I warned you.
- Thread starter CougPatrol
- Start date
I was tongue in cheek mocking my comments from last year. He doesn’t have elite arm talent, but with the type of season and schedule we have this year, his grit and running ability may serve us better.
Oh... yet the coaches, Chazanow and Bumpus and the Spokesman Review writer all claim Mateer has a cannon and the players are quoted as saying he throws lasers and the backup Ekhaus actually throws a more catchable ball.
But if you say his arm is weak.. I'll defer to your expertise.
I didn’t watch the scrimmage, and haven’t closely followed spring practice. But just looking at the game summary and some of the highlights and stats, I’m concerned.
Wide receivers are barely mentioned.
QB numbers are fairly pedestrian. 19/30 for 196 is a decent day…if you’re playing in 1992. Pretty average today. 11/24 isn’t good, his 194 yards mean they hit a couple long ones, but probably struggled to move the chains.
Based on the defensive numbers, it looks like we continue to have OL struggles. An LB had 10 tackles, Two edge rushers had 4 sacks and 11 tackles. Either those are guys who gets off blocks well or they aren’t getting blocked. Considering what we saw last year, I know what I assume
Wide receivers are barely mentioned.
QB numbers are fairly pedestrian. 19/30 for 196 is a decent day…if you’re playing in 1992. Pretty average today. 11/24 isn’t good, his 194 yards mean they hit a couple long ones, but probably struggled to move the chains.
Based on the defensive numbers, it looks like we continue to have OL struggles. An LB had 10 tackles, Two edge rushers had 4 sacks and 11 tackles. Either those are guys who gets off blocks well or they aren’t getting blocked. Considering what we saw last year, I know what I assume
It was a question not an answer. Offenses looked bad but missing lineman and separating them doesnt help . So hard to read the offense and even the defense .
The dbs played way better than i thought they would .
The wr had a tough time getting open . Durant can play. I believe the FS position. will be better . I think the nickle and corners will be as good or better as last year and wont have a cb pull a J deLaura.
Raam Stevenson put on a ton of muscle. It doesnt look like he lost speed.
If I was their oline coach I would put Hilborn at center. He just cant move people off the ball.
Parker is going ti be a very good back. A slightly bigger back and same quickness as Jenkins.
Two edge rushers that are not named Brennan Jackson or Ron Stone…yikes, could be a long year.
Those things are kind of offset by somethings the stats don't tell the whole story on.
There was a couple, few, some long sustained TD drives. There was about a 15 play 99 yard TD drive.
The focus of the offense is a MIX of RPO, RB runs, tosses to RB's, WR's, screens, shovel passes, Air Raid like hand offs(short passes) to RB's, WR's, TE's, QB runs, AND YARDS AFTER THE CATCH, TOSS, SCREEN, ETC. CLASSIC DINK, DUNK, BALL CONTROL, RPO, AIR RAID, MIKE PRICE OFFENSE, RUN N SHOOT, SPREAD, BALANCE, MIX.
And it seems to be clicking, especially in the run after the catch department, as the WR's were very ELECTRIC after the catch, combined with good blocking by WR's, TE's, OL, to help set that up, and evidenced by the 15 play 99 yard TD drive.
And the offense scored in the red zone.
The only weaknesses of the offense was GOAL LINE, failure to get short yardage and punch it in on goal line, and lack of deep ball, and lack of big explosive plays, and lack of depth(Mateer, and the back up were great throwing darts, etc, but the 3rd string QB, etc, and the 3rd string, back up RB's, WR's, TE's, OL were not good, so injuries will be harder to weather.
There was 1,2 explosive plays, but that was extremely rare. The offense was great at grinding out 10 yards and moving the first down chains.
Also during spring practices, scrimmage games in spring, the defense is usually way ahead of offense, and so can't read too much into lack of offensive statistics. The important thing is that the offense scored many times, despite the lack of good stats, and had consistent LONG SCORING DRIVES.
If the offense keeps that up, then opposing defenses will be kept off balance, worn out, give WSU's defense rest time thru time of possession, ball control, etc.
If the lack of goal line, short yardage, big explosive plays, depth, deep ball, etc, continues in late summer camp, fall practice, then I might get, be concerned.
I recorded the game and I'm planning to watch it tonight. I watched the highlights and it wasn't anything that makes me excited. As mentioned above, mixing up the players can affect the cohesion on the OL...but injuries are a real thing and our running game looked like a hot mess for the most part. QB play was unimpressive but the new kid (#4) has some wheels and may push Mateer for the starting job based on the highlights.
Mateer is going to have to fight his ass off to be QB1. There were some grumblings about bringing in a transfer but this is why you do it. Everyone assumed Gubrud was going to start when he was brought in, you’ve got to think that pushed AG to elevate his game. Competition makes everyone better, always has.
Schlenbaker, Parker looked awesome as RB's. That's not a hot mess.
The only hot mess I saw, was that the new QB, #1 back up to Mateer, didn't do much. Yes he had a couple, few nice plays, both with his feet, running, and pass plays, but most of the time the offense, didn't do as good, as much, as when Mateer was leading the offense. Mateer was throwing darts, driving, scoring, had good plays with his feet, running, and passing, and passing on the run.
The offense really started to suffer when Mateer, and the new #1 back up was pulled out, and when back up OL, TE, WR were put in. They still made good plays at times, but most of time, didn't do much. That potentially could mean, shows that could have a depth problem.
A lot, most of the good defensive plays, stops, etc, were either when the new #1 back up to mateer was in, an or when both Mateer and the new #1 back up to mateer were, came out, and the 3rd stringers, etc, came in.
The mixing up the players cohesion thing, and injuries, and the fact that defense is usually ahead of offense in spring, are all reasons the stats, scoring, etc, wasn't better.
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I gave up a long time ago trying to disseminate how our team will perform during the season based on the Spring game. I used to go the Crimson & Gray game a fair amount back in the day, and I remember thinking that the 1997 team looked terrible. There were other times when I came away thinking we looked great and followed it by posting 3-9 records.
My biggest takeaway from the last spring game is that Cam Ward was a completely different QB. Then in game 5 we got the old Cam back. Agree you gotta take what you see in those scrimmages w a grain of salt.
If something is, either looks beyond horribly awful, terrible, etc, in spring game, IF IF IF it is not fixed, if there is not enough improvement by, during summer, fall camp, practice, then USUALLY, IF IF not fixed, not enough improvement, etc, then USUALLY The season will not be good.
Having a absolutely awful, terrible spring game doesn't mean that that the season will be bad, only that there a greater chance, likelihood, odds, etc, that the season will be bad.
That said, I don't think the Spring game offensively or defensively was absolutely horrible, awful, terrible, bad, etc, this spring game.
Having a absolutely awful, terrible spring game doesn't mean that that the season will be bad, only that there a greater chance, likelihood, odds, etc, that the season will be bad.
That said, I don't think the Spring game offensively or defensively was absolutely horrible, awful, terrible, bad, etc, this spring game.
I will just say that while there were a few exciting plays, as a whole there just wasn't enough there to make me get excited and very optimistic for the coming season. I don't think this team will be one that "looks great getting off the bus".
It looked like Number 1 offense and Number 2 defense v. Number 1 defense and Number 2 offense to me, with some guys especially OL on both sides.
The things that stood out to me:
Team speed was not impressive;
No stand out talent on either side;
OL looked pretty small;
A few plays boosted the averages;
Pass rush was poor; and
The backups looked really small on both sides.
You must not have seen RB Parker. Not only was he electric, juking, making cutbacks, shifty, great vision(could see wmholes, creases, blocks, follow blocks, etc, he was doing that at top speed, and he jetted, turned on the afterburner, and had a LOT of speed.
And you must of also not seen Freeman, who was like Parker.
There was one screen, etc, where he was dead to rights, and he reversed field ran to the right side sideline, and miraculously got 2.5 yard gain out of it, where anybody else less electric, with less speed, etc, would have been dead to rights.
That or you have selective memory, etc.
not when they insist on running east and west, the line isnt strong enough for that we need to run straight ahead get 3 or 4 yards instead of losing 2
Watched the game last night. Wasn't as bad as I was picturing based on some comments but the split up OL was not very good. Zevi Eckhaus was featured prominently in the highlights scrambling....but after watching the game...that's what he's good at. His ball placement and decision making on passes was not great. He did have a nice final drive for the win though. Mateer is going to be fine and he has certainly matured a lot in one year. His interview towards the end of the game didn't look like he was a brand new starter. He had a few bad passes in the game but also some absolute dimes.
I know that Biggs hates Dickert...but the dude has genuine enthusiasm for the game and the team. His punt in the fourth quarter was hilarious. He was loose and having fun. At one point, the center snapped the ball over the QB's head and right to Dickert...who pitched it back to the QB to keep the play going...but the QB (some rando backup) dropped to the ground. A missed opportunity for that QB to have a fun moment.
This team has a competitive spirit and that showed up late. Most spring games drag on and everyone is bored and wants to just get it over with. In this game, there was a shoving match between a couple players late and the "coaches" were calling timeouts to try and get the "win". The holder handled a pretty bad snap to allow Janikowski to get the field goal to finish the game.
I know that Biggs hates Dickert...but the dude has genuine enthusiasm for the game and the team. His punt in the fourth quarter was hilarious. He was loose and having fun. At one point, the center snapped the ball over the QB's head and right to Dickert...who pitched it back to the QB to keep the play going...but the QB (some rando backup) dropped to the ground. A missed opportunity for that QB to have a fun moment.
This team has a competitive spirit and that showed up late. Most spring games drag on and everyone is bored and wants to just get it over with. In this game, there was a shoving match between a couple players late and the "coaches" were calling timeouts to try and get the "win". The holder handled a pretty bad snap to allow Janikowski to get the field goal to finish the game.
Sounds like a typical spring game. Last years spring game was one of the most crisp I’ve ever watched, and that didn’t lead to a great season.
The one before ‘18 was sloppy AF.
Team was pretty good last year. Conference was the best it's been in 20 years.
Other than having a bad OL, no run game, and inconsistent QB play that put too much pressure on the defense...yeah, they were pretty good.
