This should be an easy win, right? I mean Gary Andersen says he’s trying harder than ever, and Ed Ray promised teams would regret coming to our house.

Oh wait…

Since GA will get at least a 4th year, we’ll be left watching a blowout while pondering who the next head coach will be. If it’s anyone desirable, they won’t be available next year. Sure, it’s still possible GA turns things around if the old dog learns new tricks (sound familiar?) and gets over the stubbornness, or we keep receiving divine intervention (e.g. Luton going down is the football gods doing Andersen’s job for him). Upgrades via attrition or injury are the worst types; they are embarrassing in that they highlight the cluelessness of the coaches. I do like that GA is still keeping his head high, at least verbally, and saying all the right things. He deserves any pain he is in for his stubbornness. Does he learn from his player analysis/judgement errors? That’s a question the media should be asking. It’s the only important question right now.

Garretson might be in over his head versus this tough stretch of opponents, but what I like about him is (a) the team seems to rally around him more than Luton, (b) he runs, and (c) he has moxie (d) he’s more of a game manager. He’s a backup QB at best, but so we Luton, and I like DG more out of those two choices. It’s a shame he gets this tough part of the schedule. Watch Luton miss this difficult stretch then return for the easy back half, do well, and people become convinced he’s the answer (something they didn’t grant to McM versus the easier opponents). Ah, so much bias and hate.

Regarding this game, obviously we lose, and the only interesting story is to see if Garretson is better than Luton and GA messed up the QB’s again. Seeing how the team rallys around Garretson will be interesting, too. I’ve watched some Washington — solid team with a coach who knows exactly what he’s doing. Beavs never seem to be the team that brings in a backup QB who goes all-world and pulls an upset (in fact, that always happens against us). It’s hard to imagine any situation where this turns out well.

Washington 56, OSU 20

Just opening a fresh thread to continue the conversation since the prior thread is getting bloated.

(Angry, feel free to delete this one if you have another topic ready to go)

So, what are you guys looking for coming out of the bye?

For me it’s basically whether Garrettson can salvage this season. By salvage, at this point I mean simply match last year’s win total. It’s possible (ASU, AZ, OR, Cal are beatable…even Stanford looks worse than usual). Sadly, the only way Luton was coming out of a game was the way he did. Gary was just too tied to him and forcing his will on the QB situation.

I’m also testing a new model for donations. After each post, there will be a “If you like this post and want to support AB, please consider buying me a cup of coffee.” etc. I’m only accepting digital currencies (Bitcoin or Ethereum) because I had a falling out with Paypal, and they’d take a % of each donation. You can easily make an account on Coinbase in five minutes. I like the digital currencies because there are low transaction fees, no disputes, and they are relatively anonymous. It’s superior to Paypal, IMO.

Also, on a security note, I’m no longer supporting “Ghostery”. I know many of you use it because of my recommendation. If you Google it, they have sold out and actually sell your data now. I now use Ublock Origin. It’s open source. They don’t sell your data, and it’s faster.

So, let’s hear it.

My feeling is the D showed improvement today. I know people want to hate on the D, but 3 sacks, and in position to make game changing plays (3 INTs all dropped) is an improvement. I can’t reiterate enough that if the offense and ST are doing their jobs, the D will look much better. Versus CSU the D gave up in the 2nd half for sure and it got ugly, but the offense was responsible for 27 of those points based off turnovers. Just think that over and realize all these things work together. Synergy of all three units.

Offense’s biggest failure once again was not converting 3rd downs and keeping the chains moving. This is imperative to efficient offense. 3rd and long conversion % is the best sign of a good/bad offense. I don’t know the Beavs’ numbers offhand, and I don’t feel like looking it up, but they just never seem to convert those downs. I remember just a few today. If the stats prove me wrong so be it. I just think the O is awful with regard to moving the chains and keeping the D off the field, which along with scoring points, is right up there with the most important traits in an offense.

On offense, the only positive I saw was Nall running for over 100 on limited carries. Play calling was bad as always. McGiven needs to go this week. GA can use the 2 week bye to figure out his OC situation.

Long-term: OSU has to go play Ohio State next year with, presumably, Luton at QB assuming GA & co still love him. They need to get out of that game. Pay whatever. I’ll donate. You guys donate. We need out. We can’t have a 1 win season and then go get destroyed by Ohio State. Just can’t happen without shit hitting the fan and head’s rolling. Another long-term issue: we need a QB. Garrettson might be a stop gap for this season. He’s better than Luton. Petras is the only possibility I see. Willard is awful and a mirror image of Luton on tape. If the staff had any ability to coach up QBs that’d be fine, but they don’t, so whatever the HS coach has instilled along with natural talent is what we get with Willard. Petras is the only one who seems naturally gifted.

Regarding McM, people are mad I’m harping on it. Yeah, because “Forget about it man he’s gone” is not a valid argument to the problem, which is the coaches believed he was the worst option (i.e. 3rd string). If that’s our coaching staff’s QB analysis then it’s a major problem.

Go Beavs?