themusicaddict: BYU-Tulsa Wrap Up, Happy New Year's Eve!

Hello,

Yesterday in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl BYU played Tulsa. This was a very ugly game, two mediocre teams battling it out. Both teams are led by mediocre quarterbacks. I can't remember a game where both quarterbacks missed so many wide open receivers. BYU ultimately won 24-21. Riley Nelson returns for his senior season, usually a BYU quarterback returning for their senior season would make me giddy. However Nelson is a solid but not a superstar quarterback. He doesn't fit in the mold of the so-called classic BYU quarterback. BYU has had many great quarterbacks in their history and BYU fans are spoiled. In fact, BYU is the only school who has produced two quarterbacks who have won Super Bowls. They are Jim McMahon and Steve Young.

That game was a microcosm of Nelson's whole season. He had flashes of brilliance wrapped in an overabundance of mediocrity. Looking at his statistics today, they were horrific. He only completed 17 of 40 passes for 250 yards. Nelson missed his receivers all day. Obviously incompletions are a killer to having a successful offense. He also threw those three horrid interceptions. BYU got a break on one of those interceptions when Tulsa was called for offsides. BYU's Justin Sorenson then was able to kick a 35 yard field goal. That field goal ended up being the difference in the game. Nelson will never be confused for one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of BYU. However in spite of all that, BYU still won today. He did show how gutty he was by leading the Cougars to that win. He made the plays when they needed to be made.

Also I know it's Brandon Doman's first season as the offensive coordinator. So I'm giving him a pass for some of the horrific play calls he made yesterday, but I hope he gets a lot better next year. I hated that he called a double reverse. Quite simply BYU doesn't have enough team speed to run that play. Every time they run it, it gets blown up. Stop already. I also hated all the long pass plays that Doman called, especially on a day when Nelson was so inaccurate. Finally I hate when Doman, or any offensive coordinator, falls in love with the pass. BYU looked so much better when they mixed the pass and run. Please next season, plan your play calls around Nelson's strengths. Those strengths seem to be that he's a real leader and is liked by his teammates. He's also a very mobile quarterback, which is the thing that made him a better quarterback than Jake Heaps.

Questions about BYU football. Nelson will be returning for his senior year next season. That will be a good stopgap measure. But please can someone tell me that BYU has their next great quarterback in the pipeline. Nelson gives the Cougars what he can, but at best he's a mediocre D1 quarterback. Thanks Riley for all your hard work and I wish you the best of luck once your career at BYU is over. Also I'm so grateful you were there for us this season and we didn't have to rely on the stiff and overrated Jake Heaps.

However can someone please tell me we have the next great BYU quarterback in the pipeline? Two years of Heaps and Nelson almost make me long for the days of Max Hall. Almost.

I know that BYU has many great receivers and tight ends, but what happened to McKay Jacobsen this season? He sort of disappeared, I thought he'd be a much more integral part of their offense. Thanks McKay for all the highlights you provided for BYU in your career. I still remember that big catch you made against Utah which led to one of the most famous plays in BYU history. That being the Beck to Harline pass.

Also whatever happened to Joshua "Juice" Quezada? I thought this year was going to be a break out year for him. He only rushed for 274 yards and never lived up to the glimpses of brilliance he showed in his freshman season. Obviously I don't go to the practices so I have a very small sample of plays to truly judge Quezada by. I just hope that in his junior and senior seasons he will live up to his potential.

Finally never once did I think to myself that I wish Jake Heaps was still on the sideline for the Cougars. Kansas fans, don't expect very much from Heaps. He will just let you down. Yes I stole that from the Gin Blossoms. For BYU that's addition by subtraction. Jake good luck in your future, I just hope your expectations and Kansas' expectations are much more realistic than when you joined BYU.

Jerry Jones said that Tony Romo will be "playing at full strength", is that suppose to comfort Cowboys fans Jerry? This announcement shows what's wrong with the Cowboys. First to think that some Dallas fans are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to find out what's going on with Romo's health. Does it matter? Too bad he isn't the answer for Dallas, whatever his health. Romo is a quarterback who always seems to be on the cusp of finally breaking through, but never does. The second thing is why is Jones giving medical updates? It drives me crazy that Jones has to be involved in every thing related to the Cowboys. I get that he's the owner, but Jerry shut the hell up for once! I'm sure his employees hate it more than I do. It's not like Jerry Jones is Steve Jobs and is leading his organization to greatness.

I'm so sick of Jerry Jones. He's done a lot of great things for the Cowboys. I love that he built the new stadium, was able to have Dallas host the Super Bowl and hired Jimmy Johnson. However he's done a lot more bad things than good things. Hiring Wade Phillips, a man who'd never won a playoff game, as a head coach was one of his worst decisions. Dallas is still recovering from that disastrous hiring now. Jones stuck with Phillips for way too long. Now Jones is sticking by Romo as Dallas gets less and less relevant each year. Again a quarterback that has nice stats, but can't win a big game to save his life.

Some people make the argument that who would the Cowboys get to replace Tony Romo? I don't know but Dallas really needs to address their quarterback situation this offseason. Romo has been in Dallas for 9 seasons. He started out as a backup to the extremely immobile Drew Bledsoe. Romo worked his way into the starting lineup and teased us with his mobility. To give you an idea of how long Romo has been in Dallas, Romo's first start was three head coaches ago. However he has never stepped up his game beyond where it is now. Although he has thrown for 18 touchdowns and two interceptions over the last 8 games. That's an impressive statistic, but why does it feel so shallow? Why does Romo still fade so much in the big situations?

Also that Romo is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. If that's true, how thin is the talent level in the NFL for quarterback? I saw one misguided Cowboys fan say that Romo is the 4th best quarterback in the NFL. Really? I can think of several quarterbacks right off the top of my head that I'd rather have than Romo. These are in no particular order: Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Michael Vick, Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Ben R. in Pittsburgh and I could go on.

Why are there so few great NFL quarterbacks?

I'll be hanging out with a friend Saturday, so I won't see any of the Utah-Ga Tech game. Go Utes! Can you please get the Pac 12 at least one bowl win? The Big East did get their first win yesterday. Rutgers defeated Iowa St. 27-13. Although to show that there are too many bowls, how did a 6-6 Iowa St. team get into a bowl? The Big East is now 1-1 in bowl games.

Here are some great songs for you to enjoy on your New Year's Eve. Don't do anything too stupid. Thanks as always to the military who put their lives on the line so that we can celebrate such silly traditions.

I agree with U2 about New Year's Day: