Entertaining game.

Riley has nine lives. At 5-1 (and likely to be ranked), Eastern Washington is officially forgotten.

Beavs’ offense just overwhelmed the Cougs. People keep talking about the run game, and I was one of them, but this is their identity.

I didn’t learn anything new from this game, but I feel Riley the play caller is an asset, while Riley the coach is a liability. Great play calling this game; maybe the best ever since I’ve been watching the Beavs. Riley will have to keep coming up with wrinkles off all the pass plays for balance since there’s little run game.

The team is building confidence and refining this lethal passing attack each week. I’d like to see what happens when an opponent gets a good pass rush. I feel this game could be a stepping stone, confidence wise, and allow for bigger things down the line.

Game thread.
I’m changing my pick to 31-30, Cougs. Just have a bad feeling about the game that isn’t going away. If they win, it will be a pleasant surprise. I’m thinking loss this week, win next week vs Cal. Then we reassess the back end of the schedule.

Before getting into the game, I was wondering if anyone has 3 Civil War tickets they can part with–if so, shoot me an email. The lady and I are thinking about coming up (have a friend in Portland who wants to come, too), as I’ve never seen a game at Autzen.

Regarding Washington State. I watched them vs Stanford but missed the Cal game. Vs Standford Halliday looked bad, but his numbers vs Cal were incredible. I wish I saw the game so I could say if that’s due to Cal sucking or Halliday having a Matt Moore ’06 moment. What I saw vs Stanford was a guy who could move around a little, but had poor accuracy and timing. The reason I am focusing on Halliday is I think Saturday’s contest comes down to Washington State’s offense. I think their D will be okay (Eastern Washington had 6 ex-Cougars on their team, and we know what they did..). Deone Buchanan is a beast, and the D played with intensity even while being pushed around by Stanford. They won’t shut down OSU, but I think they hold them around 30 points. Can the Cougs score more than that vs our bad, but [possibly] improving, defense? I’d be curious to hear from those who watched the Cal game. Is Washington State for real? I didn’t see a pushover vs Stanford. The early forecast is rain on Saturday, so that might be a factor as well.

Oregon State 30, Washington State 28

A friend of mine who is a Georgia Tech alum feels his team cannot realistically compete because they are not one of the 10-15 yearly teams deemed relevant by ESPN. He’s stopped watching all ncaa football, including GaTech. This morning he sent me this text about a co-worker:

Just had a guy I work with tell me he is boycotting College Football , had never told him how I felt before. Maybe this will catch on…

I wrote back excited, and asked why this friend was boycotting.

He is fed up with the money the big programs get.

Well, there you have it. Between me and these two, that’s three fewer college football fans. I expect this to accelerate over the next five to ten years. Seriously, how do some of you waste an entire Saturday on this crap? I can understand following the Beavs out of loyalty, but with regard to the rest, you might as well watch a reality tv or a soap opera.

Slow going, so how about looking back on the first 5 games and grading these units?

Offense: A
Defense: F
Special Teams: B
Coaching: C-
W/L Record: B-

What grades would you give the team and staff so far?