{"id":272926,"date":"2015-10-19T14:30:39","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T19:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wsufootballblog.com\/?p=2900"},"modified":"2015-10-19T14:30:39","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T19:30:39","slug":"measuring-stick-time-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Measuring Stick Time: Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Measuring<\/p>\n

Hello Followers.\u00a0 Hope you are doing great!<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, I put myself \u201cout there\u201d a little bit by all-but guaranteeing a win against the Oregon Ducks<\/a>.\u00a0 And the reason for that bravado was simple:\u00a0 I thought we posed a significant match-up problem for the Ducks.<\/p>\n

Of course, that same type of match-up problem was also evident in spades on Saturday\u2014especially in the first half.\u00a0 Once again, we showed that teams that cannot pressure Luke Falk \u00a0consistently are going to get lit up.\u00a0 And since Oregon State\u2019s secondary needed a lot of help from their linebackers, they were not able to mount much pressure against Falk.<\/p>\n

\"Measuring<\/p>\n

And the rout was on early (and, in a stunning fashion) as a consequence.<\/p>\n

The good news is that Arizona\u2019s defensive front seven (six?) is nothing to write home about either\u2014especially with Scooby Wright sitting on the sidelines.\u00a0 And for that reason, we should all be pretty darn optimistic that we will see the offense move the ball and score points this Saturday (assuming that River Cracraft and Tavares Martin are, in fact, healthy<\/a>). \u00a0 And for that reason, we should all expect to see a strong effort from our offense in Tucson this Saturday…<\/p>\n

But the flip side of Saturday\u2019s wonderful performance was also a healthy dose of reality. \u00a0And that reality is as follows:\u00a0 We are still below average on the defensive side of the ball<\/strong>.<\/span>\u00a0 And for that reason, I think that we can expect to get exposed in a major way over the next two games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is definitely a “measuring stick” kind of game..<\/p>\n

So, with that background in mind, here are my quick schizophrenic takes for this Monday\u2026<\/p>\n

Will the Real Cougar D Stand Up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We all saw the potential of this Cougar defense in our game against CAL. But that potential is really going to be put to the test over the next four games. Because for the next two games against Arizona and Stanford,\u00a0this group is going up against two teams that absolutely beat the tar out of us last year. \u00a0For example, Arizona has an offense that can truly spread you\u00a0out horizontally in the run game, all the while maintaining that real threat to kill us over the top with the vertical passing game (See: \u00a0Anu\u00a0Solomon has 13 TD’s\u00a0and ZERO\u00a0picks on the year).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Measuring<\/p>\n

Then, with Stanford, we have a legit National Title contender that has an offensive line that eclipses anything we have seen to date….<\/p>\n

In other words, a big part of me thinks we should prepare for the possibility of an ugly slide to 4-4 .\u00a0 Because no matter\u00a0what Vegas says about both contests, \u00a0we should be considered MAJOR underdogs in both of these games.<\/p>\n

\"Measuring<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But There\u2019s Room For Hope!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I genuinely am expecting to lose \u00a0a 48-30 type affair on Saturday in Arizona, the fact of the matter is that our offense may be good enough to win the game all by itself. And if they do, then College Gameday will be coming to Pullman for Halloween. \u00a0Now that ESPN has scheduled the Stanford game for a 7:30 PM PST start, it is right in the Worldwide Leader’s\u00a0wheelhouse if the Cougs can get to 5-2.<\/p>\n

\"Measuring<\/p>\n

And for this reason alone, I encourage all of us to sit back and enjoy watching this team mature.\u00a0 After watching lots of football on Saturday, I remain convinced that this team is well positioned to be a real force on a national level in 2016. So, this year is about enjoying the process\u2014even if that requires an\u00a0experience two weeks in the valley before Arizona State comes to town!\u00a0 And oh-by-the-way, NO Cougar team in the modern era that has made it to a 4-2 start had failed to finish with less than six wins.<\/strong> So, here\u2019s to thinking that we\u2019re going to take care of that bowl eligibility thing this year.<\/p>\n

Ah, hell, LET\u2019S GO FRICKIN’ DO THIS!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday, the ESPN Pac-12 blog slotted us fourth in their Pac-12 power rankings<\/a>. Today, Ken Goe of the Oregonian did the same.<\/a> So, even though those rankings are not intended to be predictive, there\u2019s growing sentiment that the Cougs are now a force to be reckoned with in the Pac-12.<\/p>\n

So, win\u00a0this Saturday, the bottom line is that we’re 60 Minutes from College GameDay!!!<\/p>\n

\"Measuring<\/p>\n

Who\u2019d have thought that possibility even existed just one short month ago?<\/p>\n

All for now. Go Cougs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Followers.\u00a0 Hope you are doing great! A few weeks ago, I put myself \u201cout there\u201d a little bit by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[271814401],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMeasuring Stick Time: Part One - The Sports Daily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Measuring Stick Time: Part One\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Sports Daily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-19T19:30:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cbsseattle.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/10\/gettyimages-493141496_master.jpg?w=572\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alan Draper\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c8aadde2571800d0de74323730df7b5\"},\"headline\":\"Measuring Stick Time: Part One\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-19T19:30:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-10-19T19:30:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/\"},\"wordCount\":759,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cbsseattle.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/10\/gettyimages-493141496_master.jpg?w=572\",\"articleSection\":[\"WSU Football Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2015\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/measuring-stick-time-part-one\/\",\"name\":\"Measuring Stick Time: Part One - 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