BYU v. TCU: Mistakes Were Made

I was really looking forward to last night's BYU/TCU game, as I considered the Horned Frogs the last serious opponent BYU would face this season, as well as the first serious opponent, since Riley Nelson took over at the helm.

In short, I'm bummed out BYU lost, impressed with some of its better moments, and still trying to wash the turnovers and mistakes out of my brain.

Riley Nelson.  Once again, I was super impressed with his grit and determination.  I was so impressed that, even though I wanted to jump off our balcony after his two desperation turnovers, I felt sorry for the guy, rather than disgusted.  Here's an example of that unerring determination I'm talking about:

How many quarterbacks will bust out a gutsy play like that and then high-five the line judge?  Full of win.  Next time, I just hope the high-five will come in celebration of an imminent victory, rather than a yippee, two-point conversion (when we're still down by double digits).

Special teams.  Wow.  Talk about a roller coaster evening.  I think we basically handed the game to TCU on special teams and field position (other than Falslev's punt return for a touchdown).  How is the defense expected to defend against a speedy TCU offense with just 30-40 yards between them and the end-zone?

Defense.  Speaking of the defense, I was impressed on the whole -- especially in the second half with how it kept stuffing TCU's offense when we had to make a stop -- and simply nauseous with some of the missed assignments that led to immediate scores.

Conclusion.  If I remember correctly, TCU got all or virtually all of its points under something like five minutes, total.  FIVE MINUTES!  Field position and missed assignments.  I loved how BYU battled back, in spite of what I believe was a 25-point deficit.

If Riley can learn to take a sack instead of creating a turnover, special teams can get the ball out of our side of the 50 on a punt, and if the defense can avoid touchdown-inducing mistakes, I'd call the team quite solid.  As things currently stand, who's next on the schedule?  The Idaho Vandals.  The who?  Is that a high school team?  Anyway, I guess we can look ahead to the bowl game against Army, Navy, or someone similar and a brighter season, next year (sigh) with better execution and greater success.