First Scrimmage tomorrow
- Thread starter roses04
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I know it’s a scrimmage, but a freshman RB averaging 14 yards per carry doesn’t say good things about the D.
Scrimmage logic is impossible to dial in, even for coaches.
RB and offense goes wild, and everyone says, uh oh. The D looks bad. Defense dominates, and everyone says, I don’t like the way our offensive line and/or QB looks.
With that said, it’s really encouraging to see a young RB go off, particularly a well regarded player from Texas. They know how to crank out RBs down there.
RB and offense goes wild, and everyone says, uh oh. The D looks bad. Defense dominates, and everyone says, I don’t like the way our offensive line and/or QB looks.
With that said, it’s really encouraging to see a young RB go off, particularly a well regarded player from Texas. They know how to crank out RBs down there.
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"Scrimmage logic" is a good way to put it. It's like looking at high school highlights. You only see the good moments so important to take them with a healthy grain of salt. I'm actually pretty excited to see a running back have a productive day. Hopefully means Jenkins is as talented as hoped and while the OL is thin the ability is there with the frontline guys.
On the flip side, still sounds like the defense had their fair share of good moments. Seems like a fairly successful first scrimmage overall especially if we came out of it without injuries.
Yea, I gave up trying to read the scrimmage tea leaves. I remember back in Fall 1997, I was hoping we'd go 7-4 after Fall camp. I liked our team, but I didn't think we were all THAT special.
Until you actually have a "game" with 100% players... plays... hits... and officiating... the scrimmaging to me is a practice.
Definitely some guys trying to prove themselves, but no way would I make a call on what we are until after 2 or 3 games.
Remember the year Coach Wulff had us 2 & 0 and ready for the Top 25?
Remember the years we lost to Big Sky Teams?
What I want to see is "smart" football with great play from the Oline and Dline... our offense with a sense of FLOW... and guys staying healthy.
Exactly. We really should have been better in ‘96 but things were understandably off. The ‘97 season was magical. Of course in spring ball there were plenty of reports Birmbaum was outplaying Leaf. Queue Allen Iverson.
I think it's more a reflection on how good Jenkins is, instead of how bad the defense is, because the DEFENSE HAS ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED all the other RB's, all of spring camp, and all of fall camp.
While Jenkins performance probably exposes the DL, as only semi below average to semi mediocre, semi average, semi above average, etc. The DL line isn't terrible.
And the LB Corp with Brown, Henly is one of the best in the Pac 12 with 1 all American in Henly, and 1 likely bottom of first round, top of 2nd round draft pick in Henly.
So because of the serviceable DL, and AWESOME LB Corp should be able to stop the run.
They have stopped the run, EXCEPT for this ONE TIME vs Jenkins.
Also the defense is probably used to stopping the PASS, and the adjustment that the offense probably made that probably was the reason for this ONE DAY, ONE TIME big day, is 1. Good play calling. 2. 2 calling good running plays for Jenkins at the PERFECT times, putting Jenkins out to the outside in the open field, against a defense either not expecting run, or expecting to easily stuff run, like they have always done so far in spring and fall, or either a delayed hand off, after a play action fake pass, or a quick sudden hitter, when the cougs defense caught in 2,3,4,5 in box defense to where Jenkins caught cougs run defense with it's pants down.
And if combine that with Jenkins good run ability, and combine that with Eric Morris, QB, OL, TE, WR, RB Jenkins, etc, doing a good balanced game in order to throw defense off.
Cam hasn't had time to throw because of the OL, etc.
It was just a matter of time, until the Cougs offense would eventually find a way to throw for a 36 yard TD pass deep, and 126 yards on 9 carries, 1 TD by Jenkins.
The defense was not going to keep Cam Ward, and the WR's, and 1 of the RB's, and Eric Morris, the offense, etc, down forever, like the defense had been doing so far until they the defense finally proved they are human and gave up rushing, passing yards, TD's etc.
Also as the season goes on both the offense will probably give defense rest, and defense get better.
With everything that has happened to WSU, it should be obvious that both the offense and the defense will have it's fall camp, early season jitters, etc.
I tend to agree here, I have very little concern about the defense. Now, who knows if Jenkins was going against 1s or not…probably not. I’ll take any good RB news as positive as that’s the biggest hole left on this team from departures. And Air Raid or not if you don’t have a formidable threat of a run game your QB is going to be throwing into impossibly tight windows all year. Hopefully Jenkins can pick up a blitz too.
There's no way to know what Jaylen Jenkins ceiling is, but as I mentioned earlier, it's wonderful to see an incoming freshman back from Texas vault himself up the depth chart and dominate the 1st scrimmage. RB is our #1 skill position need, so his timing couldn't be better.
A little background on Jenkins for people who aren't familiar with Texas high school football. The picture below is his high school stadium. Kyler Murray (Arizona), Jaylen Guyton (WR Chargers), and Bobby Evans (OL Rams) played there in the same graduating class to give you an idea of how stacked with talent high level Texas HS conferences are. Allen HS is a monster program. In 2014 they became the 4th program in Texas High School history to win 3 consecutive state championships and the 1st ever to do so in the highest classification.
So, yes, we all need to pump the brakes on the excitement after 1 scrimmage, but it's not surprising to see a kid of his pedigree come in and challenge for immediate playing time. What hurt his recruiting hype is the fact that he split carries in his senior year with a junior on his team, Devyn Turner. We're recruiting him too. He currently has offers from WSU, Colorado, and UNLV.
A little background on Jenkins for people who aren't familiar with Texas high school football. The picture below is his high school stadium. Kyler Murray (Arizona), Jaylen Guyton (WR Chargers), and Bobby Evans (OL Rams) played there in the same graduating class to give you an idea of how stacked with talent high level Texas HS conferences are. Allen HS is a monster program. In 2014 they became the 4th program in Texas High School history to win 3 consecutive state championships and the 1st ever to do so in the highest classification.
So, yes, we all need to pump the brakes on the excitement after 1 scrimmage, but it's not surprising to see a kid of his pedigree come in and challenge for immediate playing time. What hurt his recruiting hype is the fact that he split carries in his senior year with a junior on his team, Devyn Turner. We're recruiting him too. He currently has offers from WSU, Colorado, and UNLV.
The OL was really struggling, Leaf was "phoning in" practices and scrimmages. The most effort he put in was trying to run down and stop that pick 6 throw in the last scrimmage, only to punch the guy a couple times. No one thought they had the makings of a Rose Bowl team, not even close.
I think they were a bowl team . Why go to Colorado when they were at their best? Swap that game for a game against a pacific like team.
There is no greater example of the difference between winning and losing is the small stuff than the usc games in 96 and 97. In 96 if McKenzie goes in a straight line to the goal line late that game we maybe score instead of letting getting run down at the 15 and two players later I. Believe leaf is blindsided and fumbled.
In 97 same play, takes it straight up field and mcwashington takes out the free safety , we score, we win late.
Turner is a good one. He transferred out of Allen to a CA school 2 months ago. All those schools around Dallas have ridiculous facilities.There's no way to know what Jaylen Jenkins ceiling is, but as I mentioned earlier, it's wonderful to see an incoming freshman back from Texas vault himself up the depth chart and dominate the 1st scrimmage. RB is our #1 skill position need, so his timing couldn't be better.
A little background on Jenkins for people who aren't familiar with Texas high school football. The picture below is his high school stadium. Kyler Murray (Arizona), Jaylen Guyton (WR Chargers), and Bobby Evans (OL Rams) played there in the same graduating class to give you an idea of how stacked with talent high level Texas HS conferences are. Allen HS is a monster program. In 2014 they became the 4th program in Texas High School history to win 3 consecutive state championships and the 1st ever to do so in the highest classification.
So, yes, we all need to pump the brakes on the excitement after 1 scrimmage, but it's not surprising to see a kid of his pedigree come in and challenge for immediate playing time. What hurt his recruiting hype is the fact that he split carries in his senior year with a junior on his team, Devyn Turner. We're recruiting him too. He currently has offers from WSU, Colorado, and UNLV.
And talent. Those schools are more or less at a JC level when it comes to the talent and product on the football field in high school. So yeah ripping through defenses full of FBS kids in HS, not surprising he’s doing the same in fall camp. Great news.
And conversely, there was the 2005 season. One where we "could have" won every game we played outside the road game at #1 USC. Heading into that season, and after our 3-0 start, I thought for certain we were going to finish near 10 wins.
Until the defense took the field …
But I will say love Brink but didn’t have the “it” to make the game winning plays , ie ucla all that was needed was first downs and no three and outs . Those probably were two important throw games at the end .
With that said Harrison was amazing .
The 2nd half of the Oregon State game in Corvallis, which I attended, marked the flushing of the Doba era. False starts at the goal line, pick-6's, defensive lapses. After that, we lost 5 of the next 6 games by 4 points or less.
Easily the most frustrating season of the past 30 years for me.
Harrison was amazing but he averaged 30 rush attempts/game in 9 conference games. They overutilized him and were too conservative overall. I love Doba but it seemed like he was too concerned with grinding out the offense to keep the defense off the field. Maybe it was also due to Brink, but I remember it really wore Harrison down in 2nd halves of games.
There's no way to know what Jaylen Jenkins ceiling is, but as I mentioned earlier, it's wonderful to see an incoming freshman back from Texas vault himself up the depth chart and dominate the 1st scrimmage. RB is our #1 skill position need, so his timing couldn't be better.
A little background on Jenkins for people who aren't familiar with Texas high school football. The picture below is his high school stadium. Kyler Murray (Arizona), Jaylen Guyton (WR Chargers), and Bobby Evans (OL Rams) played there in the same graduating class to give you an idea of how stacked with talent high level Texas HS conferences are. Allen HS is a monster program. In 2014 they became the 4th program in Texas High School history to win 3 consecutive state championships and the 1st ever to do so in the highest classification.
So, yes, we all need to pump the brakes on the excitement after 1 scrimmage, but it's not surprising to see a kid of his pedigree come in and challenge for immediate playing time. What hurt his recruiting hype is the fact that he split carries in his senior year with a junior on his team, Devyn Turner. We're recruiting him too. He currently has offers from WSU, Colorado, and UNLV.
That stadium is a travesty of the high school education system there.
I was there too and you are right about that game. It didn't help that Jason Hill got hurt early in the second half (Cougs were up 30-16 at the time, IIRC). He was absolutely unstoppable up to that point. I was so mad at several OSU fans standing up and cheering when Hill was hurt. The play I most remember, in a nightmarish way, was Bumpus catching a long pass from Brink and was on his way down the sideline for a TD with a Beaver defender chasing him. The DB lunged and punched the ball out from behind and instead of it rolling out of bounds, the ball took a hard left turn in the field of play. Bumpus fell down or he could've easily scooped it back up and kept running. Eventually, another OSU defender got to the ball and the Beavs had additional momentum. If WSU scores on that play, I don't think OSU is able to come back. The season definitely turned sour after that game and it was the beginning of the end for Doba even though he lasted one more year.
Glad Cougar
I was at that game too. Crazy game to match the crazy weather.
IIRC, they just built the other half of the stadium in time for the season and we sat over there.
I think you are right. He got hurt near the end of the game. I also remember getting heckled by a couple of obnoxious (& drunk) OSU fans after the game as I walked out of the stadium with my young son. We were both decked out in Cougar gear. Pretty rude language and behavior that, unfortunately, my son had to endure.
Glad Cougar
Yeah...not fun. All fan bases (excluding ND and BYU?) have really rude fan bases. It's gotten worse over the years as societal norms have degraded...as people have become secular.
We've really owned the Beavs over the past 8 games. This year may be different, but at this point I'd consider the outcome to be essentially a coin toss. Being at Corvallis should give them a slight edge.
Back to Jenkins, looking at some of his HS videos, this guy is fast, has quick moves, and just might be the surprise of this class. He is dangerous in the open field, he is a little on the small side, however when Jacquizz Rodgers showed up at Oregon St he was 5'6" 180. I am not proclaiming him to be the next Rodgers, but he is quick, something we haven't had in the Cougar backfield for a while. So we have the quick fast back, hopefully Schlenbaker and Watson can bring the power game. Jenkins could answer a lot of questions we have about the RB position, and open up the game for others.
I'm not excusing or justifying their fans behavior, but as a multi-decade WSU season ticket holder, we should be careful about calling out opposing fans behavior. I'm a Boston native, and hardly a snowflake when it comes to fan acumen, but some of the things I've witnessed our fans do (unprovoked) to other fans is cringeworthy.
The BYU game last year, in particular, jumps to the front of my mind. There was a middle-aged WSU woman walking around with a polygamy sign, sticking it in the faces of random BYU fans who were there with their children watching the game. I'm not talking about holding up the sign (which would be offensive enough), but she was literally walking up, down, and across the visitor and family seating sections 11 & 12 for at least 20 minutes. I finally started yelling at her to sit down and STFU (yes, I yelled some fat comments at her too), and several others in our section joined me, which prompted security to confiscate her sign.
Trust me when I say there have been many other examples of bad WSU fan behavior. Bottles thrown, fans yelling at young kids wearing opposing jersey's, you name it. I'm not singling out WSU fans here, but booze and boorish fan behavior are a common link to all fan bases.
There was a guy who sat behind me for a couple seasons who was a fine example of bad fan behavior. Constantly yelling at coaches, refs, players, etc. at the top of his lungs. Unfiltered, lots of F-bombs and A-holes and the like. Really appreciated it when my kids were with me. I think it was the EWU game in 2018, one of the kids was 6 or 7, and he asks me “what is he so mad about, aren’t we winning?” I didn’t have a good answer. Best part was he didn’t even know football very well. His rants were constantly either wrong or misdirected
Fortunately, he was either a Rolovich disciple or COVID kept him away. Wasn’t there in 2021.
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Absolutely correct. Every school has a fair share of rude & obnoxious fans and I don't condone any of that stuff on the part of Cougar fans. On the flip side, I know plenty of really good OSU fans....even some after that 2006 game who came up to my son and me with well wishes for the rest of the season.
Glad Cougar
Yeah...what's wrong with polygamy? There is no legitimate moral argument against it from the #loveislove mob, right? Feewings are what it is all about.
I couldn’t help myself after the loss to BYU. I turned around to the BYU fans behind me and gave them the standard BYU dig (yes, I was a little liquored).
Q - Why do you always take at least 2 Mormons with you when you go fishing?
A. If you only take 1, he drinks all your beer.
(also works with Baptists).
I apologize for my inappropriate behavior.
Q - Why do you always take at least 2 Mormons with you when you go fishing?
A. If you only take 1, he drinks all your beer.
(also works with Baptists).
I apologize for my inappropriate behavior.
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