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Re-watching the CU/WSU game... a few thoughts:

Highlander27

Well-Known Member
1. Still hate how Webb rolls into the rush, creating sacks on offense. I appreciate his moxy though. You can tell the guy cares. He's better than Tyler Hansen, just needs to work on some little things.
2. Blocking by our backs on pass plays is a huge problem. Take a guy like Jones... we need his speed and playmaking capability on the field. We don't have many guys with burst like him. Maybe only Gerald Thomas offers that type of explosiveness. This would be a huge benefit for Webb to have on 3rd down, dumping off the ball on high percentage throws. The fact is, Jones is completely unreliable in the pass blocking game. When counted on to step up and fill a hole, we are lucky if he picks the right hole, let alone handles the guy who may be coming through it. I haven't seen enough of Powell and Ford to say they can do a better job, but until Jones gets this under wraps, it's going to limit our units because we can't count on him to fulfill every part of the job requirements. The guy is just terrible here, yet we see how important he is to keep defenses honest against the run game. It seemed like EB just said F' it at the end of the game and kept him in there. Hope to god some film room study improves his game or he's going to get our QB smoked. In fact, the play that almost knocked Webb out of the game in the 4th, was Tony Jones missing the key block on a delayed blitz by WSU from the MLB spot. The next play highlights the problem posed to EB... Jones took the off-tackle handoff 90 yds for a TD.
3. It appeared that the interior line blocking got a lot better with Handler being out of the lineup. Actually, I thought the OL did a lot better this game but specifically Daniel Munyer, from the plays that I saw, had a GREAT game. The guy looked quick, agile, and did a great job getting to the 2nd level. Watch the final drive down the stretch on our game winning drive and the guy was lightning in a bottle. He was pulling, and cutting the **** out of the 2nd level defenders for WSU. They kept running it off his hip on the final drive... play after play. Was fun to watch as a former OL. That 2nd level presence is CRUCIAL in the West Coast Offense. You have to get guys on the ground quickly and open up running lanes. I think if we can find the right mix of guys on the front line who can get a push and get guys on the ground, we may have some things brewing in our running game. If it was me... I would have Bahk at LT, Lewis at LG (still iffy on him), Munyer at C. Harris at RG, and I would play with Nembot at RT. Nembot's raw but you gotta get that guy on the field. Dannewitz played the final two drives at RT for the record. It's going to be exciting if we can get this group settled down on five starters and let these guys mature over the next two years.
4. Looks like the defense switched to a 3-3-5 in the 2nd half and it gave WSU fits. It's surprising that Leach didn't attack more on the run, as that's where the weakness should have been along with keeping the clock running. He just kept throwing into the teeth of what we were trying to do. 3-3-5 opened up some interested possibilities and highlighted a potential strength of this team... there are numerous hybrid players between our LB's and DB's and I would anticipate we see it more. It allowed us to attack, yet mix up coverages and protect our young DB's, specifically Crawley and Mosely. Both of those guys played night and day better in the 2nd half because of this. Seems like it cut down on their reads and they could just move to the ball and their job.
5. The wildcards on our defensive resurgence was #13, #32, #20, and #57. Man it was nice to see Henderson out on the field. What can you say about that guy? He's better than we ever imagined. Look at what kind of growing pains Crawley and Yuri Wright are going through as true freshmen and these guys were blue-chips... then you think back to Henderson being in the same position last year, yet never giving up big plays. The guy was rock solid. Having him back had a calming affect on the defense, and they played so much better fundamental football. It almost locks down one side of the field. Vigo on the other hand played the game of his life yesterday. The 3-3-5 defense opened up some hybrid opportunities for our unit and Brown located Vigo and Washington onto the field to fill that spot. Both have been moved to LB from the DB position so it really created a diversity on defense with athletic ability that we haven't seen in awhile and it disguised if guys were in coverage or coming on the blitz. On another note, #13 was all over the field. I know people talk crap about Parker Orms but the guy has so much talent in his little body and he's a leader on the field IMO. He reminds me of Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin back in the day. You want that energizer bunny on the field for you. He had big impacts against the run and pass.
6. LOVED the young defensive line playing. These guys gave WSU fits in the last period and maybe the reason Leach didn't run more, specifically Justin Solis was taking a majority of the snaps at NT in the 3-3-5. Bonsu was rotating in with him but Justin looked SO much better considering his age. He was getting doubled, eating blocks, and still holding ground and penetrating. Also, Samson Kafovalu was logging some minutes in the 4th quarter, rotating with Poston. Both guys have sand in their pants and really anchored well against the run... the big thing here is that we went with a slight defensive front in terms of numbers, but these guys held their ground, ate blocks, and let the back 8 FLY to the ball, and they did. It is demoralizing for an offense to see 3 defensive linemen and they can't move them off the ball. They held their ground, especially in the run game. I think we have potential here long term. It's going to be tough for teams to run on us. Solis in particular impressed me. He played the 0 technique, over the center, got doubled a crapload and hardly gave an inch, often separating and beating the blocks on those double teams. It was a very impressive showing by our front line guys.
7. By the end of the game, Nembot and Tupou had been yanked in favor of Dannewitz and Solis. Does this mean anything long term? Probably not. The heat of the battle necessitated that we go to guys who could produce. Both Nembot and Tupou are YOUNG in their football careers. I'm excited from a few things I saw from them in the game and will be big players for us down the road.
8. We need to get the ball into Gerald Thomas' hands in the worst way. He and Tony Jones provide the only home run type hitters we have on the field for our offense. If it was me, I would have 10-12 designed plays for Gerald Thomas, whether it be designed motion handoffs, screens, deep routes, or special teams plays. Gotta get the ball in that guys hands. I felt the same way watching Paul Richardson as a freshmen.
 
Good points, Hi. Webb's apparent need to run into the rush created so many self-produced pressure situations. WSU seldom had pressure, otherwise, and of course no pressure when he was in a rhythm on any called-play for the always open short passes. WSU was constantly on their heels when those few plays were called - I'd have thought their defense would be far more prepared for that - due to their own practices - but fortunately, Embree & Co made sure not to exploit the open routes consistently.

This was really a game lost by Leach & Co, though, and Embree had his team willing to keep working. As many play-calling opportunities that WSU offered to Webb that weren't taken, Leach & Co were consistently refusing to take advantage of the 10-15 yard cushions in the 2nd Half. By opting for slow-developing long-routes while their O-Line never stopped our D-Line, it gave us the Must Win victory.

I also saw CU getting tons of pressure - even on 2-man rushes - because their QB too loved to run towards the rush. I think the Delayed Rushes and Blitzes really confused them. Leach's teams have never been known for intelligent defensive play, though. Embree & Co were demonstrated that once again.

Another issue that was seldom mentioned was the smoky atmosphere in the stadium. Fans mentioned it on exit interviews - TV, radio and local press. I'm sure that the exhaustive breathing of playing in it made for some additional strain.

Webb's intelligence on that last TD was something only a game-long exposure led to - seeing 4 D-Linemen in front of him against his 6 blockers - I wonder if he was looking at CU Defensive Tapes against Fresno on that totally misaligned TD formation? "Hey - I've seen this before!"
 
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I really like the young DL.

RB, where's Payne or Crowdr or Creer? Those guys have the frames to pick up some blocks, are they that raw they just aren't ready. TJ, love the guy's speed but you are dead on, the guy just isn't getting on pass pro.

QB, Webb played with alot of heart. But we are going to need more out of the QB spot the rest of the way. That being said, he had a great game.

The D finally adjusted sucessfully at halftime. I was wondering if that was ever gonna happen. Nice win.
 
It was nice to see the defense swarming the ball in the second half. It is like the entire team stopped thinking and started playing
 
nice break down Highlander... and +1

couple of kids had big games and I felt like a proud father watching them celebrate -No particular order !
Buffalo heart !
Kasa (blocking, catching and getting that fumble recovery), Major (everywhere), Orms (everywhere,heart,smart,big hits, awesome tackeling), Vigo (everywhere unstoppable motor), Crawley (tackling), Henderson (superstar potential), Spruce (hands), Dannewitz (road grader), Munyer (nice feet), Webb (tough)
 
Rewatching on DVR, this got a few rewinds from me:

yhamy3az.jpg
 
nice break down Highlander... and +1

couple of kids had big games and I felt like a proud father watching them celebrate -No particular order !
Buffalo heart !
Kasa (blocking, catching and getting that fumble recovery), Major (everywhere), Orms (everywhere,heart,smart,big hits, awesome tackeling), Vigo (everywhere unstoppable motor), Crawley (tackling), Henderson (superstar potential), Spruce (hands), Dannewitz (road grader), Munyer (nice feet), Webb (tough)

That is a great way of phrasing it.
 
On the OL, my favorite play was the QB sneak after the fumble recovery. The WSU DL was blown 4 yards off the line. It was very refreshing to see that.
 
It's going to take a lot of re-see's to catch David Bowie as a Cougar cheerleader, though. Might want to avoid wandering eyes and stay focused, front and center, instead.
 
I went through and looked at the stats from the game regarding WSu running the ball. They are credited with 22 rushing attempts, but 3 of those are sacks for minus 36 yards. So WSU ran 19 times for 86 yards (4.5 per carry). One may ask why didn't they run the ball more at the end of the game to run out the clock. Well the total stats don't tell the whole story. WSU ran 6 times in the first half for 64 yards. In the second half WSU ran 13 times for 22 yards, including rushes for 7, 6, and 5 yards. The other 10 rushing attempts in the second half went for a total of 4 yards. The run D really stepped up in the second half.

I am not sure if we made half time adjustments, or have found a scheme that everyone is comfortable with, but those are nice second half figures for the D.
 
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I loved it when Webb called for the snap and threw for first down when WSU was swapping out half their defense.
 
I went through and looked at the stats from the game regarding WSu running the ball. They are credited with 22 rushing attempts, but 3 of those are sacks for minus 40 yards. So WSU ran 19 times for 90 yards (4.7 per carry). One may ask why didn't they run the ball more at the end of the game to run out the clock. Well the total stats don't tell the whole story. WSU ran 6 times in the first half for 64 yards. In the second half WSU ran 13 times for 26 yards, including rushes for 7, 6, and 5 yards. The other 10 rushing attempts in the second half went for a total of 8 yards. The run D really stepped up in the second half.

I am not sure if we made half time adjustments, or have found a scheme that everyone is comfortable with, but those are nice second half figures for the D.

Sacks are always counted in rushing yards, and since that's the case, I don't think it's a good idea to look at the yardage without them. Also, including the them makes our run D just that more impressive.
 
On the OL, my favorite play was the QB sneak after the fumble recovery. The WSU DL was blown 4 yards off the line. It was very refreshing to see that.

That was great to see .. almost remniscent of the 11/23/01 game against the korn when Andre Gurode took his man at the line of scrimmage and pushed him all the way into the wall at the north end of the field on CB's first TD. :lol:

God ... I miss those days. Maybe they're not as far away in the future as we feared last week. Long way to go though.
 
I know the D stepped up in the second half but one thing that still concerns me is the CB constantly giving 10-12 yard cushions on 3rd and long plays. I am not sure if they were protecting the Frosh in the secondary or what but I hate seeing a 2 or 3 man rush and giving a 10+ yard cushion on a 3rd and 10..... I hope they get that changed but that said the D did finally step up and start making some plays in the second half so maybe it worked
 
I know the D stepped up in the second half but one thing that still concerns me is the CB constantly giving 10-12 yard cushions on 3rd and long plays. I am not sure if they were protecting the Frosh in the secondary or what but I hate seeing a 2 or 3 man rush and giving a 10+ yard cushion on a 3rd and 10..... I hope they get that changed but that said the D did finally step up and start making some plays in the second half so maybe it worked
Honestly, they are protecting Terrell Smith more than the true frosh CB's. TS is awful in pass coverage, and consistently bites on fakes and underneath routes when we go to zone, leaving Kenneth Crawley completely on his own. We kept our better pass coverage safeties (Moseley/Bell) to their good WR's side, then put Crawley, more often than not, in deep zone having to cover the entire 3d of the field. A lot of long 3d down completions (including the TD) against Crawley were when the WR would run a post to the seam of the cover 3 zone.

The TD, especially, was not Crawley's fault. Maybe with more experience he gambles and goes after the guy harder, but TS vacated his intermediate zone to go after an underneath route which opened the window for the throw.

Crawley was told to play safe and deep and make sure nothing got behind him, cause he was usually on his own out there. He did a good job of that. Not to say he had a good day, but he was being coached not to fail spectacularly and often was on his own without help of any kind. Hard to have a good day like that. Hell, on the pass breakup in the endzone, Terrell had deep responsibilty and let the guy get behind him. Only an underthrown ball (and a hell of a great play by Crawley) saved the TD.

Basically, we need Polk back bad so we can unleash our corners more. And hope we can get someone else in at safety on passing downs.
 
Speaking of Polk, I saw him on tv standing and walking normally along the sidelines looking pretty healthy- had no sign of a gimp or anything indicating he was still seriously injured. Hope he is back soon.. anyone have an update on this?
 
I know the D stepped up in the second half but one thing that still concerns me is the CB constantly giving 10-12 yard cushions on 3rd and long plays. I am not sure if they were protecting the Frosh in the secondary or what but I hate seeing a 2 or 3 man rush and giving a 10+ yard cushion on a 3rd and 10..... I hope they get that changed but that said the D did finally step up and start making some plays in the second half so maybe it worked

The two man rush on third and long pissed me off to no end. We sent two guys every time, with a delayed third, and let the qb calmly scan the field. I think we did better on third and short yardage situations than we did with 8 or more to go.
 
Speaking of Polk, I saw him on tv standing and walking normally along the sidelines looking pretty healthy- had no sign of a gimp or anything indicating he was still seriously injured. Hope he is back soon.. anyone have an update on this?

A poster on 247 said up to 6 games when the injury first happened. I'd be interested to hear an update too.
 
Honestly, they are protecting Terrell Smith more than the true frosh CB's. TS is awful in pass coverage, and consistently bites on fakes and underneath routes when we go to zone, leaving Kenneth Crawley completely on his own. We kept our better pass coverage safeties (Moseley/Bell) to their good WR's side, then put Crawley, more often than not, in deep zone having to cover the entire 3d of the field. A lot of long 3d down completions (including the TD) against Crawley were when the WR would run a post to the seam of the cover 3 zone.

The TD, especially, was not Crawley's fault. Maybe with more experience he gambles and goes after the guy harder, but TS vacated his intermediate zone to go after an underneath route which opened the window for the throw.

Crawley was told to play safe and deep and make sure nothing got behind him, cause he was usually on his own out there. He did a good job of that. Not to say he had a good day, but he was being coached not to fail spectacularly and often was on his own without help of any kind. Hard to have a good day like that. Hell, on the pass breakup in the endzone, Terrell had deep responsibilty and let the guy get behind him. Only an underthrown ball (and a hell of a great play by Crawley) saved the TD.

Basically, we need Polk back bad so we can unleash our corners more. And hope we can get someone else in at safety on passing downs.

Probably true. And all the more perplexing why the only safety we have committed this year is a carbon copy of him..

[video=youtube;AG7LjVCj50Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG7LjVCj50Y[/video]
 
Anyone notice that with 25 seconds until half and WSU punting to inside our 20 yard line Embree didn't put anyone back to return the punt. It took him a year to figure this out but he finally got it right. Progress! #learningonthejob
 
I think I remember Highlander's OP being excellent and worthy of serious discussion. Every time I tried to get my thoughts together, though... boobs.

Good thread. Would read again.
 
I think I remember Highlander's OP being excellent and worthy of serious discussion. Every time I tried to get my thoughts together, though... boobs.

Good thread. Would stare at the boobs again.
FIFY


Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2
 
Anyone notice that with 25 seconds until half and WSU punting to inside our 20 yard line Embree didn't put anyone back to return the punt. It took him a year to figure this out but he finally got it right. Progress! #learningonthejob
Yes. In many facets, it seemed like a different staff. It was almost as if the staff played a whole bunch of NCAA '13 and figured out how to win.
 
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