Home Football Brent Vanaderveen and Defensive Improvement

Brent Vanaderveen and Defensive Improvement

196

Brent Vanaderveen should get the mopup time, rather than Cody Vaz.

Vaz will be gone in a few months. Vanderveen, we are told, is the future QB. Mannion might leave early. So what is the logic in putting Vaz in blowouts? He has experience already, so they don’t need to groom a backup, they need to groom a future starter. Now that the schedule becomes difficult, the opportunity to get Vanderveen time has passed. Riley overlooking another (logical) opportunity. Watch how this hurts down the line.

Also, regarding the improved defense: I think a lot of it has to do with putting the right personnel on the field. Once Mageo took over for Skotte things got better. Nelson and Martin were splitting time early on, and once that ended things picked up. Martin and Skotte stinking were mentioned here the day they signed. Yet it took Riley years to evaluate the talent. Also, they didn’t scrimmage in Fall camp. I think this killed them game 1 and was so obvious. But yeah, the more games/hits the better they get. This is just logical. So the better personnel along with more hits is why I think the D has gotten better, and I expect even more improvement. I’m not saying these guys are the ’85 Bears, just that they’re about where I expected now (bad D1 rather than HS level). They still won’t stop the mobile QBs or fast teams. There are ways to do that without talent, but Banker won’t tweak his scheme. He’s convinced it works versus every opponent. Just like Riley was convinced Skotte was the answer. These guys are mules.

Bob D: if you read this site, I’m officially making myself available as a consultant and/or talent evaluator.

196 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t think it’s totally accurate to say Banker won’t adjust scheme. He was a stubborn bastard about his 4-3 for about 9 straight years. In year 10, he has done a huge overhaul and switched from the 4-3 base to almost 100% Nickel and Dime. He’s gotten more speed on the field to better defend the spread/option shift on college offense.

    Now the thing holding them back is lack of effective beef at the tackles, and Martin is still being one of the top 6 db’s (at least being played as one of them). In my estimation he been the target on 40 – 50% of points scored against us. Bad bad bad.

      • Scott has seemed solid in his time on the filed. And I remember him being a ball hawk though fall camp (seemed every practice report had him picking off Vaz at least once a day.) I guess if Hunt hasn’t played yet halfway through the season you might as well preserve his redshirt and not Markus Wheaton him.

  2. Riley won’t play Vanderveen because Vaz is the backup if Mannion goes down. Hard to argue with that logic. Riley wants to win now and not build for the future. Vaz is a capable backup and he probably needs the reps to stay engaged in the event of catastrophe (i.e., Mannion injury).

    • It’s bad logic, though, because Vaz is fine. He knows the system, etc. It’s not like Vaz is a soph; whatever reps he does need he gets in practice. Vanderveen will come in with zero experience next year, if Mannion does go pro. It didn’t have to be that way.

      • Angry, usually even when I disagree with your point, I can see where you are coming from. Not on this. You are being very narrowly focused on this one. I have heard you argue that Riley needs a sports psychologist, but it doesn’t take a psych degree to see the potential harm that a move like this could do to the underclass men. Not to mention the potential to create a fission on a team that has great chemistry. This would be a foolish move, play the season for this year.

          • You play a backup in mop-up to keep them prepared for the season if the starter goes down. If they play Vanderveen you are saying that you are giving up on the senior. You are asking Vaz to stay engaged in this season because he is one injury from being QB and then you play the QB that is most likely not a starter even next year. That just sends the wrong message, takes a chance that Vaz stops working as hard, and making a controversy in the press that may cause a distraction. The risks way outweigh the positives. Sometimes I think people forget that these are people with emotions and that has to weigh in on every move that a coach makes.

          • That’s valid, but if I were the coach I’d tell Vaz “you are the backup if there’s an injury; I just think you’re prepared and I want to get this other guy experience for next season”
            That would solve everything you just mentioned. If Vaz hears that and still quits then he’s a poor teammate.

    • I think Vaz could go in there “cold” and not play significantly different than if he’s treated as 2nd string. He knows the offense.

      If Mannion decides to go pro, OSU likely reverts back to 1:1 or worse TD:INT ratio next year with an inexperienced QB.

      Mannion’s future looks bright if he even goes off this torrid pace somewhat. The risk:reward for sticking around wouldn’t be there. It’d be nice if he stuck around, but objectively, it likely wouldn’t be smart.

      If Vanderveen isn’t splitting practice reps with Vaz evenly, he should be IMUO (in my uninformed opinion).

      • I think Vaz could go in there “cold” and not play significantly different than if he’s treated as 2nd string. He knows the offense.

        Exactly.

      • Riley said at the beginning of the year Vanderveen had picked up the offense and improved to the point he could start if needed. Sounds like posturing but who knows.

        Vaz went in cold against Wazzu and threw a bad pick on a slant. If 1 turnover in garbage time keeps Brown off the Field then next man up Venderveen…

        For next year, IMUO I think Kempt may over take Vanderveen. Kid looked like a baller in high school and better designed for our Offense. Unless you now ask Riley to overhaul the offense as well, Good luck with that….

        • I doubt his talk about Vanderveen is posturing. In the same breath, he said the kid couldn’t throw a spiral when he arrived on campus.

        • I rewatched the game. What looked like a bad pick was all on the receiver, Hatfield. Ball was right on the money and he let it go through his hands.

        • I like Kempt, too, and agree he might be the QB. I wrote Vanderveen because he’s currently the consensus to take over. Whoever Riley thinks is next year’s starter should be getting experience over a senior backup with tons of experience.

  3. Mannion could have 6 games left as a Beaver, maybe Cooks too. I’ve been lobbying for Vanderveen for weeks. Vaz is a known commodity.

    I agree, there’s almost NO chance of Vanderveen now. Riley kept Mannion in up 35 points, and the likelihood Beavs get any blowouts after this Saturday is very small.

    I still say the D is being enjoyed because they’re good only in specific relief of last few seasons…long way to go.

  4. Vaz needs to stay the number two QB for two reasons; to keep him interested/involved should we need him this year, and because putting the second best QB into third string position sends a horrible message to any future QB recruits.
    I know it’s tough because this means making decisions based on what’s best for the team right now versus what’s best for the team long term. In other words if we’re only about the long term then why allow any seniors to play in any bowl game?
    If Vanderveen is legitimately challenging Vaz for that second spot then fine, put him in during mop-up duty. If not then he stays where he should be, the third best QB on the team.

    • I’m not saying Vanderveen should be #2. Just that he should get time over Vaz. Play Vaz if Mannion gets injured; play Vanderveen in blowouts, because Mannion will likely go pro and then there’s nothing…

      The only good argument is that it only recently looked like Mannion would go pro, so Riley didn’t know any better vs Colorado. That’s semi legit, but he should have known vs WSU.

  5. I think this week may be the final week for potential mop up duty, thought there would be a more chances this season, but whatever. How many series has Vaz played? I think it is less than 5. If those series were to be given to Vanderveen, would it have been much of a difference for him? I think it would have been minimal and he would still have first year struggles. Blowout games are great for getting the young players some game experience, but it is also a opportunity to get players who have been in the program for a long time but don’t get a lot of minutes a chance to play. Being his 5th year and playing a position where only 1 player can play I have no problem giving Vaz as many opportunities to get in the game when possible. I would like to see Vanderveen get some action, but right now Vaz should be getting it.

    Also, for the record, I don’t think Mannion or Cooks leave after this season.

  6. BDC said there will be a new concourse in 2015 when the VFC overhaul is completed. This would connect the east grandstand to the VFC. Either it goes inside the VFC which seems less likely or it could be used for fans on GameDay and possibly go to some sort of new pavilion like Pat Casey has been busy fundraising for and will be built at Goss Stadium this spring along the 3rd base outfield area.

    Oregon State VFC 2015 Plans:
    http://beaverbyte.com

  7. Seems too early to say whether Mannion will or will not leave OSU after this season to try his luck in the NFL. One big factor will be how Mannion and the Beavs perform in the second half of this season against much tougher competition. Another factor — of course — will be Mannion’s health (and the health of his teammates).

    If I had to bet right now, I’d say that Mannion will come back for his senior year. One reason is the large number of good OSU players expected to return next season, including all of Mannion’s top receivers (although this could change if Cooks decides to go pro after this season). Also, Mannion seems to have bonded with a lot of these guys (shown by his elections as team captain). They have gone through a lot together, and they seem to have unusually good chemistry. I think it would be hard for Mannion to walk away from this group after junior year. But we’ll see soon enough….

    As for Vaz, am I the only one who thinks Vaz looks less engaged already? For the brief periods of mop-up work that Vaz has gotten this season, it looks to me like Vaz is going through the motions, rather than playing with excitement or enthusiasm (granted, it has been garbage time, but still….)

    • concur. I think Mannion stays; Cooks leaves. The truth is, Cooks has reached the top of his game, and Cooks’ play is what’s elevating Mannion’s apparent play. Sean still misses on some of his throws, and regrettably, misses way too many receivers in stride. Sean needs another year to perfect his game

  8. I was reading an O-live article about how the safety is excited to play a slower paced team. I am starting to wonder why the Beavers don’t go no-huddle more. I mean Mannion has a pretty firm grasp on the offense. Why not line up quick occasionally and let Mannion read the defense and call out audibles if need be. Pace can be a huge advantage to an offense and an even greater one to a team like Oregon State that runs such a complex offense. I mean look at what Tom Brady is doing with his rag tag group of receivers or Phillip Rivers at San Diego.

    • No-huddle just doesn’t seem to fit Riley, too bad IMHO.
      How hard would it be to call two plays in the huddle to avoid the second huddle? You still have the audible possibility.

      When going no huddle we see teams pausing to look to the sideline for the signal; does anyone use that pattern to occasionally pull a “quick start” to catch the D sleeping? I’d think starting the look to the sideline and quickly popping a run to the A or B gap would give the Oline an advantage.

  9. @ConnOregonian

    Riley said Caleb Smith was injured in practice today (ankle). With Connor Hamlett likely out for Cal, he is now “worried” about depth at TE.

    Well that escalated quickly.

    • Ankle injury. Hopefully not enough to keep him out this weekend. Anybody know the results of Hamlett’s MRI? is he out this week?

    • Riley worried about depth? Why? Hasn’t he still got Will Hopkins, and Dustin Stanton available?

      Riley must not subscribe to JasontheBeaver’s feeling that, “The starters are starters for a reason, because they’re better than the next guy in line. This doesn’t automatically equate to a depth issue.” MR should just use the JtheB method and solve all the depth problems by starting the backups!

        • Jason, I’ve appreciated your posts in the past, that’ll probably continue. I’ll try to make this my last comment on the topic.

          So, I supported ObjC’s feeling that the Beavs lack depth at QB, to which you disagreed. I then offered my definition of lacking depth, that being: if a serious drop off in performance was likely using the available backups then depth is lacking. You seem to define depth as having bodies to use as replacements without regard to the impact on team performance.

          We simply differ on our definition of what constitutes depth.

          No harm, no foul……IMHO
          GO BEAVS !

          • …but you didn’t say, “…a serious drop off in performance…” you said,
            “…a high probability that results will be negatively impacted…”
            I see those two statements as quite a bit different. Regardless, you’re right, we just disagree.

    • How did you already get a thumb down on this? Lol

      The #TweetFilmTuesday idea sounds pretty similar to something Portland Trailblazer Damien Lillard started recently called #FourBarFriday. He asks amateur rappers to tweet a video of them rapping 4 bars and he retweets the best ones. It’s actually pretty popular.
      Sounds like a great idea to get kids interested in the program who might otherwise feel like they have no chance to get noticed. Only thing I don’t like is every team will soon copy it. Cue the Ducks trying to 1up on this idea.

  10. The fact that Riley has decided to make a couple of personnel changes on defense during the season puts him in a rather exclusive club with every other coach ever. And the fact that folks on this site questioned Martin/Skotte just confirms what everyone already knows – folks on this site know way more than Riley or Banker do. I mean, it’s not possible that we are only pointing out the things folks on here got right and ignoring a sea of knuckleheaded remarks or predictions, right? It’s not posssible that you yourself lobbied, albeit halfheartedly, for Vaz to win the starting job out of camp because of his edge in leadership (hahaahahahahahahaha), right?

    The Vanderveen/Vaz thing – mountain out of a molehill. It’s unlikely Vanderveen will gain appreciable experience from mop up duty this year.

    • You make it sound as if football is some magical mystery of a thing which nobody but really really seasoned coaches can understand.

      News flash: It’s not. It’s really really simple.

      On a scale of one to ten rating “things in life that are hard to understand,” football comes in at about a 0.7 and toward the bottom of any list. If it was hard to understand, it wouldn’t be as popular as it is. It’s not like there’s some limitless amount of knowledge to be used on this sport. Its bounds are pretty finite. So knowing as much as any given coach about the moving pieces is not difficult. We as fans may be lesser informed about things like small injuries, attitude/team problems, tendencies on this or that play that has only been practiced behind closed doors, etc., the coaches have a little edge. But that closeness also gives the fans an edge of objectivity if they chose to take it.

      If you had been a fan of OSU a couple years previous, you would have been supporting the mind-boggling loyalty shown to some linebackers and offensive linemen. And depth was no excuse. There were times these players simply disappeared from the game… game after game… season after season.

      So Riley joining the exclusive club of every other coach ever is a good thing. It means that we as fans see that every coach ever does this, and we’ve been pulling our hair out for years because ours didn’t… despite players not being able to “execute the plays.”

      • To keep this relevant to the current discussion, and just to be clear here, are you saying there is no significant difference between the coaches and fans in terms of player talent evaluation?

        • As a whole? Not even close.

          But the difference becomes smaller and smaller as you talk to fans who know more about the combined studies of management, sales and strategy. The sport part is easy. That’s what I’m saying. But that’s only one-third of the equation.

          The levels of abilities to evaluate talent can’t be that big because the very top level does not require that much knowledge. It’s not as if being a coach is an art, though some would like you to believe it. It’s just work with different parts to every day.

          • So Bob D should start giving some serious thought to bringing in some of the “management, sales and strategy” gurus on this site to help Riley out with talent evaluation? And not just the initial talent evaluation during the recruiting process, but to help make game time decisions as to who is better suited play particular positions given the opponent?

          • Isn’t that what this is about? Hasn’t Riley started finally making those decisions? At the very least, hasn’t he put in place position coaches who can do this… finally? I’m not sure why past performance is forgotten when players practice well (as they did in the past as well). If they’re not gamers, they’re not on the field unless we’re in trouble or garbage time.

            That’s the way sport works. It’s not personal or emotional. it’s wholly objective, and those who can’t be wholly objective easily show their faults.

            I’ve never written a good song (or any song period). But I know what technical pieces constitute a song as being objectively good. Think of a good song. Now I ask you, is it a good song, or is it just a song you like or one which is popular? There can be a huge difference in the two. I personally love many songs which are technically terrible. And I’m not alone judging by album sales.

            Hell, most people don’t give a shit about music being good or bad because all they do is listen to MP3 files. That’s how bad music has become on the pop front. People have the lowest of expectations, so “stars” output the lowest of products.

          • Big Picture: No one believes this blog has any external impact on perceptions and performance EXCEPT when mainstreamers like Canzano mine it for perspective. But it is nontheless true that the main criticisms reflected herein over the past few years are trending positive, for whatever reason: better recruiting; better personnel decisions (viz Skotte vs. Mangeo, S. Martin relegation, even Mannion’s elevation, if you like); better coaching assignments (the Bray trade-out) and a hint of better in-game decision-making. There’s still room for improvement.

          • Well, while I certainly agree that this blog has no external impact, I’m not sure everyone here would agree with you. And when did Canzano mine this site for perspective?

          • check out Canzano’s archive for the first two weeks of September. It reads like a precis of the stream of consciousness you find on this site. I know you find that ethos upsetting, but it’s clear to me Canzano was channeling Angrybeavs.com

          • Are you saying he is reading the blog and taking the ideas to use in his articles, or are you just saying he has expressed some of the same sentiments? I have heard fans say a lot of this stuff for years, most of whom have no idea what AngryBeavs is.

          • yes, he’s taking ideas from this site. Any number of mainstream folks (Canzano, Schnell, MIke Parker) are constantly referencing what’s going on out on the chat sites; it should hardly be a surprise to find them influenced by what they read; especially here because, generally, it’s high level commentary.

          • I read the site constantly–let’s be clear about that much. I like the site (though I think Angry is a D bag). I just don’t see it as having any external impact. And given that most Beaver fans who I talk to out in the world have never heard of the site, I question whether Canzano is reading it. Maybe he is. I thought wannabeav had something specific in mind with his initial comment about Canzano taking ideas from the site, so I asked the question. Sounds like he doesn’t actually have anything specific in mind or any idea whether Canzano actually reads the site, so I’ll just leave it at that.

          • So how close would you put yourself to, say, a composer, in terms of your ability to assess and critique the technical aspects of a piece of music?

          • WAAAAAY behind them. But you’re talking about someone with an ear neither of us can conceive. I can easily hear the difference between an MP3 file and a recording which is only mostly diluted, like on a CD format. It’s like hearing only four pieces of a ten piece band.

            When it comes to listening to and critiquing music versus evaluating football players, there is a wider discrepancy between the abilities of professional conductors themselves than there is between an NFL coach and someone who doesn’t know football exists.

          • I think that’s because football is visual. You can look at the players’ size, strength, etc. All quantifiable by just watching them. Then it comes down to discerning intangibles. Most people are not audial learners, so with music, where there’s nothing to see, it’s more difficult. Like you, I can hear the difference between an MP3 and LP., and even the difference between an MP3 and FLAC. I never mention it on the blog, but I’ve played music for 20 years, recorded a few records, and now even engineer my own work, so I’m enjoying this tangent. Keep it up!

          • This is pure gold [posts clip of Goose laugh which Angry promptly deletes because no one laughs at Angry!]. Seriously though, you can’t make this stuff up. Groupies – hahahahahahaha.

          • Was the point simply that there are objective aspects to football that can be evaluated, at least to some degree, by outsiders? That is patently obvious. The point is how wide the gap is (i.e. between coach and fan), so I am wondering why you brought the music analogy into it given your answer to my last question. Maybe I am missing something.

  11. Mannion has taken the lead over Mariota in the Manning award popularity contest. They’re at about 3K and 2.8K votes respectively. Nice to see OSU fans stepping up their support of Sean. If you haven’t voted yet, take 10 seconds out of your day to give him the thumbs up.

    https://t.co/PNE1epvy6c

    Next closest contestant is at 778, and the rest are completely out of the race. If Sean wins, it would make this his 3rd weekly award this year. Not bad for a guy who was a late add to their watch list. I expect to see him up for it again next week after CAL.

  12. Speaking of where are they, what’s up with Steve Christian? I remember him having some good plays last year and was expecting to see him more this season.

    • He played Saturday and assisted on two tackles. He’s been in there some in the nickel/dime packages, but it seems like Murphy and Zimmerman have the safety spots pretty well locked for now.

    • He was the first guy with Mono coming out of summer. I think he might have even missed the first week (or two) of camp. Also I think he lost a lot of weight during it. Maybe it’s still taking him a while to get back up to snuff.

    • So the writer doesn’t really know anything about Maundy Thursday… or the cultural practice of washing a guest’s feet in that time… let alone the metaphorical sense of the story itself.

      The O still pumps out some decent human interest columns.

  13. Mannion 4th in the Heismanpundit.com straw poll today! Hopefully there will be more national discussion regarding his amazing season thus far.

    • Don’t count on it. We still haven’t played anyone, and Mannion always turns into Derek Anderson and throws 100 picks against the good teams. I bet Mannion finishes 10th or so in the voting with the 4+ loss record.

  14. Jack mentioned earlier that Riley/OSU Football is using twitter to get high school players to post clips of themselves (tweet film tuesday). Well to my surprise Yahoo has this as one of their top homepage stories. Nice to see the Beavs getting some love for something positive and getting credit for being the first to do this.

    http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/mike-riley-starts-tweet-film-tuesday-recruits-oregon-041613418–ncaaf.html

    Or just go to yahoo and scroll through their top stories slider.

    • Go follow the #GoBeavs line. There are some decent players getting tape in. Here’s one that came in today. I’m not sure how he gets missed by everyone. He moves well for someone his size. The game can be taught, but not that kind of athleticism.

      Btw… forgot to mention yesterday that UCLA went ahead and offered Najee Toran.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVODKE4UILQ

  15. Looking towards this week’s PAC games, I’m feeling like our best bet to get a beatable Stanford team is if they beat UCLA this week. It’ll help them shake off their upset loss to Utah and attribute it to more of a fluke, but it wont really give them much momentum. If they lose to UCLA, odds are that they’ll be uber focused and wont lose 3 in a row when facing off with OSU in Corvallis. Plus we don’t play UCLA this season, so beating the teams that beat them will be good for us. Also, a UCLA loss is more likely to focus them heading to play the ducks next week as they won’t want to drop 2 in a row.

    As for the ASU/UW & USC/ND games, I don’t really know who to cheer for? Thoughts?

    • You have to root against the team you don’t play, so I’m rooting for Stanford to beat UCLA. Stanford coming into Corvallis with a two game losing streak is not a favorable prospect, even if, as I believe, Stanford is over-rated. If, in fact, OSU can beat Stanford and UW, it can put itself in position for the Rose Bowl discussion with the Ducks moving on to the BCS. If UCLA keeps winning that prospect evaporates.

      As for ASU/UW, the strategy here is to root for ASU to win. We don’t want the Huskies having a lot to play for when they come in in late November. That’s a more winnable scenario for us with a deflated UW than when we go into Tempe to play the Sun Devils. Plus, we want ASU to get to six wins as fast as possible.

      ND/SC: ND here. It’s all about bowl positioning. With the Beavs winning a few more SC is threat to bump us out of Holiday bowl.

    • Pulling for ASU to smash UW. Can’t stand UW, and especially that Jordan Reffett on the Comcast morning pregame show. Pisses me off when UW fans talk like their in some new higher tier of programs, like they’ve put the OSU program in the rear view mirror…since they’ve beat us once in the last decade or so. ASU is good at home, and a third loss in a row for that prick Sarkisian sure sounds nice.

    • We better enjoy the rest of the season, because I bet he declares for the draft. Incredible player and a joy to watch him play. James, Wheat, and Cooks. It’s been quite a run of WR’s for the Beavs the past few years.

      • We have had really good receivers for while now. Straughter, newson, hass. I said this a while ago, by cooks is going to be the best receiver to come out of Oregon state. Which is a huge accomplishment. He shouldn’t stay, but I have a feeling he does.

        • Mannion supposedly finishes his degree in December, but I suspect that he’ll stay if Cooks does and they’ll both get TONS of exposure and a high draft stock in 2015.

          • Those two are the most important “recruits” this year. I hope teammates and coaches give them the hard sell. Riley should have Matt Boyd whispering in their ear after the season is over.

  16. For a greater appreciation (if needed) for Mannion’s frenetic pace, check out his numbers compared to other Heismann candidates and the projected numbers:

    http://heismanpundit.com/

    Amazing mid-season numbers.

    I still think he’s got a 7 TD-pass game in him; I thought it would be last week.

    • I was just going to post that. Imagine the kind of attention he’d be getting if our defense would have forced, I don’t know, two or three punts against Eastern Washington?

      • That loss has really been costly. Missing out on the nonstop scrolling of scores on ESPN of the top 25. Those rankings get you in the door with the better recruits and the free pub is priceless.

    • If you read quotes from Leach and Dykes from the PAC 12 conference calls, they do respect Mannion. But it would appear that they are conflicted about his accuracy. He can thread the needle in double coverage to Cooks, and he can miss open receivers in other situations. These next few games (after Cal) will prove or disprove to scouts his worth in the future. At the next level, the throwing window is small for most of the passes. They are not yet convinced that he can be consistent when all throws are stressful. The statistics are gaudy and good. But lets not get too far ahead of the curve yet on predicting if he will leave.

      • I just really hope no team can figure out how to cover Cooks. For some reason, I feel Mannion is going to throw a TON of picks over the next few weeks.

  17. Let’s be honest here. Mageo hasn’t been great, he just hasn’t been as horrific as Skotte. Right now, Mageo is an adequate backup, starting on a Pac 12 defense. I hope he develops, and soon, because right now I’m not seeing it.

    • Well, you saw almost nothing of him last week. But he is good with potential for great. You’re right. He should be the back-up on our team who gets some quality time. But there are reasons he just can’t be that right now.

  18. Caleb Smith is back practicing. Good newa after yesterday’s scare.

    Also, Mannion is looking like he’ll win his 3rd Manning award. Voting closes soon and he has a pretty good lead on Mariota.

        • Why not try Schnell at LB or DE? Maybe OG? She’s 6’1″ 275 with a mean streak and would go to war for Riles and Banker. Might give us a better chance than these wussy 2-star guys we have that can’t stay healthy. I’m going to Dennys later shitfaced. Anyone wanna come with me?

  19. We basically have no chance of shedding that label this season. It’s going to hurt if it winds up being our 5th loss this year. I hate our defensive line and linebackers! I hope we don’t have to play any running team until the JC guys can figure out a way to pull their heads out of their asses!

  20. Lindsay tweeting that Hamlett will have his knee scoped. Will likely be out 1-2 weeks. Could possibly be back for Stanford, but USC game is more likely. That blows, he would have been very important in the Stanford game. Good opportunity for Smith to take it to the next level.

    • If Smith doesn’t, then they better find someone who can take it to the next level. We basically have nooer options now with Mullaney out. Cummings is awful, and don’t even get me started about Gwachum. Dude should be better than Calvin Johnson. What is wrong!!!!1!

    • I realize football is a destructive game, but now it’s Hamlett’s knee, Mullaney’s turf toe. I’ve lost track of all the other leg injuries and I haven’t given up my conspiracy theory that Nike sends the Beavs bad shoes.

  21. I just hope riley and co are sending more recruits the link to the crank chainsaw song on YouTube. Send it to 5-star kids and show them what we are all about!

      • This week will be ideal for running the draw or run and read from the running back. Right defensive tackle for Cal has a tendency to run stunts on pass downs. I have seen him two or three times slant and spin. But he only spins half way and ends up facing his own dbs. Left corner back does not have enough speed to cover deep and does not close with the ball in the air. But Cal does have several good receivers.

  22. BTW, I like the rollouts for Mannion and he throws pretty well when he does it e.g. (td throw to Hamlett). This has been 7nder-utilized and should come in handy against better D fronts. And mannion has the srm to stop and throw towards the opposite corner.

    More Chris Brown too this weekend I hope. Screen pass?

    • Easy with the Chris Brown talk, Schnell may get mad and snap your neck! HA I think Chris Brown should be the guy, but everyone loves Storm including me! Yes he had that one fumble on his FIRST touch ever in a collegeiate game, but was fighting hard for extra YDS when it happened, Riley and CO need to get over that. If they used Brown more in the run (between the 30’s) and continue to try and get Woods the ball in open space all over the field, it is just going to keep defense’s off rhythm and create more room for Cooks to work his magic on deep balls. Throw in Wards/Anderson when we are in the Red Zone and results will improve. The way Mannion is chucking the rock though, I say keep throwing, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”….

  23. So this Tweet Film Tuesday has turned into an everyday event. And Riley’s not just getting 2014 kids who slipped through the cracks or who just aren’t D1 players. He’s getting tape from juniors, sophs and frosh from all over the country. And some of these frosh and sophs look like they will not be under-recruited in the end. The most interesting one I saw was Xavian Johnson. He’s a fourth year junior WR at Weber State. It never occurred to me that senior graduate transfers would be doing this too.

      • I think the kid’s going to be pretty good. Look at his tape. He doesn’t miss a single pass. :)

        Actually, he looks pretty relaxed in the pocket, and he can move the pocket and make plays on the move. He kinda reminds me of a taller version of Kellen Moore.

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