I like getting Stanford and Oregon early. Like the home slate. Like what we have coming back. I think WSU is a legitimate threat to win both the north, and the Pac. I also think they are a playoff dark-horse candidate. What happens if we see improvement on both sides of the ball next year? Playoff.
WSU a threat
- Thread starter MRICoug
- Start date
WSU is Rose Bowl bound. Potentially even national playoff.
You heard it hear first.
You heard it hear first.
I do think anything is possible. The skill positions on offense are solid, other than the fact the back-up QB has no D1 game experience. But as always the line play is the key. Will there be a drop-off at LOT? We saw a drop in production when Dahl was absent. What about the d line? Will Barber, Ekuale, and Tapa be enough at the interior positions? How quickly can McBroom, Fehoko, Mattox, and Begg complement Ata'afa? Will Jeremiah Mitchell finally contribute? Will speed return to the linebacking corps? We do know that no one will ever take WSU lightly.
Last edited:
I've been saying this signing day...this team has a legit shot at the Rose Bowl. I believe it. Could be a special year. Gotta take care of business week in and week out, but I don't see one team on the schedule the Cougs can't beat.
EDSBS had a podcast about the Cougs and couple other power teams recently. Starts around the 30:30 mark. http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday...t=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
EDIT: Apologies if the link isn't allowed due to site rules.
Last edited:
Although internally I feel we have a legit shot at the Rose Bowl I hope none of that gets in the player's heads.
I want them angry (but smart) all season long.
I want them to read reports from ESPN, the Pac-12 Networks, East Coast Media, California Media, National media outlets, dumb a$$ bloggers, facebookers and twitterers all saying the Cougs are not a good team. I want reports calling out specific guys on our team as "so-n-so is okay, but he is not an NFL talent", etc... etc...
I want a chip the size of Mt. Everestt on these guy's shoulders.
Play angry, and slowly but surely begin to crush our opponents as the season progresses. By Apple Cup I want to be undefeated and sniffing a legit spot in the college football playoff. I want the Cougs to be the FIRST "Cinderella" team of the college football playoff (similar to how we were the first Pac-8/10/12 team to win a Rose Bowl).
One can dream...
I want them angry (but smart) all season long.
I want them to read reports from ESPN, the Pac-12 Networks, East Coast Media, California Media, National media outlets, dumb a$$ bloggers, facebookers and twitterers all saying the Cougs are not a good team. I want reports calling out specific guys on our team as "so-n-so is okay, but he is not an NFL talent", etc... etc...
I want a chip the size of Mt. Everestt on these guy's shoulders.
Play angry, and slowly but surely begin to crush our opponents as the season progresses. By Apple Cup I want to be undefeated and sniffing a legit spot in the college football playoff. I want the Cougs to be the FIRST "Cinderella" team of the college football playoff (similar to how we were the first Pac-8/10/12 team to win a Rose Bowl).
One can dream...
To make a short story long, just occurred to me that we're playing two teams from the state of Idaho, and two teams from the state of Washington.
If you think about it, out of our 12 games this Season, 6 out of 12 teams are from the Northwest.
If you've got a play maker at QB, you've got a shot at a great season. Which schools in the conference have more experience and more talent at the QB position than WSU? UCLA has a pretty good kid. Who else???
PAC 12 North teams at their QB situation...
OSU is a mess.
Cal breaks in a new starter.
Stanford breaks in a new starter.
Oregon breaks in a new starter.
uw sucks.
If there were a year WSU was gonna put up big passing numbers and force other teams to push the scoreboard by passing the ball with a new QB, this is it.
If you needed 45 points to beat WSU, can you count on any of the guys in the PAC 12 North to get there team there?
PAC 12 North teams at their QB situation...
OSU is a mess.
Cal breaks in a new starter.
Stanford breaks in a new starter.
Oregon breaks in a new starter.
uw sucks.
If there were a year WSU was gonna put up big passing numbers and force other teams to push the scoreboard by passing the ball with a new QB, this is it.
If you needed 45 points to beat WSU, can you count on any of the guys in the PAC 12 North to get there team there?
And two from Oregon. And two from Arizona. And three from California. But I'm not sure I see your point.
Can the Cougs beat everybody on their schedule on a given Saturday, if they play well. Yes. However, to win the conference you need to be able to win games when you aren't at your best. This isn't 2002 revisited, a team that matched any team in the conference talent-wise. It is more like the 1997 team, which had serious questions on the OL and a suspect defense . Both groups jelled in 1997, stayed healthy and a Rose Bowl team was born. If both groups can do the same in 2016, we will be damn good. However, there is a wildcard. Like 1997 and 2002, we have no depth a QB. Like 2002 and 1997, the difference between us contending for a championship and last place is Luke Falks health.
It is always amazing (and terrifying) to realize how fickle college football really is. Your statement would have been completely ludicrous before last season and everyone would have told you to quit smoking so much weed. But when you look at least season, we were achingly close to being in the playoff conversation going into the Apple Cup last year.
We had double digit leads against both PSU and Cal and let them slip away. We were something like 3 feet from beating Stanford. Amazing to think that we were three plays away from being 11-0 and undoubtedly ranked in the Top 5 last year and being in the conversation for a playoff spot. Of course, where it gets terrifying is the realization that we were three or four plays away from being 5-6 or 4-7 heading into the Apple Cup. I don't have any idea of where this season will head, but certainly, a WSU fan saying that we are going to be in the national playoff conversation is no longer a delusional person and that's a great thing to see.
Sorry for the ignorance, (I don't know what I don't know!), but what is "FTFW"?
I think that means (on WazzuWatch) "Eff The Fans (of) Wulff".
Look what I just started.But his was FTFY ("Fixed That For You").
If you look back at the best seasons in WSU football history (1997, 2002), those teams won some games they probably should have lost. Stanford really didn't deserve its win over WSU last season, so this game can be played for any program, any year.
I guess I agree that it is very "fickle". But I think last year was about taking that very minute, yet very massive, leap in the mind. One we hadn't taken before. At least not for over a decade, or so. I've maintained for a couple/few seasons now, it's all been mental. It's been about staying focused on your assignments. It's been about realizing a game can always been won, regardless of how far behind you are at the time. It's about discipline.
It could easily be argued, we've been decently talented for the past 3 years. Maybe not 9 wins, but certainly worthy of a winning season. As time goes on, we are getting more talented, more focused, more disciplined. But I think the difference between 2015 and the '14/'13 seasons have been completely mental. Were '14/'13 physically talented enough for 9 wins? Maybe not '13 but certainly worthy of a winning season. Just gotta be right between the ears.
The psychology and mental aspects of sports is huge. I don't want this to devolve into an anti-Wulff hate fest, but last season demonstrates the problem with a guy like Wulff. Regardless of he is ability to call plays or develop talent, he didn't create a psychology of winning in the program. The successful programs "expect" to win and more often than not, they win the close games against the programs that expect to lose just because of the mental or psychological aspect of it. Under Leach, there is an ingrained expectation that regardless of our hypothetical talent level, we will be successful if the players execute their assignments. Leach isn't a "rah! rah!" type of guy, but he has always said that any problems that we have had were related to execution and youth. He avoided saying that guys weren't good enough (at least publicly). Even the zombie speeches were geared towards effort and execution.
As for Yaki's comment......he is right that every program can play the woulda, coulda, shoulda game, but rarely is the measurement so clear cut as it was with us. We had double digit leads in two losses against arguably inferior competition and missed a game winning field goal at the end of regulation against the best team on our schedule. It's damned hard to get closer to undefeated than that. Truly an amazing turnaround and Leach deserves a ton of credit for getting us to that spot.
Pardon my chatspeak, M-I!
FTFY = "Fixed that for you" (as Happen mentioned for me...thanks, Happen!)
FTFW = "For the (naughty word on this site) win!" (FTW is the norm.)
To continue this conversation, I think the team is mentally more tough. I think the team is close...family-like (see team picture for Riley Sorenson from earlier this week as an example). I think winning is contagious and these guys "got a taste" (thanks Luke Falk, post UCLA game for this quote) last season. The team is starting to take care of itself, leaders from the top to the bottom - I think that's actually want Leach wants his teams to do and it's happening. Can't be more excited for the future of Cougar Football.
Similar threads
