The Good, Bad and Ugly of what damn near was

Well, dammit. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be sitting here writing about how 33-point underdog WSU could have, and maybe kinda should have, beaten a Top 5 team on the road. But here I sit,

kinda disappointed at the fact that the Cougs didn’t win that game. I’m also incredibly encouraged, despite the loss. That’s a damn good team WSU played, and the Cougs stood toe-to-toe for the entire 60 minutes. If this is the Cougar team that shows up for the rest of the season, there are several wins still to come.

Ahh, but therein lies the rub. Watching this game, another game from many years ago came to mind. On September 20, 2014, 1-2 WSU hosted the #2-ranked Oregon Ducks, who featured eventual Heisman winner Marcus Mariota. The Cougs had begun the season with two rather bad losses, and were huge underdogs. And yet, WSU played incredibly well, damn near pulling off the upset. After the game, I remember thinking, “man, if the Cougs play like that, they can beat anybody!”

Narrator: The Cougs did not play like that ever again in 2014, finishing with three wins and firing its defensive coordinator.

On Saturday, like back then, this game was there for the taking, but the Cougs let a play here and a play there get away. Reverse just two or three things, and WSU probably walks out of the stadium with a win.

Like we always say, this is a week-to-week sport. But despite the disappointing final score, there are myriad reasons to walk away from Saturday with optimism for the program’s direction. It’s clear that, despite a few dreadful things we’ll mention later on, Jimmy Rogers and the WSU staff had those players ready to go. That portends very good things for the future of the program. But before we get to the future, let’s have a glance of what happened Saturday.

The Good

• By all accounts, Cougar fans acquitted themselves very well in Oxford. That little town is fun, so long as you wallpaper over the antebellum feel of the place. Regardless, I’m thrilled that Coug fans represented the team and school in such a great way.
• Gonna go slightly off the board here and give the top spot (player-wise) to Isaac Terrell. I won’t be surprised if Lane Kiffin offered Terrell a bag of cash before he even shook Jimmy Rogers’ hand. Terrell was credited with five tackles. Of WSU’s six TFLs, Terrell had four of them, with two sacks. He terrorized the Ole Miss quarterback all day.
• That first Ole Miss possession was a good indicator of how WSU was going to approach this game on defense. The Cougs gave up chunks until the ball got inside the 10. Then Polano blew up a third down QB run, and Cale Reeder smacked the Ole Miss receiver in the ribs on fourth down to get WSU the ball.
• Thought it was cool how much credit the announcers gave the Cougar fans who were at the game. They even talked about how they all crowded into Oxford’s famed Square to watch the Mariners.
• Zevi Eckhaus continues to show why he should have been the guy all along. Nearly 80% completion rate, 7.0 YPA, two touchdowns, and several plays where he gave the defense fits with his legs.
• Foremost was that trick play that got blown up, only to see Zevi chuck the ball to a wide open Landon Wright.
• Tony Freeman appreciation segment, once again. WSU was without two regular receivers, but Freeman stepped up to catch nine passes for 90 yards and a score. His best play didn’t even count because of a penalty.
• Outstanding blocking and cutback on the Kirby Vorhees touchdown. We’ve been waiting for plays like that!
• There was a point in the second half where you could hear the “Go! Cougs!” chant on the TV. Felt cool.
• Caleb Francl absolutely blasted a lead blocker on a run play. I must have replayed it three times.
• I’m going to assume that the Coug fans in attendance had a blast before, (mostly) during, and after the game. I was at a game there in 2012, and it was an outstanding experience.
• Might not necessarily have been “good” but it was funny to watch the Umpire get caught up in that pile and basically carried for five yards. Thankfully nobody was injured.
• WSU wasn’t good against the run Saturday, but I was impressed at the amount of pressure it put on the quarterback.
• That team that showed up Saturday was WSU’s best of the season. Please keep it up!

The Bad

• I can’t be sure because I didn’t go back and look, and because I was watching the game recorded, but it seemed like the announcers were talking about Jimmy Rogers while the camera guy was showing someone who was definitely not Jimmy Rogers. Like, more than once.
• Gonna lead with what I think was an absolute killer play. WSU led 14-10, and Ole Miss faced 4th-and-1 at the WSU 44. Ole Miss direct-snapped to the running back who ran into a wall of Cougs. But somehow he wriggled free and gained four yards. First down. Instead of taking over near midfield, the drive ended with Ole Miss taking a 17-14 lead. One of those opportunities you can’t afford to miss in this situation.
• Another killer was Maxwell Woods dropping a screen pass that had really good potential for a third down conversion. Can’t happen.
• Even though the defense didn’t break a whole lot, there was sure a lot of bending! An offense the caliber of Ole Miss will do that.
• As good as Freeman was on Saturday, that drop in the second quarter was a killer. Instead of first down, WSU had to try a long field goal. I really really wanted the Cougs to go for it.
• Why? Because we saw the limits of the kicker’s range. Sad face.
• Too many damn penalties, Cougs. Y’all gotta figure out how to line up, because that’s Day One crap, and we’re half way through the season. Failure to do so cost this team two big plays.
• Why were the announcers calling WSU “Old Crimson”?
• The holding call on Faleye was absolute garbage, and cost WSU a 1st-and-10 at the Ole Miss 34. The drive ended in a punt. Infuriating.
• Nobody knows what Targeting is. Even worse, nobody in charge has any interest in changing the nonsensical enforcement and mandatory suspension.

The Ugly

• As well as I think the coaching was, in both preparation and scheme, the first play of WSU’s last possession was inexcusably terrible. WSU had no timeouts left, needed at least 55 yards to get into field goal range, AND THE FIRST PLAY WAS A RUN WHAT IN THE NAME OF WILLIAM FAULKNER WAS THAT???!!!
• WSU was out of timeouts because it wasted one on offense midway through the third quarter. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Timeouts in the second half are three precious treasures. They should only be used for absolute necessity. Burning one on 2nd-and-8 at the 33 is not one of those times, and it came back to bite WSU late. Can’t happen.

Despite the mistakes, it’s difficult to come away from Saturday’s proceedings with anything but optimism. This is the same team that absolutely folded just a few weeks ago in Denton. Then it got smacked around in the fourth quarter of the Apple Cup. But since then, it has dominated a Colorado State team that destroyed Fresno State, and hung with a Top Five team on the road. There are wins out there for the Cougs in 2025. We just need Saturday’s version of WSU Football to keep answering the bell. Go Cougs.

This Week in Parenting

• Mixed youth sports bag last week, absolutely brutal youth sports bag this week.
• The youngest’s baseball team went winless in its tournament for the third straight time, but that wasn’t enough baseball god-induced suffering. On Sunday, we had to sit at the ballfields 90 minutes away while the rain poured. And Poured. And poured. Instead of staying dry, most of the kids – including mine of course – decided that it was time to get some sliding practice in, for the first time in ever. The game finally started, and of course everybody’s uniform was soaked. It rained so much and so hard that they probably should have canceled the tournament, but ain’t no way that was happening when the leeches who run these things had a chance to extract every last dime from parents. In a small show of protest, Mrs Kendall, the oldest and I just ignored the ticket person at the gate and walked in, skirting another $45 in admission fees. Small victories.
• Things were a little better for his Razorbacks flag football team, but hoo boy could I write a book about this season that’s three games old. The first coach quit. The second coach can only be there like half the time. That pressed a third coach into duty, even though he didn’t sign up to coach in the first place because he was gone almost all of August and September. Enter yours truly, who was literally the last choice for any of this. We had a skinny play sheet, and a variety of skill among the seven players (they play 5-on-5). We took our lumps in the first game, but bounced back to hammer the Seminoles on game two. I missed game three to watch the oldest’s high school game Thursday, and the Razorbacks fared about as well as the actual Razorbacks did against Notre Dame. The kiddo was pressed into QB duty due to an absence, and he struggled quite a bit. Oh well.
• The real drama has occurred off the field. One kid missed a ton of practices, then came back for the first game, where he dropped several passes. After the game, his mom told me that a teammate had been hard on him and he might quit. A day later, his mom told me that the two had an incident after school and asked if her kid could go to another team. I said yes, as I didn’t want anyone to be uncomfortable. Both of them missed the game we won. Then last week at practice, the coaches had to meet with league officials to hash out the situation, which I thought we did. Then the really good player’s parents told me he wouldn’t be coming back. Great. Then I learned the other kid was back on the team. This whole thing has made me never regret the fact that I left youth coaching to other (far better) people. All I’m trying to do is get these kids to line up and run a damn play, and we’re dealing with all this nonsense??!! You youth coaches are saints. Mostly.
• The situation with the mighty Dolphins makes the Razorbacks look spotless by comparison. They played one of the two teams the beat last season. I don’t think that team won a game in 2024. They beat the Dolphins 42-0. We’ve had like six games this season, and only one time has the score been close enough so as not to necessitate the running clock. I wonder what kind of mental toll that takes on the players, because it can’t be easy. The talent deficit would always be an issue, what with mass exodus of players and four coaches in four seasons. Add to that an incalculable number of injuries (they’ve played four QBs, including a freshman), and you get a really miserable senior season for the oldest.
  
  But hey, at least the referees aren’t taking games off. Every flag imaginable is thrown, no matter the score or time remaining. Once more, as always, they are so deluded as to think we’re all there to watch them.
  
• Can’t recall if I mentioned this previously, but the oldest had Senior Night a few games back. Part of the proceedings were each kid and family walking along the track while the PA announcer read off everyone’s names, each player’s favorite HS football memory, and then a statement of “thanks” that each senior had drafted. Well, all but one senior. You’ll never guess who didn’t turn one in.
  
  After walking down and getting your name announced, there was a photographer snapping pics of each family. More than one senior included his girlfriend in the procession and photos, which got me to thinking: Is there any quicker way to eventually ruin such a great photo than by including your HS girlfriend in it? 10 years from now when that pic is hanging on the wall at mom and dad’s house, everyone will look at it and think, “Who is that, and why is she in a family picture?” “Oh, that’s the girl (kid X) was dating at the time. They broke up at graduation.” Given our kid’s social proclivities, we didn’t have to worry about that issue!
• Speaking of teen romance, we got a knock at the door last week, and the youngest ran to answer it. Big red flag there. Anyway, I was corralling to dog while he opened the door, trying to figure out what was going on. Turns out it was a young lady, who had come with a friend to ask him to homecoming, via a big sign with a check box. Naturally, he told her to wait outside and closed the door, like a jerk. So I invited her in while he retrieved a Sharpie. I used the time to ask her who her clan was, and she said it was based on the fact that he plays some clan game on his phone. Of course. The kid eventually returned with a pen and checked the “yes” box.
  

Mrs. Kendall just happened to be out walking the dog and missed the whole thing, which is why I made sure to take a picture. She was none too pleased at the fact that she wasn’t there, but since moms are moms, it was probably for the best.

CAVEAT: If the picture cuts off my kid’s head it’s because WordPress is still terrible and I’m tired of trying to fix it. I’d tell SB Nation to do better, but we know that isn’t happening.