The rules are the rule….
September 6, 2008
The best quote ever…”The rules are the rules”, Bronco drops it on the reporter after the game. The Cougars made one more play and they escape Seattle with the win. (If you want to know more about “making one more play”, check the post from this morning.)
Let me tell you why this was a huge win:
- It was on the road against a team that had their backs up against the wall. Washington played their hearts out, and Locker is a beast.
- We showed that we can perform under pressure. If you don’t think that being tested was a good thing, think again. Down the stretch you will have to be able to put the game in your offense or defenses hands and say, win the game. Bronco did that, and it wasn’t pretty but it was a win. Let the critics say what they will about the Locker penalty. The flag was throw, and you lost the game. Do not try and play the, “we lost the game because of the officials card”. Tyrone, man up and tell the media that your team lost because you are not a very good coach. Just admit it.
- We showed our metal. Washington gave us their best two or three shots and we took them and punched back. Don’t diminish the success of the game. A win is hard to come by, whether your playing Washington or their powder puff team. Each team presents its own challenges, especially the powder puff team.
- We learned that our offense is almost unstoppable. If our defense is struggling then lets put the game in the hands of our offense, and say WIN US THE GAME.
Why this game was an eye opener:
- We need to assess the strengths and weaknesses of our defense. Guys are playing hard, but they need to make more plays. Bottom line is, guys need to pick themselves up off the ground, wipe the blood off their jerseys and get to work. Changes can be made, and mistakes can be corrected. A couple good things that came out of the game were Scottie Johnson’s huge play in the end zone and the BIG D blocking the field goal when they needed to.
- Why did we shoot ourselves in the foot so many time? Penalties, turnovers, missed tackles lets assert ourselves a little more during the week and tighten up these problems.
- We need more guys winning the one on one match ups. When we aren’t blitzing, we need to win a one on one match up so we don’t have to bring so much pressure. Bringing pressure puts stress on the defensive backs and right know we need to help them as much as we can.
- We thought we would be stout against the run, but tonight we were not the best.
Just as a side note, I played football because of game like that one. I enjoyed the blow outs, but I wanted the game to be close. I loved being on the field when a game came down to the last play. I loved watching this game, and the fact that we won made it even sweeter. I am hoping to have the post game wrap-up done by Sunday but it will be up on Monday for sure.
September 6, 2008 |
Filed under: Coaching staff by Quinn Gooch
Quinn,
Question about the MLBs and the running game. At times it seemed like the MLBs were non-existent today again the inside run. What were your thoughts on the play of the MLBs and what can they do to improve. Seems like they aren’t reading the right gaps, etc…. What are your thoughts?
I think I’ve got much the same question as James. It seemed as though there were at least four different occasions — including once and maybe twice on Washington’s final drive — when Locker, not finding a receiver, tucked the ball away and ran right up the middle — and there was no one there each time. Him getting that first down on the 4th and 10 was especially painful. What’s going on there? ..bruce..
We always struggle when there is a rushing QB. They drop back, our line runs to the outside, and then the QB runs right down the middle. Every time W had 5 wideouts, it was the same thing. I screamed at the TV every time and couldn’t stand seeing him run up the middle.
Good call on the clairvoyance of this morning’s post, Gootch.
The way I felt about the flag for excessive celebration is that the officials let so much slide on that drive, that they were effectively saying, “Jake, we let you march down the field, and since you aren’t being low-key about it, here is a flag and we will give BYU a chance.” Maybe that is because I am an armchair commentator.
Why can’t our linebackers and secondary cover anybody? How many wide-open receivers did Locker overthrow?
Oh, and it amazes me how our corners line up 10-12 yards off the line and still get beat deep!
Good job Quinn, I look forward to your final report.
I agree with the questions about the inside backers. How about the backers in general? Are we asking too much. To me they are not making enough plays. Are we weak there? Asking too much? Young and just need to be patient? I thought that was where we were exposed today. I was bothered by some of the coverage on the last drive as well. Locker just flat out missed some open people.
The refs didn’t block the field goal, we did. There were a lot of missed calls today and I am glad there was a blatant penalty the refs were forced to call.
I live by a Washington Alum, after the game he came over and said, “No excuses, we should have made that kick.” There are a few Washington fans out there not blaming the officials. He even mentioned he saw a few blatant holding calls that were missed.
Great, perceptive analysis. Absolutely love your blog.
What are the defensive ends’ responsibilities regarding rushing the passer versus containing a scrambling quarterback. Locker was not going to beat us with his arm, yet, our pass rushing defensive ends were allowing themselves to be run so deep into the backfield by the tackles that they took themselves out of many plays and opened up running lanes for Locker on either side of the nose tackle.
Your thoughts?
In previous years, Coach Mendenhall has stated that the early losses helped to re-focus the team (or something like that) so that you could cruise through Conference play. Do you see this game accomplishing anything like that?