Hello there! To the four of you who were wondering where this was after the Virginia game, I can explain. I was on the other side of the world at the time. Doha, Qatar to be exact. The game began in the middle
of the night, which isn’t exactly new to me since it often did when I lived overseas. So when I woke up Sunday and checked the score, I anticipated a double-digit loss. Instead, I was greeted with a gut punch of a result that was decided by a goddamn safety. After reading a few tweets about the game, I was in no mood to even watch a second of it, let alone write a column.
This week was different in many ways, thankfully! Although the game began at 10:30 p.m. in Doha, I got off of work and back to my hotel about midway through the first quarter. I tuned in to the radio broadcast while I packed, because we were leaving at 6 a.m. the next day. Turns out I picked the right part of the game to consume! Again I went to bed not knowing how the game played out, and again I checked the score first thing in the morning. What a difference a week makes, eh?
But (almost) enough about a travel schedule that’s kicking me in the fellas, let’s rewind to Saturday, shall we?
The Good
- Through the miracle of modern technology, I hooked up to the in-flight wifi between Frankfurt and Charlotte, and watched the entire replay of the game via my YouTube TV app. We are a long, long way from the days of setting the VCR timer and saying a prayer. Pretty good way to help kill nine hours!
- Those helmet decals were, as the youngsters would say, gas. Is that what they’d say? I have no idea. So anyway they were really cool.
- Three cheers for the defense overall. Toledo’s MAC rankings on offense entering the game were first or second in total offense, scoring offense, rushing and passing. The stingy Cougs held them to 2.5 yards-per-rush and a measly 4.5 yards-per-play, all with a defensive line missing a litany of key players.
- Anyone who has watched WSU this season has inferred rather quickly that the third down offense is a five-alarm tire fire. Not so on Saturday, when they were 6/12, which is likely their best conversion rate of the season. The stats don’t account for the fourth down WSU converted via offsides penalty, but dammit I’m counting it!
- The Zevi Eckhaus experience was pretty well summed up in two second quarter plays. On the first, facing 2nd-and-goal at the Toledo five, Eckhaus was pressured, and instead of throwing the ball away and living to fight another down, he tried to play hero ball, drawing an intentional grounding flag. Then on 3rd-and-goal from the 14, when a field goal try looked like a near certainty, he stepped up and threw a dart to Tony Freeman in the back of the end zone. All aboard the roller coaster!
- Speaking of which, FEED FREEMAN!!!
- Kirby Vorhees is a damn beast, and he needs more touches. I can think of someone’s touches Vorhees should get instead.
- Not a bad way to notch your first college touchdown, Carter Pabst. He turned a really bad Eckhaus decision/throw into a circus touchdown, giving the Cougs a 21-0 lead.
- That second quarter was pretty good for the offense, yeah? Let’s not mention the other three.
- Nice job by both Ryan Harris and the punt coverage team in the first quarter. Backed up against the end line, Harris drilled a 55-yarder, and the coverage team tackled the returner on the other side of midfield.
- Speaking of third down conversions, that first one to Leckner felt enormous in retrospect. WSU hadn’t done anything on offense up to that point, and the seemingly innocuous seven-yard pass ended up jumpstarting what had been a listless offense.
- Great job by Pulalasi to pick up an oncoming rusher after he pitched to Eckhaus on the trick play. If he doesn’t get in the way after the right guard gets beaten badly, that pass might not get thrown.
- Any chance our coaches and boosters cornered Toledo’s Malachi Davis and threw some cash at him? That guy is good.
- Eckhaus’ legs really provide a critical dimension to this offense. If you take out the three kneeldowns, he averaged more than six yards per carry.
- I’m willing to bet there were a lot of clenched butts when Toledo intercepted Eckhaus and marched to the WSU 18 early in the third quarter. Thankfully, Jack Janikowski allowed us all the exhale for a bit.
- Toledo’s first four second half possessions reached the WSU 18, the WSU 31, the WSU 19, and the WSU 43. Toledo got zero points.
- That last possession ended in a WSU…Interception? A WSU INTERCEPTION!!! Doth my eyes deceive me? The fact that WSU hadn’t lucked into at least one pick this season seemed to defy logic. For context, the two worst WSU teams in my lifetime (2008 and 2009, as if you needed me to be specific) intercepted a combined 19 passes, and those weren’t exactly stifling defenses!
- Many thanks to Jason Candle for punting from the WSU 33 in the third quarter, which resulted in a touchback and a net gain of a whopping 13 yards. I know they had to gain 21, but dang, just chuck one up and hope for PI or something.
- Credit where it’s due to the garbage officials – the review/overturn of that fourth down Toledo catch was crucial, and it wasn’t the easiest call.
- Pretty vintage “special teams coach” moment in the fourth quarter when a WSU punt stopped on the 35 and the guy was screaming “Don’t touch it! Don’t touch it!” from a few feet away.
The Bad
- Zevi, buddy, you have to learn when to take a loss or throw the ball away. You got away with multiple bad decisions Saturday, and made a couple terrible throws that hurt the team. Can’t happen.
- It was cool that they had Luke Falk on the radio broadcast, but also a detriment because the announcer kept missing plays. That’s ok on TV, where we can see what’s happening, but we can’t exactly do that on radio!
- I’ve never kicked footballs competitively, but I’d like to think that it’s relatively easy to keep a kickoff in bounds. Gotta do better, 98.
- I don’t know what the point of that dumb siren on third and fourth down is, but maybe the person operating it should verify that it’s actually third or fourth down before hitting “Play.”
- Broadcast Notes:
- I know you’re not exactly the NFL on Fox, CW, but it would be great if you figured out a way to keep the random screaming women out of my ears.
- I can go the rest of my life without ever again hearing Ted Robinson say, “Eckhaus. Edging.”
- Christmas ads? Really?
- Speaking of commercials, it’s always fun when you get a full injury timeout, followed by a punt, followed by another full timeout. Is this the NFL?
- Ted Robinson trying to explain cutups is like me trying to briefly explain thermodynamics.
- There was a point where Leaf was talking about the importance of safety play, then he throws it to Burton for comment and…crickets. Great job everyone.
The Ugly
- 66, I know you were supposed to be a backup, but FFS you just have to do better. That performance Saturday will get the QB and running backs killed moving forward.
- Zevi, if I’m watching the game on a phone screen from seat 26A on an airplane, and even I know it’s a terrible idea to motion a back to an empty set against a blitz look, maybe you should know it too?
- Officiating Notes:
- I was ready to give this awful crew a break on the obvious tripping after the interception. Maybe nobody saw it? Maybe there was a player in the way? But then I saw the Ump cam, WHERE HE IS STARING RIGHT AT THE TRIP FROM LIKE THREE FEET AWAY AND STILL DOESN’T THROW A FLAG.
- Pretty impressive sequence where everyone missed an obvious Toledo false start on third down, then an equally obvious intentional grounding where the QB just chucked the ball deep down the left side without a receiver in the same zip code.
- I don’t know if the non-PI call on the deep pass to Leckner deserved a penalty flag. What I do know is that same exact defensive play has been called PI on WSU like a billion times.
- Wtf was with the review on the Freeman touchdown? EVEN MICHAEL MOTHERSHED GOT IT RIGHT!
- How many times was the Toledo QB’s forward progress stopped on the fourth down sneak? Once? Twice? Meh, just let him keep going until he gets the needed yardage.
- I know Kirby Vorhees is a strong guy, but that doesn’t mean the opponent is allowed to grab his face mask in the open field and practically turn it 90 degrees without a flag being thrown.
Two thirds of the way through a transitional season that has featured more hairpin turns than a Formula One race, and the Cougs are looking pretty decent for a shot at a bowl game. Just gotta keep getting better every week, and for the love of god please get healthier. Beat the Beavs.
Highlights!
Yeah, I know it’s been a few days, but who doesn’t want to relive a win?
Zevi, you certainly had me fired up!
This Week in Parenting
- More of the same for the mighty Gulf Breeze Dolphins, who have logged consecutive 40-point losses in the last couple weeks. They still haven’t won a game this season, and the last one is Thursday. Despite the non-competitive losses I watch every week, I’m still somehow kind of sad that it’s almost over. When the oldest picked me up at the airport Tuesday night, he said he had just finished the last padded practice of his football career. Damn.
- Things have gone somewhat better for the flag footballing Razorbacks, fortunately. They won a couple games in my absence, and the kiddo appears to be playing well at quarterback despite previously telling me that he didn’t want to play the position. The last game I missed was a doozy. The Razorbacks shot out to a 22-0 lead, but gave up a late first half TD. Sounds familiar! Unlike WSU, the Razorbacks could not keep the lead after half, and before you knew it, the Pickles – that’s their name, don’t wear it out – led 26-22. But since momentum doesn’t exist, we went back down and took the lead. The Pickles threatened to undo it all at the end, as they sat one yard away on the game’s last play. INCOMPLETE!!! RAZORBACKS WIN!!! We currently sit at 3-4, alive for a playoff spot! This despite not having a kid who was probably going to be the league’s best player. Pretty proud of how the kids rallied.
- The baseball front isn’t as promising, as the Punishers are still winless. A couple weeks ago, the program manager sent a message to the parents and asked if we should skip a tournament and hold practices over the weekend instead. Yours truly was like “YES! YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES!“ These kids need to develop skills, particularly in the fall. Practice is far more conducive to skill development than games are, where the kids rarely get more than one at-bat and a couple grounders. But no, parent mob overwhelmed me. One parent even had their kid come on to what I thought was an adults-only venue to complain about possibly not playing in the tournament. The team went 0-3 in the tournament, but hey, at least the parents got to spend a bunch of extra money and sacrifice another weekend.
- The youngest also celebrated another birthday recently, and got the requisite cake and presents. In true “deadbeat dad” fashion, I skipped town on his actual birthday, so we celebrated the day before. In my defense, Mrs. Kendall also left town that day for work. On the other hand, he did get to go to Waffle House for the first time, and it seemed like he didn’t really miss us.
- I mentioned last time that the youngest had a date to the Homecoming dance, and that event came to pass while I was on the road. The next day, I sent him a text to ask how the evening went. “It was fine we danced and looked at football scores.” I replied that his date must have been thrilled. “I only checked them two times. She was fine with it. I wanted to see if Texas was winning.” He’s definitely his father’s son.
- The best piece of news we got regarded the oldest’s college prospects. We found out that he was one of four people in the southeast chosen to receive a full ride Navy ROTC scholarship. The only snag is that he has to be admitted to a school that has a Navy ROTC detachment. Well, and the fact that it would mean he had to join the Navy. I kid! Pretty proud of the young lad. Maybe I’ll congratulate him in person if he ever comes out of his room.
