes lost serious zip. The more he threw, the more short the passes ended up, or the more behind the receivers they'd go. He clearly fatigued as the game wore on. But your point - IF he can play like a senior - that's not happened yet. He still made horrible decisions against OSU. And it cost BYU the game. It cost the Utah game. It cost the BSU game. What drove me crazy was the post game comments from Bronco. He threw the defense under the bus but said "we had great play at the quarterback position." What? 3 picks is not great play. Nelson's pick in the first half cost BYU a score. The pick six in the 4th gave up a score. Just plain bad passes to open receivers had them settle for a field goal instead of a TD when they had a great opportunity. That is the difference in the game. Nelson has given three games away. If Nelson plays in South Bend, the Cougars will lose. I don't know if Lark has what it takes to win - we've not seen enough in his four years there to know if he does or not. But with Nelson, there is no chance. Lark - lets see what he's got.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

The sad thing is that BYU ran their best QB option out of the state...!


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I'm still not sure of that. Heaps had all the potential but didn't seem coachable. And he was unwilling to do a red shirt year when he first came in. The coaches pushed him that direction and he said no. He was absolutely a practice all star. But at the D-1 level, showed he couldn't make passes any better than Nelson could. And Nelson could at least run if he had to. Heaps certainly had the tools but lacked the fortitude it seemed. He was a very good 1st and 2nd down QB. But on 3rd and longs, he threw countless passes into the ground, out of bounds, over the hands of open guys, and just couldn't connect for whatever reason. 

I wish him all the success at Kansas. Heaven knows they could use some help right now. I hope he'll listen to Charlie Weiss there and can succeed. But from what was shown on the field in the previous two seasons, he was not the best QB that BYU had. Nelson was better. Better talent, absolutely. But better game QB? Not at all.


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## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

I think they could have developed Heaps if he'd had a different QB coach. Doman was looking for his own image and Heaps wasn't it. I'm not blaming it all on Doman (it's a two way street), but I think Heaps and Doman didn't see eye-to-eye. 

It's all water under the bridge now. BYU better get it figured out soon or we will see a sinking program. You have certain players that dream of being at BYU because of the standards and such, but you will lose great players by always preaching that football is 5th in priorities. There are guys that want to eat, sleep, and drink football at that age and stage in their lives. I'm not saying you should drop the "life" lessons gained from football, or any of the honor code or standards--as I'm very much for them, but let them play football with enthusiasm. I read Chad Lewis' book, "Surround Yourself with Greatness." In it you could feel the passion the guy had for wanting to excel at football. He dreamed of leaping over defenders (he was a high jumper for the track team for a while). Did he have perspective? You bet! But he wanted to play football at the college level and at the pro level. He concentrated on it and made it happen. It has blessed his life and the lives of many others. He put in his 9 years as a pro and 3 pro bowl appearances, then got out. 

I know that most of the college players will never make it to the pros and that schooling, and family, and church, and careers are important, but if you are on a team--let's play ball with just as much heart, desire, enthusiasm, and talent as is possible while you can.

That's my pregame speech. If you need me at halftime, just give me a shout.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

Jake Heaps was a member of the Freshman All-American Team under Coach Robert Anae. He was named the best freshman quarterback in the country. Let's not pretend he couldn't toss the ball at BYU. That's just BS. Heaps struggled when Doman took over and started calling quarterback options or fly/ fade patterns every other play. 

Having an 18 year old college quarterback either run for his life or throw one of the two most difficult passes every third down sounds like a great recipe for success, don't you think?

Having JJ Diluigi as the featured every down back also allowed defenses to pin their ears back and rush the QB with reckless abandon. The running game was simply not a threat last year, which certainly made Riley look more appealing than he really is as a QB.

Has anyone forgotten the blight of the tight ends and their butter fingers in 2011?


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Great interview with Rome ... Hopefully this gives the Irish some jungle karma going forward:

http://www.jimrome.com/junglehighlights ... %2F1701019


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

Thanks, Orvis. That was inspiring and faith building for me.


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