Washington State at Houston
There’s only been three college QB’s that started a season throwing over 400 yards in their first three consecutive games: Graham Harrell for the Texas Tech Red Raiders-current Offensive Coordinator for USC; Patrick Mahomes for Texas Tech-current starting QB for the Kansas City Chiefs; and Anthony Gordon, Senior QB for the Washington State Cougars in a 31-24 road win over Houston on Friday last week. The game was a reunion for Washington State Head Coach Mike Leach and Houston Head Coach Dana Holgorsen who was a member of Leach’s coaching staff at Texas Tech for seven years. Both coaches worked at Valdosta State under Hal Mumme who, with Mike Leach, first introduced the Air Raid system while coaching at Iowa Wesleyan College. It was interesting to observe the differences in the Air Raid as run by two coaches who were present at its inception as there was definitely more of a running element to Houston’s offense while Leach is a pass first guy and just dares you to stop him.
Before we get too deep into this, the mascot for both is the Cougar so I’ll try not to confuse you. Everyone expected a lot of scoring from both programs but the game was slow to unwind as Washington State’s first two possessions ended in punts and Houston, after an 11 play 58 yard drive, missed a 48 yard field goal attempt. But after a seven play Washington State drive that ended in their third punt in a row, Houston drew first blood half way through the 2nd Qtr on a 15 play 82 yard drive that ended with a D’Eriq King 13 yard pass to Marquez Stevenson in the end zone-Cougars up 7-0. On Washington State’s very next possession, starting on their own 23 yard line after a False Start penalty, QB Anthony Gordon connected on three passes in a row down to the Houston 42 yard line and finished the drive off after a short Max Borghi run with a 39 yard TD to Easop Winston Jr. to tie the score. Houston got it right back 7 plays and 75 yards later to go back on top with a QB 1 yard run for TD which turned out to be the last score of the half-Houston up 14-7.
In the second half the Washington State Defense stepped up and played a much better game. Houston got the ball to start but the Cougars forced a fumble leading to a quick 44 yard drive, a 1 yard run by Washington State’s RB Max Borghi for a TD, and a tie score. The next three possessions by Houston averaged less than 20 yards each-all ending in punts. In between, QB Anthony Gordon connected on three consecutive passes to Brandon Arconado following by a 39 yard strike for TD to Dezmon Patmon to put Washington State up 21-14. After both teams traded a couple of possessions ending in punts Houston picked up three more points on a 42 yard Dalton Witherspoon field goal to make the score 21-17. Starting on their own five yard line, eight plays and 95 yards later Washington State hits pay dirt on another Anthony Gordon TD pass, this time to Travell Harris for seven yards and a 28-17 lead. After a fumble by Houston, Washington State tacked on three more points on Blake Mazza’s 22 yard field goal to go ahead 31-17. On their very next possession Houston got back seven of those points on a quick 75 yard 6 play drive. But with less than 2.5 minutes remaining in the game, 31-24 is as close as they would get as Washington State ran out the time on their next possession and are now 3-0 on the season.
Washington State QB, Anthony Gordon, had another great game for the Cougars connecting on 36 of 48 for 440 yards, 3 TD’s, and 1 pick while the ground game represented only about 10% of the 489 yards of Total Offense. Their very talented RB Max Borghi got most of that rushing 9 yards for 40 yards and 1 TD. In typical Mike Leach Air Raid style seven players connected with Gordon three or more times a piece during the game with his three TD’s in the air going to three different receivers while Senior WR Brandon Arconado picked up the lion’s share of the total yards with 9 receptions for 115 yards.
One area of the game, besides tackling, I’m sure Mike Leach will be talking with his players about is penalties as Washington State picked up 11 for 132 yards. The Cougars go back to Pullman for their PAC-12 Conference Opener next Saturday against a UCLA team that’s really hard to watch right now.
Cal Poly at Oregon State
Other than Cal Poly’s Sophomore RB Duy Tran-Sampson, who accounted for over 40% of their total offense while rushing for 137 yards on 29 attempts without a score, the Oregon State Defense pretty much wrapped up the rest of the Mustang’s attack holding them to 315 yards of total offense. Beaver’s QB Jake Luton had a great game at home in Corvallis connecting on over 75% of his passes for 250 yards and 4 TD’s-all in the first half while tying a school record. The recipient of more than 50% of that yardage was 5′ 5” Sophomore WR Champ Flemings who reeled in 5 receptions for 142 yards, (an average of over 28 yards per catch) 2 TD’s, and just for good measure a 66 yard kick-off return. What a beast!
According to ESPN; “Both of Flemings’ touchdowns on Saturday came late in the second quarter as [Oregon State] increased a 24-7 lead to 38-7 by halftime. Flemings outjumped a defender at the goal line for a 47-yard score, which was the first touchdown of his college career [while his] second score came on a 75-yard catch and run with 21 seconds left in the first half.” In spite of the Beaver’s leading rusher, Jermar Jefferson, out with a foot injury Oregon State raked up an impressive 258 yards on the ground as Sophomore RB B. J. Baylor rushed for 101 yards and a TD on just seven carries with Senior Artavis Pierce and Sophomore Calvin Tyler Jr. kicking in an additional combined 149 yards on 21 carries to account for all but a few of the total 258 yards on the ground with another rushing TD by Luton’s replacement, Tristan Gebbia, with seven minutes left in the 3rd Qtr.
Oregon State looked really good on Defense in this game collecting 3 sacks and 10 tackles for loss while picking up one interception and forcing one fumble and loss by the Mustangs that led to points on the scoreboard by the Beavers. Cal Poly missed both of their field goal attempts while Oregon State’s Kicker, Senior Jordan Choukair, connected on his sole attempt in addition to being a perfect 6 for 6 in PATs.
As tough as it’s been for Oregon State I think 2nd year Head Coach Jonathan Smith has to feel pretty good about the progress. It’s going to take one or two more recruiting classes to “size up,” but by next year they should be pretty competitive the way they’re playing and might surprise some folks this year. After taking a week off the Beavers will host Stanford in their conference opener at home in Corvallis on Saturday, September 28th.
Montana at Oregon
Ever since the Ducks lost that Week 1 game to Auburn, that they could have won, they’ve been playing pissed. The good thing is Auburn has continued to win and currently sits No. 8 in the polls which makes that loss not look so bad-especially the way Oregon has been playing. Auburn however will have to face a gauntlet of tough teams before the end of the season including three which are currently ahead of them in the polls-Alabama, Georgia, and LSU. Both teams will need to continue to win for Oregon to have a chance to break into the final four. If Auburn only looses one the rest of the way and the Ducks can win out while picking up the PAC-12 North Division Title and Conference Championship then I think there’s a slim chance the PAC-12 could break back into the national championship semi-final.
In their final tune-up before hitting the road to take on PAC-12 North Division rival Stanford, Duck’s QB Justin Herbert connected on 30 of 42 for 316 yards, 5 TD’s and no interceptions in a 35-3 rout of the visiting Montana Grizzlies. Throwing multiple receptions to seven different receivers including 2 TD’s a piece to Junior WR Johnny Johnson III and Senior WR Jacob Breeland, Herbert has now overtaken Marcus Mariota with his fifth career five touchdown game and according to ESPN, “has thrown for a touchdown in 31 straight games, the longest current streak in the nation.” Oregon also tacked on an additional 247 yards on the ground for a Total Offense of 560 yards while their Defense held the Grizzlies to a microscopic 8 yards on 21 carries, forcing Montana to the air but they were unable to get into the end zone while dealing with Stanford’s four sacks and 5 tackles for loss.
If they have a weakness it has shown up converting in short yardage situations which can really hurt down in the Red Zone. The Ducks converted about half of their third downs against Montana but according to James Crepea of the Oregonian OregonLive only 25% of their 4th downs, “all of which were from 4 yards or less.” As he mentions; “Against FCS competition [like Montana] those results are insufficient for an offense that ranked 34th nationally in third-down conversions (42.86 percent) last season and has one of the best offensive lines in the country paving the way.” Oregon is currently ranked 77th nationally in their 3rd down conversion rate at just over 38% and both coaches, Offensive Coordinator Marcus Arroyo as well as Head Coach Mario Cristobal, are hell bent on improving in that area-knowing that they can’t win close games without improving in that area.
Regarding their upcoming game on the road at Stanford the Ducks, especially Sophomore RB CJ Verdell, won’t need any inspirational speeches to get up for the game after last year’s stunning loss to the Cardinal in overtime. Then ranked No. 20, the Ducks had the game won and only needed to run out the clock. But Verdell, a Freshman at the time, fumbled the ball and Stanford responded by tying the game to force an overtime and then scored a TD in the extra period as well as a stop to steal the victory away from the Ducks at home in Autzen Stadium. Oregon plans on returning the favor down in Palo Alto this coming Saturday, September 21st, at 4:00pm on ESPN.
Hawaii at Washington
Fortunately the game started this past week at 4:30pm because by the start of the previous week’s loss against Cal (first time in a decade at home) it was raining again at Husky Stadium. But this time the only thunder and lightening in the area was provided by Washington in their game at home against the Rainbow Warriors. Just 5 minutes and 14 seconds into the first quarter of their loss against Cal both teams were headed back to the locker room for what turned into a 2.5+ hour rain and lightening delay. With just six minutes left in the first quarter this past Saturday against Hawaii the Huskies were already up three scores 21-0 and wasted no time doing it averaging just 1:29 and 60+ yards on each of the three drives-two ending in QB Jacob Eason TD passes to Junior TE Hunter Bryant and Freshman WR Puka Nacua and one finished off by RB Sean McGrew who scampered 22 yards into the end zone. In between scores by the Offense the Washington Defense intercepted a pass and forced a punt.
Hawaii tried to make it a game in the 2nd half picking up TD’s on their first two possession and an interception on their third, but by then it was already 45-20 and stayed that way until Washington RB Richard Newton ran it in from the Hawaii 8 yard line to make it 52-20 where it stayed. Eason was efficient and clean against Hawaii completing a little more than 70% of his passes for 3 TD’s and no interceptions. Washington’s ground game by committee also looked good with RB’s Salvon Ahmed, Sean McGrew, and Richard Newton all carrying the ball eight times a piece for a combined 175 yards and 3 TD’s. Hawaii had only 55 yards less of Total Offense with 395 yards against 450 yards for the Huskies but interceptions by the Washington Secondary really killed them-three total-all of which led to points on the board. Sophomore Place Kicker Peyton Henry had another stellar outing for Washington hitting on his only field goal attempt and connecting on 7 out of 7 PATs.
Mike Vorel in a piece for the Seattle Times points out three things that were learned from this game and I wanted to throw a couple out there. Mike wrote that; “Washington’s offensive success starts with its line.” I suppose you could say that about most all football teams, but when they are controlling the line of scrimmage and creating space for the running game the Husky’s have three guys (Ahmed, Newton, and McGrew) that are averaging more than 5.5 yards per carry. In addition, QB Jacob Eason is lethal when working from a clean pocket-completing 70+% of his passes with 7 TD’s and no interceptions in two of the three games in which he was sacked only once. Against Cal, he was sacked four times as well as pressured numerous times, and as a result completed only 60% of his passes for 0 TD’s and 1 interception. Also in his article Mike points out that the Husky’s are giving up too many points in the quarter after the break and writes; “In the third quarter, Cal and Hawaii scored a total of 27 points. They managed 13 points in the other six quarters combined.” I mean good coaches make adjustments so it’s not all that unusual for teams that were struggling in the first half to come out and make better progress in the third quarter. I think the lesson for Washington here moving forward would be that they need to adjust to those changes more quickly if they want to cut down on their opponent’s success in the third
This coming week Washington packs up and hits the road to BYU for a game on Saturday, September 21st at 12:30pm on ABC/ESPN2 then come home to play USC at noon on September 28th.
North Texas at Cal
With some help from their opponent and a very stiff defense of their own Cal came out fast at home against the North Texas Mean Green, ahead by 20-0 by the end of the 1st Qtr. In addition to scoring on their first opportunity of the game, a 7 play 75 yard drive ending in a Christopher Brown Jr. TD run, they forced a fumble on their opponent’s possession which led to a Greg Thomas 32 yard field goal. After Cal held North Texas to a three and out on their next set of downs, Thomas hit again on a 44 yard field goal. Another three and out and Cal connects on a 36 yard Chase Garbers TD to Nikko Remigio to go up 20 to zip with 2:31 left in the 1st Qtr where the score stayed until just before the break when North Texas, after a 14 play 53 yard drive, finally got on the board with a 24 yard Ethan Mooney field goal to make the score 20-3 going into the half.
The Mean Green got the ball after the break and didn’t waste any time going 75 yards in under a minute on 3 plays culminating in a 68 yard TD by North Texas QBMason Fine to WR Jaelon Darden to tighten the score 20-10. Twelve plays and 5:21 later Greg Thomas knocks another one through the crossbars to put Cal up 23-10. Even though the Bears intercepted North Texas on their next possession they never scored again the rest of the way, punting four times. The Mean Green closed in with just three minutes left in the game on a Mason Fine 18 yard pass to WR Jyaire Shorter to bring the score to 23-17 where it ended up.
Cal won and their Defense played great but having scored a mere 3 points after the 1st Qtr have to be seriously concerned about their offense. Bear QB Chase Garbers had a really inefficient and fairly unproductive game connecting on only 40% of his passes, 9 of 22, for 129 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions. The ground game left a lot to be desired as well, averaging just 3 yards a carry for 149 yards and 1 TD. Less than 300 yards of Total Offense and just 2 TD’s won’t get it done this next week as they travel to Oxford Mississippi to take on Ole Miss Saturday, September 21st, at 9:00am (wow, that’s 6:00am Cal time) on ESPNU only to travel back on a short week to face a very good Arizona State team on Friday, September 27th.
Stanford at UCF
I think after watching Stanford give up 45 points in each of their last two games against both USC and UCF we have to agree that this is not the Cardinal team we’re used to seeing. They’re in a situation in which their QB, K.J. Costello, has to play great for them to have a chance to win because their run game-by-committee approach to replacing Bryce Love isn’t working all that well and more damaging, their pass Defense is getting killed giving up 724 yards and 7 TD’s over their last two games. Against UCF Costello connected on about 50% of his passes, 21 of 44, for 199 yards, 1 TD, and one pick while his counterpart UCF Freshman QB Dillon Gabriel, in only his 2nd college start, connected on over 70% of his attempts going 22 of 30 for 347 yards, 4 TD’s and no interceptions. UCF’s running game kept the Stanford Defense honest rushing 44 times for 2 ticks shy of 200 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground with over half of that and 1 TD collected by Junior RB Greg McCrae.
Stanford was never in the game trailing 28-7 by the end of the 1st Qtr and 38-7 by the break. Even after putting up 20 points in the 2nd half, 17 in the 4th alone, they still lost by more than 2 TD’s, 45-27. With Oregon, Washington, and Washington State all on their dance ticket this year, Head Coach David Shaw and company understand they need to find an answer for their pass defense or they’ll be looking at a number of in-conference lopsided losses. As Shaw was quoted after the game; “That’s not us. That’s unacceptable. We’ve missed tackles, we’ve missed alignments, we’ve let receivers run free. Especially the last two games you’ve got receivers who can really run, and we’re just letting them run.”
And as the Mercury News points out; “Now comes Oregon with five pro prospects on the line protecting the 6-foot-6 Herbert, who has completed 74 percent of his throws for 868 yards, 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. The potential No. 1 pick in next year’s draft is the first QB in program history to throw five TDs in consecutive games and has gone 150 pass attempt without a pick dating back to last season.” Where did that media poll have Stanford, right behind Oregon and Washington, right? Well, they may be in the North but they’re headed south and will need to play better in order to stay out of the basement of that Division.
The Cardinal are back at home this Saturday, September 21st, taking on Justin Herbert and the Ducks at 4:00pm on ESPN. Two weeks later they’ll be hosting another big armed QB in Jacob Eason as the Huskies come to town. In between, Stanford will head to Corvallis to take on an improving Oregon State team, also capable of putting lots of points up on the scoreboard. Looks like it’s going to be a long season for Head Coach David Shaw and the Cardinal.