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So the "weaknesses" are worse than expected

Cougini5591

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Jul 6, 2022
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1) Our Oline isn't very good. Looked like we were weak, soft, and slow.

2) our running back situation is ridiculously bad. Other than totally catching teams asleep at times... I don't think we will have a 100-yard+ in Pac-12 games.

I'm actually scared when our guys are holding the ball (that it's going to get stripped)

3) Something has to be hidden regarding the long ball. No way should we be afraid of going long down the sidelines. (Unless we are so weak on the line and running the ball that teams drop 3 back.
 
I didn’t feel that way about the backs. Thought Watson and Jenkins looked fine minus the the fumbles. My biggest concern will be Ward and Oline building a pocket and Ward using it to step up and make reads.
 
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1) Our Oline isn't very good. Looked like we were weak, soft, and slow.

2) our running back situation is ridiculously bad. Other than totally catching teams asleep at times... I don't think we will have a 100-yard+ in Pac-12 games.

I'm actually scared when our guys are holding the ball (that it's going to get stripped)

3) Something has to be hidden regarding the long ball. No way should we be afraid of going long down the sidelines. (Unless we are so weak on the line and running the ball that teams drop 3 back.

Actually the OL played ok. Pass blocked ok, and created big holes for Watson(100 to 115 to 125 yards on 9 to 11 to 13 carries, about a 7 to 9 to 11 yards per carry average.

It was Cam and WR's and TE's that didn't play well.

RB Nakia Watson just barely played semi ok, BECAUSE OF HIS FUMBLE.
IF he hadn't fumbled, aside from the fumble he actually played good. It's the fumble that ruins his performance rating.
 
Actually the OL played ok. Pass blocked ok, and created big holes for Watson(100 to 115 to 125 yards on 9 to 11 to 13 carries, about a 7 to 9 to 11 yards per carry average.

It was Cam and WR's and TE's that didn't play well.

RB Nakia Watson just barely played semi ok, BECAUSE OF HIS FUMBLE.
IF he hadn't fumbled, aside from the fumble he actually played good. It's the fumble that ruins his performance rating.
I thought NW ran hard. I couldn’t tell how he pass pro’d from my view and that was his most glaring weakness in the bowl game. The freshman is special though, he’s got some wiggle.
 
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1) Our Oline isn't very good. Looked like we were weak, soft, and slow.

2) our running back situation is ridiculously bad. Other than totally catching teams asleep at times... I don't think we will have a 100-yard+ in Pac-12 games.

I'm actually scared when our guys are holding the ball (that it's going to get stripped)

3) Something has to be hidden regarding the long ball. No way should we be afraid of going long down the sidelines. (Unless we are so weak on the line and running the ball that teams drop 3 back.
Too early to tell on any of this. That's all I have to say about that.
 
1) Our Oline isn't very good. Looked like we were weak, soft, and slow.

2) our running back situation is ridiculously bad. Other than totally catching teams asleep at times... I don't think we will have a 100-yard+ in Pac-12 games.

I'm actually scared when our guys are holding the ball (that it's going to get stripped)

3) Something has to be hidden regarding the long ball. No way should we be afraid of going long down the sidelines. (Unless we are so weak on the line and running the ball that teams drop 3 back.
Perhaps worse then some expected. Not sure why people had expectations.

The scramble drill was nonexistent. The receivers froze when Ward left the pocket. And it looks like Ward can’t do a thing when he rolls left.
 
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Perhaps worse then some expected. Not sure why people had expectations.

The scramble drill was nonexistent. The receivers froze when Ward left the pocket. And it looks like Ward can’t do a thing when he rolls left.
Dude... "worse than expected" because we got our asses kicked by a program with fewer scholarships, lower ranked recruits, and usually gives up more points than basketball teams
 
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I didn’t feel that way about the backs. Thought Watson and Jenkins looked fine minus the the fumbles. My biggest concern will be Ward and Oline building a pocket and Ward using it to step up and make reads.
This
 
CJD and his staff may be sandbagging for the Wisconsin game.

Heck of an opportunity for the Cougs in a nationally televised game on FOX.

Recruits will be watching hopefully.
 
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The O line was reasonably solid, and for a new group and the first game, I'd call them good. A solid B grade. Ward was adequate with the throws, and mobile, but slow to read the field. Held the ball too long several times. Still getting used to the speed of the game. Agree with Gib that the receivers did not appear to know what to do when Ward broke from the pocket, and that may have contributed to Ward's issues...though not in the first 3 seconds. The RB's were adequate and with better ball protection we would not be complaining.

The D was good for a first game.

The special teams were decidedly un-special. They need dramatic improvement.
 
Dude... "worse than expected" because we got our asses kicked by a program with fewer scholarships, lower ranked recruits, and usually gives up more points than basketball teams

Maybe we didn't watch the same game.

We outgained them by about 100 yards overall, had 21 first downs to their 13 and we outscored them 24-7 once we finally actually started playing football. We controlled the line of scrimmage in the run game. We had 5.5 yards per attempt....they had 1.8 yards per attempt.

It was a sloppy game and if not for the fumbles, we likely win 31-10 (or even more) and the handwringing would be reduced. I get the anxiety...but we were clearly the better team the entire game, as we should be. It was just a matter of being patient.
 
As I've written previously, the talent gap between WSU and the Big Sky / Mountain West conference isn't as vast as many of our fans would like to believe. This is particularly true with the transfer portal. We recruit 3 star kids, Idaho recruits 2/3 star kids. Idaho added 3 transfers this year from USC, Notre Dame, and South Dakota St.

You combine this with the spread offense we run and the changes in scheme and it's not surprising to see us struggle. We don't line up and smash the ball off tackle. We've got complicated routes, new offensive linemen, a new QB. Put the ball on the ground 3x like we did, one for a TD, and there you are.

I was there for the game, and while we certainly didn't look good, we were clearly the superior team. Idaho looked like a scrappy underdog. The kicking blunder at the end of the game was disgraceful. Langford getting repeatedly toasted in coverage was also very concerning.
 
I hope the people with the "positive attitudes" are right. I mean it as I hate coming across as a Negative Nancy.

I swear... if you can't run the ball in against Idaho with where we were at to finish the game...

If Ward is scrambling for his life throughout the game...

Any other Pac-12 team with hopes of a positive/winning season would have put up 40 without breaking a sweat.

Of course, we have lost to Eastern and Portland State and turned out just fine too.

Maybe I'm overreacting.

That game sure didn't feel right though. I was more scared/disappointed than excited.
 
I hope the people with the "positive attitudes" are right. I mean it as I hate coming across as a Negative Nancy.

I swear... if you can't run the ball in against Idaho with where we were at to finish the game...

If Ward is scrambling for his life throughout the game...

Any other Pac-12 team with hopes of a positive/winning season would have put up 40 without breaking a sweat.

Of course, we have lost to Eastern and Portland State and turned out just fine too.

Maybe I'm overreacting.

That game sure didn't feel right though. I was more scared/disappointed than excited.
I thought we ran the ball exceptionally well minus the two fumbles. It was the lack luster pass play calling as well as the 3 and outs that have me concerned about this offense and the ability of our new QB. I hope that the ideas people are posting of our coaches offensively sandbagging this game in hopes not to expose our true offensive identity prior to the WI game are correct. We need to come out punching in this game.
 
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I hope the people with the "positive attitudes" are right. I mean it as I hate coming across as a Negative Nancy.

I swear... if you can't run the ball in against Idaho with where we were at to finish the game...

If Ward is scrambling for his life throughout the game...

Any other Pac-12 team with hopes of a positive/winning season would have put up 40 without breaking a sweat.

Of course, we have lost to Eastern and Portland State and turned out just fine too.

Maybe I'm overreacting.

That game sure didn't feel right though. I was more scared/disappointed than excited.
It's not so much a positive attitude, but rather an attitude that we've seen this from WSU before many times over. Portland State, Eastern WA, Utah State, Rutgers, Nevada.

We might suck this season. We've seen a lot of those years too, but with a new OC, a new QB, new RBs, and a rebuilt OL, the week 1 offensive issues weren't totally unexpected.
 
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I hope the people with the "positive attitudes" are right. I mean it as I hate coming across as a Negative Nancy.

I swear... if you can't run the ball in against Idaho with where we were at to finish the game...

If Ward is scrambling for his life throughout the game...

Any other Pac-12 team with hopes of a positive/winning season would have put up 40 without breaking a sweat.

Of course, we have lost to Eastern and Portland State and turned out just fine too.

Maybe I'm overreacting.

That game sure didn't feel right though. I was more scared/disappointed than excited.
I didn’t see Ward as scrambling for his life. I saw him as taking too long to get through his reads and failing to step up in the pocket where he could have hit open receivers or take off running and put additional pressure on the backers, and instead scrambling outside where the rush ends we’re locked up with our tackles. Pass blocking was fine, Wards pocket presence was awful.
 
I didn’t see Ward as scrambling for his life. I saw him as taking too long to get through his reads and failing to step up in the pocket where he could have hit open receivers or take off running and put additional pressure on the backers, and instead scrambling outside where the rush ends we’re locked up with our tackles. Pass blocking was fine, Wards pocket presence was awful.
Maybe. To me, I saw 5 linemen that blocked like 3. (Not every time, but frequently)

I then saw Ward going left and with this "cannon arm", very few long balls and our receivers having a difficult time getting open (bad spacing)
 
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I didn’t see Ward as scrambling for his life. I saw him as taking too long to get through his reads and failing to step up in the pocket where he could have hit open receivers or take off running and put additional pressure on the backers, and instead scrambling outside where the rush ends we’re locked up with our tackles. Pass blocking was fine, Wards pocket presence was awful.
Agree. He definitely held the ball too long. I suspect that his first D1 college game moved more quickly than he was used to, and when you combine that with a whole new (to him) flock of receivers, it simply took too long to develop the play. Hopefully he will be quicker in his reads next weekend. I am confident that is a point of discussion in practice this week....
 
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The instance on the goal line, when WSU then missed the late FG…. Why not, for the love of gawd doesn’t this coaching staff us misdirection down on the goal line? WSU has never been a smashmouth type team down there. Use a qb zone read or just plain misdirection. I see no need or success in Mano-Mano at the line when there are other viable options. This isn’t that hard.
 
The instance on the goal line, when WSU then missed the late FG…. Why not, for the love of gawd doesn’t this coaching staff us misdirection down on the goal line? WSU has never been a smashmouth type team down there. Use a qb zone read or just plain misdirection. I see no need or success in Mano-Mano at the line when there are other viable options. This isn’t that hard.

Like most Coug games, after the 3rd quarter, most things are kinda foggy.
 
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