Just shows you the importance of finding those quality walk-ons......Also shows you how damn good Coach Phelps is as a DL coach. Its crazy to think what our DL just did to Oregon's running game. Incredible.
Comfort, Begg and Block on the DL
- Thread starter ShockandAweWSU
- Start date
Jumping out to a 4 TD lead before Oregon's offense really had time to get settled helped too. Herbert had to carry the load in the second half, and to his credit, he made it interesting. I do think that aside from our corner play (which looks worse because Claeys likes to use more man) the second biggest story on this team aside from Minshew is the play of the defense, which aside from USC has been pretty danged impressive. The Trojans got us because their strongest position mirrored our weakest, and Woodie Dixon is a jagoff. There are no more teams on our schedule with a collection of receivers that talented, and only two with defenses that give me pause (Cal because of what their blitzes did to us last year, and UW). I don't think we WILL run the table, but it's not impossible
I was glad to see Dl coach fat joe go back to Eugene with his loss to the cougs
I appreciate the effort of our defensive line and guys like Comfort.....but they were not particularly good in the second half. Herbert routinely had 4-5 seconds to scan the field and dissect our defense. Agree with the comment above by ElC.....good to see him go back to Oregon with an L and sitting in 4th place in the North. So much for being the presumed North champs.
The offense did not play well either and throwing the interception hurt the defense. Still, you look at the entire body of work in this game and the defense was outstanding. No one has been able to slow down Oregon until WSU. Look at the scores they have had this season: 58, 62, 35, 38, 42, and 30.
By the way, WSU gave up only 3 points in the fourth quarter.
Claeys does like man coverage more than Grinch. If Hercules had stayed for his senior year, the Cougars would win the Pac 12. They may win it anyway, but with Hercules I think this team doesn't lose a game in conference.
By himself, he wrecked pass blocking schemes and regularly put pressure on the QB. That in itself helped the DB's the last two seasons.
Agree completely. The offense was terrible in that 3rd quarter. The two most frustrating things about the defense were the inability to stop the Ducks on 4th down and Molton's terrible, really bad, no good game. I'm proud of our team for holding the Ducks to 20 and I was very happy to see them step up in crunch time. Still, the second half drive chart for Oregon should be shown to our team on Halloween because it was freakin' terrifying.
I was also glad to see not so fat Jim Mastro go back to Eugene with a loss as well.
Rightly or wrongly, I am going to chose to look at Molton's play in a different way. He got beat on several plays and he got penalized. It is obvious that the DB's are taught to take the 15 yard penalty instead of giving up a bigger play.
Aside from those and a few other plays, the DB's played well. As you pointed out, the defensive line didn't get much pressure during the second half, especially the third quarter.
So, I am choosing to look at Molton's play like I look at Minshew throwing those two ill advised interceptions. They were horrible passes. But overall, he played very good.
Oregon was 3 of 5 on fourth down. Remember that OSU was 5 of 5. A little better pass rush and those numbers turn around.
It’s disappointing to see someone that has played so much have the struggles he’s been having.
Did anyone notice how many the Cougs rushed with just over 2 minutes to play.
They rushed two guys on the one play and one of them was a spy. The play almost ended up as an intercept.
The next play they rushed three guys but one of them was a safety from the outside and it ended up in a sack.
When you don't have 4 NFL d-linemen then you have to think out of the box and they did that.
Question regarding the 4 game per year red shirt rule.
Can a player like Ahmir Crowder (frosh D-lineman) play in the last 4 of these last 5 games and still be counted as a red shirt year? Or is this only for the first 4 games of the year.
Just wondering if he could add some depth down the stretch.
They rushed two guys on the one play and one of them was a spy. The play almost ended up as an intercept.
The next play they rushed three guys but one of them was a safety from the outside and it ended up in a sack.
When you don't have 4 NFL d-linemen then you have to think out of the box and they did that.
Question regarding the 4 game per year red shirt rule.
Can a player like Ahmir Crowder (frosh D-lineman) play in the last 4 of these last 5 games and still be counted as a red shirt year? Or is this only for the first 4 games of the year.
Just wondering if he could add some depth down the stretch.
The rule is four games or less to retain the redshirt. Doesn’t matter what point of the season they play.
It appears some freshmen are basically rotating through their four games playing some special teams and occupying the bottom spots of the depth chart.
They can play in 4 games, doesn't matter when during the season. DT/DL is a tough position though as a true freshman to make an impact at. Very few true frosh in college football are physically ready for the rigors of the DL.
With McDougle, those injured this season, and all our young d-lineman coming back with more seasoning, we should be improved on the DL.
Darrien did have the most solo tackles (7) than everybody else on D in addition to 1 pass breakup. I think Tracy knows what he is doing when he is keeping Darrien in the game.
Molton is a tough guy to evaluate. He plays his tail off and he's got good speed. His tackle after crossing the entire field last night was a great play. That said, if there is a big play by the other team or a pass interference flag getting thrown, #3 is often in the vicinity. I'm thrilled to have him 80% of the time and can't wait to see him graduate 20% of the time.
I’m sure Mastro was looking enviously as the true freshman RB he recruited. Was making ducks look silly.
Lemontt will be the best pro prospects D Lineman the cougs have had in a long time.
That play where he cut Williams off on the reverse was huge. He didn't make the tackle but he forced a cutback to the inside. That was gonna be a big play
If he had ball skills he'd be all conference. He's often in position, but he plays the man instead of the ball and mugs to keep from being shaken. That's partly coaching and partly something that can't really be taught
You had to think a team as talented offensively as Oregon would make some adjustments and start moving the ball. They also made some adjustments including rolling out Herbert more often, which neutralized any push the d-line & linebackers might have gotten in the first half. Quite frankly, I thought holding the Ducks to a pair of FGs in that second half when they had first and goal twice was huge for our defense....especially the 1st and goal at the 6, when 3 straight running plays were stuffed. Cougs played a much better defensive game vs. Ducks than they did vs. OSU.
I have zero complaints about the game, even the 2nd half. What matters is getting a big win vs. a quality opponent.
Glad Cougar
Getting back to the front end of this thread...Random, as you know, young men have a heck of a time being focused for the next game, especially after a big win. It bit Oregon this week and our coaching staff will try to keep it from biting us next week. The worst thing that a 18-23 year old can do is read his own press clippings (or the modern equivalent...social media posts).
It was also tough for Oregon going from the comfort of Autzen to a crazy road game. We won't have the same problem on the Farm but that in itself could be a problem with little energy in the place. I just think over the years when we start to get in a rhythm we do a good job of maintaining it. This week will definitely be a big test.
Hell its hard to keep them focused after a big half! Good learning experience, most of the boys thought the game was won going into the locker room. That first offensive series was Brutal.
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