Hello Followers. Hope your week is off to a great start.
Today, I help put a wrap on the Southern Utah game, hand out some game balls, and give you another fantabulous set of rankings for the Pac-12 conference. So, let's get to it, shall we?.
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First, a few words about the Southern Utah game. First, as Sean noted, it gets really easy when you’re playing a 1-AA direction school to find a whole bunch of little things to get upset about. But, when the final score reads 48-10, poking holes in our performance basically amounts to some pretty petty nit-picking.
So, instead of harping on the things I didn’t like about what I saw on Saturday, here are the two things that I think were undeniable.
Undeniable Sutra Truth Number 1: Connor Halliday is our starting quarterback
Those of you who are smarter than me know that Connor Halliday has been our starting quarterback since the season began. But on Saturday, I think we all learned that Connor is not only our starter, he’s starter 1 A-Z. Not only did he put up some really terrific numbers—including completing his first twelve passes—he threw a couple of the prettiest deep balls that we ever could see. Moreover, when we saw the jitters exhibited by Austin at the end of the game against a poor team AT HOME, we can all imagine what his play would have looked like in our first two games on the road.
Of course, the good news in all of this is that for the first time in few years, we can just put the quarterback talk to bed. We can sit back, root for Connor to do well, learn from his mistakes, and continue to make strides toward realizing the full potential of the Air Raid offense. And for a fanbase that has lived with quarterback angst for much of the past 10 years, that is a welcome thought indeed.
Undeniable Sutra Truth Number 2: Our defense is the best it’s been since 2006 if not 2003
To be honest, the first half the game had me a bit concerned about the future prospects of the Hair Raid defense—especially when their All-American JC quarterback was dinking and dunking us to death underneath. But the focus and resolve our defensive unit in the second half—we still have yet to allow a touchdown in the second half this season—really quieted those doubts. And frankly, I don’t think I can ever remember us creating so much havoc without blitzing.
Of course, the big reason for that is the play of our defensive line. But the other is that since the Washington game, our linebackers have done a better job covering space than they have in a really long time. And so, when you combine all that with improved play in the secondary, well, you get a team that is stopping the run AND keeping the game in front of them in the passing game. If we can continue to play this way, this team has a really, really good shot at winning 8 games. And in spite of the rankings you will see below, I really am not kidding about that.
The Gameballs
Connor Halliday—Threw one pick that turns out wasn’t his fault. Otherwise, outside of a few series, he not only played well, he also managed the game. Importantly, we broke the 40 point mark for the first time in the Leach era. Also, we’re now 1-0 when we score more than 30 points.
Dominique Williams—It’s hard not to watch other teams—especially teams like Oregon State—and not be struck by the importance of having big time playmakers on your roster. On Saturday, Dom took advantage of his first start of the year and acted like a deep threat that teams need to worry about. Again, if we want to see this team obtain bowl eligibility, we are going to need to show that we can stretch the field. Dom looks like that guy. Good for him.
Daquawn Brown—Didn’t start but again made his presence felt on the field. The one-handed interception—facilitated by Byers—was a thing of beauty. I challenge all of the faithful to name a freshman WSU cornerback who looks more impressive than Brown does right now. He’s one of the reasons why this group is starting to generate a feel that is similar to that of the 2012 Oregon State Beavers who won 9 games and went to the Alamo Bowl.
Andrew Furney—Might be a bit of an odd pick. But, when I saw him drill that 46-47 yarder in the second half on Saturday I thought back to Oregon’s woes at placekicker and thought: Wow—not only did Furney kick the game winner against SC, he might just kick a few more big ones as the season progresses. And truly, if we had to kick a 50 yard field goal to win or tie against the Trees in a couple of weeks how good would you feel about our chances? My view: Mr. Furney is giving teams plenty of reason to get worried if we're in striking distance at the end of games.
Pac-12 Rankings Week 3
1. Oregon—The main limitation with previous Oregon teams was the difficulty they had throwing the ball when the run game was ineffective. And, although Tennessee didn’t do much to stop the run, the fact that Mariotta threw for 450 yards should make everyone in the Pac12 plenty afraid. Simply put, they look dominant. And at this point, only the two Washington schools look like they may have the D and the firepower to possibly derail the Ducks (no, I don’t see that happening).
2. UCLA—To be sure, this Nebraska team is not the Huskers of old. What’s more, Florida State’s manhandling of Nevada last weekend provides just concern that UCLA’s opponents may not be very good. But, when I look at that offense plus the athletes they have on defense, well, they look awfully good for me. Last week, I suggested that that Bruins could be a BCS crasher. I still think that way.
3. Stanford—Two things about Stanford’s showing last week. First, as David Shaw suggested, it usually takes a half to adjust to playing against an option team. Second, I think the Trees left much of their playbook in Palo Alto for this weekend’s game against the Sun Devils. So, I’m pumping them down in the pecking order simply because of style points. That said, I think UCLA-Stanford is a pick-em game on a neutral field.
4. Washington—Huskies look like the real deal for me, especially with the way that Mr. Sankey is running the ball. At this point, the Pups have 6 wins totally in the bag. But that three game stretch against Stanford, Oregon, and ASU will tell us all about whether the Huskies are a contender or a pretender.
5. Arizona State—Amazing how playing a ranked FBS opponent can make a team look mortal. While I still think that ASU could lay the wood to Stanford this weekend, I was struck by how much slower the Devils DB’s looked relative to some of Wisconsin’s skill position players. They may still be a year or two away. We’ll find out soon enough.
6. Oregon State—Yes, I know that their D is still struggling. And yes, I know that they lost to a 1-AA school that just got beat handily by a MAC school. But, when I look at their speed at the skill positions, coupled with Mannion’s play, well, I just don’t see us beating them on a neutral field. In fact, if we were to play OSU tomorrow in Martin, I think I’d pick them to beat us. Simply put, Mannion’s totals of 1300 yards, 12 TDS, and 1 INT are not only terrific numbers, they’re HEISMAN numbers. Teams are going to have to score a lot to beat them.
7. Washington State—The defense looks like it could be upper division while the offense is beginning to show a pulse. The latter must improve if we want to finish in the top half of the conference.
8. USC—A nice bounce back victory against BC last week. This week, they take another step forward by pounding Utah State. They still might emerge as a top 4 team in the conference by season’s end.
9. Utah—A tough loss to Oregon State is about to be followed by another tough loss in the Holy War. At the beginning of the year, we all talked about how we could be significantly improved but still win only 4 games. With tilts coming up against Stanford and UCLA, that outlook might have best described the Utes.
10. Arizona—3-0 and ranked tenth? Well, we’re going to learn plenty about the Wildcats when they come to Muttlake in a few weeks. As of now, they look like a team that can be beaten by putting 15 guys in the box. They just don’t look like they can throw the ball and their defense, while improved, just doesn’t look that hot to me.
11. Colorado—Still undefeated but that doesn’t figure to last long with upcoming games against Oregon State, Oregon, and Arizona State.
12. CAL—Ah, that Sonny Dikes. So much offense, so little time. So little defense, so little time. While Goff looks terrific, it looked like Ohio State was playing catch for most of the game. Hopefully, the Bears will start to figure it out after we leave Berkeley in a few weeks. That game continues to mean EVERYTHING for our season.
Okay, that’s all I got for today. I’ll be back Friday with my last lay-up game pick for the season.
Enjoy the rest of your week and Go Cougs!!!
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