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cautiously optimistic I was one of you until I slept on it…I understand your pain. We are not a bad team, and we will still win at least 8 games.
Simply put, WSU thought they could coast to a win, and they found out the hard way that Idaho isn’t a doormat anymore. They played with intensity, and that shook us. Basically, this is the chronological progression of what happened:
1) Harrison plays like the machine he is at walks 80 yards for a score on the first play.
2) We get fired up and cause a fumble on the kickoff, resulting in another score.
3) The cougs decide the game is already over and dial it back a few notches.
4) Idaho feels they have something to prove and put together a good drive.
5) WSU gets cocky and decides they’re going to show Idaho who’s boss. When they meet some resistance, they get a bit panicky. This causes some interceptions as we try to force our will on an indignant Idaho squad.
6) At halftime, we settle down a little bit. Levenseller realizes that we can’t succeed in playing the short game if we don’t at least threaten the long ball. Harrison has been trying to run through 9 guys every play because Idaho doesn’t bother playing long D.
7) Idaho scores against 2nd string guys late in the game to make the game look close.
Granted, I’m not terribly happy with a 38-26 victory. Aside from some questionable line play, I wasn’t TOO disappointed with the effort. Also, Doba is notorious for not wanting to embarrass our neighbor, and I really do think he kept the reins on our long game until he realized that we might need to use all our weapons to regain control. Also, although I stand by my decision that Brink looks scared and underpowered, he rebounded nicely, which shows some heart. If we had pulled him (I’ll admit it, I was calling for Swogger too…), we could have undermined the confidence he built in the offseason, de-railing the season. I’d like to see a blowout against Nevada, but I’d be happy with a victory that isn’t peppered with mistakes and miscues.
September 3 2005, 16:34:54 UTC 6 years ago
September 5 2005, 01:35:19 UTC 6 years ago
September 5 2005, 23:50:52 UTC 6 years ago
1) Arm Strength
2) Indecision / Immaturity
Apparently the coaches felt he got over these problems, and judging from the Idaho game, I'd say they were right. He had a couple on-the-money 30+ yard passes (including a touchdown to Hill, or was it Bumpus?), and I thought his passing choices were solid, as well as his decisions on when to scramble and when to throw the ball away. His two interceptions were both tipped passes, and he would have had more completions if Hill hadn't dropped like four passes in the first half. Our main problem was defense, but I was reasonably satisfied with our offense. I DO wish we were a bit more consistent, rather than relying on big plays to outscore our opponents.
September 6 2005, 04:31:07 UTC 6 years ago
1. Bomb to Hill that he checked off on. If they had their way, the coaches would have him throwing worthless 5 yard passes all night. Luckily Brink saw it, and made Idaho pay. Also, Idaho stopped putting 9 guys in the box after that.
2. Back of endzone to Hill.
Both 2 & 3 were well thrown, and give me confidence that Brink has some touch.
3. That monstrosity to Bumpus. That pass shouldn't have been thrown, realistically. Bumpus basically snagged that in traffic and then made a play to avoid getting executed by the secondary. Anybody else, that's an incomplete or a pick.
And that's why I'm scared. Brink zeroes in on 1 or 2 guys and just watches them. His passes get tipped because the linebackers just follow the eyes. Brink has an amazing corps of receivers to make him look good, but he didn't even look at Jordan all night. I hope this was a playbook thing, and not a sign of things to come. Those bubble screens have to go immediately :-)
As for the D, I was happy. We gave up too many yards to the fullback and their JuCo wide receiver, but we were pressing hard all game. Ahmu was a bit out of his league, but he'll get better fast. True freshmen rarely hit the ground running, but he'll get coached up soon enough. Unfortunately, I get the impression that people are figuring Akey out. The Oregon game last year showed that screens and draws really make our blitz D look dumb. Let the D commit, then dump the ball behind them. That was all well and good when we had a secondary to allow coverage sacks, and when we had a front 4 that let the backers through. But the days of starting 6 guys on their way to the NFL is over, and maybe we're getting burned a bit too often because Akey doesn't have the guys he used to. Don't get me wrong, I think our D could be very strong this year, but it's important to understand that we aren't starting JD, Lamont Thompson, Trufant, Erik Coleman, Rien Long, Isaac Brown, and DD anymore.