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A ray of hope in the darkness that is this season

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via seattletimes.nwsource.com


About 2.5 quarters into the game on Saturday, I was all set to write a post about how, despite winning comfortably, I really didn't feel any better about this team going forward.

The passing game continued to look depressingly out of sync, as Kevin Lopina and Gary Rogers still were throwing passes to the other team far too frequently and combined to go just 13-of-28 with three interceptions.

Additionally, we still were making way, way too many other mistakes, from the excessive penalties (10 for 120 yards in the end) to the complete and total inability of the offensive line and running backs to protect their quarterbacks in the face of a blitzing FCS team.

And, of course, we had lost our top two quarterbacks -- the second to an injury devastating enough to require immobilization and an ambulance. (Thank goodness he turned out to be OK, or at least as OK as you can be with a broken back.)

Then Marshall Lobbestael started carving up the Vikings. And suddenly ... improbably ...for the first time this season ...

There was some light. A lot of it.

It wasn't so much that Lobbestael was having tremendous success throwing the ball -- after all, let's be honest about the state of that defense after being physically manhandled for about 35 minutes -- it was how he was doing it.

Think about all of the complaints we've had about Rogers and Lopina, and think about what Lobbestael did on Saturday:

  • He made a regular practice of progressing through reads and not staring down one receiver -- that included his first pass, the TD to Jeshua Anderson.
  • By my recollection, he did not force a throw into tight coverage even once. (But I could be wrong. At the very least, though, if he did force any balls, they didn't result in interceptions.)
  • He made every kind of throw there was to make, and made them in the correct situations. He threw over the top with touch. He threw underneath with just enough zip. He executed the short dump-offs with touch, and reached back for some flat-out heaters.

Again, I recognize the tired defense might have made those windows a little bit bigger than they had been early on for Rogers and Lopina. But that just deosn't tell the whole story. Before he got hurt, Rogers had not completed any of his four attempts on the drive; Lobbestael then went on to complete his first three passes, and 9-of-12 overall.

By the end of the game, it was undeniable who was the best quarterback on the field -- not because of the results, but because of how those results were achieved. He flat out looked more comfortable in this offense than either Lopina or Rogers had at any point this season.

So what does this mean for the future?

Well, don't expect Wulff to just hand over the reigns to Lobbestael, despite the fact that he displayed more potential and played better in less than one half of football than either of our other quarterbacks had at any stretch at any point in the entire year. Wulff committed to Lopina, and he's going to give him a fair shot if for no other reason than they just can't afford to try and institute yet another version of their offense that plays to the strengths of yet another quarterback. They're probably going to consider it prudent to try and continue to build on the (extremely modest) success Lopina had before his injury, and work in a package that suits Lobbestael.

That said, I'd be pretty shocked if we don't see a pretty fair dose of Lobbestael against the Ducks. And if Lopina keeps throwing interceptions, it'll be sooner rather than later. I'm guessing Wulff's just as frustrated as we are with watching his team get buried by the early mistakes before it even has a chance to stay in a game, and he's not going to want that same thing to happen against Oregon, which truly will bury us if we continue to commit worthless penalties and turn the ball over.

Regardless of how the quarterback situation plays out, though, it does feel so very good to wake up on a Monday morning and not feel like crap about our team.

I can't have unbridled excitement for what's just over the horizon, and I can't say that I feel extra special good about what the rest of the season holds in terms of wins and losses. I can't pretend everything is now OK, that we're now poised for some kind of improbable run through the Pac-10. We're not.

But it is nice to smile for once -- both because of a win and because of what the future might hold.

LATE ADD: Lobbestael just got a major boost in his bid to see big minutes this week -- there's no way Paul Wulff can bench the reigning Pac-10 player of the week, right?

I'm not sure if that says more about Lobbestael's great performance or the sad state of the rest of the conference last weekend.

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It’s a little strange watching the Lobster out there after Lopina and Rogers – he’s undersized, a little skinny, and doesn’t look like your prototypical QB.

That said, he made reads and throws that Lopina and Rogers have struggled to make all season. Combine that with Gary Rogers’ last drive, part of the 24 point third quarter, and for the first time this year Wulff’s offense was clicking. It also helps quite a bit when you’re putting the ball in the hands of your playmakers – Gibson, Jeshua, Frischknect, etc.

The only bad part about Marshall’s performance: the fact that the dancing football graphic on touchdowns has been replaced.

And don’t look now, but Nico Grasu is starting to kick with some confidence: 2/2 on field goals and 6/6 on extra points.

You have to think that Wulff is happy about enacting a little revenge on PSU after upsetting his Eagles last season…

by Grady Clapp on Sep 22, 2008 9:33 PM PDT reply actions  

You know ...

I know couple of other skinny, undersized kids who came in as a freshman and went on to have a pretty nice careers. One took us to a Rose Bowl, the other set all kinds of records …

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 23, 2008 9:15 AM PDT up reply actions  

Also...

P10 player of the week is awesome to see. 12.4 yards per pass against PSU.

by Grady Clapp on Sep 22, 2008 9:36 PM PDT reply actions  

I hate to see players get hurt.

Gary Rogers situation is terrible. Thanks for focusing on a bright spot.

"Sorry I hit you in the helmet Hank, I meant to hit you in the neck." Stan Williams to Hank Aaron.

by dpseadv on Sep 23, 2008 12:15 AM PDT up reply actions  

The Lobster

I feel exactly as you do. The team was beating an overmatched PSU, but it still wasn’t looking good. The Lobster came in and gave us hope. It may have been against a tired PSU team, but he did look better than the other guys against the same team. Wulff may not have a choice but to start him if Lopina’s injuries are too bad. Hopefully the O-line will protect their guys better now. If Lobestall goes down, I don’t even want to think about how ugly it will get.

Here’s to Gary having a full recovery.

by selahcoug on Sep 23, 2008 8:13 AM PDT reply actions  

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