Hello Followers.
Well, tonight, the mighty Aztecs mounted a 28 point (unanswered) assault on our beloved Cougies en route to their first win against a Pac-10/12 oppontent EVER. The final tally: 42-28 in a game that was EERILY reminiscent of the 44-33 loss to Oregon State in 2005 that turned a 3-0 start into a 4-7 season.
Overall, a completely disasterous loss for our football team. Couple of key turning points in a game that saw us beaten in the departments of offense, defense, special teams, and unfortunately, COACHING:
1) Up 17-14 in the second quarter, we get the ball on the 35 or so with about 7:00 left in the half. At that point our defense had been on the field for 18 of 22 minutes. Our play selection: A bomb to Wilson down the sideline (incomplete). A nice slant to Barton for 8. Then, on third and two we get cute and go for a reverse to Barton that gets stuffed. Total time elapsed: about 1:00 minute. My response: WTF was that?
2) Up 24-14 in the third quarter, we get a GREAT stop early in the second half. At that point, we’re about ready to get the ball-seemingly ready to go up 31-14 or 27-14 at worst. And, of course, our coaching staff brings the house to try to BLOCK THE KICK???!!! The end result: A roughing/running into the kicker penalty that brings the game to one touchdown. And that really was it–at least in my book (Also too: One could make a STRONG case that the only stops we had in the entire game were due to a lack of executioin by SDSU as much as good execution by us.)
Beyond that, what we saw the rest of the game was as follows:
1) The defense is better but still has a LONG WAY to go. In particular, our corner play is as bad as many of us feared. Moreover, we still have shown NO ability to generate a pass rush up the middle, and our big defensive playmakers–LONG, MIZELL, and POLE had really subpar games in my book.
2) Marshall came back down to earth. Mind you, he played a really good game in parts. But, in the end, he had a Dave Krieg soapdish pass/fumble and a couple of balls that were grossly underthrown. The end result: Not a horrible performance, but when your D is still sub-par, you need greatness from that position to win. And Marshall, sadly is just not a great quarterback.
Final Points:
Grippi reported that Tuel looked good before the start of the game and will be x-rayed on Monday to determine his status. We best hope he gets back soon, because as of now, THERE IS NO WAY THAT THIS TEAM CAN WIN FOUR CONFERENCE GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, in view of that sad fact, the bye week is coming for us at THE MOST opportune time. Time for everyone to look at the tape, get better (HEAR THAT COACHES!!!!!!!), and prepare for what is now not only a gut check–but a must win against a Colorado team that is every bit as talented as the team we faced today.
The road just got tough, followers. Maybe too tough to save jobs.
All for now. Go Cougs.
(You can follow the Coug-A-Sutra on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cougsutra )
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