Appreciation for Tommy's Stats

I think TA can be a good QB if he uses his feet. He has to take off when the yards are there.
No doubt. Right after the game I had the mindset that he had played pretty well with the exception of the 2nd qtr. Then after some thought, I think I over estimated how well he played. 2 turnovers, bad. 2 bad grounding penalties, 1 where he could have taken off and had a nice gain. Still seemed to force a few too many throws, and didn't seem comfortable in what little zone read game we ran.He played well enough for us to win, but those same old bugaboos from the past 2 seasons were there. He needs to clean those up, cuz as he goes the offense goes.
I think its more of defining the offense. The new staff does not know how to use the zone read, so it did not look good. They need to scrap it and find a different way for Tommy to run that they understand.
It's really not that difficult. I thought that this extremely experienced staff would be able to easily correct these errors.

Tommy didn't look comfortable in the zone read the previous 2 years, so if Riley and Langsdorf are really the experts and gurus that some say they are, I'd expect that they should easily get their 3rd year starter to grasp the concepts.

 
I think TA can be a good QB if he uses his feet. He has to take off when the yards are there.
No doubt. Right after the game I had the mindset that he had played pretty well with the exception of the 2nd qtr. Then after some thought, I think I over estimated how well he played. 2 turnovers, bad. 2 bad grounding penalties, 1 where he could have taken off and had a nice gain. Still seemed to force a few too many throws, and didn't seem comfortable in what little zone read game we ran.He played well enough for us to win, but those same old bugaboos from the past 2 seasons were there. He needs to clean those up, cuz as he goes the offense goes.
I think its more of defining the offense. The new staff does not know how to use the zone read, so it did not look good. They need to scrap it and find a different way for Tommy to run that they understand.
It's really not that difficult. I thought that this extremely experienced staff would be able to easily correct these errors.

Tommy didn't look comfortable in the zone read the previous 2 years, so if Riley and Langsdorf are really the experts and gurus that some say they are, I'd expect that they should easily get their 3rd year starter to grasp the concepts.
I agree, but I would think that a pro-style coach would have a different technique (format, blocking ect.) I thought the whole offense looked off and it could be the passing style offense trying to find a way to get Tommy involved is just not working. It is the coaches as much as Tommy. There were times 2 defenders would go right by one of the line, as it they did not know who to block. Overall I thought Tommy looked very composed, other than the grounding.

 
Completion percentage still isn't were you would like it to be if Riley plans on throwing it this much a game, one way to up that completion percentage is to do what you guys are saying scramble and pick up what you can instead of forcing a a pass that most likely won't be completed

 
Using this message board's preferred pass defense stat, BYU had the 66th ranked pass defense last year. Mediocre, but not one of the worst in the nation. Not sure how that translates into one of the worst secondaries in the nation this season.
BYU was #114 in passing yards allowed per game last year. They have two defensive back starters back and two that basically didn't play for BYU last year - not sure if that is good or bad.
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Not sure how that will translate to this year but they're currently #103 in the nation in passing yards allowed so that doesn't sound too good.
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Don't
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me, mister. We don't like yards per game. We like Pct. & Rating. The ones that made Nebraska's pass defense look top 5 instead of just top 35.
According to that site BYU was 59th & 41st in those categories.

Also worth noting BYU's defense was passed on more than any other team but 2 last year. That helps explain the yards per game.

I'm not sure what any of this means. Football stats are a funny thing.
This is mostly because it's the most effective way to attack them. They were pretty stout against the run, mediocre against the pass. Just makes sense that an offensive coordinator would choose to score through the air against them.

 
That could certainly be part of it. Another part of it could be they were playing with a lead a lot, and the other teams had to catch up. I don't know. I think we saw a little of both on Saturday. A couple of the other teams that were passed on a lot were Oregon and USC.

 
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Completion percentage still isn't were you would like it to be if Riley plans on throwing it this much a game, one way to up that completion percentage is to do what you guys are saying scramble and pick up what you can instead of forcing a a pass that most likely won't be completed
His completion percentage was below 60% due to the 2nd quarter, when no one on our line would block. Tommy also did some stupid things that quarter, but kept his composure. He throw some nice passes over the defenders when their backs were toward him. Tommy would not have done this last year. This is coaching and he will get better!

 
Meanwhile, the talk around Tommy is constantly about what he does wrong, throwing off his back foot, throwing INTs...etc. After this game, there was some talk about him having a better game and improving. But, it always goes back to what he needs to do to get better because "we will never win a championship with him".

Why?
I think there are a few reasons for this - one, the fans that follow a particular program closest always criticize the heaviest. But, I think there's also a misconception about Hill. While certainly a talented player, if we were only to look at what BYU fan said about him on this board, you'd walk away with the impression that he's the next Cam Newton. But, that's because those fans were on a foreign board trying to sell their program and QB. I bet the narrative would be a bit different had they lost and if we perused their board afterward.

Which leads me to my second point that a loss can change the perspective of everything. Faults become an afterthought or asterisk after a victory, but, faults become the plot after a loss.

I'm not saying anything revolutionary here. Just pointing out that I think it's always natural for people to criticize. TA has done some really good things for us at quarterback and I think he showed a lot of improvement in some areas. But, it's also probably equally important to point out that he still tries to exploit his arm strength, makes some bad decisions in the backfield and still needs to take that *next step* as a QB.

 
I think there are a few reasons for this - one, the fans that follow a particular program closest always criticize the heaviest. But, I think there's also a misconception about Hill. While certainly a talented player, if we were only to look at what BYU fan said about him on this board, you'd walk away with the impression that he's the next Cam Newton. But, that's because those fans were on a foreign board trying to sell their program and QB. I bet the narrative would be a bit different had they lost and if we perused their board afterward.

Which leads me to my second point that a loss can change the perspective of everything. Faults become an afterthought or asterisk after a victory, but, faults become the plot after a loss.

I'm not saying anything revolutionary here. Just pointing out that I think it's always natural for people to criticize. TA has done some really good things for us at quarterback and I think he showed a lot of improvement in some areas. But, it's also probably equally important to point out that he still tries to exploit his arm strength, makes some bad decisions in the backfield and still needs to take that *next step* as a QB.
That sounds waaaaayyy too sensible. You can't bring that crap here!

 
Tommy Armstrong:

21/30

270 yards passing

70% Completion rate

2 TD

0 Int.

Great game from Tommy. The offenses looking very crisp. Little things you could nitpick here and there, but I think if we continue to execute like we have, even against stiffer competition, we will be a very capable offense.

Way to go Tommy.

 
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Tommy Armstrong:

21/30

270 yards passing

70% Completion rate

2 TD

0 Int.

Great game from Tommy. The offenses looking very crisp. Little things you could nitpick here and there, but I think if we continue to execute like we have, even against stiffer competition, we will be a very capable offense.

Way to go Tommy.


This is by far Tommy's most complete game in his career thus far. Regardless of competition, he played extremely well.

 
Tommy Armstrong:

21/30

270 yards passing

70% Completion rate

2 TD

0 Int.

Great game from Tommy. The offenses looking very crisp. Little things you could nitpick here and there, but I think if we continue to execute like we have, even against stiffer competition, we will be a very capable offense.

Way to go Tommy.

This is by far Tommy's most complete game in his career thus far. Regardless of competition, he played extremely well.
I didn't realize the stats were that good, that's great. We got to be encouraging where it is deserved.

 
Once again, I don't understand everyone saying Kaaya is so great while not necessarily giving Armstrong the same respect.

Kaaya

Passing 37-59 (62.7%) 460 yards 7.8 Yards/Attempt 3 TDs 0 INTs 145.00 rating

Rushing 2 for (-11) yards

Armstrong

Passing 45-71 (63.4%) 589 yards 8.3 Yards/Attempt 5 TDs 1 INT 153.5 rating

Rushing 11 for 6 yards

Now, we all know Armstrong is a much better runner than what those stats show. Last year, Kaaya ran 2 for (-25) against our horrible rushing defense.

PS....I'm mainly talking about people outside Nebraska. I think Husker fans are liking what they see.

 
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Little things you could nitpick here and there, but I think if we continue to execute like we have, even against stiffer competition, we will be a very capable offense.
I agree. If he continues to perform like he did against USA, we shouldn't have any complaints.

 
Once again, I don't understand everyone saying Kaaya is so great while not necessarily giving Armstrong the same respect.

Kaaya

Passing 37-59 (62.7%) 460 yards 7.8 Yards/Attempt 3 TDs 0 INTs 145.00 rating

Rushing 2 for (-11) yards

Armstrong

Passing 45-71 (63.4%) 589 yards 8.3 Yards/Attempt 5 TDs 1 INT 153.5 rating

Rushing 11 for 6 yards

Now, we all know Armstrong is a much better runner than what those stats show. Last year, Kaaya ran 2 for (-25) against our horrible rushing defense.

PS....I'm mainly talking about people outside Nebraska. I think Husker fans are liking what they see.


It takes time for national perception to change on people. Tommy's flying under the radar this year, which is just fine with him, I'm sure. Playing a pretty good but still with some problems game against BYU, and then performing well against USA has no reason to draw attention of people outside our fanbase. Yet.

 
Tommy Armstrong:

21/30

270 yards passing

70% Completion rate

2 TD

0 Int.

Great game from Tommy. The offenses looking very crisp. Little things you could nitpick here and there, but I think if we continue to execute like we have, even against stiffer competition, we will be a very capable offense.

Way to go Tommy.
One of his more complete games even when you consider the competition like LOMS said. He played very well. One of the things I was most impressed with was he toned back slightly on the whole throwing-off-his-back-foot thing he likes to do, and he didn't have many throws I would classify as "bad." Hell, I think the first play of the game he rolled out, threw on the move and got it to where Morgan was. It was just a really tough situation for Morgan to make an effective play on the ball.

Once again, his poise in the pocket was comforting, especially early on. He hit Hovey on a beautiful crossing pattern for a big third down conversion on the first drive of the game. He's also look just more crisp and sharp.

Really interested to see where his game is at against Miami this week. All things considered he even had a good game against BYU, I just think the lack of a running game really put too much pressure on him. If we can run the ball well Saturday, I really like our chances.

 
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