ESPN 700 Radio has confirmed with a source close to the situation tonight that Utah Quarterbacks Coach Brian Johnson has been named Offensive Coordinator. The former Sugar Bowl MVP has coached Quarterbacks for the last 2 seasons at the University of Utah. Johnson, who is 24 years old, is expected to be formally introduced in as Offensive Coordinator in a Press Conference on Thursday.

Johnson led Utah to a 26-7 record as a Quarterback from 2004-2008 and graduated as the school’s winningest quarterback. Johnson’s offensive influences include: Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer, Mississippi State Head Coach Dan Mullen, San Diego State Offensive Coordinator Andy Ludwig and Hawaii Head Coach Norm Chow.

Mehmet Okur was traded to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for a 2015 2nd round draft pick and a trade exception worth 10.8 million dollars. A lot of fans are outraged that the Jazz would move a fan favorite. Several people have said that the team should be ashamed for making a business decision. WHAT? Last time I checked, the Utah Jazz were a business. I’m not saying that Memo wasn’t a great guy. He was one of the most down to earth and approachable NBA players around. That doesn’t mean that you keep him on the roster if an opportunity presents itself that makes your franchise better.

Moving Memo allows the Jazz to clear salary cap and pick up an asset in the trade exception. That exception could turn into a future all-star or 10 year rotation player. It could also turn into nothing. The Jazz have until December 22nd, 2012 to use the exception or it expires. Most trade exceptions do expire without being used. Regardless if they use it or not, moving Memo for the trade exception allows them more time to decide. If Memo stayed with the team past this year’s trade deadline, there were only two things that the Jazz could do. The first was to simply let the contract end and move on. The second would be to use Memo’s free agent contract in a sign and trade deal. That’s it. With the trade exception, you get more time to make a decision plus your options are much more abundant. The Jazz are now poised to be real players moving forward. They potentially could add a player worth 10.8 million dollars or an even more expensive player if they trade a current player and the exception. Nobody is saying that shipping Memo to Jersey doesn’t suck on a personal level. Of course it does, but the Jazz are in the business of winning and if you have an opportunity to make a deal that gives you more options…you have to pull the trigger.

Look at it this way, Memo was coming off a significant injury and wasn’t going to play big minutes anyway. In essence, you were going to pay Okur over 10 million dollars to come off your bench and play sparingly. That doesn’t make sense at all. While some fans see this as a callused move by the Jazz, I look at it like a smart business decision. It’s actually refreshing to see the Jazz make moves that are focused on winning a championship instead of making decisions based on personal feelings. That doesn’t mean that the Jazz don’t care about their players. It simply means that they want to win…and last time I checked that’s what they were in this business to do.

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The University of Kansas announced yesterday that former BYU quarterback Jake Heaps has decided to transfer to Lawrence. I am going to try and take the fan part of me out of this…wait a minute. I’m not going to put my fandom off to the side. The fact that I will actually admit to being a fan of the teams I cover is one of the things that sets me apart from other media personalities. Having said that, I am still bitter about Heaps leaving BYU. I get that his ego was bruised and he felt like he wasn’t given a fair shake. The problem with that logic is that it’s false. Heaps WAS given a fair shake. He was given almost an entire season if you combine this year and last. Jake didn’t get better this season, in fact he regressed.

The ego aspect of the argument is what it is. Heaps was the best quarterback coming out of high school. He had always succeeded at whatever he tried. When you spend your entire life being the best, it’s hard when someone tells you that your teammate is doing a better job. Right or wrong, nobody can truly understand what a slap in the face that was to Heaps. Nobody had ever been better than him on the football field. He had never had to win over any teammates before. His play had done that for him. The problem this time around was that Heaps play wasn’t getting the job done. Riley Nelson was able to come in and move the offense significantly better than when Jake was seeing the majority of the snaps. Bottom line is that Nelson outplayed Heaps and deserved to be the starter.

Fast forward to Heaps announcing he was leaving BYU. Most BYU fans were holding out hope that Jake would redshirt and be ready to lead the Cougars in 2013. For all the reasons above, Heaps decided that wasn’t in his best interest. Obviously Heaps received a lot of interest for schools that wanted him to lead their football programs. We knew several PAC-12 schools had interest but when Kansas emerged as a possibility, I felt like that would be Heaps eventual landing spot. Turns out I was right. The Jayhawks hired Charlie Weiss as their new head coach. Weiss had recruited Jake to Notre Dame a few years back. Knowing that Jake would have to sit out a year, Kansas could bring in a QB for one season and have Heaps ready to go in 2013. I’m not going to pretend that I follow KU week in and week out but what I can tell you is that they aren’t a good football team. Anybody that tells you the situation at Kansas is better than waiting a season to play at BYU is crazy. BYU’s football program is in a much better spot than Kansas. Yes, the Jayhawks are in a BCS conference but let’s be honest…Kansas is a long way away from worrying about the BCS. If Jake could have kept his bruised ego from getting in the way, he could have led the Cougars for two seasons and still fulfilled his NFL dreams. Too bad he wasn’t willing to fight through adversity and reap the benefits on the other side.

Shep

Today was a day that people could see coming but were hopeful that it could be avoided. Guess not. Highly touted sophomore quarterback Jake Heaps announced today that he is leaving the BYU football program. According to Heaps himself, he has not decided where he is transferring to. Heaps told Mason Kelley of the Seattle Times “I’ve had some time to think about this decision and it’s not one I came to lightly. I have no idea where I’m going to end up, and haven’t talked to anyone. There are a lot of great programs out there, and I’m excited to do some research and find the right fit.”

Today’s news will obviously bring up feeling of anger and confusion for Cougar fans. Heaps was supposed to be ‘The Guy” at BYU. He was supposed to shatter all the QB records. Heaps was supposed to be the next great BYU quarterback. Now that we know none of those expectations were realistic, it begs the question…who is to blame for the situation?

There are only two logical ways to look at it. Either Jake is to blame or Bronco/BYU coaches are. The easy answer is to say it’s a combination of the two. While that may be true, if Jake had performed up to potential, the coaches hand would have been forced. While I do believe that Bronco mishandled the QB situation last season, those set of circumstances were over. Heaps had taken over the starting job and was set to be BYU’s quarterback for the long haul. It was only because of Heaps inability to produce on the field that cost him the starting job. If Heaps had performed up to his abilities, Riley Nelson would have never seen the field regardless of how much his teammates liked him or his toughness. This was Jake’s job to lose and he lost it.

I have always been a pro Heaps guy. I wanted him to succeed because it is not everyday that the #1 QB recruit in the country comes to Provo. I looked at the quarterback battle with Riley and thought, sure Nelson is playing better now but who will be here longer with the opportunity to lead this team into the future?. My only argument for Heaps returning to the starting job once he lost it was his potential. Outside of that, Nelson was the clear choice to lead this offense.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall said in a statement today that “Jake is a great young man with tremendous potential and someone I deeply care about. I am sorry to see him leave this wonderful institution yet anxious to follow his future development and success.” I think BYU fans agree with the first part of that. Most are sad to see Jake leave but I’m not sure many will be rooting for him to succeed…especially if the team he chooses to transfer to plays BYU in the future.

The most likely scenario for Heaps is to transfer to a school in the Pac-12. Washington, Washington State, Cal and USC are all reportedly options. Either way, Heaps will have to sit out a year before he is eligible to play. That means that if Heaps had decided to redshirt at BYU, he would have had the same two years to shine that he will at another school. Bronco said Jake was leaving BYU for a fresh start. For Heaps and his family, I hope he finds what he’s looking for. As for BYU, they seem quite content to move on with a fresh start of their own.

Shep

Tune in to ESPN 700 at 12pm on Saturday for special coverage on the NBA. The lockout is over and we want to know what you think.

November 19th was Senior Day in Provo. 19 BYU seniors walked off the field victorious as the Cougars beat New Mexico State 42-7. That’s now back to back weeks where BYU has beaten an opponent by a 42-7 score.

The biggest storyline going into tonight’s contest was how Jake Heaps would perform coming off a nice performance last week against Idaho. Heaps finished the night with a very impressive 238 yards and 4 touchdowns. He did have an interception, which was the result of once again staring right at his receiver. Outside of the turnover and a couple overthrown footballs, I thought Heaps played well. The one play that really showed Heaps progress was on the TD to Falslev. Heaps ducked under a sack, stepped into the pocket and fired a strike to JD for the touchdown. In fact, after the game Bronco Mendenhall called that play the best of Heaps BYU career. To put in perspective the kind of game Jake had today consider this…before tonight’s 4 touchdown performance, Heaps had 5 total touchdowns on the year. In case you were wondering, Heaps career high for touchdowns in a game is 4.

JJ Di Luigi led the team in rushing with 75 yards on 12 carries while Ross Apo carried the Cougars through the air with 66 yards on 5 catches with 2 touchdowns. In total, BYU had 6 receivers finish with at least 20 yards receiving.

The BYU defense started out shaky but ultimately settled down and completely shut down the Aggie offense. New Mexico State was able to move the ball but outside of the early score, they couldn’t do much. Preston Hadley and Brandon Ogletree led the team in tackles with 7 apiece while Jadon Wagner, Graham Rowley and Simote Vea each had a sack.

One of the really nice stories tonight was the gesture made by Kyle Van Noy to wear Jordan Pendleton’s #1 jersey during the game. Pendleton is one of the 19 seniors on this roster but saw his season come to an end after suffering a knee injury in the TCU game. Van Noy and Pendleton are great friends and Kyle wanted to make sure Jordan was represented on Senior Day.

Staying with the senior theme, a couple of not-often-used seniors scored touchdowns. Matt Marshall and Matt Edwards each got into the endzone. What makes those scores even more important was that it was each players first ever touchdown as a Cougar. Safe to say those guys will remember tonight for a long time.

BYU will have their 2nd bye week of the season. They’ll take this week off for Thanksgiving and then get ready to play their regular season finale on December 3rd at Hawaii…

Shep

BYU’s 42-7 victory over Idaho went pretty much like we all thought it would…with one exception. Jake Heaps took the majority of snaps at quarterback.

Heaps entered the game on BYU’s 3rd series after Riley Nelson suffered a small pneumothorax, which is basically a collapsed lung. I was told it sounds worse that it probably is. I thought Heaps looked very good. He only played the equivalent of 2 quarters but he finished the night with 185 yards and 2 touchdowns on 10-15 passing. He did throw a pick on a ball that sailed over a wide open Zed Mendenhall. Outside of that, Heaps was impressive. What stood out most to me was his poise. He hasn’t looked comfortable in the pocket for a while. Tonight he seemed to slow everything down and was able to make the right decisions. That’s all he needs to do. He has all the skills. It’s just a matter of making the right decisions. Tonight he did that. I understand that it was against Idaho but Heaps seemed to struggle against other lesser opponents this season, which makes tonight’s performance extremely encouraging. If Heaps starts next week, I would imagine most people feel a lot more confident that he can get the job done.

Cody Hoffman and Michael Alisa continued to show why they are emerging studs on offense. Hoffman caught 6 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Alisa ran for 99 yards on 10 carries with a TD. Both players are producing and solidifying their spots as go-to guys on the ground and through the air.

The defense played as well as you could expect. They gave up one big play which went 82 yards for a touchdown. Outside of that, the defense was smothering. The Cougars defense held Taylor Davis to -6 yards passing before he was yanked towards the end of the 3rd quarter. If you look at it, Idaho finished with 241 total yards and 82 of those came on one blown assignment that resulted in a big rushing TD. The Cougar defense did their job tonight.

BYU plays their final home game next season when they host New Mexico State. I would assume Heaps gets the start at quarterback with Nelson’s injury. I guess it’s possible that Nelson could play but it’s too early to know for sure. Let’s be honest though, BYU will roll regardless!

Shep

This has been a question BYU fans have been asking for a very long time. Friday night’s loss to TCU is just the latest example of a big game where the Cougars failed to get a win. I’m not saying BYU never wins big game. Of course they do. However it seems like over the past 7 to 10 years, BYU has lost more big games than they have won.

Before we go any further, lets go over what I consider a big game. This is my criteria…
-High profile opponent or rival
-On a big stage (bowl game, national TV)
-Something on the line with a victory

I’m sure everyone has their own criteria but those are mine. For me, the Cougars haven’t won a big game since the season opening win over Oklahoma in 2009. This year alone, they’re 0-3 with losses to Texas, Utah and TCU.

All of this begs the question…why? It has been my opinion for some time that BYU’s attitude that we worry about ourselves instead of our opponent is flawed. I also believe the idea that every game should be looked at as just another game is ridiculous. When teams play BYU, they get up for the games. They use the Cougars as a measuring stick in some cases. BYU has been such a solid program in football for the past few decades that opponents get up to play them because they know it’s a big deal to beat BYU.

Everyone knows that players play how they are coached. And NO, I’m not saying their needs to be a coaching change. What I am saying is that the coaching staff needs to do a better job of emphasizing the importance of big games. They need to make sure these players know what is on the line. Trying to downplay a Utah game, which seems to happen every year, only sets up the team for failure. Rest assured Utah isn’t downplaying the BYU game. In fact, it is stressed all year long (even if nobody from Utah will admit it, I know for a fact it is). For crying out loud, TCU practiced with a tackling dummy wearing a BYU helmet. It’s ok to admit that you really want to beat an opponent. It’s ok to tell your players that a loss to certain teams is unacceptable.

With BYU seemingly choosing Independence over fighting to get into a BCS Conference, winning big games is going to become crucial if the Cougars are ever going to be relevant. With teams like Idaho and New Mexico State likely to be on the schedule for a while, it’s extremely important to take advantage of opportunities against national teams. It’s only going to be when BYU beats those teams that the CFB world will take notice.

Shep

Going into today’s BYU vs Idaho State game we all expected a blowout win for the Cougars. Instead we got a…blowout. I was just trying to make this somewhat interesting since BYU dominated the Bengals 56-3.

The only real unknown regarding today’s game was whether or not Jake Heaps would get into the game. That question was answered at the 7:13 mark of the 3rd quarter when Heaps replaced Riley Nelson. Heaps first pass was underthrown. Jake seemed to get into a rhythm but then threw an interception, the only one thrown by either quarterback today. With the exception of the pick, Heaps was efficient going 8-10 for 67 yards.

Offensively under Nelson, BYU was near perfect. While Riley was in a quarterback, the Cougars scored on 6 out of 7 drives. When I say they scored I mean touchdowns. Nelson threw for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns as well as 62 yards rushing and a TD. If today didn’t convince you that Nelson was the right guy to quarterback this team then you‘ll never be persuaded. BYU got very good play from their wideouts and running backs today. Apo and Hoffman each had 71 yards receiving while Michael Alisa continued to show off his skills with 66 yards on just 8 carries. Everyone on the offensive side of the ball performed well today.

The defense was spectacular. Even though it was against a lower level team, the defense was active and caused havoc for Idaho State all day. The BYU defense had 6 sacks and 2 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. The Bengals moved the ball but the BYU defense held strong and didn’t give up a TD. Kyle Van Noy continues to dominate. Of the 5 sacks by the Cougars, 2 of them were courtesy of KVN.

All in all, BYU destroyed an inferior opponent. Still, the Cougars needed to prove to themselves and the fans that they were capable of laying the wood to a team. They proved today that they could. Things will get just a tad tougher this week when they travel to Dallas to face TCU on Friday night. Here’s hoping that Friday’s game is a preview of a couple of conference opponents next year in the Big12. PLEASE!

Shep

So it wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty today for the Utes, but it was a win on the road against a quality, if not, championship caliber team.  I will give you my thoughts on today’s contest and a grade card today on the Utes. First though, there’s no apologizing for a win of any kind in College Football. This was a Pitt team that hammered #16 South Florida two weeks ago, but clearly has QB issues of their own right now.

Today was as dominating a defensive performance I’ve seen the Utah Defense turn in, in quite some time. 8 straight possessions of forcing a Pittsburgh punt, then on the next possessions they force a turnover on downs and three turnovers. This Utah Defense is very very good and I think that fact has been lost in the last two weeks, when they were put in difficult situations by a lack of a consistent and turnover free Utah Offense.

As for the Utah Offense today, I can say it was ok, but that’s about all. The run game led by John White’s 36 carries for 171 yards was outstanding. White continues to show, with his 3rd 100yd rushing game of the season, that he’s a big time back. This is where the positives end for the Ute Offense. In his second start QB Jon Hays was average at best. 14-23 for 124 yds and 1 touchdown. The best part of Hays performance today was that he didn’t commit any turnovers. Hays struggled to throw the ball down the field and continually had balls batted down at the line of scrimmage. Hays wasn’t done any real favors by his offensive line today, because as good as they were run blocking they struggled with the Pitt pass rush giving up 7 sacks today. It will be hard for Jon Hays to improve if he isn’t given time to make plays down the field. John Cullen was especially bad on Saturday with multiple penalties and missed plays on the edge.

Finally Special Teams play was as bad as I’ve seen it in my years covering Utah Football. A kick return for TD and a Blocked punt highlight the lousy day. In addition, there was botched punt coverage and a bad snap on a punt late in the game. The one bright spot was the kicking of Coleman Peterson, who nailed all four of his FG attempts, including a career long 45 yarder.  I’m willing to give this unit a pass, because they’ve been so good this season. Head Coach Kyle Whittingham told us on the Post Game Locker Room Show, they were worse than a “train wreck” today.

Bottom Line is that the Utes were only stellar in one of the three phases of the game today, but still found a way to win by two touchdowns on the road. Things will be markedly more difficult in the Bay Area next weekend against Cal.

Grade Card

Offense-(C+)-Running Game Outstanding. No turnovers. Passing Game pedestrian and pass protection awful.

Defense-(A+)-Didn’t give up a point. Forced 3 turnovers and scored a TD. Held the Ray Graham to 46yds rushing and just 50 yards passing, while forcing 6 sacks.

Special Teams-(D)-Gave up two touchdowns. Terrible in punt coverage. Only Coleman Petersen kept this from a failing grade.

The BYU Cougars improved to 5-2 on the season as they picked up a 38-28 win over Oregon State in Corvallis. For me, this was easily the most complete game we have sen the Cougars play all season. The offense sustained drives and scored touchdowns. The defense caused turnovers and made things difficult on a young Sean Mannion.

Riley Nelson continued his inspired play. He was darn near perfect throwing the ball in the first quarter and a half. He finished the game with 217 yards passing with 3 touchdowns and an interception. The interception was a pick 6 but in the end it obviously didn’t cost BYU the victory. Once again, Riley’s ability to feel pressure and run with the ball proved huge. Nelson rushed for 87 yards on 12 carries to lead the team on the ground.

Speaking of rushing, BYU has found their running back. Michael Alisa proved that last week against San Jose State wasn’t a fluke. The former Timpview star rushed for 84 yards and had the games first touchdown. I’m not saying Alisa is Harvey Unga, but he is the closest thing we’ve seen to him since Unga left. It’s not just the yardage Alisa gets, it’s how he runs. He hits the hole very hard and quick plus he doesn’t let the first defender get him down.

The other bright spot for the offense was Cody Hoffman. he was brilliant today. It’s not just his 162 yards on 9 catches or his touchdown reception. It was the type of effort he gave today. Several of his catches were made off poorly thrown balls. He simply wanted it more than the defender. We found out a few weeks ago that Cody and Riley were roommates last year. It looks like that friendship has translated onto the field as well.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cougars forced 4 turnovers. They were opportunistic in picking off Mannion as well as being in the right place to scoop up a couple of fumbles. The biggest question mark for the defense is how many will be able to play next week. At certain points in the game BYU lost Kaveinga, Fuga, Fangupo and Pendleton. BYU’s depth on defense was looked at as a strength and it may be tested if anybody is hurt long term.

All in all, BYU and their fans should be very proud of the win today. It was a road game against a BCS school and the Cougars walked away knowing that they were the better team.

Another reason Cougars fans should be happy today is that Tom Holmoe said the door wasn’t closed on the Big 12…but that’s for another blog at another time.

Shep