Home Football Oregon State @ Fresno St

Oregon State @ Fresno St

568

I thought this was a win in the pre-season, and I’m going to stick with that after a lot of thought about this game. I’m definitely more concerned after seeing the Beavs are mentally immature and still can’t compete for a full 60 minutes. But on the flipside, Smith didn’t make any stupid 4th down calls, and he had the opportunity to do so.

I think the Beavs depth, especially at RB where we can bring in legit 5 backs and wear down Fresno, is the ultimate difference. Nolan is better, as expected, so we should use the pass but maybe more to set up the run. If we don’t run at least equally and instead get pass happy, I think we lose. I’m going to assume the coaches are smart enough to know that, which is a pretty big assumption given Lindgren’s track record, but it is a new year, so I’ll give him the benefit until proven otherwise.

Final prediction: Beavs 31-24

568 COMMENTS

  1. Alabama scrapes by Texas, aTm falls to Appalachian State, Notre Dame loses to Marshall.

    C’mon Beavers, this is your year to be relevant!

  2. “I think the Beavs depth, especially at RB where we can bring in legit 5 backs and wear down Fresno, is the ultimate difference. ”

    The Beaver D looks to be much better this year. I think Smith will cut back on the risky 4th down calls, feeling like he can trust his D more than under Timmy. We’ll see. Hopefully he shows more restraint and looks at the long game more than then in the moment.

    I think Beavers win tonight. Its refreshing that they’re entertaining to watch on both sides of the ball, competitive, and again, just entertaining. I’m partial to the use of multiple RBs, the TE sets, the use of Colletto. If Musgrave can be consistent and they can settle down a WR rotation, it will be even more fun to watch.

    • I agree Beavs win tonight. That said, it won’t be because of the RBs. Difference is Nolan, Oline. Dline, and DBs. Win TO battle and control the ball. 36-24 Beavs

  3. It will be interesting to see what Fresno State’s defensive game plan will be. Boise state, as did most teams against Oregon state last year, packed the box and went all in to stop the run and forced the pass. Can’t just run for the sake of running against a stacked box. But hopefully the passing game as seen last week opens up the run a little more.

  4. More from daschel:
    RB Isaiah Newell also didn’t make the trip (unspecified). Beavers are down two RBs tonight … so look for Damien Martinez, Deshaun Fenwick and Jam Griffin to get a lot of work.

  5. I had this as a loss and consider it the bellwether game of the year. A win here and something great is possible. Not guaranteed, but possible. A loss here and to me it’s win one lose one for much of the year.

  6. Fresno playing with a lot of emotion, maybe too much, need to exploit them, works on the pass to Musgrave then

    a short pass by nolan sure td

  7. Okay Martinez and Jam the first two backs then Fenwick. No reason to have him on the field with the running back room we have. He’s a liability. Might have to use him more this game tho.

  8. I like the amount of “time” that took…persistence. Let Haener sit, let their O stay cold.

    I’d like to see Colletto/Martinez package, which seems likely given RBs not playing.

  9. Huh….this defense has not looked fast or in position so far this game. That’s a big play they gave up. Hope they take that personally.

  10. My confidence is now shaken. If we can’t get into a rhythm, we will lose this game. Need to make a stop on this drive by Fresno State.

  11. In the pre-game show Wilson pointed out that OSU had not won a NON-conference road game since Hawaii in 2014. They look a little ragged tonight. Some drops and Nolan isn’t as accurate as last week. This game is going to be a slog.

    • Agree. If they clean a few things up they will be alright. Right now they’re beating themselves. Blown defensive assignment, penalties, missed blocks and drops. Need to get Nolan a little mire settled.

  12. This game is going to say a lot about Bray. He’s not “keep everything in front of you, bend don’t break.” When does he gamble? When does he go zone?

    This is a good precursor to games like USC with tons of FA talent.

    I’m not opposed to his approach, but the timing of his calls…

    Austin!!!

  13. That play by Austin goes back to what angry said about getting interceptions when theres an opportunity. Could’ve possibly had a puck 6 there.

  14. 3 minute drill. I feel like these have often burnt Smith where we dont use the full 3 minutes and then give up cheap points going into half time. Lets see if we’ve grown this offseason

  15. Persevere. Winnable. This was obviously going to be a contest.

    Need more Musgrave, Colletto, Martinez in second half.

    And designed runs for Nolan!

  16. Tedford, the wily old coach, has to feel good eventhough being stopped for FG twice. Gets the ball to start the 2nd half and has his guys confident. Bray needs to come up with a TO right away.
    Zero sacks and only one TFL in the first half, need to change that.

  17. Don’t beat yourselves and dominate the LOS is the 2 things I said they needed to do to win the game. They’ve done neither and are up by only 1.

  18. 13
    1

    Haener is just one of those QBs that you hate to play against. He gets rid of the ball quick and knows where it needs to go. Honestly, I think the defense is doing a good enough job, our offense should be faring much better. Fresno doesn’t look as tough up front as Boise. We need to run more and get Musgrave involved. Our receivers are making me miss the days of Hodgins when he dropped nothing. I mean our two scores came on drives where we stuck with the run…

  19. OSU has the OLine to win this.

    I think Haener may give up a TO. OSU’s DB scheme and play is better than recent years past.

    Fun contest!

  20. Haener is putting on a clinic. Makes Nolan look like trash. The D can’t get any pressure on the guy. I will say that the play calling is much better for Fresno also. Just frustrating to have a team with no gas pedal and all coast downhill.

  21. Put any other QB in the game….I’m sick of the Nolan show.

    The arms are down and the lights are flashing, but there is no train for miles…

  22. Chance is being killed by his receivers. So many drops to kill drives. He’s played well but numbers look like garbage cause they’re dropping balls left and right. Beavs beating themselves tonight

  23. I’ve never seen a Smith team not respond. Lets hope that it holds true here.

    They’re like lets fake some cramps so we can formulate a big play.

  24. 4
    1

    Well….the good news is the Beavs can get it to 4th down with timeouts. So they’ll have some time if Fresno does score here.

  25. Well shit. Gonna have just under a minute.

    That missed PAT is huge. A FG sends it to OT.

    They said on the pregame our kicker (Hayes?) was hurt this week

  26. 8
    19

    The two things I like about that call:

    1. It was to Colletto
    2. It punished Tedford for icing our kicker. Teams will think twice now.

    What I don’t like: this emboldens Smith’s inner degenerate gambler.

    But at least they called the right play this time. If you’re going to be a degenerate, at least give yourself the best odds.

    • 31
      1

      This wasn’t a gamble. We weren’t going to win in overtime. You got mad at him for blowing the Nevada game by being conservative and playing for the field goal. This time he went for the win when he had the chance.

      • 6
        1

        It almost looked like Kefense convinced him to kick the FG, then after Tedford called the TO, Smith’s gambling itch started actin up again
        Glad it paid off. Heck of a way to win

  27. Gonna be fun learning a bit about what went on at the end, was JS lobbied by JackHammer the way smilin’ mike was by another RB a few years back?……..Ev Bernard?

  28. 27

    Great to start the year with 2 wins over quality opponents. And we haven’t played well. Lots to clean up but we
    have won 2 games that in the past we would have lost.

  29. 13

    We’ve loss so many close games in the past were 1 or 2 plays changed the game and we couldn’t get over the hump. Definitely a character building moment. We still have flaws but learned how to overcome them tonight. Big win. The Hammer delivers to coup-de-gras.

  30. As others have said, it’s awesome to see us win a game like this. The clutch factor- Find a way when the game is on the line. Speaks well for team culture and our prospects for the season.

  31. 11

    Last year it was winning at the coliseum. This year finally winning in Fresno.

    Feels good to finally get some of these long standing demons exorcised.

  32. 7
    1

    Haener is a legit QB game manager. He may be the most experienced/complete QB we see all season. No turnovers by either team. Not clean penalty wise, but there weren’t a lot of dirty play like there used to be in 2001 and 2003. Tedford throw his clipboard though?

    • 1
      1

      no, OOBie, I’m going to have to bump them up to 8-4 at least, maybe 9-3. like I said five-six hours ago, this was a bellwether game. Not quite in the magical category yet with Angry (who thought the game was lost), but this is easily the best team since the Alamo Bowl squad, and maybe better than them.

  33. Good Lord, I hope it’s many years before the Beavs are on CBS Sports Network again. Those announcers were hideous. Fortunately, the excitement of the game won out, but those idiots tried to ruin it!

    • 10

      Agreed. The guy kept forgetting to add the State to Oregon State. And the amount of Haener dick riding and Fresno State bias in general was nauseating. Haener is good and I respect Fresno State but fuckin a there are two teams playing.

      • Given that it’s the Mountain West’s main network, I’m sure there’s some “encouragement” to pump up the teams in the league, especially against Power Five competition. That being said, the announcers were struggling with basic things like getting the down correct, as you mentioned calling the Beavs, Oregon over and over and just weird comments like “Oregon State was wearing down the Fresno defense” when the opposite was true for a big portion of the game. I thought the P-12 was the nadir of announcing, but I was wrong about that!

  34. 10
    1

    We’re gonna learn a little more next weekend as Fresno plays USC at the coliseum.

    Is Fresno legit and this a good win? How good is USC?

  35. After two games, Beavers still hold the stat of when they have the lead at halftime and score 14 points or more, they win. Onto Montana State!

  36. 1
    7

    -Defensive gameplan seemed to be to prevent the deep ball. Lots of deep safety looks and late developing blitzes. It mostly worked, but Haener did a good job finding the gaps over the middle.

    -Nolan deep passes seemed to have regressed back to last year’s form.

    -Martinez is the next great Beav RB. Fenwick looked more confident yesterday and hit the hole hard, he just doesn’t have the cutting ability to break big runs. Still could be a guy that consistently picks up 8-10 with the right blocking, but our big plays are going to have to come from Nolan and Lindgren’s gadget stuff.

      • I only watched about half the total game. I saw a few drops, but also saw some misses. Must have just been the wrong sample. PFF seemed to be impressed by him!

    • Mostly agree, though Nolan’s deep balls were often at least 50/50 balls in catchable placements. He performed the road and that’s what mattered most. Stats show the quantity of penalties were slightly in the Beavs favor, but the quality of the penalties seemed to favor FSU, especially late in the game with some non-calls. Fenwick seemed to accelerate back to the LOS a bit slow, at least late in the game. But he did have >100yds. Seems good at softening up defenders by plowing into them repeatedly.

  37. 4
    1

    PFF next day ratings:
    -Nolan is the #2 passer in the PAC behind McKee, #17 nationally (ratings seemed to change last week, so he might get some kind of Beaver bump, I guess)
    -Martinez is our top-rated RB. Give him the rock!
    -Jack is the top FB in the country that doesn’t play for AF or Navy
    -Musgrave is #2 TE in the PAC, but his blocking is rough
    -Fuaga is the #2 T in the PAC, #9 nationally
    -Austin is the #3 CB in the PAC
    -Fisher is the #4 LB in the PAC
    -Rawls is the #3 DT in the PAC
    -Loecher is the #1 P in the PAC

    • 5
      1

      since I had this as a loss in the pre-season assessment I have to bump up to 8-4. SC game is the new bellwether. Win that and 10 could be in reach.

      • 4
        1

        I think I’m going to change USC to a loss after watching their QB yesterday. Not sure yet, but I think so. I’d probably change Stanford to a win to offset that.

        • Clearly didn’t watch the end of sc and furd but watching 1st qtr plus, they definitely were rolling. Much it seemed by capitalizing on tree mistakes. They were up big at the half and only scored 6 in the 2nd half. Let off the gas or slowed down? Don’t think we’ll have that answer for two weeks.

          Beavs have a lot of things to clean up, but that was a gritty win last night. They need to continue working on ball security, that shit won’t fly vs $c who will definitely take advantage

  38. 8
    1

    Great win. This is the type of character building (and lucky) win that every magical season needs. Need to play a lot better though or the Beavs are headed to 7-5. Can’t beat USC or Utah playing like this. WSU, UW and Oregon would be tough.

  39. 15

    Wow!!!!
    Just watched the DVR of the game this morning. What a freaking game. Holy shit the last quarter was freaking awesome!

    That being said, if Our receivers could catch the fucking ball we could’ve won this game without giving me a freaking heart attack.

    • #17 Pitt lost and #25 Houston did too. So good opportunity there.
      Several other higher ranked teams also lost (florida, NotreDame, aTm come to mind) but I could see them all staying in, even with a couple being bad losses.

    • ESPN FPI only moved us up one. Nike moved up 12 spots after beating mighty EWU. Go figure.

      I think we’ll be fairly high in the receiving votes group, but a close win late at night against a G5 team isn’t going to impress people east of Bend.

    • Wisky lost and more importantly Houston at 25 lost

      Yucks got more votes than beavs last week even after their shellacing, and they are also media darlings who won yesterday.

      I dought beavs ‘leapfrog the Disney creation

  40. 1
    2

    I too can’t follow live with these late starts, so glad to have dvr. Great finish, definitely feel like the beavs stole one here! Fresno had a lot of penalties late that really hurt their chances. I thought their qb outplayed ours which normally leads to a win. Is this a future conference opponent? Either fresNo joining pac12 or vice versa. Kinda hurts that they have a larger capacity stadium than reser.

  41. 4
    1

    This team is a different team on the road. Not exactly sure how to put the differences into words, but from the eyeball test, this team will have to find a way to not come out flat on Offense to start the game.

    I still stand by my 10-2 prediction with losses to Utah and UW. My hope is, Fresno State doesn’t come out uninspired and flat against USC. I want Fresno State to give USC just as much muster and fits as they gave us. We play Montana State this week and they are not a push over by any means, but we should be able to find a rhythm running the ball and the passing game must improve this week. If there’s more dropped passes this weekend, then our WR group will have gone from strength to weakness in one year. Beavs will be able to hopefully “rest” players this week, but also can’t afford to have another grind out game where we come back, especially against an FCS team.

    Went back and looked at the non conference schedule for 2000 season:

    EWU 21-19
    7-3 at halftime Beavs. Got outscored in the second half 16-14, but won the first half.
    @New Mexico 28-20
    down 20-14 at halftime. Shut lobos out in second half and scored 14 pts in 4th quarter.
    BYE
    SDSU 35-3
    Went up 21-3 at halftime and cruised to a win.
    USC 31-21
    Tied 14 all at halftime. Beavs scored TD and FG in 4th quarter then USC scored then Beavs scored final TD.

    Just hope we don’t let off the gas against Montana State like we seemed to have done against Boise State. Hard to get the diesel engine fired up again once you’ve allowed it to cool down. I see this offense coming out firing against Montana State because of their final drive against Fresno State.

    • Late night games on CBS Sports doesn’t help. Rankings don’t matter if the goal is the Rose Bowl anyways. Honestly, we don’t need to get beat by Georgia or B1G team in the CFP anyways.

    • Couldn’t care less about the coaches poll right now.
      There are a few things yet to prove for this team (beyond ending dropped passes and crippling penalties):
      1-handle success
      2-don’t play down to the competition
      3-learn to play from ahead…..foot on the neck

      Go Beavs!

  42. 7
    4

    Good win. Credit to Smith. Good decisions throughout paid off. MSU is a trap game. Need to focus. Despite the win, I’m less optimistic for the season. The D may be a problem. Worried about ball security with RBs. WRs struggle to catch ball. Musgrave is a talent but also a liability. Drops balls and misses blocks. Hard to imagine this team beating USC

    • Fresno put up a bunch of yards but they are going to do that all year. They have a good QB with lots of weapons. USC vs FS should answer some questions.

  43. Harrison’s TD run was impressive not just because he kept moving laterally, and didn’t give up, but the persistent downfield blocking. Very nice.

    As Beaverpride says, its a little concerning that individuals so far have been as bad as they are good. That tends to catch up with teams. They can’t keep saying they’ll focus for 4 quarters “next time.”

    That might have been the college game of the weekend, but its the only one I saw, so rely on others here? I actually went to bed after the TD on the reverse, so I can literally say “Don’t sleep on the Beavers!”

    Coaching staff takes down another milestone, first win at Fresno State. Well done!

    • This was an exciting game because we’re passionate about our team. With that said, a game coming down to the wire where a team has the chance to tie or go for the win and this team went for the win. I hope this is the “foot on the neck and keep it there” mentality Olidapo spoke about with Ron Callan. Knowing what its like to have your foot on the neck of your opponent by going out and executing the last play of the game and winning with said play should be a learning experience for this team. Seems like this team is learning what it takes to win on the road. Last season was what it takes to win at home, now its how to win on the road and put them together.

    • That play was great on a lot of levels. Really nice playcall. Nolan sold the fake really well. Harrison had a really solid individual effort (including patience and good football IQ following blockers) and as mentioned it was blocked really really well. Great team TD.

  44. FOCUS
    Might be worth discussing what y’all see when we talk FOCUS.
    Team-wide focus seems to show when effort becomes lacking…..like, at times, vs BSU
    Individual focus likely figures in to the dropped passes, maybe missed blocks as well.

    We didn’t see a lack of effort at all last night, or am I mistaken?
    Individual focus seems easier to address for the coaching staff, no?

  45. 11

    I’m probably going to be late all year with my hot takes,

    That was a big win. I had said before if Fresno is within a score near the end of the game and Haener gets the ball back, he’ll be impossible to stop. I was right but Nolan was impossible to stop too. Colletto won the game but Nolan was the player of the game. No really bad throws and he had to deal with a number of drops on easy balls. This felt like his USC game last year. A coming out game of sorts, a win on the road where the Beavs hadn’t won.

    For offense, the guys need to be carrying around footballs all day. Receivers too! Too many drops and Fenwick with a lucky bounce to recover his own fumble. Fenwick is showing a lot of burst and looks tough to take down, but clearly has a light grip. Martinez had one good run yesterday. WR are a frustrating bunch so far. Harrison and Bolden showed what the ceiling could be, fast and slippery guys who gain a lot of yards when they get a sliver of daylight. Musgraves is reaching his long awaited potential. Colletto will never be stopped.

    OL was expected to do a little worse and did. But not as badly as it appeared. Gave up two sacks and two penalties. No sacks in the second half.

    Defense was the extreme version of bend but don’t break. Fresno only punted twice. Making Fresno kick FGs is good but maybe not of 6 them? Oladapo flew around to make plays but having a DB lead the team in tackles isn’t good. Bray did try mix things up and get pressure but Haener was fast to recognize it and adjust. Haener looked like a pro QB in his adjustments. Never looked rattled and was in control of the offense.

    No real complaints about special teams other than one punt Luke blasted through the endzone.

    Coaching was ok, Bray did enough to give the offense the time to win, Lindgren called a pretty vanilla game vs last week. Smith went with his guts again to go for the win. A make up for going for it earlier and missing badly. S&C coach deserves a big shout out. Only Fresno players went down with cramps.

    I don’t think the team will come out of the win and overlook Montana St. Yesterday was a bruiser. They aren’t ranked and don’t deserve to be. If they beat USC, they’ll be ranked. Coaches will need to emphasize MSU is not a tune up and its MSU that’s a ranked team. They need to go out there and dominate on the line of scrimmage all day. Look at the upsets of this weekend and make sure that doesn’t happen.

    • Punter did out punt his coverage late, sending a line drive directly to the return guy who promptly returned back to around the original line of scrimmage. Thought that was a huge play giving FS really good field position. Other than that, thought special teams played an average game — nothing too big, and nothing too small to hang their hats on.

    • Does Nolan’s ball (lack of tight spiral) contribute to the number of dropped balls? He throws a decent deep ball but only if he can step into the throw and use his whole body, doesn’t have a strong arm. Think he took a couple sack yesterday because of the pick versus BSU, and now holding the ball because his arm isn’t strong enough to launch it into the stands without stepping into it. Saw haener launch it into the stands several times to avoid sacks, don’t need a rocket launcher but I’m not convinced Nolan has a strong enough arm to make the necessary throws to win the 9+ games.

  46. 3
    3

    I knew they’d fire Frost after that one. They tried to make it to Oct 1st, but that one was too embarrassing. The guy was way over his skies.

        • Frost sounded like he was asleep in 90% of his pressers and basically said what fans and media wanted to hear without giving details of what they did right and did wrong. Also, Frost can’t develop talent. He tried to get talent and let talent carry the team. They need a coach who will develop players as their next HC.

    • So odd that Frost was really successful at UCF and now just can’t figure it out at all. It’s not like he was a really good coordinator. He was the head coach in charge of culture, work ethic, etc. I wonder if coming back “home” was too much pressure. Obviously a better conference but he’s had some horrible losses.

        • He took over a program at UCF that had a huge talent advantage over his conference rivals.
          Riding Kelly’s coattails with his offense and by the time he went to Nebraska, the revolutionary aspect of Chips O was over.
          Everyone was doing some of it.

        • For a college kid, ya probably, but as an adult with cost of living, it’s one of the more affordable places to live in the country. I’ve been living in Nebraska for 5 years now and the grass is green in the summer time for my kids to run around and play on, but the winters are longer and colder than Oregon. It’s all about trade offs. It’s not for everyone, but it works for me and my family.

          • I like driving through NE, especially the northwest part. Very pretty. Surprisingly high elevation, too. I have no idea about living there. Since I bike a lot the wind might become really annoying.

          • Lincoln is quite bike friendly(not like Portland, but the police don’t enforce tickets with bikes on the sidewalks). It’s not windy in Lincoln to where it whips in your face and pushes you unless there is an opening/clearing from trees and buildings/homes. Lincoln is similar to Beaverton without being crowded by Hillsboro, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Tualatin, and Aloha. There are multiple High Schools.

  47. How do you guys think last night’s win and decision run Colletto v. kicking for the tie compare to the Beavers’ Sun bowl win over Missouri where Riley went for 2 and the win? Wasn’t that Riley’s only ten-win team, 10-3, with its extra game a win over Hawaii?

    Missouri was probably a better team than Fresno State, and this could potentially end up being the best season since that win.

    • 10

      I think it was just about the same logic model. You have a chance to win the game right there. Ev’s run in the Sun Bowl or Colletto last night. This is what people routinely fail to understand about Smith’s decision to go for it Pullman o so many years ago. He had a chance to win it right there. How do the critics of that decision think a program learns how to pull those off? By experimentation. You saw the fruits of Pullman in Fresno last night. Let the down votes rain on.

    • We could still win 6 games depending on so many conference games that are 50/50. It’s a great start but Washington looks better than last year, wazzu, usc etc. sure some teams are down but we find ways to lose when we shouldn’t. Still a long ways to go for a “beat season in a long time.”

      • But hasn’t that always been the logic, win the non-cons, then at least split (and preferably better) the pac games? That should give us min of 7 wins. It’s the SEC model, the yucks have employed it too. It’s the main reason to put patsies on the schedule and not travel to body bag games, or even what should be competitive games like Boise or Fresno.

  48. 1
    10

    Interview up on sedge is interesting. Smiths logic was “we came here to win the game”…flawed on so many levels. Not worth rehashing since people want to believe in it.

    The proper decision was to tie the game, but as I wrote before the play happened I’d be ok if the call was a Colletto run. What makes me have concern is smiths thought process to get to that call, but a run with Colletto was the proper call once you decide to go, so at least he got that right.

    Some other interesting bits…Colletto basically says he called the last play. When they asked him if he liked the idea of going for it he clams up and suddenly looks like a deer in headlights. Very interesting.

    • 16

      Not great logic, but there was probably more to it than that. OT is basically a shoot out between offenses. Given a short field, not sure you want to be dueling Haener. Chances of getting two yard with Jack are probably just as good or better.

    • 24

      Okay then, Angry. Because you seem SO sure that playing for OT was the correct call, do you truly think we win that game in overtime? Musgrave was shaken up and who knows if he could have returned. Parker and Wilson referenced on the radio broadcast that Hayes didn’t practice most of the week dealing with an injury, so not only does that make you nervous for the tying kick, but for a potential need for an OT field goal (he shanked one at Colorado last year in OT). You are just so desperate to convince yourself it was a bad decision or a “gamble.” How often have I seen you complain about Smith not making decisions based off the “feel of the game”? This was anything but an analytics decision. He had a perfect feel for this one. We had been outplayed, it was a miracle we were in that situation with 3 seconds to go, so he decided to give it to one of his best players and trusted him to go get 2 yards and win a game that in his mind, they didn’t have a good chance of winning in overtime.

    • I don’t know if going to Fresno to win the game is flawed thinking, but it is certainly correct that Angry was in favor of going for the win before the call was made. As was Jim Wilson up in the booth, the smartest guy around OSU football, and yours truly. Actually, if you look at the thread, I suggested Smith was going to go for it when there were THREE plays yet to run.

      • 1
        4

        No I was for the fg, but it’s near 50/50 so I said if they did go for it the only way I couldn’t be critical of that call was if they gave it to Colletto. And I wasn’t. Until I heard smith’s logic!

        The best reason to go was Colletto is probably ~90% success rate on that play and Hayes is very erratic. And the d was looking tired (tho not gassed).

        But anyway, it’s Smiths logic that’s concerning. Just watch Colletto when they ask about it.

      • Kind of like that the announcer said “He’s in!” well before Colletto was in the end zone. You could he was going to have the path. Beavers line did a nice job.

        So glad there wasn’t a holding call on that play…

      • That was a bad block by 87. He held up his hands so he did not get called for holding, but did not get his body on his man, who should not have even been close to the Jackhammer.

    • He made a great block on the Harrison TD. He isn’t a great blocker on the line especially compare to QT. He often loses positioning battles and struggles with footwork. That said he’s pretty good with releasing off blocks to get into coverage. Nice route runner with average hands. Good speed and size makes him a key target in passing game but I’d say QT will be a better NFL TE.

        • 2
          2

          If Musgrave doesn’t improve his blocking, he’s basically just Togiai. Good athlete, inconsistent hands, “unpolished” blocker.

          Togiai has been a fringe practice squad/emergency backup for what, 4 years now?

          • He’s currently a top 20 NFL prospect at TE as a Junior who is rapidly improving in the passing game. By the time he’s a senior, he might be a 1st or 2nd round draft pick if he keeps this trajectory. That his dad played in the NFL and has ties is going to help him get noticed, too. He’s a much much better prospect than Togiai. Your prediction will not age well.

    • Im the guy that said he needs to work on his footwork. I saw the block he made on Harrison’s beautiful run. It was a great hustle play by him and he is always blocking downfield when needed. His issue is after intial contact on running plays. He needs work on drive and not letting his man to his outside. Footwork. Not saying anything negative about his talent beyond that. He can play but for the most part the next level wants TE’s that can also block. He will get there.

  49. 1
    4

    Our LB’s are still basically worthless in coverage. I guess this is a philosophical thing about what type of guy we want playing the position, but it really hamstrings us against QB’s like Haener that are good at finding what’s there over the middle. Also mobile QB’s and good TE’s. Any team that has those will shred us to pieces.

  50. There were a couple of comments earlier about the next Colletto. On that note, I’m curious to hear your opinions on what makes him so unique/good? Is he super rare and gifted, or is it just the schemes? In other words, if you ran the exact same plays (short yardage wildbeaver, etc.) with Fenwick or Martinez would the results be pretty similar? Or does he bring something to the table that few other players possess? Hoping to hear from some of you that maybe know the ins and outs of football a little more than me–a fairly knowledgeable fan, but one who never played the game.

    • Great vision as a ball carrier. He’s a threat to pass or run. The defense has to respect him when he’s in the game. He’s strong enough to run people over and fast enough to outrun people too. Granted we mostly use him as a runner but just the thought of him passing the D has to respect. It’s similar to playing against a triple option team like Paul Johnson when he was at Georgia Tech. All they did was run but the D couldn’t get caught sleeping on the pass and when they did they got burned.

    • I’ve thought about that question too because he makes it look so dang easy. I think his vision and patience are phenomenal, and he’s exceptional at seeing the play unfold in real time.

      As a result, he’s really good at seeing the perfect hole and hitting it decisively at the perfect time. And when he does, he has the speed and size to make a play- but honestly he doesn’t usually need those traits.

    • I think all of these are correct. Big brain, Ex QB, vision…all correct. He has a really good mix of speed and power, too. Not elite at either, but VG at both, which is rare. Nall had that.

      I think that the D knows he was a QB and that he occasionally throws and might throw keeps them just a step behind him, too. D coordinators should just completely sell out and not even cover the WRs…lol. I’d probably put a CB on the WR but do a run blitz from the CB position and try to collapse those edges. I think this would be the smart way to defend Colletto, but luckily they don’t do that.

      • I would bet there is some RPO available and he can audible to a pass (he’s got the brains to read alignments, and pick holes… I’m sure he can do this too). I also think he’s a mismatch against a CB once he gets a head of steam. Still, it’s pretty remarkable how successful he is at the short yardage thing. I’d scarce call it a gamble anymore.

  51. Thoughts about players…
    Colletto will win us games this year. Nolan will win us games this year. Musgrave is an okay blocking on the line, better downfield blocker great receiver. Fenwick quietly had a great game, but needs to secure the ball.
    Treshaun Harrison dropped a ball or two, but is scary good with the ball and was clutch in the end! Jesiah Irish played great on special teams and made a great catch late in the 4th. Silas bolden is sneaky fast and good (also haven’t seen drops from him). Andrew chatfield is a very good rusher. Alex Austin is having a better season than Rejzohn Wright in my opinion. James Rawls has played terrific. Sione lolohea #90 played last night and In the snaps he played looked like he could be a difference maker (must be back from injury). Jam griffin looked scared and wobbly to start the game but at the end was in and blocked pretty well and had a good run. Our line was much better in the 2nd half no sacks 2nd, 2 sacks 1st half. (:

  52. Really rough beginning to the season for the MWC. Boise is down, Fresno couldn’t break through, and defending champion Utah St got smacked by Weber State at home 35-7, eliciting boos from the home crowd.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here