Eastern Washington Post Game Thoughts

The Eagles rolled up 625 yards of offense on OSU’s defense, and were stopped on only one possession the whole game (and only then because their starting QB was out of the game). But — sad to say — it was even worse than it looked.

Fact is that Eastern Washington’s top two running backs were injured and didn’t play in yesterday’s game. Also, EW’s receiving corps was inexperienced and largely unproven (because the top receivers from last year’s team had graduated). EW was not just an FCS team, but an FCS team that was crippled on offense. So how was EW able to move up and down the field so easily all day against OSU’s defense?

Simple. Just snap the ball to sophomore QB Vernon Adams, and let him either throw the ball to an uncovered receiver, or scramble around to make something happen. That was the EW game plan, and it worked to perfection all day, with Adams rushing for over 100 yards himself, and passing for over 400 yards (setting records for total yards by an OSU opponent, and also for Reser Stadium).

OK, so was OSU’s problem that Vernon Adams is just a super-talented athlete — a combination of Michael Vick and Vince Young — who was “in the zone” and played out of his mind (as Riley seemed to imply after the game)? Or was something else going on?

Here is Vernon Adams’ post-game explanation:

“They were just open all [the] time,” Adams said of his receivers. “I just put it in the right spot for them.” http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2013/08/oregon_state_football_eastern.html

Watching the game at Reser yesterday, I concur. Eastern Washington’s inexperienced receivers somehow were indeed open all the time. They were open on short passes, long passes, passes over the middle, and passes to the sidelines. They were open on quick hitters, and on slow-developing plays. On practically every play, at least one Eagle receiver was wide open. And because OSU was unable to keep Adams in the pocket or get in his face, Adams picked apart the Beavers all day.

This is on Banker.

Yesterday’s game reminded me of the game at Utah two years ago when Utah didn’t have a competent QB, and resorted to running the ball up the middle, play after play. The Utah coach, in his post-game conference, expressed shock that OSU let him get away with it, and practically called out Banker by name.

That’s how I felt yesterday, watching Eastern Washington’s offense do the same thing, over and over again. Banker once again proved himself incapable of making in-game adjustments to stop a crippled opponent from executing a devastatingly simple plan of attack. Again, as far as I’m concerned, that is on Banker. I agree with Angry — Banker is a fake.

Sure, Riley mismanaged the clock (as usual). Yes, players blew assignments (e.g., Sean Martin). OSU’s recruiting and talent-level on defense need improvement. All true. But if Banker were a competent DC, he could have made adjustments during the game to contain Vernon Adams, and ensure that Eagle receivers were not wide open on every play. Banker didn’t do that. Banker deserves — and needs — to be called out for that failure.

Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. That’s a failure on the part of Mike Riley (who is excessively loyal to Banker and others on his staff). It’s a failure on the part of BDC (who refuses to hold OSU coaches accountable for anything). It’s a failure on the part of the local press, who are afraid to criticize “nice guy” Mike Riley or any of Riley’s staff. And it’s a failure on the part of the OSU fan base, most of whom are grateful for mediocrity (because they remember when things were so much worse).

That’s the flawed ecosystem in which OSU football currently lives. Until that flawed ecosystem is disrupted, major change is not going to happen. Best guess — this ecosystem remains in place until BDC retires, and a new, younger, more aggressive Director of Athletics is hired. Unfortunately, BDC appears intent on hanging on as long as he can. With a salary of $562,000 per year, wouldn’t you? And that’s that….