It just dawned on me about hard core bitching

[Cougini5591]

Isnt this awesome to be bitching as we're probably going to be winning 10, 11, 12 games this year vs. the years of why the coach should be fired for losing to a sh*t squad... how the refs f'ed us against spoiled brats... what bowl games we won't be watching...

Myself included...

Wtf are we doing and can anyone name the last time we had positive posts for 3 or 4 days in a row?

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Isnt this awesome to be bitching as we're probably going to be winning 10, 11, 12 games this year vs. the years of why the coach should be fired for losing to a sh*t squad... how the refs f'ed us against spoiled brats... what bowl games we won't be watching...

Myself included...

Wtf are we doing and can anyone name the last time we had positive posts for 3 or 4 days in a row?

Part of the issue is the way that the team is playing. If we were dominating our games against bad competition and not giving up 500 yards per game to anyone with a heartbeat....I think you'd see more optimism and happiness.

The fact that we needed late breaks to beat UW, San Jose State, Fresno State and SDSU combined with giving up a bullshit touchdown late against Utah State puts most fans in a position where we are waiting for the other shoe to drop rather than being excited about each game. We had close games in other good seasons like 2018...but they were against teams that were generally pretty good.

This team is winning games and we'll look back on this season fondly, but it's hard to be too excited about the negative plays that we've seen that have made games more stressful than they should have been. If we were to win the next three games by 14+ points and we don't have a game where we are coming from behind in the fourth quarter...you'll see more excitement and optimism.

 

[UberCougars]

Win gooder

I post positive observations about this 8-1 team every day.

 

[M-I-Coug]

I'll bite and add...

Finally, COUGS, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—post on such things!

 

[KRUSTYtheCOUG]

Much of it prolly stems from the old coaching proverb that you don't accept things in a win that you wouldn't accept in a loss. That's all I have to say about that

 

[Cougini5591]

Much of it prolly stems from the old coaching proverb that you don't accept things in a win that you wouldn't accept in a loss. That's all I have to say about that

My proverb to Coug fans...

A season with 10 + wins is acceptable.

Shut up and smile.

 

[BiggsCoug]

My proverb to Coug fans...

A season with 10 + wins is acceptable.

Shut up and smile.

Google…. “Nick Saban rat poison.”

 

[Coug90]

Google…. “Nick Saban rat poison.”

Google 3 Year Letterman, Al Bundy, or peaked in high school.

 

[COCoug]

The fact that we needed late breaks to beat UW, San Jose State, Fresno State and SDSU combined with giving up a bullshit touchdown late against Utah State puts most fans in a position where we are waiting for the other shoe to drop rather than being excited about each game.

For a generation we have been losing close games that we dominated for +3 quarters. There was even a name for it- "Couged it". There was just some killer, closing instinct missing that let these games slip through our fingers. For once, we have a team that somehow knows how to close, that has this magic. But the majority of the posts here want to dwell on everything that doesn't matter, because we have been trained to do that our whole lives, and ignore the only thing that does matter.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

For a generation we have been losing close games that we dominated for +3 quarters. There was even a name for it- "Couged it". There was just some killer, closing instinct missing that let these games slip through our fingers. For once, we have a team that somehow knows how to close, that has this magic. But the majority of the posts here want to dwell on everything that doesn't matter, because we have been trained to do that our whole lives, and ignore the only thing that does matter.

You are absolutely correct that winning is the only thing that matters in the end but the whole "cougin' it" thing is a big driver on the psychology here (and around Coug nation). For all of his flaws, Leach was adamant that accepting "cougin' it" was not going to happen on his watch. He still lost winnable games but we won a lot more than we lost under his watch.

Unfortunately, he started losing focus in 2019 and losing those close games became a thing again. UCLA, ASU and Oregon were games that we had gotten used to winning more often than not. Than Rolovich comes in and we gack away a winnable game against Utah State. Dickert takes over and we lose a close one to BYU. In 2022, we lose close games to Oregon and Utah. The games that would have gotten us to Leach's 8 or 9 win range were being lost. In 2023, the wheels fell off for six straight weeks.

I know that we are supposed to celebrate these close wins, but it feels like we are a couple coin flips from 2023 and sitting at 4-5 instead of 8-1. Given the suckitude that we saw last year in particular, it's not hard to see why people are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

You are absolutely correct that winning is the only thing that matters in the end but the whole "cougin' it" thing is a big driver on the psychology here (and around Coug nation). For all of his flaws, Leach was adamant that accepting "cougin' it" was not going to happen on his watch. He still lost winnable games but we won a lot more than we lost under his watch.

Unfortunately, he started losing focus in 2019 and losing those close games became a thing again. UCLA, ASU and Oregon were games that we had gotten used to winning more often than not. Than Rolovich comes in and we gack away a winnable game against Utah State. Dickert takes over and we lose a close one to BYU. In 2022, we lose close games to Oregon and Utah. The games that would have gotten us to Leach's 8 or 9 win range were being lost. In 2023, the wheels fell off for six straight weeks.

I know that we are supposed to celebrate these close wins, but it feels like we are a couple coin flips from 2023 and sitting at 4-5 instead of 8-1. Given the suckitude that we saw last year in particular, it's not hard to see why people are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Man, its more than that and everyone knows it.

There are still a lot of people here who are pining for their "8" ex-gf instead of being happy with the "6" who is every bit as fun as the "8" but lets her freak flag fly even harder than the "8". But the prestige of being with the "8" is so alluring that it's hard to let go.

This season, and every season going forward is fools-gold due to the competition that we are now facing. I don't see the future of college football being conducive to any G5 team ever being actually competitive in a playoff - the talent gap is just too wide. We as Cougs have seen it first hand having played several B10 and SEC teams over the years and just getting bulldozed in the trenches. And that talent gap is only going to widen with NIL and us not being even moderately competitive in that arena - it actually amplifies the disparity between the blue bloods and the lesser-thans even more by putting a price tag on it.

I'm happy and content with winning and playing a fun brand of football and accepting the reality of being with a "6" and actually being a "6" despite having been a "7.5" for the past 100 years.

Mateer is fun to watch and the D seems to be making small incremental progress. But don't piss on my head and tell me its raining with this "best football ever played in WSU history" bullshit becuase its not even close to being true.

 

[roses04]

I am happy as hell we are 8-1, and it's great to be ranked in the top twenty. Problem is, as a program we are in limbo as to what direction we are headed. The networks and leagues relegated us to 2nd tier status when the pac 12 folded. And from this point on we will strive to be the "best of the rest" or G5 as it is known. Our good players will get poached each year with big dollar NIL offers, and the program will have to continue to evolve and find the underrated players and develop them. Right now, we are what you used to complain about, we are like Boise St, the program we bitched about that played no one, but had a lot of wins, and this year we couldn't even be competitive with BSU. It's great to see the success the team is having in the win loss column, but what will it feel like when the portal opens up in December. Will Dickert stick around, will he create an atmosphere of players that are willing to pass up the big bucks? Difficult task when someone hangs a million dollars in front of your star players.

I feel good and empty about the program at the same time, and if most people feel like I do, it will be difficult to even sustain this level of success at this level of competition in the future, because it impacts donors. A lot depends on the 3 areas of support. Regents stepping up, and funding the program, and a TV deal that gets us north of 15 million a year, and the donors stepping up. All three would be great, but we need at least 2 out of these three to have success moving forward. Without 2 out of those 3 coming through, we'll be lucky to be a 500 team at this level in a year or two.

 

[KRUSTYtheCOUG]

I am happy as hell we are 8-1, and it's great to be ranked in the top twenty. Problem is, as a program we are in limbo as to what direction we are headed. The networks and leagues relegated us to 2nd tier status when the pac 12 folded. And from this point on we will strive to be the "best of the rest" or G5 as it is known. Our good players will get poached each year with big dollar NIL offers, and the program will have to continue to evolve and find the underrated players and develop them. Right now, we are what you used to complain about, we are like Boise St, the program we bitched about that played no one, but had a lot of wins, and this year we couldn't even be competitive with BSU. It's great to see the success the team is having in the win loss column, but what will it feel like when the portal opens up in December. Will Dickert stick around, will he create an atmosphere of players that are willing to pass up the big bucks? Difficult task when someone hangs a million dollars in front of your star players.

I feel good and empty about the program at the same time, and if most people feel like I do, it will be difficult to even sustain this level of success at this level of competition in the future, because it impacts donors. A lot depends on the 3 areas of support. Regents stepping up, and funding the program, and a TV deal that gets us north of 15 million a year, and the donors stepping up. All three would be great, but we need at least 2 out of these three to have success moving forward. Without 2 out of those 3 coming through, we'll be lucky to be a 500 team at this level in a year or two.

Your last paragraphs was eloquently put and expressed my same concerns.

This year HAS been fun and interesting like wasn't expected one year ago. My worries are one year from now being unexpected for wholly different reasons, and not in a good way.

Enjoy THIS season. Like puppies and kids, they grow up soo fast! That's all I have to say about that

 

[dgibbons]

Man, its more than that and everyone knows it.

There are still a lot of people here who are pining for their "8" ex-gf instead of being happy with the "6" who is every bit as fun as the "8" but lets her freak flag fly even harder than the "8". But the prestige of being with the "8" is so alluring that it's hard to let go.

This season, and every season going forward is fools-gold due to the competition that we are now facing. I don't see the future of college football being conducive to any G5 team ever being actually competitive in a playoff - the talent gap is just too wide. We as Cougs have seen it first hand having played several B10 and SEC teams over the years and just getting bulldozed in the trenches. And that talent gap is only going to widen with NIL and us not being even moderately competitive in that arena - it actually amplifies the disparity between the blue bloods and the lesser-thans even more by putting a price tag on it.

I'm happy and content with winning and playing a fun brand of football and accepting the reality of being with a "6" and actually being a "6" despite having been a "7.5" for the past 100 years.

Mateer is fun to watch and the D seems to be making small incremental progress. But don't piss on my head and tell me its raining with this "best football ever played in WSU history" bullshit becuase its not even close to being true.

Who is saying this? I'd really like to know.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Who is saying this? I'd really like to know.

8-1

Better than I honestly expected. I was hoping for 7-2 and half expecting 6-3 at this point. The offense is slowly becoming more multi-dimensional. Mateer still has touch issues, but he has made significant progress this season. Our O line has mostly settled down in terms of both the line up...

washingtonstate.forums.rivals.com

CFP rankings...

Washington State # 21 They put a 6-2 Colorado at the # 20 spot.

washingtonstate.forums.rivals.com

CFP rankings...

Washington State # 21 They put a 6-2 Colorado at the # 20 spot.

washingtonstate.forums.rivals.com

CFP rankings...

Washington State # 21 They put a 6-2 Colorado at the # 20 spot.

washingtonstate.forums.rivals.com

 

[UberCougars]

Man, its more than that and everyone knows it.

There are still a lot of people here who are pining for their "8" ex-gf instead of being happy with the "6" who is every bit as fun as the "8" but lets her freak flag fly even harder than the "8". But the prestige of being with the "8" is so alluring that it's hard to let go.

This season, and every season going forward is fools-gold due to the competition that we are now facing. I don't see the future of college football being conducive to any G5 team ever being actually competitive in a playoff - the talent gap is just too wide. We as Cougs have seen it first hand having played several B10 and SEC teams over the years and just getting bulldozed in the trenches. And that talent gap is only going to widen with NIL and us not being even moderately competitive in that arena - it actually amplifies the disparity between the blue bloods and the lesser-thans even more by putting a price tag on it.

I'm happy and content with winning and playing a fun brand of football and accepting the reality of being with a "6" and actually being a "6" despite having been a "7.5" for the past 100 years.

Mateer is fun to watch and the D seems to be making small incremental progress. But don't piss on my head and tell me its raining with this "best football ever played in WSU history" bullshit becuase its not even close to being true.

Facts >>> Feelings

If WSU completes its mission, 2024 @12-1 will become the most successful season ever

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Facts >>> Feelings

If WSU completes its mission, 2024 @12-1 will become the most successful season ever

I appreciate how you've subtly changed your wording. I haven't bothered to check if you've gone back and edited you're prior posts, but I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[dgibbons]

8-1

Better than I honestly expected. I was hoping for 7-2 and half expecting 6-3 at this point. The offense is slowly becoming more multi-dimensional. Mateer still has touch issues, but he has made significant progress this season. Our O line has mostly settled down in terms of both the line up...

washingtonstate.forums.rivals.com

CFP rankings...

Washington State # 21 They put a 6-2 Colorado at the # 20 spot.

washingtonstate.forums.rivals.com

CFP rankings...

Washington State # 21 They put a 6-2 Colorado at the # 20 spot.

washingtonstate.forums.rivals.com

CFP rankings...

Washington State # 21 They put a 6-2 Colorado at the # 20 spot.

washingtonstate.forums.rivals.com

I have a tendency to understand language much more narrowly, and in my opinion accurately, than the many posters on this board. If WSU does go 12-1, that would be the "most successful" season in history. I guess assuming that winning is how you measure success. IMO, there are some posters that hate winning.

It's easy to distinguish that from "best football ever played in WSU history." This team is not playing the best football in WSU history.

 

[Coug90]

I am happy as hell we are 8-1, and it's great to be ranked in the top twenty. Problem is, as a program we are in limbo as to what direction we are headed. The networks and leagues relegated us to 2nd tier status when the pac 12 folded. And from this point on we will strive to be the "best of the rest" or G5 as it is known. Our good players will get poached each year with big dollar NIL offers, and the program will have to continue to evolve and find the underrated players and develop them. Right now, we are what you used to complain about, we are like Boise St, the program we bitched about that played no one, but had a lot of wins, and this year we couldn't even be competitive with BSU. It's great to see the success the team is having in the win loss column, but what will it feel like when the portal opens up in December. Will Dickert stick around, will he create an atmosphere of players that are willing to pass up the big bucks? Difficult task when someone hangs a million dollars in front of your star players.

I feel good and empty about the program at the same time, and if most people feel like I do, it will be difficult to even sustain this level of success at this level of competition in the future, because it impacts donors. A lot depends on the 3 areas of support. Regents stepping up, and funding the program, and a TV deal that gets us north of 15 million a year, and the donors stepping up. All three would be great, but we need at least 2 out of these three to have success moving forward. Without 2 out of those 3 coming through, we'll be lucky to be a 500 team at this level in a year or two.

So with your analogy I guess the question is where do these Cougs rank on the hot/crazy matrix. Because 8-1 is pretty sexy but it’s a little scary how we’ve gotten there, and the fact that I wouldnt be surprised to see us lose to Wyoming in game 12 is sorta like looking over my shoulder for an incoming knife because I didn’t buy the right color of roses.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I have a tendency to understand language much more narrowly, and in my opinion accurately, than the many posters on this board. If WSU does go 12-1, that would be the "most successful" season in history. I guess assuming that winning is how you measure success. IMO, there are some posters that hate winning.

It's easy to distinguish that from "best football ever played in WSU history." This team is not playing the best football in WSU history.

Wins are only one measure when it comes to metrics. Regardless of record....winning a conference championship is a more successful season than winning an extra game or two but falling short. The 1997 and 2002 teams are the most successful teams in modern WSU football history. The 2018 season was fun and I'm not disappointed with our 8-1 start this year....but I would take a Rose Bowl appearance over an Alamo Bowl appearance every single time, more so given that we went to the Rose Bowl when it still meant something.

 

[dgibbons]

Wins are only one measure when it comes to metrics. Regardless of record....winning a conference championship is a more successful season than winning an extra game or two but falling short. The 1997 and 2002 teams are the most successful teams in modern WSU football history. The 2018 season was fun and I'm not disappointed with our 8-1 start this year....but I would take a Rose Bowl appearance over an Alamo Bowl appearance every single time, more so given that we went to the Rose Bowl when it still meant something.

Well, it all comes down to the OSU game for the championship then!

 

[Coug90]

Wins are only one measure when it comes to metrics. Regardless of record....winning a conference championship is a more successful season than winning an extra game or two but falling short. The 1997 and 2002 teams are the most successful teams in modern WSU football history. The 2018 season was fun and I'm not disappointed with our 8-1 start this year....but I would take a Rose Bowl appearance over an Alamo Bowl appearance every single time, more so given that we went to the Rose Bowl when it still meant something.

I would give the edge to ‘97. We spanked a ranked UW team on their field, won at USC…a rarity in our history, and came within a couple of plays of being undefeated national champs (pick six against ASU and endzone pick to Woodson in the RB). That team is probably the only one on any list that could have given any team in the country a run for their money, and we did against #1 Michigan and beat a top 10 UCLA team as well. The 02 team was great but they didn’t win the AC.

As fun as this team is I think there’s probably
7 or 8 teams we’d have no chance against this year. Like 20+ point underdog no chance.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

I have a tendency to understand language much more narrowly, and in my opinion accurately, than the many posters on this board.

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one. Not everyone IS one (see what I did there?) . We'll just call you The Barf - damn it I mean The Bard - from now on. But keep thinking that you understand language more than "the many" (which means all of us in language terms) posters on this board.

 

[CougPatrol]

Those of us who have journeyed with WSU for 30, 40, 50 years are better able to appreciate this season than the fans who came on board in 2002 or at the beginning of the Leach era. When I first started attending WSU games in the early 80s, we were small time. Our equipment duffel bags were spread along the perimeter of Martin Stadium, while our opponents had fancy equipment lockers with their school logo. Programs like USC, Stanford, and UW would bring 3x the number of players into Martin Stadium than we had. Our scoreboard was the about the same size as the high school I went to.

Fast forward to this season. I recognize that we're not an elite team, but I don't care. I recognize that we're playing an easier schedule, but I don't care. We've been the punching bags of the Pac-8, Pac-10, and Pac-10 for too many years to mention, so I don't care if this year isn't impressive to out of touch pundits. We didn't have a schedule 8 months ago and we lost a QB to the transfer portal who is in the top-4 of the Heisman trophy race. Our current head coach was promoted by fire because the previous coach, his boss, decided to puff his chest and challenge COVID mandates. A few years prior to that, we lost one of the most significant coaches in WSU football history to Mississippi. It's remarkable how we've been able to keep the program rolling for the past decade.

Us playing Utah State last week and New Mexico this week isn't any less meaningful than the dozens of games that USC, UCLA, UW, and other mercenary power programs played against WSU. Awe shucks, we have better players. Is that how I'm supposed to feel, because I don't. If we go 11-1, it's going to be one of the more memorable seasons in my WSU lifetime.

 

[95coug]

Those of us who have journeyed with WSU for 30, 40, 50 years are better able to appreciate this season than the fans who came on board in 2002 or at the beginning of the Leach era. When first started attending WSU games in the early 80s, we were small time. Our equipment duffel bags were spread along the perimeter of Martin Stadium. Programs like USC, Stanford, and UW would bring 3x the amount of players into Martin Stadium than we had. Our scoreboard was the about the same as the high school I went to.

Fast forward to this season. I recognize that we're not an elite team, but I don't care. I recognize that we're playing an easier schedule, but I don't care. We've been the punching bags of the Pac-8, Pac-10, and Pac-10 for too many years to mention, so I don't care if this year isn't impressive to out of touch pundits. We didn't have a schedule 8 months ago and we lost a QB to the transfer portal who is in the top-4 of the Heisman trophy race. Our current head coach was promoted by fire because the previous coach, his boss, decided to puff his chest and challenge COVID mandates. A few years prior to that, we lost one of the most significant coaches in WSU football history to Mississippi. It's remarkable how we've been able to keep the program rolling for the past decade.

Us playing Utah State last week and New Mexico this week isn't any less meaningful than the dozens of games that USC, UCLA, UW, and other mercenary power programs played against WSU. Awe shucks, we have better players. Is that how I'm supposed to feel, because I don't. If we go 11-1, it's going to be one of the more memorable seasons in my WSU lifetime.

Just shy of 40 years of Cougar football for me…and I don’t place this team in the top dozen, and even at 12-1 I don’t think I’ll have much lingering thought of them past the start of the 2025 season.

 

[CougPatrol]

That's too bad. You've missed out on one of the rare seasons where we trot into every game expecting to win. Most of my Coug life has been spent hoping we don't get blown out.

 

[95coug]

That's too bad. You've missed out on one of the rare seasons where we trot into every game expecting to win. Most of my Coug life has been spent hoping we don't get blown out.

Nope, haven’t missed it. Just don’t find it very satisfying.

It’s like having your senior all-conference RB play in a JV game. If he has 20 carries for 110 yards and 2 TDs…did he really have a good game?