Washington State scouting/prediction thread

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Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azpenguin »

Everyone remembers what happened against Washington State last year. But that was then and this is now. Last year Denker wasn't able to make them pay for keying on Ka'deem. This year the offense is completely different. Washington State right now is a desperate team. They need four more wins just to get bowl eligible and they only have five games left.

We all know that Halliday is putting up video game numbers through the air. He's already thrown for over 3000 yards on the year. The problem for WSU is that this is where their offense begins and ends. They have no running game whatsoever. They average 44 yards a game. Even if you take Halliday's negative sack yardage away, they still only average 61 yards a game on the ground.

One of their problems is turnovers. They've only taken the ball away five times this year but they've coughed it up 12 times. Arizona has lost 6 turnovers and they've taken away eight.

On defense, they actually aren't horrible. They give up 280 through the air and 166 on the ground per game; not great but we've seen worse. Those passing numbers include Goff lighting them up for 527, so if you take that game out they're only giving up a little over 200 a game.

Special teams are a concern. They gave up two kickoff returns for a TD against Cal. They gave up a punt return for a TD against Utah. Is this the game Tyrell Johnson breaks one,

Wazzu's biggest problem is that they have problems winning close games. Lost to Rutgers by 3 and they should have won that game. Lost to Oregon by a TD. Lost to Cal by one and missed a chip shot FG to win.
They did beat Utah 28-27 after getting down 21-7 early.

Ultimately I don't think RR gets caught napping again with these guys. The offense is much more potent and is versatile. Wilson, Bundage and TJG should be back. Arizona 54-38.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by CalStateTempe »

The game scares me. It is always a tough trip to Pullman, playing in front of a JV type crowd in a small stadium.

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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by PieceOfMeat »

wassu wins 38-24
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by cpt »

Take the over.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by dmjcat »

I had this marked down as a loss in the preseason prediction thread.

At this point the game has all the hallmarks of a shoot out with the winner going to the last team with the ball. I think our odds are a little better than what I envisioned in preseason but I am still predicting a loss.........our 3-3-5 will find a way to put zero pressure on Halliday while he gashes us for 500+ yards through the air.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by ASUHATER! »

Yeah I definitely see halliday throwing for 500-600 yards and 3+ tds
i was going to put the ua/asu records here...but i forgot what they were.

i'll just go with fuck asu.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Merkin »

I predict Leach will be saving a time out each half when UA lines up for a FG.
ASUHATER! wrote:Yeah I definitely see halliday throwing for 500-600 yards and 3+ tds
I wonder how many yards he will get before Casteel decides that rushing 3 isn't working?
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by NYCat »

Can we forfeit the Wazzu game? Maybe one of our players can beat up Halliday in the bathroom.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by dmjcat »

NYCat wrote:Can we forfeit the Wazzu game? Maybe one of our players can beat up Halliday in the bathroom.
Give it a rest. Nobody is forfeiting the game. Posters are merely making their predictions.

The title of this thread is "WSU Scouting/Prediction thread" in case you haven't noticed. Posters are entitled to their own predictions/opinions, even if they differ from yours.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azpenguin »

I think Arizona is going to get some pressure on Halliday. Their line is decent but it's not the huge line USC brought to the table. Washington St. isn't going to be putting Anu on the ground seven times like what they did to Mariota.

The Cats have actually done a decent job on defense against the quick out sideline passes. The safeties are going to have to step up and defend the middle of the field against the slant routes, and that may be a problem because teams have been able to throw in the middle against the Cats all year long. Arizona is capable of making Wazzu defend the entire field, which is something not a lot of their opponents have been able to do.

It's like any other game this year, though: Arizona goes as far as Solomon can take them.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azgreg »

This bye comes at a great time. Need to get some guys healthy.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azcat49 »

Wilson gets heathly and he and Baker have big games. Cats get 40+ on the road and we win by 10
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by MrBug708 »

Just hope that Halliday sets a record. They usually lose when that happens.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Carcassdragger »

I watched the WSU-Oregon game. WSU is a dangerous team who is much better than their record. We'll have our hands full in this one.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by catinfl »

Wazzou defense is terrible. Like bad bad bad bad. We have a bye and Nick Wilson gets healthy and has a big game. We win by 17 points.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Alieberman »

We are better than WSU in every conceivable way.... yet I am very nervous about this game.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by catinfl »

They allow 177 yards on the ground per game. I expect Nick Wilson to have a big game. Cats by 17
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Chicat »

I expected the Cats to beat USC.

I didn't "think they should" or "believe they could". I already had it marked down as a win.
Stupid Chicat.

Now, I think the Cats should beat WSU and I believe they can go up to Pullman and come home with a win, but I'm not writing that down with a sharpie.

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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azcat49 »

I am with you Chi. We had that game. Just didn't finish and left 12-28 points in the red zone. Doesn't change anything about this team.

Going to be another Nutt cutter but that's the PAC this year. We will find a way
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Merkin »

I think the best chance the UA has if the weather is inclement, and Wilson and TJG are back 100%. Otherwise Halliday is going to shred the UA DBs with the UA's 3 man rush. Halliday had over 700 yards against Cal, and over 500 yards 2 other times. Halliday has 800 more yards than the second highest total in Div I.

Stanford held him to under 300 yards for the first time this year, but Stanford has the up front horses the UA does not. Stanford is also 5th is passing efficiency defense. UA is 107th in passing efficiency defense. Out of 125.

Halliday is certainly going to get his.

Anu is going to half to hit his downfield receivers.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Chicat »

Merkin wrote:I think the best chance the UA has if the weather is inclement, and Wilson and TJG are back 100%. Otherwise Halliday is going to shred the UA DBs with the UA's 3 man rush. Halliday had over 700 yards against Cal, and over 500 yards 2 other times. Halliday has 800 more yards than the second highest total in Div I.

Stanford held him to under 300 yards for the first time this year, but Stanford has the up front horses the UA does not. Stanford is also 5th is passing efficiency defense. UA is 107th in passing efficiency defense. Out of 125.

Halliday is certainly going to get his.

Anu is going to half to hit his downfield receivers.
The key to limiting Halliday is blitzing on every down and disguising them in such a way that he never knows where it's coming from. If we get into this mentality that their passing attack is so potent that we have to drop 8 in coverage, we are fucked. WSU's scheme is good enough that if you give Halliday more than 4 seconds, someone is going to get open and Halliday will find them. Get an edge rusher in his face or two guys up the middle with their hands up and I think we can rattle him.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azgreg »

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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azpenguin »

You know what Cal can't do well that Arizona can when needed? Run some clock. The fact that Wazzu can't run the ball has been a big problem for them and explains a lot of the reason that they're 2-5. They beat a FCS team and then beat a Utah team that has trouble moving the ball. (Utah scored one offensive TD in the game.) If Arizona gets a 2 or more TD lead in the second half you can expect them to slow things down like they did against Oregon last year and put the Cougs into desperation mode. To me this game is still all about how well the Cats defend the middle of the field.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by PieceOfMeat »

Chicat wrote:
The key to limiting Halliday is blitzing on every down and disguising them in such a way that he never knows where it's coming from. If we get into this mentality that their passing attack is so potent that we have to drop 8 in coverage, we are fucked. WSU's scheme is good enough that if you give Halliday more than 4 seconds, someone is going to get open and Halliday will find them. Get an edge rusher in his face or two guys up the middle with their hands up and I think we can rattle him.
Oh, is that all? Sounds easy.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Merkin »

PieceOfMeat wrote:
Chicat wrote:
The key to limiting Halliday is blitzing on every down and disguising them in such a way that he never knows where it's coming from. If we get into this mentality that their passing attack is so potent that we have to drop 8 in coverage, we are fucked. WSU's scheme is good enough that if you give Halliday more than 4 seconds, someone is going to get open and Halliday will find them. Get an edge rusher in his face or two guys up the middle with their hands up and I think we can rattle him.
Oh, is that all? Sounds easy.

I did some reading on the 3-3-5 when RR rode into town, and according to one article, you are "supposed" to blitz every down, so in effect having a 4 man rush. Like Chicat was saying, that 4th player could come from any of the other 8 positions. Yet Casteel seems to think he should just rush 3 for a while, and see how well that goes, then later try some blitzing. Although it seemed the blitzing was more of delayed blitz vs. USC instead of a true blitz at the snap. Which did happen too, but not as much as many fans wished.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by UALoco »

UA by a touchdown. How? Who knows but we'll get it done.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Gladiator Cat »

After a bye week to rest, get healthy and get back to work and focus, the team will go to WSU ready to get back on track.

From top to bottom we 're better than the Coug's and in the end we will get it done.

Halliday will do to our secondary what he does to most others and pass for 500+ yard and 2-3 TD's. But in the end we get it done in another amazing PAC12 match-up and move to 6-1.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by gumby »

Alieberman wrote:We are better than WSU in every conceivable way.... yet I am very nervous about this game.
They biffed a game-winning 19-yarder, so they're even worse in that regard.

Just got my tix, so I will be in the "JV crowd." Any real Cat fan would be. :mrgreen:

Game starts at 2 pm PST. I'm figuring on 140 passes and getting home at midnight.
Right where I want to be.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azpenguin »

gumby wrote:Game starts at 2 pm PST. I'm figuring on 140 passes and getting home at midnight.
What, and miss the second half?
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Merkin »

gumby wrote:Game starts at 2 pm PST. I'm figuring on 140 passes and getting home at midnight.
DST ends 11/2/14, so it will actually start at 3 pm PDT, and 3 pm MST for our Arizona brethren.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azgreg »

gumby wrote:
Alieberman wrote:We are better than WSU in every conceivable way.... yet I am very nervous about this game.
They biffed a game-winning 19-yarder, so they're even worse in that regard.

Just got my tix, so I will be in the "JV crowd." Any real Cat fan would be. :mrgreen:

Game starts at 2 pm PST. I'm figuring on 140 passes and getting home at midnight.
Martin Stadium looks nice since the remodel.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by PieceOfMeat »

Merkin wrote:
gumby wrote:Game starts at 2 pm PST. I'm figuring on 140 passes and getting home at midnight.
DST ends 11/2/14, so it will actually start at 3 pm PDT, and 3 pm MST for our Arizona brethren.
Am I missing something or doesn't "fall back" in savings time mean that PST will be one hour "behind" MST? 2 pm for them, 3pm for us?
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by scumdevils86 »

and what does a time change on 11/2 have to do with the start time of a game on 10/25?
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by PieceOfMeat »

scumdevils86 wrote:and what does a time change on 11/2 have to do with the start time of a game on 10/25?
err...yeah, that too :lol:

can't believe I didn't even register that.

d'oh.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by gumby »

azpenguin wrote:
gumby wrote:Game starts at 2 pm PST. I'm figuring on 140 passes and getting home at midnight.
What, and miss the second half?
It's tradition to leave at half time. :D
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by gumby »

azgreg wrote:
gumby wrote:
Alieberman wrote:We are better than WSU in every conceivable way.... yet I am very nervous about this game.
They biffed a game-winning 19-yarder, so they're even worse in that regard.

Just got my tix, so I will be in the "JV crowd." Any real Cat fan would be. :mrgreen:

Game starts at 2 pm PST. I'm figuring on 140 passes and getting home at midnight.
Martin Stadium looks nice since the remodel.
Be my first game since then. Did visit campus in September (son is considering it), and the scoreboard/screen is ginormous. It's a cool setting. More in the center of campus than any stadium I've been in. Top level is street level, like at Colorado.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by cordera89 »

azpenguin wrote:You know what Cal can't do well that Arizona can when needed? Run some clock. The fact that Wazzu can't run the ball has been a big problem for them and explains a lot of the reason that they're 2-5. They beat a FCS team and then beat a Utah team that has trouble moving the ball. (Utah scored one offensive TD in the game.) If Arizona gets a 2 or more TD lead in the second half you can expect them to slow things down like they did against Oregon last year and put the Cougs into desperation mode. To me this game is still all about how well the Cats defend the middle of the field.
There just one problem, Defense. Wazzu is going to pass on every play. Casteel Secondary have to play smart. Cover 2 and 3, Zone coverage or Zone Blitz or Man to Man. Only way to beat Mike Leach system is too rattle his QB and Pressure his WR. One thing our defense has to do is don't get beat deep.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by ASUHATER! »

What we need to do is have a healthy Wilson, tjg and everyone else and run the ball endlessly all game and depriving wsu of the ball.
i was going to put the ua/asu records here...but i forgot what they were.

i'll just go with fuck asu.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by UAdevil »

ASUHATER! wrote:What we need to do is have a healthy Wilson, tjg and everyone else and run the ball endlessly all game and depriving wsu of the ball.
Exactly this. The bye week came at just the right time for this team. Hopefully both backs are back in action against WSU.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by HaCats »

This is when you realize how critical and necessary it is to have at least one legitimate bye week in a college football season. Larry Scott should be kicked in the nuts for rubber stamping a 2015 schedule that has not one bye week on the schedule for us next year. 12 games in 12 weeks. What an asshole.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by dmjcat »

Chicat wrote:
Merkin wrote:I think the best chance the UA has if the weather is inclement, and Wilson and TJG are back 100%. Otherwise Halliday is going to shred the UA DBs with the UA's 3 man rush. Halliday had over 700 yards against Cal, and over 500 yards 2 other times. Halliday has 800 more yards than the second highest total in Div I.

Stanford held him to under 300 yards for the first time this year, but Stanford has the up front horses the UA does not. Stanford is also 5th is passing efficiency defense. UA is 107th in passing efficiency defense. Out of 125.

Halliday is certainly going to get his.

Anu is going to half to hit his downfield receivers.
The key to limiting Halliday is blitzing on every down and disguising them in such a way that he never knows where it's coming from. If we get into this mentality that their passing attack is so potent that we have to drop 8 in coverage, we are fucked. WSU's scheme is good enough that if you give Halliday more than 4 seconds, someone is going to get open and Halliday will find them. Get an edge rusher in his face or two guys up the middle with their hands up and I think we can rattle him.
But we didn't blitz much last year, opting to drop 8 back the majority of the time. Most of the damage Halliday did was little dink passes to one of the two backs out of the backfield. It will be interesting to see if Casteel changes his scheme this year or just stubbornly rushes 3 and drops 8 again.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

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Because Wazzu was so dominant against us LY? They scored all of 24 points and one of the TD's was off a fumble by Riggleman that gave them a first down at Arizona's 31.

Denker played like crap in that game, missed guys open all over the place and just didn't get the ball to them. Carey was 26 for 132 and over 5 yards a pop and he caught 6 passes fro 45 yards. Denker kept the ball himself even when the read said otherwise as he ran the ball 17 times for all of 64 yards and 3.8 a pop. Take away his one big run of 18 and his average gets even worse. Even with all of that we had a chance to tie the game but a Denker pass from the Wazzu 13 was not even close to where Grant could catch it as Denker threw it out of the end zone. We also missed 2 FG's.

Our D was the least of our problems in this game and if we get a similar effort to what they gave LY we will be just fine.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by cats101 »

Totally forgot about that Denker off a game. Up there with UNM 07 as one of the more forgettable losses.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Puerco »

cordera89 wrote:
azpenguin wrote:You know what Cal can't do well that Arizona can when needed? Run some clock. The fact that Wazzu can't run the ball has been a big problem for them and explains a lot of the reason that they're 2-5. They beat a FCS team and then beat a Utah team that has trouble moving the ball. (Utah scored one offensive TD in the game.) If Arizona gets a 2 or more TD lead in the second half you can expect them to slow things down like they did against Oregon last year and put the Cougs into desperation mode. To me this game is still all about how well the Cats defend the middle of the field.
There just one problem, Defense. Wazzu is going to pass on every play. Casteel Secondary have to play smart. Cover 2 and 3, Zone coverage or Zone Blitz or Man to Man. Only way to beat Mike Leach system is too rattle his QB and Pressure his WR. One thing our defense has to do is don't get beat deep.
So... We need to blitz often, pressure the wide outs at the line, and not get beat deep? Errr... Sounds like a tough order.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Chicat »

dc4azcats wrote:Because Wazzu was so dominant against us LY? They scored all of 24 points and one of the TD's was off a fumble by Riggleman that gave them a first down at Arizona's 31.

Denker played like crap in that game, missed guys open all over the place and just didn't get the ball to them. Carey was 26 for 132 and over 5 yards a pop and he caught 6 passes fro 45 yards. Denker kept the ball himself even when the read said otherwise as he ran the ball 17 times for all of 64 yards and 3.8 a pop. Take away his one big run of 18 and his average gets even worse. Even with all of that we had a chance to tie the game but a Denker pass from the Wazzu 13 was not even close to where Grant could catch it as Denker threw it out of the end zone. We also missed 2 FG's.

Our D was the least of our problems in this game and if we get a similar effort to what they gave LY we will be just fine.
This is all fine if you believe that Wazzu hasn't improved from last year, which they have. I'd like to see more blitzing especially up the middle gaps to disrupt their timing routes.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by dc4azcats »

Chicat wrote:
dc4azcats wrote:Because Wazzu was so dominant against us LY? They scored all of 24 points and one of the TD's was off a fumble by Riggleman that gave them a first down at Arizona's 31.

Denker played like crap in that game, missed guys open all over the place and just didn't get the ball to them. Carey was 26 for 132 and over 5 yards a pop and he caught 6 passes fro 45 yards. Denker kept the ball himself even when the read said otherwise as he ran the ball 17 times for all of 64 yards and 3.8 a pop. Take away his one big run of 18 and his average gets even worse. Even with all of that we had a chance to tie the game but a Denker pass from the Wazzu 13 was not even close to where Grant could catch it as Denker threw it out of the end zone. We also missed 2 FG's.

Our D was the least of our problems in this game and if we get a similar effort to what they gave LY we will be just fine.
This is all fine if you believe that Wazzu hasn't improved from last year, which they have. I'd like to see more blitzing especially up the middle gaps to disrupt their timing routes.
I'm not sure that they have improved from LY. LY they were a bowl team and this year they more than likely won't be. They sit at 2-5 right now and need to go 4-1 the rest of the way just to be bowl eligible. That would include Arizona, USC, @ntOSU, @Assu and UW.

Blitzing Wazzu isn't always the answer as he gets rid of the ball so fast because everything is short underneath stuff. Stanford was effective because their front is very physical and got to the QB a lot without having to blitz. We will keep everything in front of us like we did LY and at some point you have to run the ball to pick up first downs which is the Achilles heel of Wazzu. They can't run the ball. I don't see any reason why we would change what was very effective for us LY. Give him tight windows to throw through and we need to tackle effectively in open space and we will be fine.

On offense we will run the crap out of the ball and mix in the pass as they give it to us. Difference between TY and LY is Anu isn't trying to be the guy so he won't force what isn't there and he's a much better passer than Denker.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azcat49 »

To me the difference is last year Denker and company scored 17, This year Anu and company will score 40+. I think we are about to explode offensively over the next 4 games
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Chicat »

Halliday is certainly better this year than last. He should easily eclipse all of his numbers from last year. He's already up to 28 TDs after throwing 34 last year, and he only needs to average 250 yards passing per game if they don't go to a bowl to pass last year's yardage mark. And he's throwing less INTs. Through 8 games last year he had 22 picks. Through 7 games this year he has 8. So record aside, at least in the passing game, they are better.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by Merkin »

Cats' corner are still laying 10 yards off as not to get beat deep, so Halliday can just throw bubble screens all day long.

This is before the Stanford game, but still relevant, note the O-Line comments.

https://stanford.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1690924

CSR: On its way to a blowout victory in Seattle last year, Stanford's defensive front was able to generate massive amounts of pressure on Connor Halliday and co. How has the Cougars' pass protection been this year compared to last, and what explains the difference?

BR: Connor Halliday wouldn't have the gaudy numbers he has without this vastly improved offensive line. A question mark heading into the season, the offensive line, while young, has become one of the strongest units on this team.

Halliday has been sacked just 12 times in nearly 400 drop backs so far and that's largely due to their increased size across the board. Last season the offensive line averaged around 270 pounds whereas this season they're one of the biggest offensive lines in the country, averaging over 300 pounds. They're young -- they broke in three new lineman at center and the right side -- but they're bigger and more athletic.

Halliday and his receivers are also more familiar with each other and that has allowed the ball to get out quicker, limiting the amount of time for the defenders to get to the pocket.

CSR: What has allowed Connor Halliday to be so successful this year? Who are his top weapons?

BR: Halliday is just so much more in control of the offense in year three. As I mentioned above, he's more familiar with his receivers and he's getting a lot of time in the pocket to make his reads.

He's also been a lot smarter. It's never been an issue of ability with Halliday, but more to do with his decision making. While it's easier to make decisions when you're not scrambling for your life, he's taking what the defense is giving him and he has a ton of playmakers that make his job easier.

The Cougars are stacked at receiver and will go about eight or nine deep throughout the game with Vince Mayle, River Cracraft and Isiah Myers, all Biletnikoff Award candidates, leading the way. Cracraft is Halliday's favorite target on third down, Myers runs the best routes with the best hands and Mayle, coming off a 263 yard game against Cal, is a legit NFL prospect on the outside.

The running backs -- Gerard Wicks and Jamal Morrow -- are also effective in the passing game, so there's no shortage of weapons for Halliday, who's averaging over 500 passing yards per game.
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Re: Washington State scouting/prediction thread

Post by azpenguin »

The Cats' corners have actually been pretty effective against bubble screens. The problem for passing defense has been over the middle. QBs are finding wide open guys in the flat.
dc4azcats wrote: They can't run the ball.
They've got about the same amount of carries as last year... and they're averaging ten less yards a game. This is why they're 2-5 and not 4-3 or 5-2. Inability to run the ball cost them Rutgers, Utah, and possibly Cal and Nevada. Arizona, on the other hand, can run the ball and that's where the Cougs are going to have their biggest problem. A couple of decent gains and the receivers will be off to the races.
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