Interesting. Take at ESPN. WSU is 4th?? That’s the first prediction I’ve seen where they are considered “upper division” finishers. Of course it’s an ESPN insider deal to get anything beyond the usual fluff of finishes, first-teamers and the like. Still, 4th. Not bad. Oh, and check out who’s 10th.
Meanwhile, KJR had Doba on tonight for an interview, as the Coug staff showed up at Seahawks camp today in Cheney where KJR was broadcasting. Apparently the Wazzu staff has been doing this for a while, as the entire staff watches Holmgren and company run an NFL practice. They stick around for lunch, and then head back. I guess that tradition will end once the Hawks move to Renton starting in ’08, but who knows, maybe they’ll make the trip west. You have to believe they get something out of it, other than hand-delivering a resume here and there! 🙂
Doba’s interview wasn’t much you won’t find elsewhere, other than he hit on one key thing that I think has been repeated elsewhere. He said that if the Auburn game was scheduled for 2005, he absolutely would have squashed the idea from the get-go. He always felt that he they were too young last year in key spots, and as the mistakes and failure to close out games showed for all of 2005, he was right. He went on to say that not only is he glad they are playing down there this year, citing some strong, experienced leadership on both sides of the ball, but he’s actually glad it’s the first game. He said provided they don’t suffer any major injuries, it could really set up their season, no matter what happens. He also mentioned that while it’s changed recently, still, the prevailing style down there is very basic offensive systems. Of course with Superior in South Carolina and Meyer’s spread offense at Florida, this ain’t your traditional SEC game where the QB might throw it 15 times, all to the TE and all from the I formation!
But Auburn does play a rather conservative offense, a between the tackles kind of attack with Irons and Cox takes care of the ball. What does that mean to us? Well, that COULD mean that Auburn’s D isn’t exactly 100% ready to see an offense that spreads the field and exploits mismatches like our Cougs always seem to do. Auburn will be finishing up with a month of scrimmages, and other than watching film, you don’t really know what you are in for until the ball is kicked off.
We’ll see. I’m not calling a win, I’m not making predictions or anything – that stuff is coming – but there is at least a feel that this could be the ultimate snake in the grass, low expectations, opening game shocker that sets some people on their collective asses!
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