Good day! What a difference a week (ok, two) can make, yes? After WSU spent the night in Corvallis throwing up all over itself, it came back home and put together a largely dominant win over a Louisiana
Tech team that is not only better than OSU, but was also looking for its sixth win of the season. Instead of a win, Louisiana Tech headed back to Ruston with a bunch of strangle marks on its neck, as WSU slowly python’d (technical term) the Bulldogs to death over the course of a few hours.
The Cougs took advantage of some positive field position to get that early lead, and you got the sense that La Tech was going to have to play well above its head to get back in the game, bringing to mind the game at Colorado State back in September, when the Cougs basically just sat on the Rams for the second half and ran the clock out. Saturday was a bit more impressive than that, though, because WSU actually put some more points on the board.
Let’s dive a little deeper, shall we?
The Good
- I’d be remiss if I started anywhere besides the defense. La Tech had a total of 167 offensive yards, and it took them 51 plays to get there. That’s an average of 3.3 yards per play. Its longest pass play was 15 yards, and La Tech averaged 2.9 (!!!) YPA. That, folks, is some dominating defense, regardless of which QB was taking snaps.
- That Colby Humphrey interception to put the final nail in the coffin was pretty good. Wait, an interception? For the Cougs? AN INTERCEPTION FOR THE COUGS!!!
- I mentioned field position in the intro, which typically comes as a result of a turnover. But the Cougs got two great offensive starts due to special teams. First, what a magnificent play by Kayo Patu, who read the fake punt perfectly and knocked the pass down. If he hadn’t done that, La Tech almost certainly converts. Instead, WSU was set up at the La Tech 48, and led 7-0 at the end of the drive.
- Speaking of that first drive, it was a great way to establish how things were going to go (although admittedly in fits and starts) – Run for 10, run for seven, run for eight. Then, after a couple more runs, Josh Meredith got open behind the defense and Eckhaus hit him for a score. Excellent.
- Great job by my main man Tony to set up the second score with a sensational punt return. Many thanks to the La Tech punter for embodying the definition of “outkicking the coverage.”
- Outstanding blocking by Pulalasi and Faleye on the Eckhaus keeper to put the Cougs up 14-0.
- Kirby Vorhees is so damn good, which is really handy given the state of the offensive line. If he’s not acting like his own blocker and bulldozing forward, he’s making a subtle cut at the second level and turning a short gain into a long one.
- Zero turnovers, zero sacks allowed, 8/15 on 3rd and 4th down (La Tech was 3/12), 3/3 scoring touchdowns on redzone possessions. That’s a pretty solid formula if you want to win a game.
- La Tech went into its bag o’ tricks again in the third quarter, and Caleb Francl sniffed it out immediately. This defense is incredibly disciplined. For the most part.
- It was nice to see Eckhaus use his legs on some designed runs to keep the defense honest. Not only did he find the end zone, but the 16-yard run he made on 4th-and-1 to set up WSU’s third score was tremendous. Put a defender on spin cycle, then held on to the ball when the defender tried to strip it from behind.
- While I’m a big fan of explosive plays, I’ve also got a huge soft spot for grinding drives that break a defense’s will. WSU’s last two possessions went 18 plays/66 yards/8:19 and 12 plays/70 yards/7:34. Both ended in touchdowns. I don’t know whether that’s sustainable, but man it sure was cool on Saturday.
- It was certainly good to watch La Tech commit dumb 15-yard penalties on the two possessions that got the deepest into WSU territory. Those ended in a missed field goal and the aforementioned interception.
- Speaking of dumb La Tech penalties, I can’t believe Mekhi Mason fell for the hard count at the end of the third quarter.
- Ryan Harris had a stinker, but he also uncorked a couple beautiful punts.
- How hilarious was the play where WSU was obviously just going hard count while the quarter ran out, only to get gifted a La Tech offsides? Thanks for that, knucklehead!
- Ryan Leaf made a good point – Ryan Leaf made a good point! – between episodes of nostalgia when he criticized Eckhaus for throwing a deep ball to the boundary rather than take advantage of all the space in the middle of the field. I thought that was a good point.
- That could not have been a comfortable flight home for those La Tech quarterbacks. The Coug defense doled out a lot of punishment, and they felt the brunt.
- While I will always pine for the White/Anthracite/White uniform combination, the one they went with for this game wasn’t bad. Of course, it always helps when they win in whatever combo.
The Bad
- Buddy, this offense is a tough, tough watch for long stretches. Reminds me a lot of the Bennett basketball teams when things aren’t clicking.
- It was rather obvious many weeks ago that whatever was going on with Devin Ellison went way beyond a minor injury and offense knowledge. I have no idea what happened, but what a waste.
- Eckhaus wasn’t terrible Saturday, but man he wasn’t very good, either. Still way too many arm punts that risk interception, and way too much indecision when he has time to throw. He also seems to seek contact in the open field instead of trying to either get around someone or get down. Why?
- Is it bad that I knew immediately that Eckhaus was doing the six-seven celebration? Don’t answer that. Damn kids.
- There was a weird play in the first quarter when La Tech showed a blitz look, and Eckhaus appeared to audible, but then they just ran a play that was bound to fail. Not sure what happened but those are the kinds of situations where Eckhaus has to get them into a play that can work.
- Um, Ted? You don’t get a green jacket for going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
- One of the more frustrating things I see during many games is a perfectly designed screen pass that fails because the linemen completely whiff on their blocks. Looking at you, Ashton Tripp.
- WSU’s last two second quarter possessions comprised six plays and 15 yards. The first two possessions of the third quarter gained all of 28 yards. Yuck.
- I wasn’t sure Christian Hilborn and Brock Dieu would be able to play, but then Hilborn got two penalties in the first quarter, and Dieu drew a holding flag that killed a huge play. Welcome back? (Yes, I’m really glad they’re able to play but that was pretty bad!)
- Pretty funny play when Eli Finley thought he could hurdle Colby Humphrey. He could not.
- No, Ryan, nobody calls it “the Eckhaus Push.”
- Still trying to figure out why that La Tech QB’s fumble in the third quarter wasn’t even reviewed, even after the pause in play. Standard reffing I guess.
- I know the coaches wanted to get Angel Johnson a touchdown, but y’all are trying to win a game here. Maybe don’t run him up the gut against a goal line defense?
The Ugly
- The penalties. My god, the f***ing penalties. After the Oregon State debacle, during which this team drew 10 accepted flags for 90 yards, Rogers talked about needing to clean up the penalties. Well, they had two weeks of practice to do so, then came out and drew FIVE FLAGS IN THE FIRST GODDAMN QUARTER. If that weren’t enough, the boneheaded decisions continued, such as:
- Jumping offsides on a 56-yard kick that never had a chance, only to let La Tech try again and hit a 51-yard kick before halftime. Can you imagine how bad that would have been if this game were close?
- WSU draws a 15-yard pass interference penalty that would have set them up at the La Tech 34, but no. Vaipulu decides to do something stupid and draws a 15-yarder of his own to cancel it out.
- WSU kicks from the 20 after going up 21-3 because some bench warmer gets in and decides to commit an unsportsmanlike foul of his own.
- Seriously, Jimmy, wtf are we doing here? These stupid flags have to stop.
- Really great job with the telecast once again, CW. I mean, who doesn’t want to go long stretches without knowing how much time is left, or what down it is? Just a clean view of the field, devoid of those pesky graphics, is what we all want to see.
- One penalty that shouldn’t have been was the absurd PI call on Colby Humphrey in the fourth quarter, on a pass that no human would have caught. To make things more buffoonish, the broadcast brings in resident Michael Mothershed’s corpse for his opinion, only to hear him say that he didn’t see the whole play! Such an amazing CW production!
So here we sit, getting ready to watch the Cougs travel back east as significant underdogs, 13 points to be exact. James Madison is pretty damn good, and is a legitimate contender for a CFP spot, especially with all the carnage in the Mountain West and AAC. The Cougs have a chance to do their future conference mate in San Diego State a huge favor, while also clinching a bowl for themselves in the process. Here’s hoping they find a way to close the deal that they couldn’t at Ole Miss and Virginia.
Highlights!
I wanted to embed this after writing about Vorhees above, but once again this WordPress thing is garbage, so I’ll place it here. Look at that jump cut!
Interviews!
This Week in Parenting
Coming to you one last time – thank god – from a random baseball field in the Florida Panhandle.
Another week, more college stuff – essay editing, missed deadlines, admissions notices etc. Feels like we’ve been at this for a while, and it doesn’t show much sign of abating! Oh. The kiddo is heading to Auburn for an official visit this week (ROTC, not sports), so we will see if his second visit has a bigger impression than the first. In the meantime, he did get some news.
In the meantime, he also submitted his application to Alabama, which I’m not even sure is legal? Maybe that’s only for Alabama residents but given the animosity, I’d bet there’s some sort of law, so don’t tell anybody. When he got home Friday night, mom gave him a hearty, “WAR EAGLE!“ because she is still in the bag for the loveliest little village on The Plains. We shall see.
He had a whole week off between the end of football and the start of wrestling, and I must admit that it was odd to see him at home before six o’clock in the evening. Thankfully he made up for it by spending all of Friday night and most of Saturday at a friend’s (apparently two-day?) birthday party. Still pretty sure college won’t be much of a transition for me since I never see the kid anyway.
I did see him for a few moments on Sunday, when he dropped in to watch about 10 minutes of football before retreating back to his cave room to do god knows what. In that brief period, he remarked that it was impressive how one of the teams (maybe the Seahawks? I cant remember) scored its first touchdown in under a minute. I asked him what he meant, since there were just over 11 minutes left in the quarter. “Aren’t the quarters 12 minutes long?” Carve another notch in the “ways I’ve failed as a dad” post, but also I’m kind of happy that he doesn’t care about sports like I do. I am extraordinarily envious.
While the high school season ended a couple weeks ago, the mighty Razorbacks flag football team still had some games to play. First, it was a rubber match with the Seminoles, which was going to determine the final playoff spot, as only the top four teams made the bracket. This presented a bit of a dilemma, as a win for the final playoff spot meant a first round matchup with LSU, who murdered every team, including ours, twice. A loss would put us in the consolation game against the worst team in the league.
It was also the first time in over a month that I was able to attend/help coach a game. It had been so long that I didn’t even really remember all the plays, and there weren’t a lot of them! We played pretty well and came out on top, clinching a playoff spot. The biggest opponent wasn’t the Seminoles, so much as it was the officials. Not because they made a bunch of bad calls against us or anything, but because they were completely incompetent and had no idea what the rules were. And they’re probably supposed to know them! It got so bad that I had to pull up the text file on my phone in order to tell them how penalties were enforced, because they had no idea. My favorite moment took place late in the game, when FSU was trying to score. I asked the ref how much time was left, and was told 22 seconds. Then the ball was snapped, the ref counted to seven (the limit before you have to throw the ball), a player caught the ball, and his flag was pulled. I asked for another time check. “16 seconds” was the response. Now, I will admit that I was a Liberal Arts major, and am bad at math in general, but that didn’t seem to add up!
After that was the dreaded LSU squad, and they’re really good! We came out with a game plan to dink & dunk on offense, and stay back on defense, in order to shorten the game. Half of that plan worked, as we controlled the ball well and scored on nearly every possession. Unfortunately we were undone by a pick six and too many explosive plays, but oh well. They played remarkably well in a 40-20 loss, which is probably as close as someone has come to that team all season. For his part, the kiddo played pretty well despite throwing the aforementioned Int-TD. He also forgot his mouth piece, which probably isn’t a big deal for someone with braces, right? This is where ref incompetence played in our favor, as they were far too lazy about mandatory equipment.
The week wasn’t the best for the youngest. I am sure I mentioned a couple years back that my clutz of an older kid fell into the pool – phone and all – while skimming out leaves. I came home to the youngest telling me that when he was doing the same, his phone fell out of his hoodie pocket and straight into the drink. I haven’t kept track, but I’m pretty sure my kids’ phones have been in that pool more than my kids have. The phone is pretty much kaput, which meant he wasn’t able to communicate with the outside world on the holiday. I for one am just fine with the digital detox session.
