Let's not forget we were 7-1 last year too

[Cougsocal]

Coming off a 28-0 drubbing of Colorado and we didn't finish. That said, there are some distinct differences between this year's team and last on offense.

We have a QB who is willing to stretch the field vertically. Team's rolled up coverages on us and Falk was reticent to try to make them pay. There was a lot less space out there to throw the ball into.

We have receivers who can make teams pay vertically. It wasn’t all Falk’s fault. Last year’s receiving corp. may have been the least dynamic we have had around here in quite some time. When Tavares Martin Jr. is your “big play” receiver, dynamic you aren’t.

YAC. We now can run drag routes for big yards. Last year we were strictly a catch and get tackled WR corp. Kids who would catch and drop to the ground are now looking to makes plays after the catch. That’s huge.

A big receiver who actually plays big. Where would we be now without Patmon against Stanford? He is a great safety valve.

Minshew not only adds some movement, but more importantly, swagger. Sometimes you just have to throw into tight coverage, he does.

The OL is playing much better. We have had some clear addition by subtraction at that position.

Unfortunately, it isn’t all upside.

Our defense is a bit of a smoke and mirrors, magic show. To stop the run we must load the box. To get pass pressure we must blitz and blitz hard. To stop the pass we need to put 8 in coverage and play a two deep zone over the top. Don’t you wonder when an OC is going to be able to “dial it in” on us and beat our defense like a drum for an entire game? We have seen it happen for long stretches when we can’t stop jack.

Claeys has made the right adjustments to get us into the position we are, and I recognize that what he has done, with the holes we have, is remarkable, but Tracy could you please make those adjustments a touch sooner? Do we have to give up three and four score before you pull the ”major adjustment” trigger? My heart just can’t take it.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

As much as anything, we are playing Cal at home instead of a hot Arizona team on the road. Nobody had figured out Khalil Tate and we didn't have much tape on him. We lost a track meet because we couldn't keep up. When you look at that 2017 Arizona squad, they had only two close losses at that point in the season. The 2018 Cal team was lit up by UCLA and Oregon and a close loss to Arizona. This Bear's team can definitely give us fits, but they have to win a defensive struggle based on their play so far. If you look at our results against Cal over the past 5 years, you see the following:

2017: @ Cal: Cal 37, WSU 3
2016: Home: WSU 56, Cal 21
2015: @ Cal: Cal 34, WSU 28
2014: Home: Cal 60, WSU 59 (missed a 19 yard field goal to lose game)
2013: @Cal: WSU 44, Cal 22

So, right now, the narrative is that we are 1-3 in our last four games against the Bears. However, we are a chipshot field goal from being 3-2 in our last five games against them and they needed a big comeback with a future NFL QB having a great day to beat us in one of the other games. I see Cal giving us some trouble early as we try to work things out, but I see us leading at halftime by 10 and by 21+ to finish the game. Oregon thought that they were pretty good after beating the mutts and we steamrolled them, Stanford thought that they had us on the ropes and we outscored them 24-10 in the second half. This is just my opinion, but both of them are superior to Cal.

 

[M-I-Coug]

We've upgraded at every position, both players, coaches, O Line and Defense. All upgraded.

What's interesting is that no one foresaw or predicted this, while the Football god sat back and said:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways", declares the Football god.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways".

 

[Coug95man2]

We've upgraded at every position, both players, coaches, O Line and Defense. All upgraded.

What's interesting is that no one foresaw or predicted this, while the Football god sat back and said:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways", declares the Football god.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts".

Duuuuude. Deep.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

We've upgraded at every position, both players, coaches, O Line and Defense. All upgraded.

What's interesting is that no one foresaw or predicted this, while the Football god sat back and said:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways", declares the Football god.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways".

I wouldn't agree that we are upgraded at every position compared to last year. DL is definitely not as good, our defensive backs have not been consistently dependable and I'm still a fan of Morrow and always will be. Minshew is definitely running the air raid better than Falk was and our receivers are playing great. Our offensive line is a pleasant surprise and their play, combined with Minshew's feel for the pocket, has created a situation where we are definitely a dangerous offense to face. Linebacker play is pretty good but our younger guys need to miss fewer sack opportunities. At home, with a guy like Minshew running the offense without the fear and constipation that Falk was suffering through is going to give us a big win this weekend.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

As much as anything, we are playing Cal at home instead of a hot Arizona team on the road. Nobody had figured out Khalil Tate and we didn't have much tape on him. We lost a track meet because we couldn't keep up. When you look at that 2017 Arizona squad, they had only two close losses at that point in the season. The 2018 Cal team was lit up by UCLA and Oregon and a close loss to Arizona. This Bear's team can definitely give us fits, but they have to win a defensive struggle based on their play so far. If you look at our results against Cal over the past 5 years, you see the following:

2017: @ Cal: Cal 37, WSU 3
2016: Home: WSU 56, Cal 21
2015: @ Cal: Cal 34, WSU 28
2014: Home: Cal 60, WSU 59 (missed a 19 yard field goal to lose game)
2013: @Cal: WSU 44, Cal 22

So, right now, the narrative is that we are 1-3 in our last four games against the Bears. However, we are a chipshot field goal from being 3-2 in our last five games against them and they needed a big comeback with a future NFL QB having a great day to beat us in one of the other games. I see Cal giving us some trouble early as we try to work things out, but I see us leading at halftime by 10 and by 21+ to finish the game. Oregon thought that they were pretty good after beating the mutts and we steamrolled them, Stanford thought that they had us on the ropes and we outscored them 24-10 in the second half. This is just my opinion, but both of them are superior to Cal.

Look, I'll go ahead a say it (though it pains me to do so):

We lost AZ and Cal simply because Falk sh!t the bed and froze up, as we had seen him do increasingly over his career. God bless him, I love him as a Coug and as a person, but his football playing regressed the longer he was here.

All anyone had to do was drop eight and and suddenly Luke was having Vietnam flashbacks and seemed to stare blankly down the field. It was like he saw the coverage at the snap and started telling himself that he was going to have trouble finding open receivers, or even covered receivers that he could make a tight pass to for a completion.

I don't anticipate Minshew not being able to put points on the board. That being said, I respect Wilcox as a defensive mind and believe he is going to gameplan the hell out of this matchup. I believe they will be focusing on stopping the pass, so if Gardner can also do the one other thing Falk couldn't/ wouldn't do, we should be fine. That one other thing - call enough runs to loosen up the D.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Look, I'll go ahead a say it (though it pains me to do so):

We lost AZ and Cal simply because Falk sh!t the bed and froze up, as we had seen him do increasingly over his career. God bless him, I love him as a Coug and as a person, but his football playing regressed the longer he was here.

All anyone had to do was drop eight and and suddenly Luke was having Vietnam flashbacks and seemed to stare blankly down the field. It was like he saw the coverage at the snap and started telling himself that he was going to have trouble finding open receivers, or even covered receivers that he could make a tight pass to for a completion.

I don't anticipate Minshew not being able to put points on the board. That being said, I respect Wilcox as a defensive mind and believe he is going to gameplan the hell out of this matchup. I believe they will be focusing on stopping the pass, so if Gardner can also do the one other thing Falk couldn't/ wouldn't do, we should be fine. That one other thing - call enough runs to loosen up the D.

Agree on Falk. I don't know if he was too worried about being perfect, if he'd taken too many hits or what it was, but he was a diminished QB in 2017 compared to prior years. For all the talk of how much the receivers have improved....they caught plenty of passes last year when Hilinski was slinging the ball.

The one thing that's been amazing about this year is that Minshew has only had a few serious lapses all season and has been rock steady overall. That's unusual at this level of competition. When you look at QBR, Minshew has had a QBR of 73 or higher in every game after the opener against Wyoming. He's not as good as someone like Baker Mayfield, but even Baker had a bit of a clunker against Texas last year (by his standards) and had several rough outings in his first year as a starter for OU. Minshew has been steady and that's a big part of what has helped us.

 

[Coug90]

Agree on Falk. I don't know if he was too worried about being perfect, if he'd taken too many hits or what it was, but he was a diminished QB in 2017 compared to prior years. For all the talk of how much the receivers have improved....they caught plenty of passes last year when Hilinski was slinging the ball.

The one thing that's been amazing about this year is that Minshew has only had a few serious lapses all season and has been rock steady overall. That's unusual at this level of competition. When you look at QBR, Minshew has had a QBR of 73 or higher in every game after the opener against Wyoming. He's not as good as someone like Baker Mayfield, but even Baker had a bit of a clunker against Texas last year (by his standards) and had several rough outings in his first year as a starter for OU. Minshew has been steady and that's a big part of what has helped us.

Yup again. Falk spiraled in both those games and I think we’d had chances to win both with merely mediocre QB play and decision making. Cal sat back in 8 deep coverage damn near every play and falk refused to get to a run when we could have gashed them. Same with zona. Not the turnovers of cal but too many 3 and outs when our defense needed to regroup. I just don’t see that type of scenario playing out with Minshew. He had two straight 3 and outs the other night then ripped Furd to shreds in the second half.

 

[Fab5Coug]

We've upgraded at every position, both players, coaches, O Line and Defense. All upgraded.

What's interesting is that no one foresaw or predicted this, while the Football god sat back and said:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways", declares the Football god.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways".

There is no logical argument that we upgraded talent on the DL.

 

[Brent H.]

Look, I'll go ahead a say it (though it pains me to do so):

We lost AZ and Cal simply because Falk sh!t the bed and froze up, as we had seen him do increasingly over his career. God bless him, I love him as a Coug and as a person, but his football playing regressed the longer he was here.

All anyone had to do was drop eight and and suddenly Luke was having Vietnam flashbacks and seemed to stare blankly down the field. It was like he saw the coverage at the snap and started telling himself that he was going to have trouble finding open receivers, or even covered receivers that he could make a tight pass to for a completion.

I don't anticipate Minshew not being able to put points on the board. That being said, I respect Wilcox as a defensive mind and believe he is going to gameplan the hell out of this matchup. I believe they will be focusing on stopping the pass, so if Gardner can also do the one other thing Falk couldn't/ wouldn't do, we should be fine. That one other thing - call enough runs to loosen up the D.

Last year the offense didn't travel on the road. The defense was the reason why we won a lot of our road games. Even look at BSU at home, offense struggled the entire game until Leach made the switch. I have yet to see the offense not show up for games. They do disappear for a bit, but the defense does just enough to keep us in the game until the offense shows back up. Cal defense is going to be a challenge for us. It's similar to Utah in some ways, but we still managed to put up 28 points on them.

My question is, what team can score about 35 on us and hold us to 28 or so? I see probably two right now, Arizona and UW. Arizona will be a tricky game. We get them off a bye and it looks like Tate is getting back into is old form and he'll be able to heal up his ankle. This next 4 weeks are going to be grueling, but I also feel like we are playing with house money. Last year we expected to compete for the conference title. This year we just wanted to get to a bowl game.

Minshew keeps the squad lose and ready to go. And it helps we have a crap ton of talent on offense.

 

[Cougsocal]

Look, I'll go ahead a say it (though it pains me to do so):

We lost AZ and Cal simply because Falk sh!t the bed and froze up, as we had seen him do increasingly over his career. God bless him, I love him as a Coug and as a person, but his football playing regressed the longer he was here.

All anyone had to do was drop eight and and suddenly Luke was having Vietnam flashbacks and seemed to stare blankly down the field. It was like he saw the coverage at the snap and started telling himself that he was going to have trouble finding open receivers, or even covered receivers that he could make a tight pass to for a completion.

I don't anticipate Minshew not being able to put points on the board. That being said, I respect Wilcox as a defensive mind and believe he is going to gameplan the hell out of this matchup. I believe they will be focusing on stopping the pass, so if Gardner can also do the one other thing Falk couldn't/ wouldn't do, we should be fine. That one other thing - call enough runs to loosen up the D.

A different team, a difference defense. The offense is better, but our defense leaves us more vunerable down the stretch. We will have problems with any team, like Washington, willing to put 7 on the line and has a quality back. The reason, 8 in the box is only effective against 6 and 5 man lines, without a quality DL. If Love was healthy, we would have lost. On a bad wheel the guy gained 73 yards on 6 carries. On top of that, we don't have guys like David, Trufant or Paymah who can lock down receivers left on an Island. Which is where you are when you play 8 in the box. As a result, we made Costello look like a first rounder.

Also lets not forget, the colder, windier, wetter it gets (Pullman/Boulder in November), the less a passing attack is effective and the more defense dependant you become. And Louisiana Ninshew has zero experience throwing a wet ball with cold hands on a windy day. He has had fast tracks every game so far.

 

[Brent H.]

A different team, a difference defense. The offense is better, but our defense leaves us more vunerable down the stretch. We will have problems with any team, like Washington, willing to put 7 on the line and has a quality back. The reason, 8 in the box is only effective against 6 and 5 man lines, without a quality DL. If Love was healthy, we would have lost. On a bad wheel the guy gained 73 yards on 6 carries. On top of that, we don't have guys like David, Trufant or Paymah who can lock down receivers left on an Island. Which is where you are when you play 8 in the box. As a result, we made Costello look like a first rounder.

Also lets not forget, the colder, windier, wetter it gets (Pullman/Boulder in November), the less a passing attack is effective and the more defense dependant you become. And Louisiana Ninshew has zero experience throwing a wet ball with cold hands on a windy day. He has had fast tracks every game so far.

What?

 

[425cougfan]

Yup again. Falk spiraled in both those games and I think we’d had chances to win both with merely mediocre QB play and decision making. Cal sat back in 8 deep coverage damn near every play and falk refused to get to a run when we could have gashed them. Same with zona. Not the turnovers of cal but too many 3 and outs when our defense needed to regroup. I just don’t see that type of scenario playing out with Minshew. He had two straight 3 and outs the other night then ripped Furd to shreds in the second half.

Glad to see this honesty in the thread about Falk. It seems in some fora like people are very hesitant to criticize the guy. We all appreciate what he did, and he seems like a great person who worked very hard. He was great in 2015, was tough, and had heart. I take no pleasure in criticizing him at all. He was just terrible last year most of the time, though, and we should be honest about that. He almost managed to blow the Utah game, too, in addition to the Cal, Boise State, and Arizona games, despite that Utah game being handed to him on a platter by the defense. I don't know if you guys remember that, but it was incredibly frustrating. That should have been a blowout but it wound up being a one-score game. Again, great guy, did some very good things, and nobody can take away the wins. But there's no way we'd be 7-1 right now with him at the helm, flat-out. Probably would have lost to at least two of Oregon, Utah, and Stanford, if not all 3.

 

[Cougsocal]

Ninshew is playing better than Falk. But let's not ignore the fact that his receiver cast is a whole lot better too. Falk had to throw to Martin Jr., J-Mack and Sweet as his three main receivers -- 198 catches combined. That's slow, slower and even slower. There were DLs, including Mata Afa, who ran faster 40s than Martin at the combine for christ sake. There is a reason why Sweet, a senior and our leading returning receiver, is coming off the bench now and won't catch nearly as many balls this year as last. He has been replaced with more dynamic players. If there had not been a significant WR upgrade, he would not have only 23 catches so far, 7th on the team.

 

[425cougfan]

Ninshew is playing better than Falk. But let's not ignore the fact that his receiver cast is a whole lot better too. Falk had to throw to Martin Jr., J-Mack and Sweet as his three main receivers -- 198 catches combined. That's slow, slower and even slower. There were DLs, including Mata Afa, who ran faster 40s than Martin at the combine for christ sake. There is a reason why Sweet, a senior and our leading returning receiver, is coming off the bench now and won't catch nearly as many balls this year as last. He has been replaced with more dynamic players. If there had not been a significant WR upgrade, he would not have only 23 catches so far, 7th on the team.

Fair point and I acknowledge it. We also have a better OL this year. It's hard to quantify these effects. I will say, though, that there were a number of occasions in which Falk couldn't find anyone open for several series and then those moderately talented WRs would instantly be running around open when TH entered the game.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Fair point and I acknowledge it. We also have a better OL this year. It's hard to quantify these effects. I will say, though, that there were a number of occasions in which Falk couldn't find anyone open for several series and then those moderately talented WRs would instantly be running around open when TH entered the game.

Routinely Falk had 5 or 6 seconds. Routinely. There wasn't an OL issue, so it's hard to say that the OL is improved from that metric alone.

 

[kayak15]

What?

Now, now, you guys be nice to socal. He was close enough for government work.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Now, now, you guys be nice to socal. He was close enough for government work.

Listen, if socal can't get Alabama Dilshaw's name right, that's on him.

 

[kayak15]

Last year the offense didn't travel on the road. The defense was the reason why we won a lot of our road games. Even look at BSU at home, offense struggled the entire game until Leach made the switch. I have yet to see the offense not show up for games. They do disappear for a bit, but the defense does just enough to keep us in the game until the offense shows back up. Cal defense is going to be a challenge for us. It's similar to Utah in some ways, but we still managed to put up 28 points on them.

My question is, what team can score about 35 on us and hold us to 28 or so? I see probably two right now, Arizona and UW. Arizona will be a tricky game. We get them off a bye and it looks like Tate is getting back into is old form and he'll be able to heal up his ankle. This next 4 weeks are going to be grueling, but I also feel like we are playing with house money. Last year we expected to compete for the conference title. This year we just wanted to get to a bowl game.

Minshew keeps the squad lose and ready to go. And it helps we have a crap ton of talent on offense.

Well stated. That said, and I'll probably regret posting this, I am not too concerned about Arizona. Tate started out balls-of-fire last year. Then the defensive staffs started game-planning for a running QB and he faded over the end of last season. I have confidence that Claeys will deal with this effectively. In fact, if Pelluer and/or Dotson had been available for last year's game I believe that we would have pulled out a win, Tate or no Tate. On the other hand, Az kicked the snot out of the dux so maybe, yeah, I shouldn't be so sure in my prediction. I am, however, concerned about the uw. Recent history of our no-shows has done this to me and possibly most others who were unfortunate to have had that experience.

 

[Loyal Coug]

Glad to see this honesty in the thread about Falk. It seems in some fora like people are very hesitant to criticize the guy. We all appreciate what he did, and he seems like a great person who worked very hard. He was great in 2015, was tough, and had heart. I take no pleasure in criticizing him at all.
But there's no way we'd be 7-1 right now with him at the helm, flat-out. Probably would have lost to at least two of Oregon, Utah, and Stanford, if not all 3.

I gotta tell you - I am as big of a Falk fan as anyone - but after 8 games of Gawd-ner (clever, huh?) I kind of cringe when I watch a few series of anything from 2015-2017. The difference in the dynamics of the QB play is just night and day.

 

[kougkurt]

I gotta tell you - I am as big of a Falk fan as anyone - but after 8 games of Gawd-ner (clever, huh?) I kind of cringe when I watch a few series of anything from 2015-2017. The difference in the dynamics of the QB play is just night and day.

It’s GODNER

 

[kayak15]

It’s GODNER

Might as well go full Mississippi. It's GODNUH.

 

[Loyal Coug]

I gotta tell you - I am as big of a Falk fan as anyone - but after 8 games of Gawd-ner (clever, huh?) I kind of cringe when I watch a few series of anything from 2015-2017. The difference in the dynamics of the QB play is just night and day.

It’s GODNER

No no no. First of all, we are secular here. No mention of religion (or politics) EVER. Learn the rules.

Second, Gardner, Gawd-ner. Change one letter. Same sound as we are looking for when you say it.

Gardner, Godner. You get rid of 2 letters and add a new one. Inefficient and religious.

So much work to do with you posters. So little Coors Light.

Oh and Trump is a godless, evil man.

 

[kougkurt]

No no no. First of all, we are secular here. No mention of religion (or politics) EVER. Learn the rules.

Second, Gardner, Gawd-ner. Change one letter. Same sound as we are looking for when you say it.

Gardner, Godner. You get rid of 2 letters and add a new one. Inefficient and religious.

So much work to do with you posters. So little Coors Light.

Oh and Trump is a godless, evil man.

Gawd like .......well you know gawd awful or GOD like well.........Gawd don’t work. Just sayin.

 

[jarvis1981]

The biggest difference is that CML has been here one more year.
It's another year with his players, under his system and it's one of the reasons that I thought WSU would win at Wyoming with a new QB when many experts had picked the Cowboys.

It's not even so much about the record but how the team is performing. They look good, they look like they know what's going to happen. No deer in headlights look.
Even if the team had lost to Notre Dame and LSU in non conference games and was 5 and 3 it would still be a very good team.
Stanford's coach at the end of the game interview said "they (WSU) deserved it". That speaks volumes.
Time to just enjoy what's happening.

 

[kayak15]

No no no. First of all, we are secular here. No mention of religion (or politics) EVER. Learn the rules.

Second, Gardner, Gawd-ner. Change one letter. Same sound as we are looking for when you say it.

Gardner, Godner. You get rid of 2 letters and add a new one. Inefficient and religious.

So much work to do with you posters. So little Coors Light.

Oh and Trump is a godless, evil man.

Just got on my knees and prayed for guidance from the Big Coug in the Sky. He/she is fine with it.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I gotta tell you - I am as big of a Falk fan as anyone - but after 8 games of Gawd-ner (clever, huh?) I kind of cringe when I watch a few series of anything from 2015-2017. The difference in the dynamics of the QB play is just night and day.

The thing about Falk is that when he was at his best, he was arguably better than Minshew. When you look at his PER ratings from 2015 & 2016, he had some very, very good games as a passer. In the second half of 2015, Falk had three games with a PER above 160. In 2016, he had six games where his PER was above 160. Through 8 games this year, Minshew has only two games in that range. So.....when Falk was on his game as a sophomore and junior.....he was very good. But he had 3 or so games per year where he was mediocre and when you look at 2017, Falk was underwhelming in 9 of his 12 games. Minshew doesn't have the highs....but he's been far more consistent without the lows.

 

[425cougfan]

The thing about Falk is that when he was at his best, he was arguably better than Minshew. When you look at his PER ratings from 2015 & 2016, he had some very, very good games as a passer. In the second half of 2015, Falk had three games with a PER above 160. In 2016, he had six games where his PER was above 160. Through 8 games this year, Minshew has only two games in that range. So.....when Falk was on his game as a sophomore and junior.....he was very good. But he had 3 or so games per year where he was mediocre and when you look at 2017, Falk was underwhelming in 9 of his 12 games. Minshew doesn't have the highs....but he's been far more consistent without the lows.

Does that account for (i) GM throwing it away when warranted to avoid a sack, as opposed to just standing there until the pocket collapses, or (ii) more generally, sacks at all? I'd expect GM to have a lower completion percentage, all else equal, than Falk, since he wouldn't just sit there until the pocket collapsed, unlike Falk, and will throw it away sometimes. GM also can both get more yards with his feet, and avoid losing yards with sacks, than Falk. He also seems better about checking into the run, including being more willing to get his RBs touchdowns on the ground.

Sure, some of this is just me trying to play up GM's strengths while pointing out Falk's weaknesses, but I'd expect some of these factors to cut in Falk's favor, and against, Minshew, when looking at PERs, and many of them to not be accounted for when just looking at PER and not considering other aspects of QB play.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Does that account for (i) GM throwing it away when warranted to avoid a sack, as opposed to just standing there until the pocket collapses, or (ii) more generally, sacks at all? I'd expect GM to have a lower completion percentage, all else equal, than Falk, since he wouldn't just sit there until the pocket collapsed, unlike Falk, and will throw it away sometimes. GM also can both get more yards with his feet, and avoid losing yards with sacks, than Falk. He also seems better about checking into the run, including being more willing to get his RBs touchdowns on the ground.

Sure, some of this is just me trying to play up GM's strengths while pointing out Falk's weaknesses, but I'd expect some of these factors to cut in Falk's favor, and against, Minshew, when looking at PERs, and many of them to not be accounted for when just looking at PER and not considering other aspects of QB play.

I think it doesn't make sense to try to over-analyze it. Minshew is definitely more consistent and is a more complete QB when you factor in the running game. Falk's QBR numbers were lower because it factors in running into the equation, which Falk was definitely not good at. My only point is that when you are wondering why people liked Falk (and if you are wondering about him getting drafted), Falk definitely had some great moments. I was at the CU game in 2016 and it was amazing to see how well Falk was throwing the ball. Unfortunately, that was the game where our receivers were just dropping balls left and right and they allowed CU to stay within striking distance. With Marks getting hurt, that was the last game where Falk really looked good. Don't know what happened, but he was never the same. In terms of just throwing the ball, Falk did have a lot of good moments for WSU, and we went 26-12 with him running the show in his last three seasons and we went to three straight bowls. Some people would say that was in spite of him, but he deserves some credit to.

Doesn't change the fact that Minshew is doing a better job this year than Falk did in 2017....and it isn't close.

 

[425cougfan]

I think it doesn't make sense to try to over-analyze it. Minshew is definitely more consistent and is a more complete QB when you factor in the running game. Falk's QBR numbers were lower because it factors in running into the equation, which Falk was definitely not good at. My only point is that when you are wondering why people liked Falk (and if you are wondering about him getting drafted), Falk definitely had some great moments. I was at the CU game in 2016 and it was amazing to see how well Falk was throwing the ball. Unfortunately, that was the game where our receivers were just dropping balls left and right and they allowed CU to stay within striking distance. With Marks getting hurt, that was the last game where Falk really looked good. Don't know what happened, but he was never the same. In terms of just throwing the ball, Falk did have a lot of good moments for WSU, and we went 26-12 with him running the show in his last three seasons and we went to three straight bowls. Some people would say that was in spite of him, but he deserves some credit to.

Doesn't change the fact that Minshew is doing a better job this year than Falk did in 2017....and it isn't close.

Cool, thanks -- agree with pretty much all of this. I can still see some of those throws he made against Colorado in 2016, too.

 

[Coug90]

The thing about Falk is that when he was at his best, he was arguably better than Minshew. When you look at his PER ratings from 2015 & 2016, he had some very, very good games as a passer. In the second half of 2015, Falk had three games with a PER above 160. In 2016, he had six games where his PER was above 160. Through 8 games this year, Minshew has only two games in that range. So.....when Falk was on his game as a sophomore and junior.....he was very good. But he had 3 or so games per year where he was mediocre and when you look at 2017, Falk was underwhelming in 9 of his 12 games. Minshew doesn't have the highs....but he's been far more consistent without the lows.

Huh? Falk has some good games but minshew hasn’t had highs? Wtf are you talking about? He’s has what 4-5 games out of 8 total he’s played that are as good if not better than Falks best games?

Look I appreciate falk he bled for this program and will always be a great Coug. Period. but GM is a significant upgrade at QB in a number of ways. And I was calling that shit after 2 games.

 

[CougPatrol]

I think Minshew is much better than Falk, but he also has significantly better talent and depth at WR than Falk had last season. It’s no surprise that Falk’s best performances were when Marks, Tav Martin, and Cracraft were healthy.

This season has taught me the importance of having quality talent and depth at WR in the air raid.

 

[spongewatch]

Coming off a 28-0 drubbing of Colorado and we didn't finish. That said, there are some distinct differences between this year's team and last on offense.

We have a QB who is willing to stretch the field vertically. Team's rolled up coverages on us and Falk was reticent to try to make them pay. There was a lot less space out there to throw the ball into.

We have receivers who can make teams pay vertically. It wasn’t all Falk’s fault. Last year’s receiving corp. may have been the least dynamic we have had around here in quite some time. When Tavares Martin Jr. is your “big play” receiver, dynamic you aren’t.

YAC. We now can run drag routes for big yards. Last year we were strictly a catch and get tackled WR corp. Kids who would catch and drop to the ground are now looking to makes plays after the catch. That’s huge.

A big receiver who actually plays big. Where would we be now without Patmon against Stanford? He is a great safety valve.

Minshew not only adds some movement, but more importantly, swagger. Sometimes you just have to throw into tight coverage, he does.

The OL is playing much better. We have had some clear addition by subtraction at that position.

Unfortunately, it isn’t all upside.

Our defense is a bit of a smoke and mirrors, magic show. To stop the run we must load the box. To get pass pressure we must blitz and blitz hard. To stop the pass we need to put 8 in coverage and play a two deep zone over the top. Don’t you wonder when an OC is going to be able to “dial it in” on us and beat our defense like a drum for an entire game? We have seen it happen for long stretches when we can’t stop jack.

Claeys has made the right adjustments to get us into the position we are, and I recognize that what he has done, with the holes we have, is remarkable, but Tracy could you please make those adjustments a touch sooner? Do we have to give up three and four score before you pull the ”major adjustment” trigger? My heart just can’t take it.

I think it's a lot like comparing the 2002 D vs the 2003 D.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Huge improvements on the staff with Claeys and the Oline coach. Our Oline is way better.

As I'm sure others have pointed out, having a QB that can move around in the pocket helps...but having a QB sent from the gods makes all the difference.

On paper, this team isn't close to last years team ..but they have the it factor.

 

[PINGDUDE4]

I think it doesn't make sense to try to over-analyze it. Minshew is definitely more consistent and is a more complete QB when you factor in the running game. Falk's QBR numbers were lower because it factors in running into the equation, which Falk was definitely not good at. My only point is that when you are wondering why people liked Falk (and if you are wondering about him getting drafted), Falk definitely had some great moments. I was at the CU game in 2016 and it was amazing to see how well Falk was throwing the ball. Unfortunately, that was the game where our receivers were just dropping balls left and right and they allowed CU to stay within striking distance. With Marks getting hurt, that was the last game where Falk really looked good. Don't know what happened, but he was never the same. In terms of just throwing the ball, Falk did have a lot of good moments for WSU, and we went 26-12 with him running the show in his last three seasons and we went to three straight bowls. Some people would say that was in spite of him, but he deserves some credit to.

Doesn't change the fact that Minshew is doing a better job this year than Falk did in 2017....and it isn't close.

Falk was throwing absolute dimes in that 2016 Colorado game. With this year's receivers , WSU wins that game and it probably would not even been close.

Face it without Falk there is no Minshew, because without Falk I don't think Leach is still around.

Falk /Marks/ Cracraft gutting out that stretch from 2015-2017 led to Leach getting a foothold and attracting better talent. No more analysis needed .

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Falk was throwing absolute dimes in that 2016 Colorado game. With this year's receivers , WSU wins that game and it probably would not even been close.

Face it without Falk there is no Minshew, because without Falk I don't think Leach is still around.

Falk /Marks/ Cracraft gutting out that stretch from 2015-2017 led to Leach getting a foothold and attracting better talent. No more analysis needed .

Alright, I'm going to squash this noise right now.

No one is saying Falk sucks. Or sucked. Or didn't do for the Cougs. There isn't a person on this boa... well, there is one particular person but we'll pretend they don't exist for the purpose of this exercise... board who doesn't appreciate what Falk did for the Cougs.

He was INCREDIBLE when he was on - absolutely electric. The UCLA game where they targeted him to try to knock him out, the last minute heroics to Marks... that was pure football magic. Unfortunately, for whatever reason that only Falk knows and we can speculate, that magic slowly eroded until it was hardly present his senior season. Debating that AZ and Cal were lost due to anything other than qb play is a fools errand. Its not an indictment of his Cougness or anyone here's appreciation of him, its simply the truth and I think that Falk would tell you the same.

So knock it off with the moral high ground routine - this isn't a bash Falk thread. I've been around for bash the qb threads (Brink? Tuel anyone?) and this doesn't even closely resemble that.

 

[CougInSpain]

Huh? Falk has some good games but minshew hasn’t had highs? Wtf are you talking about? He’s has what 4-5 games out of 8 total he’s played that are as good if not better than Falks best games?

Look I appreciate falk he bled for this program and will always be a great Coug. Period. but GM is a significant upgrade at QB in a number of ways. And I was calling that shit after 2 games.

I called that sh!t before the season started.

 

[ShockandAweWSU]

Costello is a really good college qb. Garbers and Tate won't pass all that well against us at Martin. Plus kudos to Stanford's game plan. Nobody expected that. I've been critical of Pelluer in the past, but he has been exceptional this year. I'm excited for Sat night.

 

[ElComanche]

Hell i told you guys that this could happen. Falk was horrible the last two years. He should have been benched. I said that the O Line basically did not have a coach. Something broke Leach from his fugue like state and he kicked the O line coach out of the way and went and got a decent QB. And no i am not calling for the second string QB to replace the starter. I called for 8-9 wins based on the above, I hope that they exceed that win total.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Hell i told you guys that this could happen. Falk was horrible the last two years. He should have been benched. I said that the O Line basically did not have a coach. Something broke Leach from his fugue like state and he kicked the O line coach out of the way and went and got a decent QB. And no i am not calling for the second string QB to replace the starter. I called for 8-9 wins based on the above, I hope that they exceed that win total.

Falk was struggling in 2017 without a doubt, but his 2016 season was still pretty damned good. 70% completion rate, 4468 yards, 38 TD's and 11 picks with a rating of 145.6 is pretty darned good. He was 3rd in the conference behind Browning and Darnold in pass efficiency. To say that he needed to be benched in 2016 says that you don't have a single clue about WSU, it's depth chart and football in general. His only bad regular season games of 2016 were UCLA (a win), CU (where his receivers dropped two TD's that would have changed the game completely) and the Apple Cup (where everyone sucked).

We all miss Tyler and know that he brought a level of excitement to the team but the four interceptions against Arizona tell you the dangers of starting a younger QB when you have a competent senior. In 2017, Falk was not the player he was in his first three years, but he still played well enough that we would have gone 8-4 with him starting. We beat a darned good USC team and don't undervalue the 28-0 shellacking of CU in terrible conditions. He had a great game against an outstanding Stanford defense and was money when it counted against Oregon. We were sitting at 9-2 and in the Top 20 before the Apple Cup. We did need Hilinski to have a great game against BSU but the rest came from Falk.

Minshew is having a wonderful season and we are lucky to have him. He's clearly having a better season than Falk did last year. Falk was down by his standards and had become a run of the mill QB. That doesn't mean that we should have benched him. As far as this season goes, it's highlighted how important the kicking game is to success. If we don't get the kick blocked against USC, we might be #5 in the country with an even better chance of making the playoff. If Mazza misses that FG against Stanford.....it's potentially just another decent season with us hoping that Stanford and UW struggle to finish the season. We would have been Pac-12 North champs in 2015 if we make a field goal as time expired. I'm hoping that Mazza has worked out of the funk that he was in because we will need him again before the season is done. It's a team game and you can't point to one player and say it's all them, even if a guy like Minshew has had a larger influence overall.

 

[425cougfan]

Hell i told you guys that this could happen. Falk was horrible the last two years. He should have been benched. I said that the O Line basically did not have a coach. Something broke Leach from his fugue like state and he kicked the O line coach out of the way and went and got a decent QB. And no i am not calling for the second string QB to replace the starter. I called for 8-9 wins based on the above, I hope that they exceed that win total.

Thankfully, McGuire got offered a promotion and the chance to go home, so we were able to foist him off on Texas Tech. He's coaching RBs and ostensibly has a role in coordinating the offense, and perhaps he's good in that role, but I believe we got an upgrade at OL coach in Miller.