Leach to Cougars: "You Complete Me"!?!?!?

Hey WSU,
This is crazy.
Ducks just scored again.
Losin' maybe?

"Of the games we played this year, this was our most complete game. I thought we played for 60 minutes," Leach said. "There were a lot of positives even though the results aren't what I would have liked." --WSU Coach Mike Leach

Wow coach. If that was a complete game for your team, then I hope for your sake your next one against OSU has one or two overtimes, because you've got plenty of room to be even completer.

Yes, the Cougars played fairly hard all the way through. But they did that thing the Ducks usually see in the second half. They had their hands on their hips, huffing and puffing hard. In the third quarter, Oregon's offense went back to basics and the linemen resolved to remove all crimson obstacles.  They returned to their quick pace between snaps that had bogged down in the second quarter.

The difference was Oregon did all this against a Coug defense that seemed to have a "Oh no, here they go again." kind of pall over them. It was obvious when Kenjon Barner busted one for 80 yards in the fourth quarter. Each of the defenders looked like they were hoping someone else would tackle him.

Mariota as a running threat just adds to a defense's problems.

Then I have to ask Coach Leach his definition of a "compete game" when his QB throws 60 times and only completes 55% plus one interception for a score. A team can throw 60 times and win a game. And a team can complete only 55% of their passes and win a game. But throwing 60 times and completing just over half means that your team is one-dimensional -- and not a very successful dimension at that.

The Cougars couldn't even produce a decent draw play. I mean, great passing team, coach. You've drawn up some of the best pass plays I've ever seen. But why make your own offense one dimensional when you have plenty of fine defenses in the Pac-12 to do that for you?

It's telling that the coach of the losing team with only 26 points says his team played "our most complete game" while the coach of the undefeated team scoring 51 points has yet to say any such thing. You want to talk about incompleteness? Oregon has yet to put together 60 minutes of satisfactory football this season, and they will be the first to admit it. .

But credit the Ducks defense for quashing the opponents' ability to do the same, especially in the red zone. A superb example was in the second quarter with the Ducks leading by only four, the Cougars were smacking their lips with a first-and-ten on Oregon's 17 yard line. Three sacks later, it was fourth and 38, and the Cougs had to punt.

Ducks take a Halliday,
as in Coug QB Connor Halliday.
Seven sacks total.

One theme that transcends through each game this season is the Ducks zen-like mantra of never panicking. It's a good lesson for us fans. Anytime we feel ourselves freaking out because a WSU or Fresno State is hanging around, we would be wise to watch the coaches and players. Are any of them shaking their heads, throwing up their hands, pointing at each other? I saw that all night from the Cougars' side. Is Coach Kelly going ballistic on anyone other than those crappy refs?

And on that topic, it's a general consensus among both Cougar and Duck fans that those refs were the exact same ones in the Seahawk/Packer game. Did nobody tell them to GO HOME ALREADY?


Looking at the schedule, next week's opponent is . . . . Wait, I don't need to look at the schedule.

I can smell the putrid stench.

More later,
KB