A few thoughts on UW-WSU

kearly

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WSU, congratulations. This was a lucky win, but it was also an earned win. UW played terrible tonight- it seemed like the only times they scored where drives where WSU gifted them great field position. I don't even care that you turned what should have been a 20 yard sack into a 45 yard gain (while down by 18 with 10 minutes to go). I don't even care that on 3rd and 13 UW had a game winning interception slip through Timu's hands only to be miraculously caught for 30 yards. I don't even care that UW's kicker missed a chip shot game winner. WSU got LUCKY as hell, but they also had to overcome a lot of adversity too, and the statistics say WSU pretty much dominated the game (WSU had 36% more yardage than UW). Really the only positive thing I can say for Washington was that they got the job done in the red zone.

I'm really glad that if UW was going to blow an 18 point 4th quarter lead to lose to WSU, it was this year. It really makes no major difference in their bowl assignment. Even if the Huskies lose their bowl game, 7-6 is not bad given the adversity the team faced this season. A win would have been nice, but it would have been probably the worst 8-4 Huskies team I've ever watched. This team probably deserves to be 6-6, so I'll take 7-5.

Keith Price has really regressed this year. Even his mechanics have regressed. It's funny, I can actually tell how well he's playing based on how fast he gets the ball out. It seems like when he's playing like crap, his release becomes much slower- around the level of Darron Thomas or early-2011 RG3. Price had basically one nice drive today, and on that one drive he was getting the ball out of his hand quickly. It's so weird that he has the capability of a quick release but so often this season hasn't used it. Price's pocket presence has also regressed.

I still feel that the WR corps is a problem though. UW's line is doing a very decent job by recent standards, but Price has mastered the art of the coverage sack this season. I would guess that he's near the top of the Pac-12 in throwaways too, which are about 2/3 of a sack from an ANYA (adjusted net yards per attempt) perspective. A lot of that is on Price, but a lot of that is also on the WRs for not getting open. ASJ is a great player, but he's not fast and doesn't separate- so he doesn't make a great target under duress. Neither does Kasen Williams. Really, UW doesn't have that guy they could count on to consistently get open. Not one guy. Say what you want about Kearse, but he could consistently get open. I knew he was a valuable player on this offense, but I think I underestimated how much the offense would miss him. I really hope Daniels and Stringfellow remain committed to UW, because the huskies badly need help at WR. When your receivers aren't getting open against WSU, you should be alarmed.

I think WSU definitely earned this win, but I also think that WSU wasn't all that great today- it was more a case of UW playing terrible football. Is 17 penalties a UW school record? I was actually more scared of WSU in each of the last two Apple Cups. I think those WSU teams would have blown out UW today.

Hopefully this helps Leach last another season. If it does, then I'm actually glad UW lost today. A win was fairly meaningless from UW's point of view. And Leach doesn't look like he's going to be the kind of savior people hoped he'd be.
 

HawksBo24

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Cougs have battled through a lot of adversity this year. Great win, GO COUGS!!!
 

jkitsune

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Rumor is that Devon Blackmon is transferring from UO to UW. Former 4-star wideout. Wouldn't play next year, but could be a help in 2014.

And as you said in another thread, if our next game is KP's last I wouldn't shed a single tear. I'd rather see 4 years of Cyler Miles or Jeff Lindquist than another one of Price at this point. His stats, padded by 5 inaccurate, softly-tossed TDs snagged by tall receivers, don't convey how awful he has been this year.
 

dutchcoug

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kearly":1r8uoqts said:
This was a lucky win, but it was also an earned win.

All the UW fans calling this a lucky win are the same Seahawks fans that get mad when the media says that the Hawks didn't win the other team lost... You can't call it a lucky win and a well earned win, it's one or the other. Good game UW, see you again next year.
 

seahawk2k

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kearly, love your post riddled with backhanded compliments to the Cougs. Classy all the way.

That was a great game, entertaining as hell, but sloppy. Cougs really outplayed them except for the third quarter, confusing how you call that lucky? But, ok, keep riding that dream.
 

JSeahawks

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If you look at some of the Cougs flukey turnovers you could just as easily say that UW was lucky to be as close as they were.
 

Tech Worlds

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JSeahawks":33m6ftez said:
If you look at some of the Cougs flukey turnovers you could just as easily say that UW was lucky to be as close as they were.

BS. That's just football. Same could be said about UW melting down in the forth quarter with all the penalties.

The flukeyness is just an inherent part of football.
 

JSeahawks

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Tech Worlds":2igd3wqf said:
JSeahawks":2igd3wqf said:
If you look at some of the Cougs flukey turnovers you could just as easily say that UW was lucky to be as close as they were.

BS. That's just football. Same could be said about UW melting down in the forth quarter with all the penalties.

The flukeyness is just an inherent part of football.

That was kind of my point. The Cougs did what they had to do to get the win, i'm not sure why that needs to be called lucky when they outplayed UW for much of the game.
 

ImTheScientist

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dutchcoug":327h7m1j said:
kearly":327h7m1j said:
This was a lucky win, but it was also an earned win.

All the UW fans calling this a lucky win are the same Seahawks fans that get mad when the media says that the Hawks didn't win the other team lost... You can't call it a lucky win and a well earned win, it's one or the other. Good game UW, see you again next year.

I use to really care about this game, use to care about the Huskies (alumni) but have really not been into college football (with the exception of NFL prospects) for a good 5-6 years. With that said this was WAZZU & their fans superbowl. While the Huskies would have prefered to win they were going to go to some shitty Bowl regardless of a win or loss. They didn't do enough in the regular season to actually get to a Bowl that mattered.

Im sure the Huskies will have the Cougs in their thoughts when they are going to the _______ Bowl. Season was a disapointment for them...but college football is disapointing in general. In reality not all teams have a shot at a national championship which makes following the sport pointless.
 
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kearly

kearly

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JSeahawks":1b6f44b9 said:
That was kind of my point. The Cougs did what they had to do to get the win, i'm not sure why that needs to be called lucky when they outplayed UW for much of the game.

I think it's pretty lucky when you get some of the plays they got at the times they did. I mean, the missed 35 yarder alone- UW had something like a 92% win probability at that point. To get a miss there- that's lucky. It doesn't mean they didn't deserve to win.

UW got lucky too, but WSU's luck was more emphatic and game deciding. Their luck was more clutch. There were three times in this game where WSU definitely loses or probably loses if that play had gone the way it normally would. The shoulda been monster sack that turned 2nd and 30 from their own 35 to first and goal. The shoulda been pick 6 on third and 13 that turned into a 30 yard catch. The chip shot game winning field goal that Coons butchered. If even ONE of those things happens the way it would usually happen, WSU loses. And that's not even talking about the phantom PI on the 2 point conversion. Without that, WSU probably loses too.

WSU did deserve to win the game. If it read otherwise then I should have written it better. It is possible to be better than the other team and still win through pure luck. That's what WSU did tonight. Yes, UW got lucky too, but when WSU needed a huge break (or else), they got it. I don't think fangraphs does college football, but I would guess that WSU's combined WPA from their lucky breaks was 3 or 4 times larger than UW on theirs. UW's lucky breaks helped their cause. WSU's lucky breaks saved them from certain defeat and ultimately sprung them to victory. It was definitely the luckiest comeback finish I've seen in a long time.

They clearly outplayed UW for all but the 3rd quarter, and they had 97 yards more offense. It was an entertaining game, but I didn't really enjoy it much, even when I thought UW was going to win. I was saying to my brother early in the 4th that I felt sorry for WSU because they didn't deserve to be down at all much less 28-10.

That said, I think most of you would agree with me when I say that both teams played like crap. UW played on roughly a 4-8 level, and WSU played on maybe a 5-7 level. If I knew nothing else, I would have guessed UW was a 4-8 team and WSU was a 5-7 team. Both teams made tons of mistakes, and really without those mistakes the final score is probably something like 10-7. This is why I said in the OP that the '11 and '10 WSU teams would have crushed UW tonight. Those teams hung tough despite the Huskies playing very well in those games.

This isn't about diminishing or downplaying WSU's accomplishment, I'm just saying that it was a horribly played (and horribly officiated) game and WSU was ridiculously fortunate in the 4th quarter. Those are factual statements.

If UW had won, I would have had a writeup talking about how they stole a game and "thank goodness they got WSU this week," basically. UW did not deserve to win. WSU did deserve to win- in the same sense that UW deserved to win over a Nunes led Stanford. WSU at their best would have been destroyed by UW at their best, and UW at it's best would have gotten it's ass kicked by Stanford at it's best.

WSU deserved to win. UW deserved to lose. Justice was served. That's why I don't feel the slightest bit bad about this loss, other than worrying about the future of Keith Price and the UW program.
 

GeekHawk

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Congrats to the Cougs for finally getting a win. I guess that WR that quit really was a weenie after all, huh? I'll look forward to seeing which bowl game the Cougs get picked up for.

...oh wait, nevermind. :mrgreen:
 

dutchcoug

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GeekHawk":e8xrwfyo said:
Congrats to the Cougs for finally getting a win. I guess that WR that quit really was a weenie after all, huh? I'll look forward to seeing which bowl game the Cougs get picked up for.

...oh wait, nevermind. :mrgreen:


To summarize most Huskies, "Great game, but we're still poor sports".

I know your fan base was distraught when they stopped making Zima but there is always White Zinfandel.
 

GeekHawk

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dutchcoug":x6ngrb5v said:
GeekHawk":x6ngrb5v said:
Congrats to the Cougs for finally getting a win. I guess that WR that quit really was a weenie after all, huh? I'll look forward to seeing which bowl game the Cougs get picked up for.

...oh wait, nevermind. :mrgreen:


To summarize most Huskies, "Great game, but we're still poor sports".

I know your fan base was distraught when they stopped making Zima but there is always White Zinfandel.

Your team just won the Apple Cup, and all you got is some lame-ass comments about Zima and White Zin? C'mon son, you can do better than that. It sounds like those 'snarky' coffee comments we always get from east-coast types. Try again when the PBR wears off...
 

jkitsune

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dutchcoug":1dpuprq6 said:
GeekHawk":1dpuprq6 said:
Congrats to the Cougs for finally getting a win. I guess that WR that quit really was a weenie after all, huh? I'll look forward to seeing which bowl game the Cougs get picked up for.

...oh wait, nevermind. :mrgreen:


To summarize most Huskies, "Great game, but we're still poor sports".

I know your fan base was distraught when they stopped making Zima but there is always White Zinfandel.

I actually thought that was pretty funny.

This thread is getting a little off-track, but the fact is that the Huskies blew an 18-point lead and the Cougars took advantage of it. Sure, they got a couple lucky breaks along the way, but every team does in a game this close. I don't honestly think acknowledging that takes anything away from WSU. If UW had won, UW would also have had some lucky breaks in the 3rd quarter. The most important thing is that WSU looked like they wanted it more for 75% of the game and they got it. WSU should be excited - it's a big win for a team that had a miserable season. UW should be disappointed. I'm glad we get to play one more game this year and hopefully end on a high note, because this was a pretty gut-wrenching loss.
 

seahawk2k

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Seahawks make the plays that the Cougs made you all know that we don't chalk it up to luck we chalk it up to the fact that our guys made plays. The Cougs made the plays, the Huskies didn't, in the fourth quarter, chalking that up to luck is silly. The Huskies kicker had been shaky all year, its harder for right footed kickers to kick short field goals on the right hash. He's a young kicker who'd never been int hat spot before, luck? No, not really. Tuel escaping that sack, if Wilson makes that play, we are all drooling.

Saying the 2010 Cougs would've blown out the Huskies in this year game is a little naive. The Cougs were allowed back into the 2010 apple cup multiple times. The Huskies had multiple red zone turnovers, if the Huskies had played well and not shot themselves in the foot, its a 21-28 point win.

I was disappointed the Huskies were as flat offensively as they were. There is a definite lack of physicality to their style at times. They got punched in the mouth early and up front they never asserted themselves.

This is a huge win for the Cougs because they finally finished a game. Even in their two previous wins they almost blew leads in the fourth quarter. Glad to see them rise up and finish a game.
 

CPHawk

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What am I missing here? What has this UW team been through Kerly? And don't say injuries, everyone has injuries and last I checked UW didn't lose a pre season AA at safety and all conference olineman.
 

CurryStopstheRuns

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I read this hoping to gain insight from a normally balanced and objective Kearly. This piece failed to deliver, miserably. In fact, it was borderline tripe. Chalked full of back-handed compliments and inferences of the Huskies losing the game, not the Cougars winning it. The huskie faithful will speak of luck(translated: unsubstantiated bullsh*t) as the reason for a Cougar victory while not acknowledging that the Cougars did everything possible to hand the game to the huskies in the third quarter. The fact that this occurred and the Cougars were able to overcome such a trial speaks volumes about their team. The fact that the huskies lacked the intestinal fortitude to finish the game like the Cougars accomplished would scare the crap out of me for the program going forward as it is a direct reflection of the coach.

As far as luck goes Kearly...A wise man once said, "Luck is when hard work meets preparation." You can also reference my signature for more clarification on, "luck."

I will be printing out the opening post so that I can give it the just due that it deserves,,,wiping my ass with it.
 
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kearly

kearly

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I think you should probably print that comment, delete it, then wipe your ass with it. Kind of crossed the line a little there buddy. I'm cool with you, but you might want to think twice before posting stuff like that next time.

I also said that either of the last two WSU teams would have destroyed UW in that game. This isn't about saying WSU sucks, it's about saying this game sucked, and WSU sucked less. I think to say that WSU played a good game would be a huge insult to their season.

Any impartial observer would agree: it was an ugly, mistake filled game. UW tied a school record for penalties and both teams had key turnovers and critical blown plays. This wasn't about teams making plays, it was about the other team making huge screwups, and UW had more screwups at more critical moments. Not to mention that a few of them were of the extremely rare variety.

I guess people will just read stuff they way they want it to sound. I think I've said that WSU earned the win like 5 times now. That's a lot of whooshing over people's heads. If you didn't see luck in the outcome of this game, you are the homer, not me. It's not a zero sum game, you can play better AND need luck to win. That's exactly what happened in this game. From a WPA standpoint (meaning the context of the play when the lucky break happened: game clinching plays count WAY more), WSU was several factors luckier than UW was. I would have said the same exact thing if the teams were wearing opposite jerseys. Man, WSU fans are so insecure. Holy shit. I think it's kind of funny actually. UW fans really don't give a shit. Not even about Oregon. All those teams are just names on a list to me. I think it's neat that other fans hate UW so passionately, cause I have no idea how that feels personally to hate another college team. Hell, I always root for Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington State in their bowl games.
 

pinksheets

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Kearly, the reaction would be the same if you were an opposing NFL team fan that had just lost to the Seahawks posting here. That's how ALL fanbases respond when they're told, even when it's qualified with a "you deserved it" type of statement, that they were lucky to win the game, or the outcome is more related to the loser playing poorly than the winner playing well.

And luck is just an abstract concept we apply to seeing things occur that are statistically unlikely, obviously it's not some outside force that dictates events. I don't think it's a legitimate variable in any way, just a broad term to cover a collection of big plays that go for one team.
 
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kearly

kearly

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I don't think I'm playing this like a sore loser at all. I'm just telling the honest truth. I get how it could read that way, that's why I've been very careful to balance it out with whatever praise for WSU that I think is actually warranted. Most people that troll and say you didn't deserve it wouldn't go out of their way to do that.

As far as the Seahawks analogy, that doesn't bother me. When Seattle beat the Packers, let's be honest with ourselves, that was not Green Bay's best performance out there. They came out of the gates this season playing horribly on offense. The Packers fell to 1-2 after that loss but are now 6-1 since losing that game. They also lost it on one of the most unusual game deciding plays in NFL history. If a Packer fan had said that Seattle got lucky, but also complimented key parts of their effort (8 sacks), I would say he'd be right on the money. Although I would say that in this example, WSU deserved to win over UW more than Seattle did over the Packers, although I do think WSU also got much luckier. Some people hear "luck" and everything else blacks out. You can be luckier and better and still barely win.
 
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