Man Crush: "A man having extreme admiration for another man, as though he wants to be him."
Bronco On Riley Nelson’s Injury:
I asked Mendenhall if he found it interesting or ironic that his running QB was hurt while throwing the football: "It's not that he was just throwing it, he was standing in until the very last second with a guy bearing in on him. He sees him bearing in on him, and he stands and throws it anyway, and throws a touchdown." [with the wind blowing in with hurricane-type force and grains of sand in his eyes]
"What's more ironic is that wasn't the play he was hurt on...he had been playing already with (the injury)."
Mendenhall noted that after the injury, "because (Nelson's) pain threshold and his tolerance is so high, trying to get an idea of how hurt he was" became a challenge. "Because he doesn't act hurt."
On Jake Heap’s Play After the Injury:
"Jake came in and I think managed the game well," Mendenhall said. "He threw the ball well, made a lot of good decisions, and got in a lot of quality work." [thanks coach - I am an good game manager]
"This isn't about (Heaps') inability to play; this is simply about his ability to continue to learn and grow and be tutored and mentored, and grow over time, knowing that he basically is the equivalent of a redshirt freshman this year. [does he build up all his players like this?]
On Riley’s 2 INT 1 Fumble Loss at TCU (the only decent team he’s played against):
"He’s got a few decisions he needs to make at a higher level. But overall, the way he’s played, from the time he started through that [TCU] game, he has given us a really good chance to win," Mendenhall said. "… I love his aggressiveness, and I love that mindset, and some of the plays he makes, probably are balls that wouldn’t have been thrown [by other QBs], and then we catch them, then it is a great play and everything’s good." [So, he throws poor passes but if receivers can adjust then all is well in Zion]
The coach even said he liked how Nelson high-fived an official who was signaling that Nelson’s two-point conversion attempt was good. "Loved it. Loved it," he said. "When you [hear] the idea of being in the moment, that’s pretty much it. … I would like that to kind of be a symbol of BYU football. …. You are having so much fun that you try to find someone to celebrate with." [even though losing the game]
Now, no one is arguing the spark Nelson provided and that the offense was stale under Heaps, but BYU would have won those other games he started with our mother as their starting quarterback. The TCU game was supposed to be the barometer – could he throw against a decent defense? But I guess he can – except for those few decisions that need to be made at a higher level. I am glad we cleared that up.
My point is, are we relegated to another year of Riley? Beating the teams that are horrible but losing to any team that has a winning record? (Click here for the article) Is this the future of BYU football? Is this the best quarterback we can really find or that is on the roster?
And if Riley is the epitome of translated Celestial beings living here on earth among us- as is often mentioned as the reason Bronco loves him so much, why does he have to apologize for letting his hair grow beyond BYU honor code standards? I know, that is nit picking, but I am starved for good BYU conversation and objective analysis up here if you can’t tell.
Just had to vent a little.
