Effort Was There

This BYU loss I place on the feet of the offensive coaching staff.  The defense held a Nevada offense that is going to average 40+ points/game, 550 yards/game to 27 points and 435 yards.  Kaepernick accounted for only 280 total yards, less than 100 rushing yards, less than 5 yards/carry, "only" two TDs, "only" 64% completion percentage, his first pick of the season, and had nearly 60 yards less than his previous "worst" of the season.  The defense did all it could, especially with all of the cheap shots and dirty plays Nevada's O-Line was getting away with (yes, I'm looking at you #62).  Nevada had about 130 yards in the second half was all, and only 3 points.  It would have been nice to see a few more tackles in the backfield, better stops on first down, etc.  But all in all, it wasn't the defense that lost the game.

What lost the game was continued poor play-calling by Robert Anae.  In an effort to "protect" Jake Heaps from failure, he is making it impossible for him to succeed.  As soon as BYU got within 30 yards of the end zone, the only pass play they seemed to have in the playbook was the fade.  One, Heaps hasn't looked very good throwing it.  Two, even if he could throw it perfectly, there's not a receiver that could make the catch.  On 4th down and 4 to go, needing to convert to stay in the game, they run a stretch play to the short side of the field with their worst outside runner in the backfield, Brian Kariya.  Spencer Hafoka dropped a couple of passes, as did Ashworth.  Jacobson looked good in the game.  Cody Hoffman made some big catches.  Marcus Matthews was the lone TE with a catch.  Take away the 8 or 9 fades (no joke, they tried at least that many, with ZERO completions), and the 4 or 5 drops and Heaps probably goes 30 for 40 with 300 yards.

They also don't seem to even target the TEs.  They have dropped a couple of passes this season, it's true.  But that's a good GAME for Ashworth, Hafoka, et al.  Give them a chance to succeed.  Maybe try throwing a crossing route to them in the red zone instead of the fade to a WR that can't get separation, jump high, or catch the ball if he managed to get separation and jump high.

There are some puzzling personnel decisions as well.  Josh "The Juice" Quezada comes into the game and rushes 3 times for 15 yards.  Has 2 catches for 12 yards.  Picks up the blitz nicely.  Knocked a couple of guys down, dragged a few others in his limited time.  Why is he not in the game more?

Defensively, my biggest criticism is what I refer to as "the cushion."  BYU's CBs are 10 yards off the ball every play.  Time after time after time Nevada would throw an out, or a hitch 7 yards down the field.  Every time, our DBs played it perfectly AFTER THE SNAP.  If they were 3 yards closer BEFORE THE SNAP, a lot more of those would be incomplete, maybe one or two would even be intercepted.  BYU fans should have known this defense was in trouble when the secondary was referred to as the strength of the defense in the offseason.  They play pretty well, but imagine how good they might be if they were 7 yards off the line of scrimmage instead of 10?

And realistically, how much of this was the scheduling?  If BYU had Utah's schedule to start the season (1-2 Pittsburgh, 0-3 UNLV, at 0-3 New Mexico-playing UNLV tonight so one will be 1-3, the other 0-4-, 1-3 San Jose State), they'd be sitting 4-0 with 3 blowout wins and a heap of confidence.  As it is, they have played 4 teams that will be playing in bowl games, two of which have a legitimate chance to win 10 games, and sit at 1-3.  They play Friday Night in a rivalry game at 1-3 Utah State, in two weeks they get a 3-1 San Diego State team that has a bye week to get ready, then get 4-0 4th ranked TCU in Fort Worth.  The schedule could not have laid out any worse for a rebuilding BYU.  It certainly exposed just how rebuilding this season is.  They'll just need to find a way to get some confidence: my first suggestion would be to put some trust in Jake Heaps in the red zone, my second is to not run the ball on 4th and 4.  It also might help prepare them for the gauntlet they'll have to run the first two weeks next September: at Oregon State and at Texas.  It is frustrating to watch the kids putting forth the effort, but the coaches making it impossible for there to be fruits.