I love Leach, but....

[CougPatrol]

Don’t get me wrong. I hope Leach stays at WSU forever. But....Our approach to short yardage situations is ridiculous. Embarrassing, really.

We get into 3rd and 2 or less and look like the keystone cops out there. Why TF do you call a delayed run on 3rd and 1...out of the shotgun?

I understand that you have to be who you are and play to your identity, but this is the one area where I think Leach is being flat out stubborn.

If we did nothing more than add a direct snap to Borgi on short yardage situations, our success rate on short yardage would increase. There is zero logic to calling a running play out of the shotgun on 3rd and 1. The defensive ends crash down EVERY SINGLE TIME we run it. Drives me nuts.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Just line up under center and hand off.

 

[CougPatrol]

Just line up under center and hand off.

If I could sit down with Leach, that’s the question I would ask him. Why don’t we have any short yardage packages?

 

[BiggsCoug]

If I could sit down with Leach, that’s the question I would ask him. Why don’t we have any short yardage packages?

IMO, it’s things like this that keep him from transitioning into a title coach. Stuff like that is the difference between taking your team to the next level of college football or staying at 7-9 wins.

Would Urban Meyer have a short yardage package? How bout Jimbo Fisher? Or Bobby Bowden? Or Bob Stoops? Or Steve Spurrier? Or Jim Harbaugh?

I understand being true to your scheme. I also understand doing what it takes to win games even if it isnt what you wanna do.

 

[ShockandAweWSU]

The weather was freaking horrible. I'll give Leach a pass. Considering the elements the offense did a remarkable job.

 

[Coug90]

The weather was freaking horrible. I'll give Leach a pass. Considering the elements the offense did a remarkable job.

Even more reason to have options for short yardage when the weather isn’t ideal for slinging it. I agree with you and I’m relieved how well Gordon threw it tonight in probably the least ideal conditions imaginable.

also agree with Biggs and CP that this stuff keeps leach from getting championships.

 

[wazzubruce]

A little misdirection down near the goal line wouldn't hurt either. I gotta say major props to the receiving corp and Gordon for playing right through the impossible weather conditions! Well done and excellent ball security!

 

[ShockandAweWSU]

Would be interesting to hear from Leach about if the wide splits by the lineman inhibit a more sophisticated runs. I have liked those quick hitter handoffs to Borghi in previous weeks.Gordon seems to be getting slower as the year goes on. Lol

 

[random soul]

IMO, it’s things like this that keep him from transitioning into a title coach. Stuff like that is the difference between taking your team to the next level of college football or staying at 7-9 wins.

Would Urban Meyer have a short yardage package? How bout Jimbo Fisher? Or Bobby Bowden? Or Bob Stoops? Or Steve Spurrier? Or Jim Harbaugh?

I understand being true to your scheme. I also understand doing what it takes to win games even if it isnt what you wanna do.

Graham Harrell's short stay here was the only time I saw any attempt to tweak anything

 

[random soul]

Even more reason to have options for short yardage when the weather isn’t ideal for slinging it. I agree with you and I’m relieved how well Gordon threw it tonight in probably the least ideal conditions imaginable.

also agree with Biggs and CP that this stuff keeps leach from getting championships.

One other thing to note though: I think Leach's teams here have been far better at short yardage than Mike Price's were. Because of how good we are at goal line passing.

 

[CougPatrol]

Our short yardage shotgun runs are the easiest plays in college football for the defense to read. Gordon does the same overacted shoulder fake and then turns to hand off. By the time Borghi gets the ball, the a and b gaps are clogged with linebackers who know the play is coming, and both defensive ends are crashing down. I literally laughed (and yelled) out loud at the stadium a couple of times. There were at least 5 situations where we would gain 7-8 yards on first down and couldn’t pick up the first down against a very bad rushing defense.

Either snap it directly to Borghi or get Gordon under center and run a traditional football play. Hell, if you develop that tendency, you’ll be able to play-action out of it once in a while.

 

[random soul]

Our short yardage shotgun runs are the easiest plays in college football for the defense to read. Gordon does the same overacted shoulder fake and then turns to hand off. By the time Borghi gets the ball, the a and b gaps are clogged with linebackers who know the play is coming, and both defensive ends are crashing down. I literally laughed (and yelled) out loud at the stadium a couple of times. There were at least 5 situations where we would gain 7-8 yards on first down and couldn’t pick up the first down against a very bad rushing defense.

Either snap it directly to Borghi or get Gordon under center and run a traditional football play. Hell, if you develop that tendency, you’ll be able to play-action out of it once in a while.

Remember the old direct snap runs out of the shotgun that Thurman Thomas made a living on? THAT is something Borghi's quick feet could make use of. He's so good between the tackles that it's a waste to not get more out of that talent.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Remember the old direct snap runs out of the shotgun that Thurman Thomas made a living on? THAT is something Borghi's quick feet could make use of. He's so good between the tackles that it's a waste to not get more out of that talent.

To have a kid compared to a back that rang up almost 7,000 all purpose yards and you struggle to get him 20 touches per game??? Simply shameful. Especially at WSU where you literally may NEVER see a back like that again.

He had maybe 65 yards last week in the loss to ASU? Shameful.

Name the one player on the offense that opposing teams dont wanna see have a good night. Now watch that guy get a dozen touches. Shameful.

I dont give two f9cks what your scheme is. When you have a bell cow at a school that has such little winning history as WSU, you run him. When you have NFL talent at WSU, you play them.

MB will run WSU to a league title. Im not convinced Leach will allow it.

Dont get me started on #5 Harris. He is a pro too.

 

[TrumpCoug]

To have a kid compared to a back that rang up almost 7,000 all purpose yards and you struggle to get him 20 touches per game??? Simply shameful. Especially at WSU where you literally may NEVER see a back like that again.

He had maybe 65 yards last week in the loss to ASU? Shameful.

Name the one player on the offense that opposing teams dont wanna see have a good night. Now watch that guy get a dozen touches. Shameful.

I dont give two f9cks what your scheme is. When you have a bell cow at a school that has such little winning history as WSU, you run him. When you have NFL talent at WSU, you play them.

MB will run WSU to a league title. Im not convinced Leach will allow it.

Dont get me started on #5 Harris. He is a pro too.

Agree with you on Harris. He is so strong, elusive and great at breaking tackles. He needs to a ton more touches!!

 

[BiggsCoug]

Agree with you on Harris. He is so strong, elusive and great at breaking tackles. He needs to a ton more touches!!

He shines. He is more elusive, he is faster than everyone else, he can start and stop. He is a pro. Is 4 touches enough?

I understand the philosophy of distribution in the offense. Losing games to prove your point proves nothing. Sometimes you have to play your stars to win games. Feed your bell cows and they’ll produce wins. Or feed the rest of the herd and lose? Dumb.

This is a team that could be undefeated and isnt because of coaching. That is piss poor.

 

[79COUG]

Leach has hung his hat on being the master of the air raid. He needs to now take that next step...

 

[Coug90]

Leach has hung his hat on being the master of the air raid. He needs to now take that next step...

Never will. We’ve been screaming this for years. He’s a victim of his own success and too stubborn to consider there might be a better way. At least we still run that little flip reverse for a five yard loss every game!

 

[Coug1990]

41-10 and all you guys can do is whine. Did I mistakenly visit a uw site?

 

[BiggsCoug]

41-10 and al you guys can do is whine. Did I mistakenly visit a uw site?

Complain about missed opportunity at a school with such small margin for error missed opportunity crushes your program? Yes.

Be shamed into thinking that we should just be happy we won at all? No thanks. Keep moving.

 

[79COUG]

41-10 and al you guys can do is whine. Did I mistakenly visit a uw site?

I think we're whining at 4-3, not 41-10.
And I can't speak for the others but I'm also whining about not winning an AC in a coons age...

 

[Coug1990]

Complain about missed opportunity at a school with such small margin for error missed opportunity crushes your program? Yes.

Be shamed into thinking that we should just be happy we won at all? No thanks. Keep moving.

Except you don't know what would happen at WSU. You take away practice time and resource allocation in one area and it could have unintended consequences in another. Frankly, WSU has been near the top in 3rd down, 4th down and redzone conversions for years.

I already know what the answer from Leach is, the problem was execution, not play call. I agree.

 

[Coug1990]

I think we're whining at 4-3, not 41-10.
And I can't speak for the others but I'm also whining about not winning an AC in a coons age...

That is more because of the defense, not the offense.

 

[79COUG]

That is more because of the defense, not the offense.

Good point...to an extent. But the offenses inability to adjust the gameplan to UWs defense is, in my opinion, huge.

 

[PINGDUDE4]

These threads crack me up. Makes me think some people watch zero football outside of WSU.

Some of the suggestions. QB needs to go under center to run the ball. The Oregon QB took a shot-gun snap on every one of their run plays yesterday including the short yardage ones and they ran all over the Huskies.

Go Wildcat with Borghi. The direct snap stuff is so exposed right now it is comical. Again watch when UW tried it yesterday in key situation ( that is what looked like the key stone cops).

Stats are the only true facts in situations like this not eye sight innuendo. WSU converts 3rd downs at a 42% rate this year. UW who everyone would say was a better running team converts at a 32% rate. Simple question which is better.

 

[GrayOnGray]

That is more because of the defense, not the offense.

I'm thrilled with the improvement we saw last night. But it's gonna take more than that to beat Oregon and Washington.

 

[Coug1990]

Good point...to an extent. But the offenses inability to adjust the gameplan to UWs defense is, in my opinion, huge.

Last year was the first year that I thought the Cougars were really better than the uw. The uw's talent level has been much greater than WSU's. They have had multiple 1st and 2nd NFL draft picks.

I don't think the problem is adjusting the game plan. I think it is talent and frankly, I think the game is in their head. When something goes bad, instead of fighting through it, they think here we go again and the game snow balls out of control.

 

[Observer11]

These threads crack me up. Makes me think some people watch zero football outside of WSU.

Some of the suggestions. QB needs to go under center to run the ball. The Oregon QB took a shot-gun snap on every one of their run plays yesterday including the short yardage ones and they ran all over the Huskies.

Go Wildcat with Borghi. The direct snap stuff is so exposed right now it is comical. Again watch when UW tried it yesterday in key situation ( that is what looked like the key stone cops).

Stats are the only true facts in situations like this not eye sight innuendo. WSU converts 3rd downs at a 42% rate this year. UW who everyone would say was a better running team converts at a 32% rate. Simple question which is better.

UW ran the Wildcat with their 4th string running back. And they ran it multiple times. Not sufficient personnel and no element of surprise.

Borghi as a once per game thing would be refreshing. And keep Gordon in at QB to keep them guessing.

 

[Coug1990]

I'm thrilled with the improvement we saw last night. But it's gonna take more than that to beat Oregon and Washington.

I agree. The defense is much worse than any of us had believed. They have to continue to get better. I hope that Trey Davis is the real deal at CB.

 

[Coug90]

41-10 and all you guys can do is whine. Did I mistakenly visit a uw site?

There might be better teams left on the schedule than CU.

This team also may have patted itself on the back prematurely this year...say halfway through the 3rd quarter against UCLA? Those of us there will find that hard to forget along with those of us who’ve sat through the last umpteen AC thrashings.

it’s ok to level a little criticism, even in a nice win as we look ahead to some difficult games.

 

[Coug1990]

UW ran the Wildcat with their 4th string running back. And they ran it multiple times. Not sufficient personnel and no element of surprise.

Borghi as a once per game thing would be refreshing. And keep Gordon in at QB to keep them guessing.

Leach has said that he thinks the Wildcat is stupid. I agree that copying uw's lesser offense than WSU's (despite everyone is a four or five star recruit) is not the way to go.

 

[Observer11]

Leach has said that he thinks the Wildcat is stupid. I agree that copying uw's lesser offense than WSU's (despite everyone is a four or five star recruit) is not the way to go.

I should hvae been more clear - a direct snap to Borghi with Gordon still at QB is my preference.

 

[PINGDUDE4]

There might be better teams left on the schedule than CU.

This team also may have patted itself on the back prematurely this year...say halfway through the 3rd quarter against UCLA? Those of us there will find that hard to forget along with those of us who’ve sat through the last umpteen AC thrashings.

it’s ok to level a little criticism, even in a nice win as we look ahead to some difficult games.

I agree there is plenty to be critical about. 3rd down conversions is just not one of them.

Personally I still think William's stupid decision has hurt the consistency of the offense at times during games. Every good team has multiple RB's . It is a position that takes the most hits and they need to be spread to at least 2 guys.

The new RB looks fine when he is out there, but they do not seem to trust him to play him much. Having a fresher Borghi throughout games would help the offense significantly.

 

[Brent H.]

I just don’t understand why we can’t expand to what Holgo, Riley and Harrell are doing with the Air Raid. I’m more confident on 3rd and 8 then I’m 3rd and 1.

 

[dgibbons]

Complain about missed opportunity at a school with such small margin for error missed opportunity crushes your program? Yes.

Be shamed into thinking that we should just be happy we won at all? No thanks. Keep moving.

You’re a whiner. Embrace who you are.

 

[dgibbons]

I agree there is plenty to be critical about. 3rd down conversions is just not one of them.

Personally I still think William's stupid decision has hurt the consistency of the offense at times during games. Every good team has multiple RB's . It is a position that takes the most hits and they need to be spread to at least 2 guys.

The new RB looks fine when he is out there, but they do not seem to trust him to play him much. Having a fresher Borghi throughout games would help the offense significantly.

It hurts to not have Williams since there is such a big drop off behind Borghi. At the same time I’m glad he’s gone. Borghi has three runs this season longer than anything Williams had in his career.

 

[cougarhawk1]

Borghi is faster, quicker and stronger than Williams.

Short yardage run packages aren't keeping WSU from winning the pac 12, that's sort of ridiculous. Id say DEFENSE(personnel) is something that has to be improved before they will win the pac 12.

 

[CougEd]

That is more because of the defense, not the offense.

I enjoy a win, but not sure that doesnt mean it shouldn’t be a concern or you can’t make an observation. We only gave up ten points yesterday but Montez was horrible . Compare that to ASU who couldn’t muster anything against Utah and yet had 500 yards on us.

I saw things on defense that I know will absolutely rare it’s ugly head .

 

[BiggsCoug]

Borghi is faster, quicker and stronger than Williams.

Short yardage run packages aren't keeping WSU from winning the pac 12, that's sort of ridiculous. Id say DEFENSE(personnel) is something that has to be improved before they will win the pac 12.

I think it’s the offense and special teams that’s cost them 2 games. Toss up on the third.

I agree the defense needs a lot of help. I wouldnt give the offense a pass. Have they really played to their potential?

 

[WASH ST A&M FAN]

Borghi is faster, quicker and stronger than Williams.

He’s not quicker than James.

 

[Coug90]

Borghi is faster, quicker and stronger than Williams.

Short yardage run packages aren't keeping WSU from winning the pac 12, that's sort of ridiculous. Id say DEFENSE(personnel) is something that has to be improved before they will win the pac 12.

It’s not short yardage alone it’s Leachs quirkiness and stubbornness about things in in general. Lump that in w questionable time outs, and the rinse and repeat offensive failures of AC. Leach has proven since at Tech he’s an above average coach that can win a lot of games and get a school with less resources to bowl games, but I’d argue he also fails to adapt in ways needed to win that game that gets his teams a championship. He’s not alone, plenty of Husky fans are screaming the same thing about Petersen right now.