John Beck talks about how he see’s the offense improving under Ty Detmer’s new system.
Saturday was a homecoming for former BYU QB John Beck.
The former second round pick who played for the Washington Redskins from 2010-2011 returned to FedEx Field to watch his alma mater – BYU – take on West Virginia.
“It was crazy, it’s been five years since I’ve played in that stadium and my last NFL start was in that stadium against the 49ers,” said Beck. “It was crazy to be back, I’ve never been in the stadium as a fan. I was usually coming through the tunnels as a player down on the field. It was cool to be back and cheer on the Cougars.”
The Cougars, while coming up short in a 32-35 loss, gave their fans plenty to cheer about, including a noticeable improvement on the offensive side of the ball.
Every close game has a few plays that come down as “critical” in the final result. For BYU, it was a handful of turnovers that made the difference, including a pick-six late in the first half.
“Anytime you turn the ball over and the other team can turn it into six points without putting their offense on the field, is huge,” said Beck. “When you give up six points and it isn’t your defense giving up the points, I think that’s pretty critical.”
The momentum was in BYU’s favor before the interception, after the defense forced a three-and-out, the Cougars began marching the ball to try and take a 17-14 lead heading into the half, but with the interception, ended up having to dig out of a 21-10 hole.
Many have questioned whether BYU’s final offensive play – a fly route launched toward the end zone and was tipped by defenders and resulted in an interception – was the right call.
Beck believes it was, based on the coverage that West Virginia showed.
“Anytime a play is called, it is based off of what the coordinator anticipates the defense to do. Maybe it was a situation where they knew they were going to get man coverage so they thought, if we have a shot to take something, we know it’s second down,” said Beck. “This happens a lot, if [BYU] knows they can get them in man press, then they can use a play to take a shot, cause if it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it’s third and two and they have two plays to pick up the first down.”
It has been widely noted that BYU’s offense has struggled to open the 2016 season, Beck says that he expected some struggles with implementing a new system.
“I knew this going in, that there was going to be a transition period. The hard thing with BYU’s schedule, playing four P5 teams at the front end of the schedule, and yet they’re going out there and trying to get a new offense going,” said Beck. “I think Ty is going to be great. I think there are some play calls that Ty has done that I’ve really, really liked that are very smart.”
Beck notes that part of the growing pains come despite BYU returning experience.
“I think it’s going to grow as more guys get more time in the system,” said Beck. “It’s not necessarily about spread or pro-style it’s about what guys have repetitions doing. When you bring in a change, you can’t use all of your experience in a new offense. Sure, you have a bunch of reps, but how many of those reps translate to a new system?”
With four games under the teams belt, the system should begin to click and there should be a noticeable improvement in the execution as they continue to get live, game reps as they finish the final eight games of the 2016 season.
Listen to the full interview with John Beck here:
