about the game tonight. Not convinced we win, but pretty sure we wont embarrass ourselves. I like that. Been a while.
Weird, I feel pretty calm
- Thread starter MRICoug
- Start date
Really would like to see you guys win or at least make it an entertaining game.
However personally think that this game has been a little over-hyped and also USC is ready to have a dominating break-out game. Too much has been made of how disappointing they have been etc., They are still sitting on a ton of talent that could go off at anytime and have a really big game.
Better scenario would be if they already had some blow-out wins this season and were looking past you guys and came in overconfident. With the hype surrounding the game, WSU has USC's full attention and you will get their best game.
The other worrisome part is WSU although a good team can have really bad stretches in games. They can get away with that against the middle of the road and bad teams. A 3rd Q like they played against Boise will get them killed against USC with no comebacks. You can not recover from bad Quarters against these upper tier teams. Which is why the team has not gotten over the hump against Washington.
Not trying to break your mood just some thoughts. Really hope for a good entertaining game worthy of the hype.
However personally think that this game has been a little over-hyped and also USC is ready to have a dominating break-out game. Too much has been made of how disappointing they have been etc., They are still sitting on a ton of talent that could go off at anytime and have a really big game.
Better scenario would be if they already had some blow-out wins this season and were looking past you guys and came in overconfident. With the hype surrounding the game, WSU has USC's full attention and you will get their best game.
The other worrisome part is WSU although a good team can have really bad stretches in games. They can get away with that against the middle of the road and bad teams. A 3rd Q like they played against Boise will get them killed against USC with no comebacks. You can not recover from bad Quarters against these upper tier teams. Which is why the team has not gotten over the hump against Washington.
Not trying to break your mood just some thoughts. Really hope for a good entertaining game worthy of the hype.
Well, they are starting a new left tackle now, so crank it up even more! I envision a few false starts tonight, and more importantly Darnold getting drilled off the edge because the tackles will get a late jump on the snap. Noise needs to be a factor tonight.
if the cougs can play a disciplined game w/o too many lapses, they can hang w/ usc enough to legitimately be in a position to win in the 4th quarter. western michigan, texas, and cal have all shown that's possible.
the cougs aren't on the same level as sc talent-wise, but they certainly are w/ western michigan and cal (and possibly w/ texas), so it really comes down to the mental side. no slow starts, limit mistakes, etc.
unfortunately, they haven't done that consistently enough to make me feel remotely comfortable that this won't be a blowout. as pingdude says, sc could be primed for a big game after all the close calls. we'll see. [translation: i'm a bundle of nerves]
the cougs aren't on the same level as sc talent-wise, but they certainly are w/ western michigan and cal (and possibly w/ texas), so it really comes down to the mental side. no slow starts, limit mistakes, etc.
unfortunately, they haven't done that consistently enough to make me feel remotely comfortable that this won't be a blowout. as pingdude says, sc could be primed for a big game after all the close calls. we'll see. [translation: i'm a bundle of nerves]
i was thinking about this too. obviously, there's a kind of symbiotic relationship between performance and crowd response, but whichever comes first/however it happens, a fast start and a raucous crowd are super important to the cougs' chances tonight.
You bring up a very good post. However, on the flip side, it's been said that "a tree is known by it's fruit".
With their (moderate) performance against Western Michigan, Stanford, Texas, and Cal, where was their "dominating game"?
You might be right, however one thing is for sure. We'll see tonight if they truly deserve to be #5.
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The main thing preventing the blow out is very few coaches have Leach's offense totally figured out . They think that they do from game film etc., but then he adjusts and tweaks it during the game and they get confused and lose confidence.
That is why you see his teams have these outrageous comebacks. Leach finally picks the lock maybe as late as the 4th Q and then they are unstoppable. The Boise game obviously had a ton of luck, but beyond that WSU went from being inept to unstoppable in the Red Zone in the 4th Q and OT's ( should have scored a TD in the first OT). That was all from adjustments. For instance someone spotted that swing pass opportunity to #25 and Boise could not adjust.
The one exception to all of that I have seen is that Petersen totally has Leach's number. No coach in the B12 or Pac 12 ever dominated him and blew him out on a continual basis like he has. Not Stoops, Brown, Shaw etc..
Agree with this. I'd feel a lot better if they had a pretty ho hum win over Cal and maybe UW up next week on the schedule.
That said, I like that this is the second of back to back road games and on a short week no less. No one wants to travel to Pullman on 5 days rest.
This is another good point. Helton hasn't faced WSU yet. Another factor that could work in our favor.
I don't have a good feeling about the outcome, but we've won a lot of games the past few years, so if they play hard and compete well, I'm OK with any result.
I think our fanbase in general is just hard pressed to trust we may be good. I have seen teams all over the country show up uninspired for lesser teams, that is not a WSU thing generally. We are just used to needing the other team to overlook us, or underprepare. I think things are trending differently than most do. I can definitely be blinded by fandom, but I think we have a team right now that can hang with anyone. The end of last year stole many fans souls to an extent and made them very hesitant to buy in.
I also think we see our weaknesses as glaring and unable to be corrected, while at same time minimizing our opponants weaknesses as not really existing. USC secondary has created turnovers, but has played piorly overall. They also have struggled on the OL and in short yardage, and with turnovers themselves....and yet they are USC so all is forgiven?
