First, why the picture of the real-life Hakuna Matada? Why, it means “no worries for the rest of your days“, or something like that, via Timon and Pumbaa in the Lion King, of course. Basically just chill, you know? And with that, let’s just not fret right now, ala the story of Johnny Forzani leaving the program. Seriously.
You can worry about what the offense is going to do in search of a vertical threat. That I totally get. You can wring your hands over not having enough playmakers on the offense right now. Totally and completely understandable, and it’s a given to go that route when your fastest wide receiver suddenly leaves the program when spring practice starts next week. But as many of you already know, yeah, the wide receiver position? It’s about a hell of a lot MORE than just running really fast! There is a real level of understanding, technique, etc, from the way you run your routes to the way you use your hands, to the way you understand coverages and how you get on the same page with the QB in thinks like picking up blitzes or when and where to break off your route, that it is just so much more than being able to run a 4.4 40-yard dash.
Remember Jeshua Anderson? We’re talking one of the fastest NCAA athletes in the country last year, an NCAA track champion. He left the program after just two games last season, catching four balls. In ’08, he had 33 catches for 305 yards. ’07 was where he opened some eyes, averaging an unreal 31 YARDS PER CATCH (on just 12 catches though, seriously small sample size). But I know I was right there, arm in arm with Cougs everywhere, in thinking he was going to be the big key to last year’s offense in the way he could stretch the field and make defensive backs respect his ability to run right past them.
You know what though? It never happened, and the reasons are many. In ’07, he benefitted from playing with some tremendous wideouts in Michael Bumpus and Brandon Gibson, and yeah, those guys attracted a lot of attention. And he had the benefit of a senior QB/4-year starter in Alex Brink, who had a clue of how and where to deliver the football. And in ’08, he came back down to earth, averaging just over 9 yards per catch for the season (yeah, that was with an awful offense and new QB’s and all that, but still, 9 yards per catch from your deep threat?).
But I think the most obvious thing was that Anderson’s heart just wasn’t in it. He was a track-first guy, all the way, and football just kind of passed the time between track seasons. Remember, he actually contemplated leaving football a couple of times in the past, so you know it just wasn’t a priority to him and his future. The body may have been on the football field, but, the heart and the mind were probably somewhere else…..
The point to this seemingly endless rambling? The word on the street (OK, message boards) is that, well, Forzani wasn’t exactly 100% dialed in to becoming a really good player. Let’s not trash the kid, but let’s also just say that maybe, just maybe, his heart wasn’t into whatever it takes to make that big step forward? Again, I know I was counting on his improvement to help open things up on offense, and was looking forward to see what he would do this spring. But in the end, that may have been wishful thinking. If the kid wasn’t “all in” to becoming a better player, then 2010 might have just been a repeat of his 2009, 9-catch season, with some big-play flashes here and there but mainly an inconsistent presence as a deep threat. So that’s the end of that. Good luck to Mr. Forzani. Hey, we’ll always have the 99-yarder vs. ASU!
JC transfer Isiah Barton is your new leader in the clubhouse when it comes to becoming THAT GUY who can make a defensive back turn and run. There’s no doubting the wheels, and in the end he may prove to be a considerably better option in the passing game when it’s all said and done. I guess we’ll see this fall, but his tape is impressive:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Lysk7bpXI&w=400&h=295]Moving on…..
- A REALLY good read from Paul Wilson over at Cougfan in regards to the newly-announced bye week change for the upcoming football season. If you missed it, WSU announced that they have moved the game vs. Cal up to November 6th, therefore there would be no home game on the Saturday of Thanksgiving break in Pullman! And hey, that means the Cougs now get TWO whole weeks to prep for the Apple Cup! What a great thing, right? Well….maybe not. Per the article:
“Washington State now has to play 11 weeks straight — without a bye week.
All those who think the Pac-10 Athletic Directors would have stuck USC with playing 11 weeks straight, raise your hands. Didn’t think so.
Auburn had 11 straight weeks before a bye last year. They started out 5-0 and were ranked No. 17 in the country. They finished the regular season at 7-5.“
Oh. A young, notoriously thin team playing 11 straight weeks? Ouch. 11 straight weeks for any team in the country is tough, but when you lack a ton of depth in a sport where injuries are going to occur, well, it stings. Let’s hope they can figure something out in the future, if/when they expand or whatever happens there, and that the Cougs can get a mid-season bye week to lick their wounds.
- An interesting update on Okie State’s spring practice session, which opened last week. It’s been highlighted before, but wow, the Cowpokes are young, young, young, with 15 new starters AND a new offensive system to learn?
Hmmm….makes one wonder about what we’ll see when the season opens up in Stillwater in September? I know that’s a long way off, but I don’t know….hmmm. We’ll take a much closer look at Okie State with our “Spring Fish Wrap” series, starting in a month or so.
That’s about it for now. Enjoy your March Madness Thursday, and as always, GO COUGS!
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