Despite apathy, questionable coaching, and team chemistry problems, I think the Beavs get the win this week.

These early start times and/or travel arrangements haven’t been great for us. Historically the Beavs seem to play better at night and in cooler weather. Minnesota isn’t that good a team. Their coach is a “me first” self-promoter who is probably hard to play for. Student turnout should be good for this one. I like the 7pm start time, home turf, crowd, and think we can ambush a so-so MN team.

D is still super young and should get a little better here in an easier spot.

Feels like a win.

Nall goes for 150, 2TDs. Luton 270 and 2TDs (1 or 2INTs). Hodgins seems ready to evolve in this one. I have him for 80 yards and a score. Togia with the other receiving TD.

35-24 Beavs, and the student section embarrassingly storms the field as if we’ve accomplished something great.

In the comment section yesterday, I mentioned how team chemistry seems off. In a pre-season interview, GA said team chemistry was good “for the most part” or something very similar to that. I can’t find the video. But it implied there’s at least a faction unhappy about something.

In this interview, Nall calls Luton “this guy” instead of “Jake”, and Luton turns away. Just an odd exchange.

Meanwhile, McMaryion went 6/7 last night with two long TD passes in relief. When I mentioned the chemistry problems on Twitter, he liked my post: https://twitter.com/angrybeavs/status/904405854929031168

That is basically an endorsement that the statement is correct.

Never played much organized football, but on the baseball field I never saw a coach lose respect faster than when he picked the wrong player for the job. Even if you think Luton was the right call, making McM the #2 was the move. By making him #3 I think he lost a lot of players mentally. McM was the ultimate team player, got better with experience, and bonded/won an emotional Civil War with the guys. If you’re not rewarded for merit and performance then how can you respect the coach and want to lay your body on the line for him? I think there’s some of that going on. It was in the Beavs’ body language both games. They beat PSU because players wanted individual stats for personal reasons, and we have better athletes, not because we played as a team.

GA’s seat seems to be heating up really fast. Better get a win here.

35-7 good guys.

Luton will be impressive (like 225 yards, 2TD, 0 to 1 INT) and lure people into thinking he’s good. But the run game is how we win this one. Short game with a lot of runs and a few big passing plays. At least that should be the blueprint…you never know with McGiven & the Bozos.

Obviously I’m not as down on the defense as some of you guys. I saw the yardage totals and all that, but I also saw a team wiped out from travel. Check out the pre-game video I posted in the other thread. One guy, Kee Whetzel, had energy enough to raise his arms and yell “let’s go” (or something like that) in the tunnel. The rest ambled out lethargically. On top of that, they were facing what will likely be a top 10 or 15 National offense. Despite the perception of lower conferences, there is little difference these days, so that means something. Also, I saw them get pressure on the QB a bunch and force the INT despite all these issues. As I mentioned as well, the offense was responsible for 20 to 27 of those points, and the short fields demoralize a D, etc. It wasn’t as bad as it looked.

So, I think they will be fine barring injuries. The DT going down is huge as that’s a thin position. Things like that worry me more than the performance.

With the PSU game, we should see OSU go back to relying on the ground game. Expect a short game where they run and just wind down the clock. PSU will stack the box, and Luton might get a few 1 on 1 shots to look great again. We’ll see if he can do anything with those chances. But otherwise I think the lesson was learned the hard way — shiny new toys sometimes have more value left in the box.

35-7 OSU

What exactly does this guy bring to the job to make him worth keeping?

• 3 straight years of picking the wrong QB/ran all Riley’s (better) QBs out of town.
• QBs don’t improve under him.
• Poor play calling.
• Lots of “ums” and “ahs” during interviews and just sounds like a dope.
• Haven’t looked at the recruits he landed, but offhand I don’t remember any big names.

What is he good at to justify any salary? Never mind a $185k salary and the promotion he got.