Offered for your consideration

by Jeff Nusser on Oct 28, 2009 8:11 AM PDT

I have no idea if this really means anything or not, but it sure makes for a nice numbers comparison.

Tuel_before_and_after_medium

Obviously, the bulk of the credit for the turnaround goes to the guy on the field, but shouldn't we give at least a little bit of credit to the coaching staff for what appears to have been a well-timed decision?

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ND Game

if we can protect Jeff… get something of running game going and find someone to step up to replace Louis… & do not give up stupid specal teams plays… we can compete

by willarose on Oct 28, 2009 8:14 AM PDT reply actions

As much as I think Notre Dame is overrated...

I don’t see any way we can hold Clausen under 300 yards if he stays in the whole game and they don’t just start running it at us. If we can’t stop SMU from passing on us, at home, then how do we stop Clausen?

by displacedcoug on Oct 28, 2009 8:27 AM PDT up reply actions

We won't.

CougCenter WSU's second main blog

by Craig Powers on Oct 28, 2009 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions

I'm not sure why you think they are overrated ...

… they’ve won a lot of good games, have an outstanding offense and played USC to the last second of that game. They are pretty good.

Damn, my eyeball tastes good.

by Gekko Mojo on Oct 28, 2009 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions

I think overrated is the default reaction to Notre Dame

Especially when Lou Holtz predicts them to be undefeated (as usual) and you hear plenty of other people projecting them for a BCS game before the season even starts.

But they are pretty good this year, I grudgingly give them that. Not BCS bowl good but not too far off either.

by johnnycougar on Oct 28, 2009 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions

That was all I meant

Overrated as a program from year to year.

by displacedcoug on Oct 28, 2009 11:10 AM PDT up reply actions

Notre Dame is not as good as you think they are

At least, not in terms of results on the field. Look at their margin of victory over these average opponents:

They beat MSU by 3 at home, beat UW by 7 at home, beat BC at home by 4, beat Purdue on the road by 3, then of course they lost @ Michican and to USC. They have only played two road games this year. If you take out their week one thrashing of Nevada, their scoring margin for the season is +7.

I would argue they have more talent than these results indicate, but their is no doubt they are underachieving with close wins over very average teams. Of course, this is all moot because they will beat us by 20+.

Vote for Butch!

by spencer peaty on Oct 28, 2009 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions

My theory: it has to do with pressure

Prior to the benching against ASU, he was making horrible decisions against the pass rush, which really was the cause of his two interceptions. He would also try to take off and run far too early, which led to sacks and short runs, that just weren’t going to work against one of the nation’s best defenses.

When Lobster was put in, Jeff got to see a quarterback make good decisions, stay cool under pressure and keep his eyes downfield outside of the pocket. When Tuel came back, he started doing many of the same things. Voila. Better quarterbacking.

by Grady Clapp on Oct 28, 2009 10:25 AM PDT reply actions

This table would be a little better if we didn't have a bye before one of the games

That said I think the benching did give him time to reflect and watch another QB in action to see what he Lobster did right and wrong and then to put that into practice himself. The bye, though, got the line a little healthier and gave him a week of non-game prep to work on his vision and mechanics. The line also go a little bit healthier and he started to trust it more, stepping up instead of tucking and running.

So, it was probably a little bit of both at play. The bye probably played a pretty big role along with Cal’s defense as well. What might help is a ASU after benching and then another column for the Cal game. I know ASU will be a small sample, but I’m curious to see if he started trending toward what happened in the Cal game.

by Brian Floyd on Oct 28, 2009 10:35 AM PDT reply actions