BYU-Washington State Thoughts

Okay, Weston texted me for my thoughts about the game, but they are too many for a text, so I told him I would put them on the blog.  (Christy, you can stop reading now if you want)  I also get very little stimulating BYU conversation with the family, so the blog may have to occasionally suffice.  They are:

- Defense played great.  They had a couple penalties that made the final stats even better, but still I liked the overall play.  I thought WSU would score 25-30 points - as Leach's teams usually do - but they scored 6.  They could reduce some 15-yard penalties, but I would still give them an A.
- Offensive line was suspect and there was too much pressure and not enough large running holes against a supposedly weak defense.  I would give them a B- or a C+.
- Skill players played pretty well, especially in the first half.  Was the second half because of play calling, lack of execution, or WSU's adjustments?  That needs to improve - so a B overall.
- Finally the quarterback.  I thought he managed the game very well and had a great completion percentage. He showed heart and determination and led with emotion.  Having said that, to me it was the same as last year: fairly good short throws usually (with a couple poor ones) but the longer passes still wobbled and floated for the most part.  I am not trying to give Reilly zero credit for his performance; however, I attribute much of his very good statistics to Doman.  I thought Doman called an excellent game - especially in the first half.  The majority of the throws were around the 10-yard range, which he throws the best.  There were only a couple longer throws and a good mix of running - just the holes were not large.  Once again, I do not know why it changed in the second half.  So placing less weight on the second half, I would give Doman an A- and Nelson a B+.
- Taysom Hill looked pretty good, but needs to work on the quality of his fakes.  He threw a pretty ball though for the touchdown.
- They also need to improve red zone execution (notice I refuse to call this the "blue zone" as some coaches would prefer).  4 field goal attempts inside the 10 yard line will not cut it against some foes.
- Overall, I give the game a B+, especially for an opener.  There is room for improvement though.  Hopefully that improvement comes before a two or three weeks time period.  And we will see if the short game works as well against those teams also.

Hopefully that answers your question Wes, and feel free to tell me where I am overly wrong and biased.