Paradigm change for us as fans

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

We've been used to having our Cougar "heroes" over the years, because they've been far and few between. You know of whom I speak:

Rypien, Bledsoe, Leaf, he-who-lost-his-Coug-card... And that's just qb. But the same could be said of the other positions as well.

We are now entering an era where every year we have exceptional talent, 5000k passers are going to be the norm, and most positions are going to be plug and play.

So if Biggs is right and Gordon does take us to the promised land and 12 wins, eclipsing GMs magical season, does he instantly become one of, if not the greatest Cougar qb of all time, or is he simply the next guy up who simply got the job done?

 

[Observer11]

We've been used to having our Cougar "heroes" over the years, because they've been far and few between. You know of whom I speak:

Rypien, Bledsoe, Leaf, he-who-lost-his-Coug-card... And that's just qb. But the same could be said of the other positions as well.

We are now entering an era where every year we have exceptional talent, 5000k passers are going to be the norm, and most positions are going to be plug and play.

So if Biggs is right and Gordon does take us to the promised land and 12 wins, eclipsing GMs magical season, does he instantly become one of, if not the greatest Cougar qb of all time, or is he simply the next guy up who simply got the job done?

Different times, different systems. I shudder to think what Rypien, Bledsoe, Thompson or Leaf could have done chucking it 60 times per game. Heck, Halliday threw for 629 yards in a game and nobody EVER throws his name in there with the Mt. Rushmore of Coug QBs.

Rosenbach may have been the most intriguing in the Air Raid. Minshew's feet but arguably the strongest right arm of the bunch. Sometimes two bits between the ears but oozing athleticism.

That said, Gordon runs the table, he'll vault up into that discussion. Personally, I think Leach is going to have a quick hook this year given Gubrud standing right next to him.

 

[Fab5Coug]

I would have liked to have seen what Brink could have done in this offense. Smart, accurate and durable. He could have hung some numbers, I think.

 

[MRICoug]

Leach is not known to change horses mid stream much though. I do think we will see GG is spots, just not much.

 

[BiggsCoug]

We've been used to having our Cougar "heroes" over the years, because they've been far and few between. You know of whom I speak:

Rypien, Bledsoe, Leaf, he-who-lost-his-Coug-card... And that's just qb. But the same could be said of the other positions as well.

We are now entering an era where every year we have exceptional talent, 5000k passers are going to be the norm, and most positions are going to be plug and play.

So if Biggs is right and Gordon does take us to the promised land and 12 wins, eclipsing GMs magical season, does he instantly become one of, if not the greatest Cougar qb of all time, or is he simply the next guy up who simply got the job done?

He is the at the top of the list until someone pushes it one step further.

And that guy might be Cooper or Cruz...

 

[KingTrump]

Different times, different systems. I shudder to think what Rypien, Bledsoe, Thompson or Leaf could have done chucking it 60 times per game. Heck, Halliday threw for 629 yards in a game and nobody EVER throws his name in there with the Mt. Rushmore of Coug QBs.

Rosenbach may have been the most intriguing in the Air Raid. Minshew's feet but arguably the strongest right arm of the bunch. Sometimes two bits between the ears but oozing athleticism.

That said, Gordon runs the table, he'll vault up into that discussion. Personally, I think Leach is going to have a quick hook this year given Gubrud standing right next to him.

734 yards in one game, 49-70 6 TDs, no interceptions

 

[Coug90]

I would have liked to have seen what Brink could have done in this offense. Smart, accurate and durable. He could have hung some numbers, I think.

Plus we probably wouldn’t be talking about an Apple Cup losing streak.

 

[dgibbons]

Plus we probably wouldn’t be talking about an Apple Cup losing streak.

Sorry. But Brink was playing in an era where uw was between mediocre and garbage. uw has been a hell of a lot better than mediocre since Leach got here.

 

[CougPatrol]

Sorry. But Brink was playing in an era where uw was between mediocre and garbage. uw has been a hell of a lot better than mediocre since Leach got here.

Agree, but I also think that Brink (and the rest of the team) got caught in the hurricane of a declining program and a coaching staff that was taking advantage of Doba's (justifiable) attention span slipping. The 2005 and 2006 teams should have achieved a lot more than they did.

 

[Fab5Coug]

Sorry. But Brink was playing in an era where uw was between mediocre and garbage. uw has been a hell of a lot better than mediocre since Leach got here.

Well, Brink was also on teams that were between mediocre and garbage, so...

 

[etowncoug]

Well, Brink was also on teams that were between mediocre and garbage, so...

Brink was surrounded by some of the best skill position talent in school history. Jerome Harrison, Dwight Tardy, Jason Hill, Michael Bumpus, Brandon Gipson, Troy Bienamann, Cody Boyd, and Jed Collins. All before the line went to Hades. It was a pretty explosive group.

 

[Fab5Coug]

Brink was surrounded by some of the best skill position talent in school history. Jerome Harrison, Dwight Tardy, Jason Hill, Michael Bumpus, Brandon Gipson, Troy Bienamann, Cody Boyd, and Jed Collins. All before the line went to Hades. It was a pretty explosive group.

He was also surrounded by horrific defenses and special teams.

 

[dgibbons]

Well, Brink was also on teams that were between mediocre and garbage, so...

I'd say we were thoroughly mediocre. Didn't cross over to uw 1-2 win garbage territory until 2008. But we stayed there longer.

 

[Coug90]

Sorry. But Brink was playing in an era where uw was between mediocre and garbage. uw has been a hell of a lot better than mediocre since Leach got here.

Ok. Since we are gonna go ahead and play this impossible game, rivalry games are different. Brink beat the big bad Huskies 3 times, while nobody has come close in the last 6 years with Coug teams that at least record wise we’re right there with UW. Brink had moxy. I’ll take him any day with any Coug team (besides 08-12 ) in the AC.

 

[95coug]

Brink was surrounded by some of the best skill position talent in school history. Jerome Harrison, Dwight Tardy, Jason Hill, Michael Bumpus, Brandon Gipson, Troy Bienamann, Cody Boyd, and Jed Collins. All before the line went to Hades. It was a pretty explosive group.

Notice that every name you mentioned was on offense. Most of Brink’s teams had good to great offenses and crap defenses. S&C program was progressively worse too, which is why we had so many games where we entered the 4th quarter with a commanding lead...and lost.

 

[CougPatrol]

We lost a ridiculous number of close games in 2005.

We started the season 3-0, and then imploded at Oregon State and gave them the game in the 2nd half.

We then lost by 3 vs. Stanford
by 3 in OT vs. UCLA
by 4 at Cal
by 3 vs. ASU
And by 3 vs. Oregon.

 

[FnuLnu]

We lost a ridiculous number of close games in 2005.

We started the season 3-0, and then imploded at Oregon State and gave them the game in the 2nd half.

We then lost by 3 vs. Stanford
by 3 in OT vs. UCLA
by 4 at Cal
by 3 vs. ASU
And by 3 vs. Oregon.

Doba neglect of special teams cost him his job more than the recruiting.
Rather weird since he was a career assistant and not flavor of month.

 

[etowncoug]

Notice that every name you mentioned was on offense. Most of Brink’s teams had good to great offenses and crap defenses. S&C program was progressively worse too, which is why we had so many games where we entered the 4th quarter with a commanding lead...and lost.

Brink is remembered fondly because he had some amazing skill position talent around him. It allowed him to set all the schools passing records. But there were countless games where Brink had multiple opportunities to put together just one more drive to seal the win and he couldn't do it. He was 3-1 in Apple Cups but 0-1 in years where a bowl game was on the line. At the end of the day, I put Brink on a similar level to Kegel and Tuel rather than putting him in the conversation for our QB Mt. Rushmore.

 

[random soul]

Agree, but I also think that Brink (and the rest of the team) got caught in the hurricane of a declining program and a coaching staff that was taking advantage of Doba's (justifiable) attention span slipping. The 2005 and 2006 teams should have achieved a lot more than they did.

2005 still makes me mad

 

[95coug]

Brink is remembered fondly because he had some amazing skill position talent around him. It allowed him to set all the schools passing records. But there were countless games where Brink had multiple opportunities to put together just one more drive to seal the win and he couldn't do it. He was 3-1 in Apple Cups but 0-1 in years where a bowl game was on the line. At the end of the day, I put Brink on a similar level to Kegel and Tuel rather than putting him in the conversation for our QB Mt. Rushmore.

And I think that’s where the deficiencies in our S&C program at the time show up. Our O was next to unstoppable in the first 2.5 quarters. After that, they ran out of gas, and could barely manage to get a 4th quarter first down, never mind a sustained scoring drive. The D was similar - 2.5 quarters of ‘Bend, don’t break’ followed by a 4th quarter collapse with 8 guys with hands on hips/helmets after every play.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Brink is remembered fondly because he had some amazing skill position talent around him. It allowed him to set all the schools passing records. But there were countless games where Brink had multiple opportunities to put together just one more drive to seal the win and he couldn't do it. He was 3-1 in Apple Cups but 0-1 in years where a bowl game was on the line. At the end of the day, I put Brink on a similar level to Kegel and Tuel rather than putting him in the conversation for our QB Mt. Rushmore.

It's interesting to see how much value that fans put on the QB compared to the rest of the team. You say that he had multiple opportunities to put together one more drive.......yet you give the defense a pass on the many opportunities that they could have saved the day. The 2018 team gave up 23 points per game. The 2005 squad gave up 31 points per game. Our incredible 2018 season turns into a dreary 7-6 mess if we had the 2005 defense on the field. That 2005 squad likely finishes 9-2 or 10-1 if they had the 2018 defense working for them. Brink was certainly a game manager type QB who wasn't going to win games on final drives....as he proved that repeatedly, but he never deserved the vitriol and hatred that fans directed towards him because they were infatuated with Gary Rogers' arm. Brink, Harrison and all the other guys on offense deserved a better defensive coordinator than Robb Akey. Dude could jump 5' in the air but couldn't call a good defensive play to save his soul.

 

[random soul]

It's interesting to see how much value that fans put on the QB compared to the rest of the team. You say that he had multiple opportunities to put together one more drive.......yet you give the defense a pass on the many opportunities that they could have saved the day. The 2018 team gave up 23 points per game. The 2005 squad gave up 31 points per game. Our incredible 2018 season turns into a dreary 7-6 mess if we had the 2005 defense on the field. That 2005 squad likely finishes 9-2 or 10-1 if they had the 2018 defense working for them. Brink was certainly a game manager type QB who wasn't going to win games on final drives....as he proved that repeatedly, but he never deserved the vitriol and hatred that fans directed towards him because they were infatuated with Gary Rogers' arm. Brink, Harrison and all the other guys on offense deserved a better defensive coordinator than Robb Akey. Dude could jump 5' in the air but couldn't call a good defensive play to save his soul.

Yeah that wasn't just Akey. The depth chart on defense in 2005 was like 3 ok d-linemen, Eric Frampton, duct-tape and baling wire. The '05 defense was just bad, and '06 was worse. '05 had a high-bowl caliber offense if the defense had similar talent.

 

[avabob1]

We got measurably slower on both sides of the ball every year under Doba, culminating in the dumster fire inherited by Wulff.

 

[dgibbons]

We got measurably slower on both sides of the ball every year under Doba, culminating in the dumster fire inherited by Wulff.

Of course you mean, the dumpster that Wulff poured gasoline onto then lit on fire while saying he was doing it the right way.

 

[Fab5Coug]

Yeah that wasn't just Akey. The depth chart on defense in 2005 was like 3 ok d-linemen, Eric Frampton, duct-tape and baling wire. The '05 defense was just bad, and '06 was worse. '05 had a high-bowl caliber offense if the defense had similar talent.

Retention was such an issue under that staff, there was just no depth. Can you imagine one of those teams losing a guy like Jalen Thompson? That would have crippled them. We would have been starting some last minute pickup from Texas who picked us over offers from Rice and Sam Houston St.

 

[CougPatrol]

Of course you mean, the dumpster that Wulff poured gasoline onto then lit on fire while saying he was doing it the right way.

Wulff earned the vast majority of the blame and criticism he receives for the horrific job he did. The worst coach in modern day program history

With that said, the fact that WSU followed up Mike Price’s run of 10 win seasons and Rose Bowl games by hiring Bill Doba and Paul Wulff (with Kevin Sumlin a close 2nd) earns WSU a crap ton of blame and criticism as well. Factor in how the basketball and baseball programs have been managed over the years, and you can see how much work is left to be done.

Thank God for Mike Leach.