1994
- Thread starter Cougini5591
- Start date
This defense is special. Offense needs to get out of its own way and this team can make some noise this year. Pretty clear the defense going to carry us this year either way. I’m fine w it, I love defensive football and hopefully Morris and Ward get the feel of big time FB and figure it out. This is a long ways from IW and they have s long way to go.
The offense made strides against a very good defense on the road. Should be a confidence builder for Cam. Amazing defensive effort, but he and the O did what they needed to do.
Ward will get better as they year moves on. He is still adjusting to D1 football. Look at the improvement of theQB play last year from start to finish. Ward has the tools, just seems a little overwhelmed right now, he will improve as the season moves on
When the O figures out they don't have to run a WR screen every other play and it is ok to throw the ball more than 10 yards downfield the team can be scary good.
those quick throws were necessary against the Wisconsin front though. It was probably smart by Morris and Ward despite my arm chair QBing
those quick throws were necessary against the Wisconsin front though. It was probably smart by Morris and Ward despite my arm chair QBing
Better. Good would be a stretch for me. He has a long ways to go and Morris does as well.
The offense in 2003 exploded in a few games (Oregon, Colorado, Oregon St) but the defense/special teams were the stars of the show that year. I suspect this team settles into something similar. Defense gets it's sacks/turnovers setting us up with a lot of short fields. Offense hits some explosive plays but is shaky. Overall good team.
I swear I'm not trying to start a fight here, but there is ZERO comparison on the offenses.
In 2003 we had:
Darling
Moore
Lunde
Harvey
Bienamin
Green
Smith
Our line had Knotts, Parish, Lightbody Armstrong...
They might have under performed... Kegel wasn't all world, but not a chance in hell would I compare the 2.
Ward needs to step up into the pocket and use his legs. He is very capable of picking up some yards w his feet. Also need to get Jenkins involved more. Kid can really run.
Jenkins is a guy you have to find a way to get him the ball 10 times a game. He’s explosive.
We had Darling jn 2003?
2002 was his final year. Green didn't play hardly at all in 2003.
I don't think TROY b was on that team either. Iirc his frosh yr was 2004.
Harvey was a disaster until 2005.
As others have mentioned, it was the D that carried us.
I would say the O was decent that year... better than what we have now.. but I think this offense may have more upside... Hopefully
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Considering we haven't had that level of all round talent since Price left, you are right, you can't really compare. We also had future 3 NFL DBs on that team, which we clearly don't have now. But the Pac-12 is a shell of its former self, and as a result, we don't need the same talent level. Also while Kegel was tough as nails, a true Coug, and 6"5," those were the only things he had going for him. While the talent on the line, at WR and RB propped him up, Cam has the tools to elevate the players around him. If you haven't noticed he has a Gesser-like release, mobility combine with a cannon. If he can settle down and put those tools to good use, we could be pretty good (relatively speaking).
The thing about Ward I’m just not sure is fixable in the short term that is so important with the evolution of both offenses and defenses is pocket presence. I don’t see a QB with a lot of awareness of what’s going on around him and he wants to cut and scramble outside the pocket, and while he’s ok athletic, he can’t outrun P5 linebackers. I hope he settles in but happy feet is usually not correctable overnight.
He either can't or won't make a pre-snap read and is simply reacting to 11 guys flying all over the field. He should have a decent idea of how the play is going to happen after the ball is snapped, and outside of the tunnel screens and hand-offs he doesn't appear to have a good grasp of the scheme or the speed of P5 play.
Yet.
Hopefully.
Darling was there in 2003. I remember him getting flagged at ND for saluting his brother after a TD.
The team was pretty talented but it didn't live up to it's potential. A sign of things to come in the Doba years as the strategy of recruiting Uber talented illiterate kids exploded in their faces.
Thing about 2022 is this team has a lot of room to improve. Get everyone on the same page and this is one of the conferences better offenses.
Easy to get away with at Incarnate Ward with that release and above average athleticism. Not so much in P5 ball. You can wing it at this level if you have Kyler Murray type athleticism but Ward is nowhere close to that quick. He will need to figure things out or he will flat out get replaced. He ain’t going pro anytime soon so he has plenty of time to work on his craft if he’s coachable. Seems like a good kid and certainly has some talent.
If only there was a way to instantly look things up, using a device like your phone. That would be amazing.
2003 had more future NFL DBs than that. David and Coleman were drafted in 2004, Paymah in 2005, Hamza in 2006, and Frampton in 2007. Husain was a UDFA.
2002 was when the depth was really crazy. Paymah got a few starts after David got his jaw broken. Hamza was a backup, and Frampton and Husain were redshirting.
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I think CSU is an important game for him. He needs to take a big step forward against would should be softer competition. This is the game to see it.
I want to see him make "qb plays" like looking a db off, seeing his 3rd read the crossing WR and hitting him as he passes the LB. Or going to a hot route on a blitz. We have another opponent that should be slightly less talented than us, so this week would be a good week to get the practice in.
JG says hello…we literally had a transfer QB last year who started the season opener and was…GASP…replaced.
Great win but Dickert and Morris both expect the offense and QB to operate at a much higher level. If Cam doesn’t, he won’t keep the job. Really not that complicated, how much football have you watched?
It is a pretty amazing set of comments on this board. The Cougs beat an out of conference top 20 team on the road for the first time in twenty years and the majority of comments on this list are negative. Ward just played in his 2nd game at this level before 80,000 fans and against a top defensive team. Yes he struggled at times. He also played under control and extremely efficiently to run out the clock in the last 5 minutes. No one is replacing this guy any time soon and we have every reason to believe he will get better at reading defenses. We might try enjoying the win.
Bwah!
My friend, I know you have been on this site for a while. I have been here since the "Red Board" days.
Since when have we ever been positive about anything?
I’m sorry, did that not happen? Do you need me to provide an old box score? You can call me stupid all you want, QBs that don’t perform get replaced all the time. Gubruud was “anointed” the starter and never saw the field. Falk was benched momentarily after breaking records when he struggled.
I’m as happy as anyone we are 2-0. The defense has carried this team so far this season. Without phenomenal defensive play we are 0-2 right now. Ward has not looked good. He needs to be better. I hope he improves and expect he will. If he doesn’t, QB2 will get a look. If you are a serious program nobody gets a free pass to underperform and not be challenged for PT. it’s really that simple.
Hey now... I wasn't meaning this to be a crazy unappreciative bashing on Ward.
I'm just more a little stunned by how I thought the Offense was going to be a strength and it seems like we are wayyyy behind where it needs to be.
Let's not forget that we have been offensive crap in taking care of the ball and looking like "the norm" of WSU football. This includes us going against Idaho at home.
I'm pretty sure that Ward is our dude this season and he's going to get it going more than what has been shown, but am I really out of line for pointing out the struggles on offense... complimenting our defense... and comparing us to a bowl team from 30 years ago that was our greatest defense of all time?
I'm enjoying the Hell out of the win, and there's nobody on the roster who is going to replace a healthy Cam Ward, so that's not even worth discussing. With that said, we were extremely fortunate to get out of Madison with a win yesterday given the way our offense struggled, and our offensive performance vs. Idaho was worse.
It's not critical to suggest that our star transfer QB and the entire offense needs to perform better if we're going to win 8+ games this season.
It's not critical to suggest that our star transfer QB and the entire offense needs to perform better if we're going to win 8+ games this season.
