Oregon State @ Arizona State (Game Thread)

Well now, wasn’t that fun?

1. I can’t believe nobody is complaining about the officiating. They weren’t the whole reason for the loss, but it started with them and continued on some key plays. The PI wasn’t even a phantom call. Mitchell was so badly burned that he was two yards off the receiver and looking the other way until the ball bounced away. I knew at that point that it was going to be a loss. Mannion should have had more INT’s, but his first two should have been called back because ASU was more than obviously offsides on both. In fact, I think the INT’s were a direct result of Mannion getting the snap early to get those calls, but the flags never flew. And while Marshall’s 37 yard TD run should have been stopped by one of the would-be tacklers, it was opened up by ASU’s RT dragging Wynn into the backfield by his facemask and pulling him down to the ground until Wynn threw off his helmet to get away… and then decided to try to pursue. You could see him standing in the endzone without his hat, all red-faced and wanting to yell at a ref after the play.

2. I sure am glad we have all that experience on the o-line. I mean, it’s not as if a bunch of sophs and frosh could play at such an amazing level. Right?

3. The defense was interesting for once. Line stunts and blitzes made for some good pressure and results. But if we’re going to play speed to the wide side, then a certain LB coach needs to tell his OLB to flatten his pursuit to the side. If Doctor comes at the WR from the side, the WR has two ways to move… backwards or to the sideline… not back inside like he did A LOT. That adjustment should have been made after the first time it happened… or the second… or the third. Hell, RR was so slow to get to those outs that he was able to play the sideline after the CB forced it outward. It was five yards down field instead of in the backfield like Doctor was playing. But the result was a five yard gain instead of a missed tackle three yards deep followed by a ten yard gain. And the one time Doctor does force to the sideline he grabs the facemask? DOH!

4. Murphy looked good in coverage. I don’t know what happened to Mitchell in this game. He was rarely in on the play. Even Watkins looked improved in coverage. Their first TD should not have happened. Collins was in the wrong position to cover a WR cross. I don’t know if that was his fault or the scheme. But he needs to be waiting on the cross instead of following it. And their other passing TD was a blown coverage by Poyer.

5. Poor Poyer… so hot, yet so cold. Read obviously needs to correct some issues on special teams. Forcing Romaine to directional kick while allowing Hekker to out-kick the coverage down the middle of the field is all the players’ faults. I mean, just think how bad it would be if Romaine were told to kick straight away and Hekker were told to hit for the sideline. Oh… the nightmare. I actually thought it was going to be that way when Hekker’s first punt went 41 yards and out of bounds. He should do that on every kick. The only positive I can gain from the rugby punt is that Hekker is looking to run if he’s not covered. Maybe he should try it INSTEAD of kicking. What could happen? He loses four yards? The horror!

At least the team looked like they came to play. If they show up like this in the first game, we’re likely looking at a 2-1 record going into this game. And that work would have translated to us being a better team for this game… despite our o-line.

From now on, I’m not even going to bother talking about the o-line. If I have something I want to say about them, I will just type “OL,” and you should all envision a big bundle of frustration, embarrassment and anger emanating from those two letters.

One positive… Mannion’s audible to the run on Ward’s TD was an exceptional call. If Katz had done that once against Sac State (when it was painfully obvious that he should have), he would likely still be the starter.