Happy Monday Cougs, and welcome to another week as the calendar flips over to October. Five games down (already?), and a big one this Saturday in Corvallis, hmmm? I remember earlier in the year, our own Sutra pegged the Oregon State game as the “swing game” of the season for our beloved Cougs. Win that one, and many things are possible. But lose it? Well, it could sink the entire season. But that analysis was likely done with the idea that the Cougs could be 4-1 or 3-2 – at WORST – right now, not 2-3 and suddenly in dire need to get a W. And it may not have factored in the idea that OSU would be undefeated the first weekend into October!
The Beavs are already a 14.5 pt fav, after the line apparently opened at 11.5, so the money is coming down on orange and black right now. The Beavs were last seen rallying to beat Arizona on Saturday night, as QB Sean Mannion drove the offense down the field for a late TD to take a late lead. The D then picked off Matt Scott on the ensuing Wildcat drive, and that was it.
Anyway, lots to get to this morning so let’s get started…..
Christian Caple’s latest blog post has some good stuff, including news that WSU cancelled Sunday night’s practice. Caple runs down some of the WSU national stats so far this season, now 5 games old, and tells it like it is – the passing game is OK if you are enamored in total yards, now up to 12th in the nation in that category. But the efficiency is interesting, as they are now 83rd in the country. Not great. Now a lot of that can be placed on the growing pains of one Connor Halliday, as the completion percentage is in the low-50’s and he is starting to see the INT total climb a bit, now up to 6 in a little over 3 games of action. One can assume (hope?) that we will see 1) the completion percentage rise as everyone starts to figure out the easy stuff that’s out there, and 2) the INT’s will also settle down as they figure out the easy stuff! We’ll see, because even though we are already five games in to 2012, we still have a LONG journey ahead.
Another aspect of Caple’s post was something about Marquess Wilson. Apparently Connor Halliday mentioned on Saturday night that he doesn’t understand the heat Marquess has been taking with the drops, while other receivers are dropping them too!? I think it’s an easy answer though, at least as far as what I’ve seen thus far. Wilson has dropped some big passes, up to three TD’s that he probably should have had this season. Receivers drop balls, it happens, absolutely. But Wilson is the “elder statesman” of the skill positions, the kid who is deep into his third season of being a starting player on this team. He has made some of the most spectacular catches we have ever seen a player make in crimson-n-gray, and at times with his length and athleticism and silky smooth style just makes it look almost TOO EASY at times. So the problem is that we have a considerably high level of expectations when it comes to Wilson, and he has set that bar extremely high himself. So when he drops a ball we all deem “catchable”, it frustrates the common fan to no end. How in the world can he drop an easy TD pass, when we have seen him go up in traffic and “Randy Moss” people, making some of the most difficult catches you will ever see?? I mean he’s not even halfway through his junior season and he’s already the all-time leading WR in school history in career yards, and yet we still find it easy to criticize when he isn’t perfect. We just expect perfection when it’s just not possible for a guy who has been incredibly productive. I guess it’s the curse of being a GREAT player, and the often unrealistic expectations that come with it!
Moving on, another week, another blog ballot from yours truly. Enjoy:
WSU Football Blog Ballot – Week 5
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | — |
| 2 | Oregon Ducks | — |
| 3 | LSU Tigers | — |
| 4 | Florida St. Seminoles | — |
| 5 | Georgia Bulldogs | — |
| 6 | West Virginia Mountaineers |  3 |
| 7 | South Carolina Gamecocks |  -1 |
| 8 | Kansas St. Wildcats | — |
| 9 | Florida Gators | 3 |
| 10 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | — |
| 11 | Texas Longhorns | — |
| 12 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | 3 |
| 13 | USC Trojans | — |
| 14 | Oregon St. Beavers | 3 |
| 15 | TCU Horned Frogs | -1 |
| 16 | Clemson Tigers | 2 |
| 17 | Stanford Cardinal | -10 |
| 18 | Oklahoma Sooners | -2 |
| 19 | Louisville Cardinals | — |
| 20 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | 1 |
| 21 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 1 |
| 22 | Northwestern Wildcats | — |
| 23 | UCLA Bruins | — |
| 24 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | — |
| 25 | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | -2 |
| Dropouts: Michigan St. Spartans, Baylor Bears, Boise St. Broncos | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »
Some quick hits – Alabama still looks strong, and I think the Ducks are an extremely strong #2. I kept LSU at #3, even though they have seemed to not look like they are all that at the moment. Further down the line, Stanford tumbles down 10 spots, while the Beavs rise to #14 off their impressive road win at Arizona (always hard to win on the road in this league!). And sorry UW, I almost did it but felt an unbeaten Texas Tech deserves it a little more than you right now. The win over Stanford was a huge step though, nobody can deny that. Obviously if you win at Oregon this Saturday you’ll wake up Sunday at, like, #15 or something. But for now you are just on the outside.
Finally, we did another podcast last night. It was just Sutra, Longball and myself, but we quickly filled the half hour with Coug talk, post-Oregon/pre-Oregon State. Check it out:
NOTE – if you can’t get the embedded player to work, you can always hit this link and check it out on the blogtalkradio.com website.
That’s about it for now. Enjoy your Monday, and of course, GO COUGS!
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