Yeah, boring title to the post. Same one from last week. But hey, it was just another ho-hum victory for BYU, so it got another ho-hum title. Are you kidding me? Where do you even start on a game like this?
Riley Nelson: huge!
A Tight End catching a TD for the first time in 17 games: huge! Could it have come at a better time or in a better way.
Defense stiffening up the last two drives (well, at the end of the second-to-last drive): huge.
I did say that BYU would pull away late, and they didn't disappoint. Haha. I was thinking they might do it with 11 minutes left, not 11 seconds though. I originally had the score 31-20 (before upping BYU to an overly optimistic 38), which wasn't that far off (just 4 points off each team). Another haha...
On a night with a plethora of mental mistakes, including a handful in the final few minutes. Guys picked each other up. That was the difference between tonight and BYU thus far this season. The offense and defense were getting beat in the third quarter. Riley Nelson came in and picked the team up. With a lot of help from Cody Hoffman, picking the team up. Travis Uale takes a bad angle and Utah State gets in scoring position late. Uona Kaveinga picks the team up on a huge third down in space. Daniel Sorensen picks them up on a fake field goal with a solid defensive play. JJ DiLuigi fumbles the game away, essentially. The defense picked him up. JD Falslev doesn't catch a punt at the 32-yard line and it rolls to the four. Riley Nelson picks him up. Riley Nelson scrambles and finds nothing and heaves the ball to no-man's land. McKay Jacobson picks him up. Riley mismanages the clock and BYU loses 13 seconds (with less than 30 to go!). Marcus Matthews picks the team up. Any of those mistakes could have doomed the Cougars. But guys stepped up. That was the difference.
I think the reason it happened that way though was Riley Nelson. What he lacks in arm strength he makes up for in leadership and determination. His grit brought life to BYU's offense for the first time this season. When BYU went down 24-13, a Jake Heaps-led offense would have thrown three straight incompletions and punted. That's no knock on Heaps, that's a knock on the entire offense. They don't respond to the young fellow in crucial situations. But Riley Nelson didn't let BYU falter. Leadership and a confident can-do attitude showed why veteran QBs are important, and why Heaps really missed out not having someone to learn from like Max Hall did. As I've said for a few weeks, Heaps isn't there yet. He may not get a chance again this season with the way Nelson played tonight.
Two final thoughts: first, it was great to see Heaps' attitude on the sideline. He was still into the game. He was still cheering his team on. A lot of times, when a QB gets yanked like he did, the rest of the game they are pacing along the back of the sideline, helmet in hand, seemingly on the verge of a breakdown. Heaps showed his maturity by sticking with it, leaving his helmet on and watching intently right at the edge of the field. Props to him for being a man. Now he just needs to learn to be a man in the pocket.
Second, the defense has to be excited to finally get some rest. BYU dominated time of possession tonight, so the D was fresh enough to hold Utah State to a (fake) field goal attempt in the fourth after a big play. They were fresh enough to force a three and out with very little time left and set up BYU's chance to score at the end. And now next week, they get a game against San Jose State. While it's still a Division I football game, it's got to feel easier than the first 5 games have been going up against big, physical teams. And with the offense finally finding their QB and go-to WR, the D will get a chance to start controlling games as the easier part of the schedule commences. The D survived a brutal September, which should launch them into a very successful October.
Perhaps this BYU team discovered their identity tonight. I didn't ever think that Riley Nelson would be the poster boy for this 2011 season: Rise up!
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