Dr. Jake-yll and Mr. Heaps
The game at Texas changed after a single play: Jake Heaps threw a hitch to a receiver who ran a slant. The ball was intercepted and Texas was able to get on the board before halftime after BYU controlled the game on their way to a 13-0 lead. Prior to that play, BYU had run 32 plays for 153 yards, holding the ball for 13:38 of 25:00 (55% of the game). Jake Heaps had been 11-20 for 139 yards. On 11 rushes, BYU had a measly 24 yards, plus Heaps was sacked once for minus 10 yards.
After that play, BYU ran 28 plays for 82 yards, holding the ball for 14:29 of 35:00 (41%). Heaps was 11-17 for 53 yards. On 11 rushes, BYU had a less measly 29 yards, with no sacks. BYU's offense clearly went stagnant after that pick, so it wasn't all Heaps, but he was the most obviously tentative player on the field, with Doman the most obviously tentative coach off of it!
Heaps threw 20 passes prior to the interception, 9 of which were thrown more than 10 yards down the field. 7 of those 20 passes were over the middle. After the pick, Heaps threw 17 passes: 3 more than 10 yards down the field and only 1 over the middle. I highlighted his "fear" of throwing over the middle last week. I don't have the exact stats in front of me right now, but I think on throws over the middle he was something like 6-9 for about 75 yards. There is success over the middle, Heaps has to take that risk. The offense has been ridiculously stagnant after Heaps has thrown interceptions. He cannot be afraid.
Whether it's Doman calling conservative plays or Heaps making conservative audibles and throws, something's got to change. Throws have to go down the field and they have to go over the middle. Heaps doesn't need to throw deep fades. It's a low-percentage play. On the season, he is 1-4 with 24 yards and an INT. Use the middle to throw 10- and 15-yard routes!
Right Side, Strong Side
There was no strong "side" in the rushing attack against Texas. BYU's most successful running plays went outside the tackles. In fact, only had 5 rushing plays that went for more than 5 yards, and 4 of them were outside runs. Between the tackles wasn't working, yet 15 of the 22 rushing plays stayed between the tackles. The 7 plays outside the tackles yielded, by my count, 32 yards. The 15 plays between the tackles went for 21 yards.
Beating The Blitz
Only once the entire game did BYU throw something resembling a screen. Bronco mentioned that the looks and blitzes by Texas dictated what BYU was able to do offensively. However, if BYU was confused and getting blitzed on, there are three ways to combat that. 1) Run draws, which BYU did twice for less than nothing. 2) Take advantage of man-coverage on the outside, which BYU only did once and it was intercepted. 3) Throw screens, which BYU only did once, and it was on a play where Texas ended up not blitzing. All of the other plays against Texas' blitz were just "regular" plays. Doman and Heaps did not even attempt to punish Texas for blitzing. Texas made adjustments to what BYU was doing. BYU never made the adjustment to what Texas was doing. Kudos for a great gameplan, BYU. Plagues for a total lack of in-game adjustments...maybe plagues is too harsh: what's the antonym for kudos?
Crossing the 50
As BYU's offense continues to mature, I will keep watching their points as they cross the 50. They had 6 possessions in Texas territory, scoring on 4 of them for 16 points. 4 scores and 16 points are both improvements on last game, and on where BYU was at this point last season. But, as we learned last week, it's not enough to beat good teams or win road games. I said BYU would score 3-5 times and they needed 2 or 3 of them to be TDs. One TD and 3 FGs later, it left BYU just short.
Comparisons to Utah
Against USC, Utah had 6 possessions on the plus-side of the 50-yard line. This resulted in 14 points. Utah went for it on 4th down twice (unsuccessfully both times). They had one field goal blocked. That's about as even as you could get comparing BYU-Texas and Utah-USC: 6 possessions, 14/16 points. The only difference is that Utah went for it on 4th down twice and missed it both times. BYU opted for the field goals. As it turned out, Utah could have used the field goals and BYU could have used the going for it!
Well, this is rivalry week. Last season I did a huge statistical comparison between Utah and BYU. That will not be the case this year. 1) The sample size is too small. 2) Utah played an FCS opponent so the stats SHOULD be heavily swayed towards Utah anyway. 3) This week kind of came quickly this year! The whole season came quickly this year! I'll still provide some in-depth thoughts on the game, a preview, and a prediction. Realistically, we know so little about what to expect from this game on the field, with two new OCs, and two young teams still trying to iron out costly mistakes. I will do my best to make sense of it all.
I don't hear anyone in the media or you state the obvious. Texas gets four and five star recruits as their norm. BYU gets two and three star recruits as the norm. So whose adjustments are going to work better? I realize that the stars are not always right, but higher ones aren't wrong all the time. BYU and Utah cannot compete against the big boys week after week, because they just don't have the talent. Name the big teams BYU has beaten in the last forty years against teams that turned out to be good and then see how many defeats they have had against teams that turned out to be good. We have great coaches, great team effort, great schemes, we just need the players. Look what Chow has done by taking the BYU schemes and concepts to places that have really great athletes. And they call him a genius. Utah is about to learn the truth. Sorry a little about the rant.
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