Let It Burn

Hello Followers. Hope you are having great week.

As for me, well, because I am an international man of love, mystery, fashion, and BLING, I decided that today would be a good day to introduce you to one of my long time best friends.

Yep, the Usher man and Sutra are tight–kind of like peas and carrots. And because we are such good friends, I thought I’d hit you all with what I think are some of Usher’s freshest and most powerful lyrics:

When your feeling ain’t the same, and your body don’t want to,
But you know gotta let it go,
Cuz the party ain’t jumpin’ like it used to ( Even though this might ruin you)
Let it burn, Let it burn,
Gotta let it burn!

Wanna know what the hell I’m talkin’ bout here?

Then how bout readin’ on???????

Nation. I know that what I am going to say is going to pain some of you mightily. But, I think it is important for us to remind ourselves that, in spite of HUMONGOUS progress in the turnover department–as well as significant improvement overall–our defense is still not very good.

Now, mind you, part of the reason why our defense struggles is because our offense and offensive line has been battered, resulting in our D being on the field WAAAYYY too much. But, it is also important to remember that this D stops no one early; and has gotten TORCHED by Hawaii, run over by Stanford, DEVOURED by Oregon, and in spite of SIX TAKEWAYS, still allowed 27 points to a bad Arizona State offense!

Now, lets take a look at our next eight opponents:

1) @Cal
2) @ND
3) @Arizona
4) UCLA
5) Oregon State
6) @UW
7) @ClayBennett State
8) @SMU

When you look at the teams in bold, you will probably notice right away what they all have in common: GOOD passers who have lots of good guys to throw to.

And, as we have seen, the teams that we tend to REALLY struggle with, are teams that are able to throw the ball around.

Moreover, as we look at the start of next season–a year where we will REALLY need to show progress–we see that we’ve got a near Texas two step against high octane aerial offenses. On top of that, those games are going to be played in mind-numbing heat and humidity where the runners tend to drop like flies.

So, as we head toward the second half of Distaster-Rebuild Part II, we need to look at the progress of our secondary. And here is what we know right now:

1) Justin is okay.
2) Simmons was GOOD, but now is out for the year.
3) B. Jones has yet to get a “B” in anything on the field.
4) Chima needs to stay in his safety spot.

What that all means to me is that the welfare of our secondary down the stretch is really suspect–not only in terms of performance, but also because of the lack of depth we have to aid these kids as they try to improve. And for me that means that the time has come for the following course of action:

BURN THE REDSHIRTS OFF WASHINGTON AND CARPENTER!

I know that some of you will vehemently disagree with this, but at this point, to do anything else would be foolish. For one, W&C are not going to get better playing against the worst offense in the Pac. They need to get better playing against better competition (and as they get better, so too will our WRs).

Second: we have a crop of incoming freshmen DBs who are burners. If those kids redshirt, then there will be a two year separation between W&C and our new recruits. If they don’t redshirt, then suddenly we’ll have a ton of depth.

Third: We need to make progress THIS YEAR so we can win some games NEXT year. Truly, nothing could be worse than to be lit up for 350 yards passing in 4 of our next 6 games, and then be TROUNCED in our games next year because we were too green at DB.

Fourth: Most of our kids are still in the “reaction” mode of their careers. And for good reason. It takes time to learn how to play the game the right way against elite Pac-10 competition. Unfortunately, when you’re tired, your mind doesn’t work in optimal ways. And when your mind isn’t clear, you make mistakes. And when you make mistakes consistently due to fatigue, you develop bad habits. Or, even worse, you get injured.

So, with six games left, its time to lift the RED and watch Washington and Carpenter make their Pac-10 beds for the first time. Sure they’ll get burned, but in the process they’ll learn and improve. And as they do, our LBs will have more freedom to blitz, our coverages will be better, and by year’s end, we might have a chance to steal one. And at the very least, they WILL be prepared to help us win some games out of the gate next year.

Let the kids play.

Let the kids play!!!!!