Riley Nelson and Jake Heaps played poorly in day 5 of the Brigham Young Cougars fall camp. It was bound to happen sometime. Heaps was 2 of 7, with an interception, for 53 yards. Nelson was 2 of 6, one TD, but only 19 yards. While Heaps threw a pick and Nelson threw a touchdown, what really sticks out is the passing yards. Going strictly by the numbers, if I were a coach, I would lean towards Heaps.
It appears that the coaches placed emphasis on the run game now that the team is in full pads. (J.J. DiLuigi: 5 rushes, 13 yds; Bryan Kariya: 2 rushes, 21 yds; Mike Hague: 4 rushes, 24 yds) This might have prevented the quarterbacks from finding a rhythm and resulted in the poor stats. The poor stats, however, will help the coaches evaluate the players. A good quarterback bounces back after a bad day. I suspect the coaches will watch closely how each QB starts off the next practice.
With the first week in the books, the starting spot is still very much up for grabs. Following the day-to-day performance and trying to decipher who is leading can drive a man crazy. Especially when you have no influence, in any way, on what the coaches decide. It would be nice to see one of the two clearly outperform the other, but I don't think that will happen.
The only thing that I can say with confidence about the quarterback race is that the longer it goes on, the better the chances are that Jake Heaps starts.
It appears that the coaches placed emphasis on the run game now that the team is in full pads. (J.J. DiLuigi: 5 rushes, 13 yds; Bryan Kariya: 2 rushes, 21 yds; Mike Hague: 4 rushes, 24 yds) This might have prevented the quarterbacks from finding a rhythm and resulted in the poor stats. The poor stats, however, will help the coaches evaluate the players. A good quarterback bounces back after a bad day. I suspect the coaches will watch closely how each QB starts off the next practice.
With the first week in the books, the starting spot is still very much up for grabs. Following the day-to-day performance and trying to decipher who is leading can drive a man crazy. Especially when you have no influence, in any way, on what the coaches decide. It would be nice to see one of the two clearly outperform the other, but I don't think that will happen.
The only thing that I can say with confidence about the quarterback race is that the longer it goes on, the better the chances are that Jake Heaps starts.
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