2nd best team in the PAC-12?

[AlwaysSpokanesFault]

Christ...

Go 11-2 (when we were supposed to win 4-5).

Win a mid-tier bowl game.

Witness a season that couldn't have went any better (considering the off-season).

And yet some dopes are still gonna WHINE.

GFY if your main thought in life at this moment is that the Cougs didn't have a great season.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Maybe having a DT (or maybe even two of them) that weighs more than 280 would help.

again, problems that need to be addressed. I'm not saying "we suck" or any such thing, but this game, on paper, was much more of a struggle than it should have been. Jimmies and Joes we win, hands down (except maybe DL), especially our O vs their D. They have recruited in the 90's the last several year, iirc.

To address your other reply as well, I guess my point is:

Its way too easy to come up with a simple gameplan and make our O much less effective. ISU (among others) have shown that you don't even need superior athletes to execute this game plan and it will still work. And if we DO match up against superior athletes, then we get Apple Cup results every year.

Look, I'm just going off of CML's own words: in theory, the Air Raid is not stoppable. If everyone executes and does their jobs, they should be able to win and even over come talent gaps (I'm taking this from SYS, among other places). There are open receivers on every play, the qb just has to get the ball to them. We have experienced, knowledgeable WRs and QB, so where is the disconnect?

Honest question - where is the disconnect? Its why I asked earlier if anyone has asked CML pointedly about the ACs and previous bowl games to see what he thinks is going on. Is it culture? Is it we still aren't there with talent? Will we never get "there" with our talent?

I don't know... I'll stop bitching. My pragmatic mind makes me believe there is a solution. For many years WSU's solution was "we just need to get better kids." Well, now we have better kids AND we've been led to believe that we don't necessarily need better kids to win, and that has proven true. But, we still seem to have a major stumbling block - and maybe I'm not understanding it at all. Maybe it isn't dropping eight; maybe its zone blitz, or something else. ???

Anyway, not trying to fight with you gib; we normally get along. So, go Cougs, thank you God (sincerely) for GM and CML, and here's to another great year of Cougar Football in the books!

 

[Coug90]

THAT was the best bowl game? That was hideously ugly.

Please... take of the Crimson goggles. That was a boring game marred by mediocre talent making mediocre plays all around.

The only player I left impressed by was the wideout for ISU... otherwise it was just bad football. Terrible throws into obvious picks. Neither team securing the ball in the run game... tons and tons of missed tackles. I could go on.

Just because a game is decided by 2 points doesn't make it a good game.

If you enjoyed Auburn/Purdue or Miami/Wisconsin...good on you I guess. Or TCU/Cal?? Maybe you are the type that enjoys a good UW/Utah dustup. Those are always classics, especially to the 15K in attendance or the additional 30k watching on TV.

Got news for you...For the handful of people who give a shit about the RB this year, nobody’s going to be watching the 2nd half because the game will be over by then.

 

[WASH ST A&M FAN]

JFC I rest my case. Coug grads (I pray u didn't actually attend school there) are pathetic.

Says a UW Fan at 11:45PM Friday Night on A Coug Message Board After a Coug Bowl Win.

Ironically Pathetic at its best

 

[chipdouglas]

This is the first thing that came to your mind? This is what you thought of as an insult...

lol JFC I rest my case. Coug grads (I pray u didn't actually attend school there) are pathetic.

You understand we all know you don't have a UW diploma right?

We know you did 2 years at Bellevue CC, failed your first and only year as a UW transfer, and finished your degree at Renton Tech only to castigate real Cougar grads for being "pathetic". You want pathetic? Walk into your decrepit townhouse in Kent and look in the mirror you bought from Bed Bath & Beyond.

 

[kugrz98]

This is the first thing that came to your mind? This is what you thought of as an insult...

lol JFC I rest my case. Coug grads (I pray u didn't actually attend school there) are pathetic.

Pathetic is trolling another program's message board.... <mic drop>

 

[AlwaysSpokanesFault]

Watch yourself or my wife's boyfriend will kick your ass. Tyrone!!!

Always a pleasure to read your posts, Coach Klinefelter.

 

[Brent H.]

People need to just have a Coke and a smile in this thread.

 

[AlwaysSpokanesFault]

People need to just have a Coke and a smile in this thread.

You give me a Coke bottle and CognitiveDefect's address in Lakewood and I'll produce smiles in this thread. Trust me.

 

[Coug90]

You give me a Coke bottle and CognitiveDefect's address in Lakewood and I'll produce smiles in this thread. Trust me.

Lakewood? You’re giving this cat too much credit he’s got Spanaway written all over him.

 

[BiggsCoug]

I mean, I could qualify it, but do I really need to.

Yes, it wins the game we should win, but in games that are highly contested the offense disappears. Its no longer a Falk thing - its Minshew x 3 (or 4) as well.

That means that we have to depend on either a) our D being exceedingly tough and/ or b) the opponent's offense being terrible. We got lucky with Kal, not so much with UW, and a little of both with ISU.

All I am saying is that if the Air Raid gets shut down by throwing one wrinkle at it, either the scheme is flawed or the coaching is flawed. I am pretty confident with believing that we've had solid talent at the qb position the past 4 years.

They have to run the ball. Even if its jo gain, call it an incomplete run. But you have to force the defense into 4 DL.

The AR wont take off until you have a qb that hands off, a qb that can run himself or add an element of RPO.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

They have to run the ball. Even if its jo gain, call it an incomplete run. But you have to force the defense into 4 DL.

The AR wont take off until you have a qb that hands off, a qb that can run himself or add an element of RPO.

Agree, to some extent.

But if it was that easy, why isn't it happening. I'm sure Minshew must know basic football theory - "run the ball, get the D to tighten up". And unlike tonight, he's not been afraid to hand it off between 20 and 30 times. So its more than just "run the ball."

CML teams are exceeding poor at getting yardage against stout run defenses. I've heard it blamed on blocking technique. I don't know. What I do know, again my pragmatic mind, is that it seems that a solution is out there and it doesn't consist of reinventing the wheel. So if its "run the ball, but we can't because the OL is poor at getting that 'push'", then start there, no? Or where ever the issue is deemed to reside.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Agree, to some extent.

But if it was that easy, why isn't it happening. I'm sure Minshew must know basic football theory - "run the ball, get the D to tighten up". And unlike tonight, he's not been afraid to hand it off between 20 and 30 times. So its more than just "run the ball."

CML teams are exceeding poor at getting yardage against stout run defenses. I've heard it blamed on blocking technique. I don't know. What I do know, again my pragmatic mind, is that it seems that a solution is out there and it doesn't consist of reinventing the wheel. So if its "run the ball, but we can't because the OL is poor at getting that 'push'", then start there, no? Or where ever the issue is deemed to reside.

There may be an element of the qb calling his own number. Maybe trying to do too much. The kids that Leach attracts are gonna be throwers. Shooters shoot ya know?

I dont know if Leach is an idiot for running 4 wrs into 8 dbs or a genius because his team won 11 games doing it.

I look at the AR and see where they could influence the defense to open up more routes. Maybe personnel changes or play calls. Itll take a qb that can really call a good game to take the offense to 13-0.

 

[CognitiveDissonance]

You understand we all know you don't have a UW diploma right?

We know you did 2 years at Bellevue CC, failed your first and only year as a UW transfer, and finished your degree at Renton Tech only to castigate real Cougar grads for being "pathetic". You want pathetic? Walk into your decrepit townhouse in Kent and look in the mirror you bought from Bed Bath & Beyond.

Chip did it every occur to you that there is nothing to be proud of in attending WSU?

Getting into a school that accepts 74% of its applicants and accepts applicants with GPA's as low as 2.5, a 1030 SAT, and 20 ACT is essentially the next level up from community college. There is no prestige in getting a degree from WSU... it's not a respected accomplishment.

I find it odd that your main retort against people who troll Coug fans is that they are "jack" Huskies or attended Bellevue Community College and couldn't get into UW. Their degrees are worth just as much as degrees earned from WSU. Worth a little... but shuffled to the bottom of any respected business when it comes to applications.

For a university and fan base you claim to hate so much, you sure have a shit ton of respect for the difficulty it takes to get into that school. It's weird... why, as a Coug, would your main insult be one that raises up the University of Washington? It just doesn't make sense.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Chip did it every occur to you that there is nothing to be proud of in attending WSU?

Getting into a school that accepts 74% of its applicants and accepts applicants with GPA's as low as 2.5, a 1030 SAT, and 20 ACT is essentially the next level up from community college. There is no prestige in getting a degree from WSU... it's not a respected accomplishment.

I find it odd that your main retort against people who troll Coug fans is that they are "jack" Huskies or attended Bellevue Community College and couldn't get into UW. Their degrees are worth just as much as degrees earned from WSU.

For a university and fan base you claim to hate so much, you sure have a shit ton of respect for the difficulty it takes to get into that school. It's weird... why, as a Coug, would your main insult be one that raises up the University of Washington? It just doesn't make sense.

It doesn't have to deal with a degree or the value of the degree. I has to deal with being a front running, dis-loyal p.o.s. fair weather fan who only crawls out of the woodwork when the Huskies aren't 0-12.

Nearly every Coug I know has some direct touch to the university - either they attended, or their kid is going, or spouse... direct skin in the game. They are loyal to WSU because the college and team MEANS something to them, other than pulling out a purple sweatshirt after you catch a sportscenter highlight reminding you that UW has a team. "Oh yeah, I'm a husky fan, guess its time to break out the purple and piss clothes and swagger around like I even know who the coach before Peterson was."

No one respects a front-running fair weather fan.

 

[CognitiveDissonance]

It doesn't have to deal with a degree or the value of the degree. I has to deal with being a front running, dis-loyal p.o.s. fair weather fan who only crawls out of the woodwork when the Huskies aren't 0-12.

Nearly every Coug I know has some direct touch to the university - either they attended, or their kid is going, or spouse... direct skin in the game. They are loyal to WSU because the college and team MEANS something to them, other than pulling out a purple sweatshirt after you catch a sportscenter highlight reminding you that UW has a team. "Oh yeah, I'm a husky fan, guess its time to break out the purple and piss clothes and swagger around like I even know who the coach before Peterson was."

No one respects a front-running fair weather fan.

Well... to my credit I've only known about your forum for a short time. I chose to chime in after the Apple Cup when I stumbled on your forum and read about 400 posts saying that the Cougars were going to destroy the Huskies by as many as 30 points. It was so insane that I was compelled to chime in and address the ignorance. I didn't understand why you guys had set yourselves up for such an epic failure. Be hopeful that the Cougs would beat UW... not woefully ignorant about it.

And again, what is this weird assumption that fans of UW don't have the same lineage? My family has a rich history with the university. This includes myself, siblings, parents and grandparents - some of which played football at the university.

If you grow up on the Western side of the state, most of the kids who applied themselves in high school attended UW... you simply had to work hard. Most of those who ended up at WSU were the slackers. It's just how it was.

 

[OrangeGravy]

gfy.

I don't need you to tell me what to do. The offense gets stymied by dropping eight, EVERY FCKING TIME. Its an issue at this point, and I no longer believe its the guy under center's problem. That was convenient when it was the easy punching bag Falk, but we now have another highly capable, intelligent, and MOBILE (which everyone called for as the panacea) qb who again, gets stymied by the defense dropping eight.

ISU's D is NOT better than Kal, or UW, or Utah, yet we struggled all night. 14 points were compliments of the D.

Sorry, its an issue if we want to win conference championships and/ or playoff appearances. Hell, NY6 games for that matter.

You're not wrong about WSU's issues with these types of defenses, but we aren't ever going to be even remotely consistently battling in the above bolded realm. Unless things line up just right on one side of the ball or the other talent wise, this is about the ceiling in my opinion. Battling for the conference championship. We should have won the north even losing the apple cup. The SC loss killed us. Thankfully we now have the talent to win more of these games against defenses that match up well against us than we lose.

I don't know because I don't breakdown things to that level, but I still think it's something that these particular defenses do/show pre-snap that causes our QBs to abandon the run even when they know that 9 in 10 times they are dropping 8. We run the ball more often against teams that consistently keep more in the box. I don't think you're ever going to get a substantive answer from the coaches as they don't want to make it any harder by adding more teams to that list.

 

[random soul]

They have to run the ball. Even if its jo gain, call it an incomplete run. But you have to force the defense into 4 DL.

The AR wont take off until you have a qb that hands off, a qb that can run himself or add an element of RPO.

I think Leach needs to have some coffees with Holgerson and Riley. They run the ball quite effectively with very similar systems and only slightly different personnel. I'm not a 50/50 person. I agree with Leach that doing that for its own sake is stupid. But when a team insists on dropping 8 (or in UW's case, 9, and leaving the middle open as frankly a taunt), you have to have something in your offense that will make them pay for that and force them out of it. Switzer's wishbone had tight ends and receivers that were good for one or two big pass plays per game if you sold out against the run. Just enough to make a team hedge its bets when most teams they played didn't really have the manpower to do that. Maybe Miller and Borghi between the tackles will be the answer. I still think the pistol could've been a cool move to add motion to draws and more convincing play action. Anything, anything to make the linebackers and safeties hesitate enough to get the ball where you want it to go.

 

[dgibbons]

This is the first thing that came to your mind? This is what you thought of as an insult...

lol JFC I rest my case. Coug grads (I pray u didn't actually attend school there) are pathetic.

“I drank a lava lamp.”

-CognitiveDissonance

 

[dgibbons]

again, problems that need to be addressed. I'm not saying "we suck" or any such thing, but this game, on paper, was much more of a struggle than it should have been. Jimmies and Joes we win, hands down (except maybe DL), especially our O vs their D. They have recruited in the 90's the last several year, iirc.

To address your other reply as well, I guess my point is:

Its way too easy to come up with a simple gameplan and make our O much less effective. ISU (among others) have shown that you don't even need superior athletes to execute this game plan and it will still work. And if we DO match up against superior athletes, then we get Apple Cup results every year.

Look, I'm just going off of CML's own words: in theory, the Air Raid is not stoppable. If everyone executes and does their jobs, they should be able to win and even over come talent gaps (I'm taking this from SYS, among other places). There are open receivers on every play, the qb just has to get the ball to them. We have experienced, knowledgeable WRs and QB, so where is the disconnect?

Honest question - where is the disconnect? Its why I asked earlier if anyone has asked CML pointedly about the ACs and previous bowl games to see what he thinks is going on. Is it culture? Is it we still aren't there with talent? Will we never get "there" with our talent?

I don't know... I'll stop bitching. My pragmatic mind makes me believe there is a solution. For many years WSU's solution was "we just need to get better kids." Well, now we have better kids AND we've been led to believe that we don't necessarily need better kids to win, and that has proven true. But, we still seem to have a major stumbling block - and maybe I'm not understanding it at all. Maybe it isn't dropping eight; maybe its zone blitz, or something else. ???

Anyway, not trying to fight with you gib; we normally get along. So, go Cougs, thank you God (sincerely) for GM and CML, and here's to another great year of Cougar Football in the books!

If a three man rush beats you, name the offense to run. Eight guys defending five or six is how a defense wins.

Others try to do it and fail- look no further than Arizona and Colorado.

 

[dgibbons]

You're not wrong about WSU's issues with these types of defenses, but we aren't ever going to be even remotely consistently battling in the above bolded realm. Unless things line up just right on one side of the ball or the other talent wise, this is about the ceiling in my opinion. Battling for the conference championship. We should have won the north even losing the apple cup. The SC loss killed us. Thankfully we now have the talent to win more of these games against defenses that match up well against us than we lose.

I don't know because I don't breakdown things to that level, but I still think it's something that these particular defenses do/show pre-snap that causes our QBs to abandon the run even when they know that 9 in 10 times they are dropping 8. We run the ball more often against teams that consistently keep more in the box. I don't think you're ever going to get a substantive answer from the coaches as they don't want to make it any harder by adding more teams to that list.

It’s showing the blitz and bailing. The box count right before the snap.

I don’t know why we didn’t see more draws or shovel passes.

 

[dgibbons]

Chip did it every occur to you that there is nothing to be proud of in attending WSU?

Getting into a school that accepts 74% of its applicants and accepts applicants with GPA's as low as 2.5, a 1030 SAT, and 20 ACT is essentially the next level up from community college. There is no prestige in getting a degree from WSU... it's not a respected accomplishment.

I find it odd that your main retort against people who troll Coug fans is that they are "jack" Huskies or attended Bellevue Community College and couldn't get into UW. Their degrees are worth just as much as degrees earned from WSU. Worth a little... but shuffled to the bottom of any respected business when it comes to applications.

For a university and fan base you claim to hate so much, you sure have a shit ton of respect for the difficulty it takes to get into that school. It's weird... why, as a Coug, would your main insult be one that raises up the University of Washington? It just doesn't make sense.

“I pick my nose with my tongue.”

-CognitiveDissonance

 

[CrimsonDisciple]

Good lord. No wonder there is east coast bias, etc. our conference is horrible, more specifically our team!! Hard to believe we are one of the best the pac has to offer. We look like first graders. Awful, horrible, no talent, lots of press and nice feel good stories but our FB team is awful, god awful.

Haha! Sounds like someone lost some money with the 3 point line. That’s your own damn fault! Don’t drag this team down because you’re a little light in your pocket. And **** you for starting this thread. 11-2 Alamo Champions and a top 10 finish!!! Amazing year.....Go Cougs!!

 

[Observer11]

great coaching job, considering.

That being said, the Air Raid as we know it is not capable of being an effective offense. I don't know what it is about rushing 3 and dropping eight, but it stymies every single one of our qbs. Minshew looked like a batter that was only seeing bb's coming down the pipe: there was NOTHING open for him. Nothing.

Another running trope of our O failing is the absolute desertion of the run. I posted in the game thread, half way through the third we have 5 rushing attempts. FIVE. I find it comical, mystifying, and infuriating that all the same excuses we use for our D don't apply to an undersized D like ISU: they rushed 3 DL, with their 3 LB's and brought up dbs for run support. That math spells run domination for the Cougs, yet most running plays were stuffed. Its unacceptable.

Don't get me wrong : super happy to get over the hump and win a bowl game and end the (a) season on a winning note, but this game on paper should have been a rout. ISU is smaller, slower, and has way less depth than us. The fact that it was as close as it was... well, I just don't have words.

The only/biggest issue I have with the Air Raid is touched upon above - the rush 3, drop 8 strategy should be susceptible to repeated 3 to 4 yard runs. It's simply a math exercise. 8 guys covering 4 or 5 - so punish the advantage on the ground. Whether that means some variation of the old option, either the QB or the back SHOULD be gaining yards almost at will. If that means putting the big boys in a 3 point stance on occasion, so be it. Dare the defense to match the numbers.

I'm a basketball guy so the X's and O's in my mind are apparent. Team zones up, you overload it and/or stress the defense by moving the ball and attacking the gaps in the zone. Drop 8, rush 3 means the gaps are right at the line of scrimmage. If a 5 v. 3 advantage isn't good enough, there's issues with the technique at the point of attack.

I've heard, the whole 'we use the swing pass/screen as our running game" argument - and that's fine if the D is playing straight up. But the 8/3 alignment means the runs need to be inside, not outside.

 

[Coug90]

Chip did it every occur to you that there is nothing to be proud of in attending WSU?

Getting into a school that accepts 74% of its applicants and accepts applicants with GPA's as low as 2.5, a 1030 SAT, and 20 ACT is essentially the next level up from community college. There is no prestige in getting a degree from WSU... it's not a respected accomplishment.

I find it odd that your main retort against people who troll Coug fans is that they are "jack" Huskies or attended Bellevue Community College and couldn't get into UW. Their degrees are worth just as much as degrees earned from WSU. Worth a little... but shuffled to the bottom of any respected business when it comes to applications.

For a university and fan base you claim to hate so much, you sure have a shit ton of respect for the difficulty it takes to get into that school. It's weird... why, as a Coug, would your main insult be one that raises up the University of Washington? It just doesn't make sense.

Wait did you just try to prove your worth as a Husky by being the most arrogant prick possible? That is fricken awesome, well done.

 

[Coug90]

The only/biggest issue I have with the Air Raid is touched upon above - the rush 3, drop 8 strategy should be susceptible to repeated 3 to 4 yard runs. It's simply a math exercise. 8 guys covering 4 or 5 - so punish the advantage on the ground. Whether that means some variation of the old option, either the QB or the back SHOULD be gaining yards almost at will. If that means putting the big boys in a 3 point stance on occasion, so be it. Dare the defense to match the numbers.

I'm a basketball guy so the X's and O's in my mind are apparent. Team zones up, you overload it and/or stress the defense by moving the ball and attacking the gaps in the zone. Drop 8, rush 3 means the gaps are right at the line of scrimmage. If a 5 v. 3 advantage isn't good enough, there's issues with the technique at the point of attack.

I've heard, the whole 'we use the swing pass/screen as our running game" argument - and that's fine if the D is playing straight up. But the 8/3 alignment means the runs need to be inside, not outside.

As good as the line was at pass blocking this year, they were much better run blockers last year IMO. Cody probably had a lot to do with that. I think that’s something to work on for next year. If we can’t rip off big runs and punish defenses that want to trot out a 3-2-6 with the two being on their heels ready to drop into coverage that’s always gonna bite us in the ass against good defenses.

 

[Coug1990]

Well... to my credit I've only known about your forum for a short time. I chose to chime in after the Apple Cup when I stumbled on your forum and read about 400 posts saying that the Cougars were going to destroy the Huskies by as many as 30 points. It was so insane that I was compelled to chime in and address the ignorance. I didn't understand why you guys had set yourselves up for such an epic failure. Be hopeful that the Cougs would beat UW... not woefully ignorant about it.

And again, what is this weird assumption that fans of UW don't have the same lineage? My family has a rich history with the university. This includes myself, siblings, parents and grandparents - some of which played football at the university.

If you grow up on the Western side of the state, most of the kids who applied themselves in high school attended UW... you simply had to work hard. Most of those who ended up at WSU were the slackers. It's just how it was.

This is completely idiotic on many levels. Typical arrogant uw fan that doesn't really know much. Right away, lecturing us on how we are supposed to think ON OUR OWN BOARD?

You talk amongst yourselves and in your narrow circle, you all have the same narrative. So yes, you really do not have a clue.

Fact is, most of us here (many like myself from the west side) could have attended either the uw or WSU, but we chose WSU, just like the late Paul Allen.

We, living on the west side of the state, come into contact with many uw fans. A lot of them are belligerent idiots who talk a lot of smack. When you ask them about when they went to school, they didn't. Of course, you would not know this, because you wouldn't need to have this conversation with them.

Regarding hundreds and hundreds of posts saying WSU was going to destroy the uw, that is another lie. Yes, on any teams board, you are going to have many people predict their team is going to win. There were few predicting a blow out. If you have really been reading on here, there were many many people predicting a Cougar loss because they had been blown out the previous few years.

You are the type of uw fan that we are talking about.

 

[Coug1990]

And this is the best team in the PAC-12.

It is. The measure of a team is the entire season, not just one game. WSU was the most consistently good team the entire year.

 

[Ffffws]

great coaching job, considering.

That being said, the Air Raid as we know it is not capable of being an effective offense. I don't know what it is about rushing 3 and dropping eight, but it stymies every single one of our qbs. Minshew looked like a batter that was only seeing bb's coming down the pipe: there was NOTHING open for him. Nothing.

Another running trope of our O failing is the absolute desertion of the run. I posted in the game thread, half way through the third we have 5 rushing attempts. FIVE. I find it comical, mystifying, and infuriating that all the same excuses we use for our D don't apply to an undersized D like ISU: they rushed 3 DL, with their 3 LB's and brought up dbs for run support. That math spells run domination for the Cougs, yet most running plays were stuffed. Its unacceptable.

Don't get me wrong : super happy to get over the hump and win a bowl game and end the (a) season on a winning note, but this game on paper should have been a rout. ISU is smaller, slower, and has way less depth than us. The fact that it was as close as it was... well, I just don't have words.

So we should model our offenses off of Utah, Cal, AZ, CO , ASU? Got it.

 

[BiggsCoug]

The only/biggest issue I have with the Air Raid is touched upon above - the rush 3, drop 8 strategy should be susceptible to repeated 3 to 4 yard runs. It's simply a math exercise. 8 guys covering 4 or 5 - so punish the advantage on the ground. Whether that means some variation of the old option, either the QB or the back SHOULD be gaining yards almost at will. If that means putting the big boys in a 3 point stance on occasion, so be it. Dare the defense to match the numbers.

I'm a basketball guy so the X's and O's in my mind are apparent. Team zones up, you overload it and/or stress the defense by moving the ball and attacking the gaps in the zone. Drop 8, rush 3 means the gaps are right at the line of scrimmage. If a 5 v. 3 advantage isn't good enough, there's issues with the technique at the point of attack.

I've heard, the whole 'we use the swing pass/screen as our running game" argument - and that's fine if the D is playing straight up. But the 8/3 alignment means the runs need to be inside, not outside.

The AR attacks every part of the field except between the tackles on the line of scrimmage. Literally the piece of real estate under their noses.

Think I was crazy for wanting a QB like Jalen Hurts at QB for WSU? Tell me, where is he gonna attack first? Watch what happens to the passing game when the defense has to defend an inside ground game. Bombs away baby! WSU will score 70 on people.

 

[billyjoecamaro]

Good lord. No wonder there is east coast bias, etc. our conference is horrible, more specifically our team!! Hard to believe we are one of the best the pac has to offer. We look like first graders. Awful, horrible, no talent, lots of press and nice feel good stories but our FB team is awful, god awful.

Depending on how things turn out at the RB we could very well be the highest ranked(best) team when all is said and done.

 

[chipdouglas]

Chip did it every occur to you that there is nothing to be proud of in attending WSU?

Getting into a school that accepts 74% of its applicants and accepts applicants with GPA's as low as 2.5, a 1030 SAT, and 20 ACT is essentially the next level up from community college. There is no prestige in getting a degree from WSU... it's not a respected accomplishment.

I find it odd that your main retort against people who troll Coug fans is that they are "jack" Huskies or attended Bellevue Community College and couldn't get into UW. Their degrees are worth just as much as degrees earned from WSU. Worth a little... but shuffled to the bottom of any respected business when it comes to applications.

For a university and fan base you claim to hate so much, you sure have a shit ton of respect for the difficulty it takes to get into that school. It's weird... why, as a Coug, would your main insult be one that raises up the University of Washington? It just doesn't make sense.

No. What doesn't make sense is why you are essentially a suicide bomber for the University of Washington when the school rejected you.

Please offer some evidence of your attendance. Until then, we'll assume you're like the rest.

 

[Observer11]

Chip did it every occur to you that there is nothing to be proud of in attending WSU?

Getting into a school that accepts 74% of its applicants and accepts applicants with GPA's as low as 2.5, a 1030 SAT, and 20 ACT is essentially the next level up from community college. There is no prestige in getting a degree from WSU... it's not a respected accomplishment.

I find it odd that your main retort against people who troll Coug fans is that they are "jack" Huskies or attended Bellevue Community College and couldn't get into UW. Their degrees are worth just as much as degrees earned from WSU. Worth a little... but shuffled to the bottom of any respected business when it comes to applications.

For a university and fan base you claim to hate so much, you sure have a shit ton of respect for the difficulty it takes to get into that school. It's weird... why, as a Coug, would your main insult be one that raises up the University of Washington? It just doesn't make sense.

Dude, not sure about the rest of my WSU alums here but I was accepted to a helluva lot more schools than just WSU. The whole Harvey Mudd/Clairmont/mini-Ivy's in Cali, the U of Chicago, a couple of the service academies pending appointment....school choice simply wasn't that big of a deal 35 years ago. Combination of the baby buster generation opening up a sh*tload of spots at every university previously populated by the masses of the baby boomer generation. That plus pre-internet, one simply wasn't exposed much outside of the region in which one lived.

I know we had something like 7 national merit finalists in my high school graduating class - all those Mensas went to Stanford, MIT, Yale, etc. - but the other 250 of us went between the UW/WSU/EWSC/WWSC - and the distribution of GPA/intelligence was pretty well split. Plenty of doctors, CPAs, engineers, professionals from both UW and WSU in that population.

That's probably changed a bit since then due to internet and jet travel increasing exposure. The UW sold out the state when they put their emphasis on the $$$ out-of-state and foreign students would pay compared to in-state tuition. It was a business decision on their part. It's probably also contrary to the State of Washington constitution in which education of its citizens (read: residents) is paramount. UW is riding their $$ foreigners and out-of-staters. WSU, therefore, is picking up those who got the shaft from Montlake.

So, like always, the UW cheats to achieve. Nothing's changed.

 

[Observer11]

The AR attacks every part of the field except between the tackles on the line of scrimmage. Literally the piece of real estate under their noses.

Think I was crazy for wanting a QB like Jalen Hurts at QB for WSU? Tell me, where is he gonna attack first? Watch what happens to the passing game when the defense has to defend an inside ground game. Bombs away baby! WSU will score 70 on people.

It's absolutely crazy to me. In hoops, it would be like the defense trapping everywhere in half court and leaving the high/low post wide open. It would be layup city.

I'm not entirely certain why the wide gap splits on the line couldn't be out of a three point stance either. Maybe it saves wear and tear on the legs but I can't imagine the millisecond it takes to get into pass protect outweighs the leverage of pad level and brute strength up the middle.

 

[PINGDUDE4]

A lot of naive talk in this thread about how effective WSU looked against Iowa State.

Iowa State had the best defense in the B12 this year. That is very meaningful for this particular game, because they did that facing Air Raid offenses all season. They are built to stop the air raid and a lot of practice doing it because of the conference they play in.

For comparison Iowa State held OU to 37 pts (about 14 pts under their conference average and Minshew had similar numbers to Kyler Murray against this same defense.

Then I saw some genius here say something about Leach needing to contact Holgerson for tips. Iowa State kicked West Virginia's butt . They held them to 14 pts and Grier only had 100 yards passing.

This was always going to be tough matchup because of what conference Iowa State plays in.

 

[BiggsCoug]

It's absolutely crazy to me. In hoops, it would be like the defense trapping everywhere in half court and leaving the high/low post wide open. It would be layup city.

I'm not entirely certain why the wide gap splits on the line couldn't be out of a three point stance either. Maybe it saves wear and tear on the legs but I can't imagine the millisecond it takes to get into pass protect outweighs the leverage of pad level and brute strength up the middle.

If youre a zone blocking scheme the stance is fine. Youre essentially running laterally, not at someone.

It doesnt have to even be balanced. It could be 50 passes and 20 runs. But the runs have to force the defense to defend them.

 

[CougPatrol]

Chip did it every occur to you that there is nothing to be proud of in attending WSU?

There is everything to be proud of. WSU is the best college to attend in the NW by a wide margin. It’s an experience living on campus in the middle of nowhere with 20,000 people under the age of 25. The most fun you’ll ever have, which is why for the rest of your life, you get a Go Cougs where ever you’re spotted wearing Coug gear.

UW is a great academic school, but by the admission of just about everyone I know who went there, it’s boring. A giant commuter school in the rain.

 

[Coug1990]

There is everything to be proud of. WSU is the best college to attend in the NW by a wide margin. It’s an experience living on campus in the middle of nowhere with 20,000 people under the age of 25. The most fun you’ll ever have, which is why for the rest of your life, you get a Go Cougs where ever you’re spotted wearing Coug gear.

UW is a great academic school, but by the admission of just about everyone I know who went there, it’s boring. A giant commuter school in the rain.

I laugh when I hear people on the outside say there is nothing to do. Who wouldn't want to be at a place with 25000 young people with half of them the opposite sex that you already have something in common?

 

[Observer11]

If youre a zone blocking scheme the stance is fine. Youre essentially running laterally, not at someone.

It doesnt have to even be balanced. It could be 50 passes and 20 runs. But the runs have to force the defense to defend them.

I won't pretend to know the technical aspects other than a long ago memory of playing the game at a ridiculously young age. I just often wonder if there's THAT big of a deal dropping into a 3 point stance every so often and knock the crap out of someone at the point of attack when 1 yard is needed.

 

[Observer11]

I laugh when I hear people on the outside say there is nothing to do. Who wouldn't want to be at a place with 25000 young people with half of them the opposite sex that you already have something in common?

Fortnite?