BYU loss shows AFA is good, the Cougars need work

Bronco Mendenhall said Saturday’s loss to the Falcons will give his staff a chance to teach some character.

“It’s a great chance to teach now when things aren’t going well and to see how our players are responding positively and negatively and see how our coaches respond positively and negatively and you have a chance to move the program forward.”

Perhaps this will be a moment like Bronco points to in his first season and a loss at San Diego State. That loss allowed a lot of people to get a lot off their chests and move on. It led to championships.

I think there’s plenty of things to be learned after this one. Like the two-headed quarterback situation that kind of exploded to the delight of Troy Calhoun and his Air Force staff.

Is it worth it. Does it work. Even with great guys, is it a sustainable ploy in light of the overall welfare of the team. These are questions that need to be explored after film sessions and team meetings and staff chatter behind closed doors. Is now the time to change it, or will it another week on the road. And at what cost. Is it worth it? And how big a part did it play in the loss to a very good AFA team that had marked this past Saturday down for months if not years.

The play of the two QBs was interesting while it lasted. Now its a matter of making a football decision. What is the right thing for a football team, with its accompanying chemistry and confidence.

Was Jake Heaps taken out of the game because of his pick? It broke protocol of alternating QBs when he sat. Did Riley Nelson, who looked great for a quarter before struggling, get enough rope to hang himself against a good defense that stopped his run, then dared him to make pass down field?

We shall see.

This did not go over very well with Mendenhall’s team who were gracious in defeat praising the Falcons for their hard play. They also said the right things outside the locker room when questioned about the two quarterbacks. “We have confidence in either one, it doesn’t make a difference,” said J.J. DiLuigi. But inside, I gather, the team is not happy with the howdy doody approach to the QB situation.

It stopped ringing true Saturday.

Jeff Call and I are just finishing our stories and commentary which will be published online later tonight and in print for Sunday morning.

It has been an interesting day, indeed.