Welcome!

Instead of throwing around e-mails all the time on all things WSU football, I thought it might be easier and more fun to have a running web blog. What do you guys think? I will send you guys a login in and password so you can log in with your responses, and we can just keep a running tally for the rest of the year.

Here is a recap of an e-mail that I just sent Lawson, but Rooster, I keep getting bounced by your e-mail:

Lawson thought are in for a serious QB controversy, where I responded:

Sorry Mikey, but I totally disagree. I heard him on the coaches show last night and he further clarified his statement. He said “Josh Swogger is the starter, period. He earned the job in the spring, he earned it again this fall, he’s the captain, he’s our starter.” Bob Robertson then asked him “is this like a starting pitcher and a reliver situation, where the starter will go a certain amount and then the reliever closes it out?” and Doba said “no. If the starting pitcher is getting absolutely blown out, shelled, well, we know we have a capable reliever in the bullpen that we can bring in to try and save the game. But it won’t happen often, if at all. Josh is our ace and he’s the guy we’re going to go with the rest of the year.” He also said he made Rosie sit down with both QB’s on Sunday night and they talked through a variety of things, then after films they talked again and the decision to stick with Swoggs was unanimous. There will NOT BE A QB CONTROVERSY THIS YEAR!

UW outtake – contrast that with UW, there one day it’s Paus, the next day it’s Bonnell, then it’s back to Paus will play but so will Bonnell, then it’s Paus will play the whole game, NOW it’s Bonnell will get a few series! Now that is a QB controversy! A little bird told me that straight from the fat horse’s mouth last week, that once things go to hell this year (and they are actually expecting to be bad the rest of the year, sub-500 for sure) that they are going to roll out Bonnell by the middle of the season and he will be the QB the rest of the way. The thinking is that the fans will accept a losing season much easier if they sell it as a “learning” experience with a young QB, vs. going nowhere with Paus who will be a senior next year, or struggling even worse with Stanbeck. Once that happens, you’ll see Bonnell the starter, Paus the backup, and they are going to move Stanbeck to a slot position on offense to get the ball in his hands in the open field.

Don’t worry, it’s Swogger the rest of the way…..unless he STINKS so friggin’ bad he can’t do anything right, which I highly doubt.

Doba said some other interesting things re: Saturday. Said that Colorado blitzed only 4 times against CSU, but they blitzed 30 times (!) against the Cougs! Doba called up Craig Bray after the game (Bray was a WSU coach under Doba, now a secondary coach at CU) and asked why they did that, what did they see in WSU to make them blitz that much, and Bray said it was less about WSU and more about CU’s DB’s. He said they were way too young and vulnerable back there, and so they felt they had no choice but to blitz. Doba said the blitz packages were nothing they had seen from Colorado, so there were mistakes made not only by Swoggs, but by the WR’s and o-line as well.

Doba also said that, of course, that it wasn’t all Swogger’s fault. The WR’s were cutting off routes too early, or too late, or whatever. He said the drops were awful and that the WR’s are working with Levy the rest of the week on some new things, so who knows?

Doba was asked where the shotgun offense was. He said that they have it in the offense, but they have been reluctant to use it. He said the reason is they are worried about Swogger taking his eyes off the coverage for a second or two to catch the snap, and that for a young QB, they feel that it’s better for him to NEVER take his eyes off the defense, and if he takes his traditional 5-7 step drops, it’s better for him to see the whole field at all times. Doba said they felt great about using it last year with Kegel because he was a senior who had seen a lot of things, and pretty much knew EXACTLY what to do before the ball was even snapped. It’s not the case with young QB’s as they continue to learn on the job. They are strongly considering it for this week, however, and Doba said specifically to help improve the running game.

Doba was asked about the running game, again, and if they would consider more 2-back or double-tights. Doba said “what, were you at practice today??” and he kind of laughed it off. He then said “I don’t want to share any secrets for this Saturday, but that is an EXCELLENT question and something we will strongly consider!” It was funny, but also it sure sounds like we’re going to see some extra emphasis on the run (no surprise, given it’s Idaho).

Doba said that Cook and Ropati are both out at least 3 weeks with leg injuries. They are hopeful both are going to be back for the Oregon game, but for now, they are out for the next 2 games. They will start Johnson and Howard in the middle, and they will move some other guys around. They might even slide Braidwood into a DT slot on obvious passing downs and bring in a rush end like Bobo, something to that effect, to not only help the pass rush but to give those DT’s a breather. They are concerned about the next two weeks, so much so that they are moving one lineman (Boyer?) from offense to defense, and they will also get another kid off the practice squad to help fill in. Doba mentioned the heat at Arizona, and even though the game is 9/25, it’s been moved to the day hours for TV purposes, so it’ll likely still be in the 90’s. So depth will be important as that will be the hottest weather they’ve felt since mid-August, and that could be a concern, especially if we can’t run the ball and the d is on the field for 40 minutes!

All in all, a great coaches show. It’s never THAT bad (unless you are Idaho), and it’s never that good (unless you are USC)!