Oct 12, 2013; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Mike Leach reacts after a call on the field against the Oregon State Beavers during the first half at Martin Stadium. The Beavers beat the Cougars 52-24. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
I wrote this on a message board recently where Connor Halliday was getting blasted (again). Small background note; I really was going to leave this totally alone. I’ve had multiple discussions about the quarterback play and I’m a fairly heavy supporter of Halliday (as Mike Leach seems to be). Anyway, these convos always end up with rotten tomatoes being thrown at me on stage (so to speak).
BUT!!!… the talk has evolved through 3 forum pages to Austin Apodaca being the best answer for the program, to Mike Leach’s offense being terrible for college football and the Pac-12, to WSU having to run more in order to succeed… There are a select few who have come to the defense of Halliday… I can’t handle it!
Here is my full response:
We’ve beat everybody we were “supposed to beat” +1 (Southern Utah, Idaho, Cal, +USC).
We’ve lost to everybody we were “supposed to lose to” -1 (Oregon, Stanford, Auburn, Oregon St., -USC)
WSU has honestly had one of the tougher schedules in the nation. WSU is 1-4 against teams that are/were ranked this season. They will finish with 2 of 4 in that same category to finish the season. All ya’ll thought they were gonna be 0-5 in that stretch. Pretty sure they are outperforming preseason expectations from the people on this here board. That’s including Halliday… BY A LOT! Did ANYBODY on this board expect him to be 2nd in the country in passing yards?
To be even more clear, all Cougar losses have come to teams with 1 loss or less through week 8…
My personal opinion; Stop bitching that Halliday isn’t playing well! I’m so sick of this AA talk! It’s so tired. He’s facing defenses that do it to EVERYBODY! A freshman is not the answer and AA wouldn’t have done any better against 6-1 Stanford (fumble, INT), 7-0 Oregon (DNP), 6-1 Auburn (DNP), 4-3 USC (DNP) and 6-1 Oregon State (INT). He’s 50% in his action this season. Gimme a break!
And no. AA is not the answer in 2014 either… neither is Bruggman. Don’t think Leach ever started a RS freshman at Tech.
And I’m not supporting the bad decisions! Some are absolutely terrible and yes, frustrating. Probably half of the picks could be avoided. But good grief realize the reality of the teams we are facing. They are some of the best defenses this country has to offer.
Auburn just beat A&M… forced 3 ints vs Manziel. Stanford forced a couple ints from Hundley. USC has the most athletic defense in the conference. OSU is a returning BCS team with 80% of their team back! Oregon is the frickin’ best team in the country (don’t care Bama, you’ll get rolled in January).
I said it on twitter and I’ll say it again… you people are so unrealistic in your evolving expectations. If you’re ready for AA then you’re ready to quit on the Cougs till the end of 2014.
Ostracize ME if you want, but this is a pretty petty conversation that continues. And you know how I know you’re crazy? The talk has elevated to criticizing Leach’s proven offense! 10 straight bowl games with TECH, who began his tenure with some talent, but as a bottom dweller in the Big 12.
Does anybody realize we just outscored Washington by 14 against that UofO defense? 38 points. 14 more than ANYBODY. Yeah, that Bishop Sankey running game really helped UW. And how is Leach’s offense bad in the Pac-12, the inventors of the all-out spread attack? Ridiculous comments with no football IQ behind them. All these receivers that are going to make this the #1 offense in the country in 2 seasons and we should RUN MORE?
No.