The Pulse of Cougar Nation: Riley Nelson

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***From May 20 to June 18, we polled BYU fans on Twitter and Cougarboard to find out what they were thinking about the upcoming season. We received a total of 160 responses from 5 different countries, although not every participant answered every question. The survey results will be posted through a series of posts. This is the first post. Enjoy!

I think if you had polled BYU fans a year ago and told them Riley Nelson was going to be THE quarterback option for the 2012 season, some would have called you a liar and some would not have had high hopes for the upcoming season. Some, on the other hand, would have immediately liquidated all of their assets and gone into hiding, fearing the worst was near.

Despite the backlash from the time of Riley's 2011 emergence to Jake Heaps transfer to Kansas, I think most of Cougar Nation has settled down to a feeling of acceptance and optimism. While some might already be clamoring for the unknown potential of a backup QB, most are ready to go with Riley.

But what do BYU fans really expect from Riley this year? Here's what they had to say:

• PASSING YARDS (158 responses)

AVERAGE RESPONSE: 2,970 yards

• COMPLETION PERCENTAGE (157 responses)

AVERAGE RESPONSE: About 60 percent

• TOUCHDOWN PASSES (158 responses)

AVERAGE RESPONSE: 26-27 touchdown passes

• INTERCEPTIONS THROWN (158 responses)

AVERAGE RESPONSE: 11-12 INTs

• 2012 QB RATING (158 responses)

AVERAGE RESPONSE: 155.8 QB Rating

• QB RUSHING YARDS (156 responses)

AVERAGE RESPONSE: About 520 rushing yards

• QB RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS (157 responses)

AVERAGE RESPONSE: About 4.75 rushing TDs

So, based on the survey responses, the average stat line for Riley Nelson is the following:

• 2,970 passing yards
• 60% completion percentage
• 26-27 TD passes
• 11-12 INTs
• 155.8 QB Rating
• 520 rushing yards
• 4.75 rushing TDs

Not a bad season if it happened this way. We could do a lot worse (and have recently, if I'm not mistaken) than 3,500 total yards of offense and more than 30 total TDs from the QB position.

With the exception of rushing touchdowns, the survey responses didn't seem to reflect any major increases or decreases in production from Riley Nelson. I expect improvement from him, and it will be interesting to see how Riley does now that he has and will continue to get the majority of practice reps.

• BACKUP QUARTERBACK? (157 responses)

I'm not sure if it has officially been announced yet, but I think James Lark is the favorite to backup Nelson. Really, the only other option is Taysom Hill. Although I did think it was cute that people thought anyone else had a chance at the job.

NEXT POST: THE RUNNING BACKS

Make room for 'Tannermania'!

I think we all knew that Tanner Mangum was an impressive get for BYU, but, after the attention he was receiving for his stellar play this past week at Nikes "The Opening" football camp, it's safe to say we are pleasantly surprised/excited.

Also exciting was the amount of attention he received on Twitter because of his stellar play. Sure, it's nothing close to the amount of attention that Jimmer received on that very same medium (despite playing on an inferior and abject network), but considering he was an alternate to even be there, these praises scratch us all right where we itch.

The future of the QB position at BYU is in good hands, and here are some of those impressive tweets.

Dwayne Bowe's thoughts on Mangum:
BSU player Jeron Johnson and his obvious irritation upon learning Mangum wasn't going to Boise State despite being from the area:
The token ridiculous BSU-fan statement design to convince himself that he didn't want Mangum anyway:
More praise from ESPN personalities and outlets:

This picture also came up early on in the Google Image search. They must have thought I meant Magnum instead of Mangum.