Greetings Coug Nation. Sorry for the late post as some technical difficulties/tailgate fun set us back a bit in the ability to get it done. But now we're back.
With regards to the game, well, we got what we all thought we would see. We're better, but we sure have a long way to go. And while I think that we will win a few games this year, we clearly look like a 10th place team after Week One.
Couple of brief thoughts:
1) Lopina is our man. Ironically, Marshall showed that all things equal, he throws a better ball. But the tempo and flow of the offense was SO MUCH better with Lopina. In fact, if Lopina would have played the entire game, I think we would have covered.
2) Our defense played better as the game went on. That said, our DTs just didn't have ANY push up the middle in passing situations. Obviously, that has to change if we are to win any games in the Pac-10 this year. (I did like what I saw from Alex Hoffman-Ellis, Louis Bland, Travis Long, and Jason Stripling, though..of course, great hit by Block). That said, Andy Mattingly earns player of the game and maybe the year: IF he doesn't run around the whole backside of the O-Line to sack Andrew Luck on the goal line stand before the end of the half, we enter the locker room down 30-3 and might have been on our way to 60-6.
3) We're still too slow. Sir Vincent Grippi obviously tipped us off to that last week. But our lack of speed still shows--especially on special teams. That fact, in particular, has to be our biggest concern moving forward, including how we look at our fortunes for next year. I think the coaches need to seriously reconsider Markle's redshirt given his reported 4.7 speed in the middle.
4) More Mitz, More Mitz. The overall play of Tardy and Monty sure was a bright spot--as was some of our run blocking. But, it would be nice if we went with a few more power sets with Mitz as a fullback and bruiser. If we're going to win any games, we're going to have to wear teams down, since I think our vertical passing game is going to continue to be pretty anemic (remember how horrible Stanford's corners are supposed to be).
5) Protecting the Pill. Obviously, we did a great job of protecting the football today. That said, it is also somewhat disconcerting that we lost by more than three touchdowns in spite of a lack of turnovers.
All in all, there's things we can build on from in this one. The good news is that Hawaii and SMU showed themselves to be gridiron midgets yesterday.
Well, Hooty has officially landed. This should give you an idea where we will be. If you look at the picture, you can see one of the main entrances from the baseball stadium.
And here's another shot, straight across from Beasley. Basically head straight from the baseball field main gate, and we are right there next to the sidewalk.
Tomorrow we will have a banner up so you can't miss it, but you can kind of see it on the pickup right now. This should at least give you an idea where we are/will be.
Hooty should be up and around by 9 AM, and the rest of us shortly thereafter.
Thought it would be fun to do the old EA "Super Sim" feature for the Stanford - WSU game with NCAA '10, just to see what might happen. It played out in a semi-realistic manner too, not bad for a videogame. Of course, the wrong team won, but whatever. The game was played entirely as a simulation, where the plays were called and players controlled CPU vs. CPU style. However to simulate the two-QB system that we will see tomorrow, I did go in and substitute the WSU QB's, each for a different quarter of play.
Stanford got out to a 14-0 first quarter lead, including a shocking, 75-yard TD pass to Ryan Whalen who got behind the secondary on the second play of the game, 7-0 Cardinal. After a three-and-out by WSU, Stanford would churn out a long scoring drive, highlighted by short TD run by backup running back Jeremy Stewart, 14-0 Cardinal.
Meanwhile, Kevin Lopina started and played the entire first quarter, but struggled without leading the team on a scoring drive before giving way to Marshall Lobbestael in the 2nd. Lobbestael immediately led the team on a TD drive, marching the Cougs 80 yards on nine plays, as James Montgomery took one in from seven yards out to cut it to 14-7. Stanford would then come right back down the field themselves, converting several 3rd-and-short plays, and finally scoring a TD as Toby Gerhart dove over from the one with 25 seconds left in the half. 21-7 Stanford at the intermission.
Lopina back in to start the third quarter, and right out of the chute, led the team to a TD. The highlight of the drive was a 57-yard pass to Dwight Tardy out of the backfield, setting up first-and-goal. Tardy would score on the next play, 21-14. Check the vid:
From there, both defenses stepped up at that point, and it was a battle back and forth the rest of the way. Just when you thought Kevin Lopina was solidifying the QB job by getting something done, he came out at the end of the third quarter with a shoulder injury, so it was Lobbestael the rest of the game. Marshall struggled however, as you'll see from the final stats below, getting the team past midfield just once in four fourth-quarter possessions. Stanford kicked a field goal late after a 13-play, clock-sucking drive which featured several Toby Gerhart conversions on third and short. 24-14 is your final.
Stanford QB Andrew Luck didn't play very well, but did just enough to stay out of trouble. But none of the QB's did much of anything, sort of a sloppy affair reminiscent of the Oregon - Boise State game last night? Defensively, Bernard Wolfgramm announced his Cougar presence with authority, racking up some tackles for loss and a couple of sacks. Welcome to the PAC-10 Bernard!
Kinda hard to talk about the Cougs right out of that gates, given the fact that the season started off with such a trainwreck of a game in Boise last night. WOW! Personally, I'm not sure what was worse, the performance by Oregon on the field, Blount's behavior after the game, or the assault on my eyes, just looking at those two teams on that turf. It looked like Leroy Neiman got drunk at the county fair and decided to do some spin art.
There has been much debate over exactly who invented the game of "Gridiron" Football, but I think it's a safe bet that whomever it was, did not have THAT in mind when they did it.
So...thank you, LaGarrette Blount for giving us plenty to discuss today...
If you haven't seen it yet.....ESPN.com already had the video taken down. But there is this pic:
Sutra said it online last night, "This is a real defining moment in the Kelly program. Lose Blount and you may lose the season, but you save the program. Keep Blount and the dismantling of Oregon has just begun."
Hellllloooooo Coug Fans. Yep, another year, ready for take-off. And another Football Friday (only on Thursday). We did our best last year to keep up the collective Crimson Chins of all of you as the season wore on, death march-style. No, it wasn't easy, for any of us. But hey, we survived. It's a new day, and everyone's unbeaten (at least until later tonight)! We're all still alive! So let's get going on week I of XII, Football Friday on Thursday, where you'll get the thoughts on this week's game from the WSU Football Blog roster.
The Harbaugh's come to town, and it's what we've been waiting for all year long. Finally, the chance of chances to wash that horrific taste out of the collective mouths of Cougar Nation. So many bitter pills swallowed last fall, week after week, and now, finally, a chance to turn it all around. But all that big-picture philosophical stuff, that's for another day. Today, we look at Stanford Cardinal....
To me, there's three key things for this week's game, and here they are: (but first, a side-note. You'll likely find these so-called "keys to the game" pretty much EVERYWHERE else on these here world wide webs. We aren't reinventing the wheel. Most of this is pretty obvious what WSU has to do to try and win this game??)
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics.
Advertisers
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
Bloggers Wanted
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!
RSS Feed 
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 