Remember: There is no bottom
by Jeff Nusser on Sep 13, 2009 10:00 AM PDT
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PrintEven as I write this, I know I shouldn't be writing this. In fact, I know I should probably take a couple of days off from writing for the blog to cool down a little bit, because I'm probably about to write something I don't really mean. But there's something cathartic for me about writing, so I'm going to do it anyway, despite my better judgment ...
Forget the final score. Forget the late drives, the silly touchdown celebration by Kevin Lopina -- who looked like he'd just won the Rose Bowl, despite still being down 35-20 -- and the so-called "heart" the Cougs showed in battling back from a 35-0 deficit.
None of it matters, because were down by five touchdowns to Hawaii. Not Colt Brennan, June Jones and Hawaii; no -- we were down to Greg "the homophobe" McMackin, Greg "I like to fumble five times a game" Alexander, Greg "we wish we had a receiver like him" Salas and 11 guys on defense who even Hawaii fans have never heard of.
I'd say that this is bottom, but as I've learned in watching the Mariners, the Seahawks and my high school alma mater over the years ...
There is no bottom.
It wasn't just that we were down 35-0 ... with less than five minutes gone in the second quarter. It's the way we were down. For months we were led to believe that this team was going to be better, that it had made strides. And it sure looked that way last week against Stanford, despite the final margin.
And then this. A replay of last year if there ever was one -- from scheme to execution, this thing was an unmitigated disaster.
Coming out with a 3-3-5 defense that gives Greg Alexander as much time as he wants in the pocket while allowing the Warriors to repeatedly catch the ball in space? Are you freaking kidding me? Good thing they realized that was a mistake ... after Hawaii sliced right through us for two quick touchdowns.
Want to know what Hawaii thought of our game plan?
“Man-to-man,” Salas said of WSU’s defense. “Playing off. Great feeling. Some teams get out of it, they stayed in it. It was great.”
Yeah -- that's what I want: The opposing team describing our defensive scheme as "great." Wonderful.
Beyond that, how about drives to start the game that ended punt, fumble, muffed punt, interception, punt, fumble, interception?
Needing to call a timeout after a TV timeout because you didn't have the right personnel on the field?
This is the kind of crap that adds fuel to the fire that Paul Wulff and his staff are in way, way over their heads. And while I've been as staunch a supporter of the "give him time" crowd as anyone, that was all working under the assumption that last year was left in the past, never to return. Now, I'm starting to wonder if time's not getting darn close to up. Yes, the recruiting is nice, but if you can't do a dang thing with them when they're on the field, what good does it do? (Never mind the fact that the guy across the mountains is cleaning up like the guy before him never did.)
Wulff had a wonderful propensity to blame his players last year, and that flies for a while. But now, he's had a full year and half with two training camps to coach these guys. And they're still doing the same stupid crap. At what point does it become the fault of him and his staff that his players so often look so clueless at the beginning of games?
I suppose what's eating at me the most is that it was all I could stomach to stick around when it was 35-0. Every bone in my body wanted to get up, flip them the bird, and go home. And those of you out there that know me know that I rarely, if ever, leave a sporting event early.
But that's the rare quality these Cougs have: To make even just watching them about the furthest thing from fun that I can think of. I spent all week totally fired up for my football trifecta -- high school game, Cougs and Seahawks, all in three days -- and it took all of eight minutes of game time to completely crush that. I attended the Oregon debacle last year, and today felt the exact same way, wishing I would have just stayed home and watched it on TV so that I could shake my head, mutter some curse words under my breath, and change the channel.
At a time when the athletic department is struggling financially, this team's effort today virtually guaranteed I won't be making any effort to drive five-plus hours to Pullman to watch them play. Why? So I can waste another weekend of my life? And while it's not like the loss of my piddly ticket is all that big of a deal, I have to believe that others feel the same way as I do -- including those with much more money.
I'm trying to stay balanced right now. I really am. I pride myself on being able to take a step back and assess the big picture. But that is damn hard to do today, and to be honest, I'm kind of pissed that I have to do it again tonight after months of it last year. I've been trying to assess where all this anger inside of me is coming from, and perhaps that's it. But is it really so much to ask for a team to just be competitive? To play with some discipline and some urgency?
I sent a regrettable text to Craig during the game that they should fire Wulff five minutes after the end of the game. I know that's dumb and irrational, but the fact that I even had that thought should tell you something. That Washington looks better in two games under Steve Sarkisian than we have in 15 games under Paul Wulff makes it that much more difficult to swallow. I don't care that Washington has more talent than we do; those are the same guys (save for Jake Locker) that we beat in the Apple Cup last year. They're executing. They're playing like their life depends on every play. They're playing with confidence, despite having lost 15 consecutive games before today.
They're playing like winners, while we're playing like we know we're losers.
To that end, next week will be telling. This is our last reasonable chance to get a win before the end of the year, and how they respond to today will say a lot about whether this team is indeed heading in the right direction. Evaluating the season in three-game chunks is a solid strategy, and means that next weekend is essentially the rubber match. Win, and look OK doing it, and we feel like the Hawaii game might have been a bit of a fluke.
Lose ... well, you'll just have to remember one simple thing.
There is no bottom.
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I agree
I drove up from Olympia to watch the game with family and it was a horrible experience. That first quarter and a half was so much worse than the boxscore shows.
I want to say Paul Wolff is a great guy but he left Eastern with major issues when he left thanks to violations. WSU Alumni, fans, and the program deserve better then what Wolff has done to this program. If the cougs are the same as last year, I say can his sorry butt.
The coug team I saw last night had zero heart in the first half. How you don’t get jacked up playing at Qwest in front of 40,000+ is beyond explanation. The team may be bad but the coach is far worse. And that says a lot…
and by the way...
Why should I have to support Wolff? What has he done to the program that makes me say, “you know, he deserves a break.” Nothing. Oh, because he was a Coug? Big flippin deal.
If the AD supports the way the coach is running the program then I say fire him too. This team was a disgrace last night and it was in front of the biggest media market in the Northwest.
I challenge this team and this coach. You got one more game to prove that you have heart. FIGHT FOR THE W!!
Its not just you
I am sure 90% of the Cougar fan base is feeling like you right now, the other 10% either enjoy mediocrity from their team or somehow, someway think Wulff is still the right coach for this team – and most of them probably did not even watch the game yesterday if they still think that.
The Worst is Yet To Come- cougs
let’’S see (1) usc in la (2) oregon away (3) the dogs in seattle (4) cal in berkely & >LAST BUT NOT LEAST (5) NOTRE DAME ON NATIONAL TV..THE SECOND SEASON FROm HELL IS JUST BEGINNING. we have no depth – so as the ist team goes down from being "beat-up " week after week – a "blood Bath " is on the way.
I immediately think of last year's Mariners
And this image:
IF I WAS MANAGER I'D HAVE A FIST FIGHT WITH YUNI RIGHT NOW AND KNOCK HIS FUCKING MONKEY HEAD CLEAN OFF (~EM)
in addition to my season tickets...
i have trips planned to eugene, san antonio and tuscon…. i’m not sure I want to go to any of them.
next week may be my last trip to pullman this year. i’m not driving over the pass in november to see us lose by five touchdowns again.
can we quickly write up some deal that allows:
Boise state adn us to switch places (conferences) for a year or two!!!! cause even then we’d still suck…obviously…
Wulff's response to the game?
no apology….no, this team was not ready and we didnt make the proper defensive adjustments for this game in the 2nd half…it was shockingly positive….
after the game Wulff said: “Any time you rebuild, there’s going to be some very painful moments.” ( yeah coach we know, and i can accept that but losing to a mid-Wac team who just scraped by some central arkansas team by a late comeback, esp. when your a pac-10 team is a lil more embarrasing than just part of the ride, it shows we are horribly bad not just a painful moment)
furthermore Wulff mentions: “Right now, our program is making a lot of positive strides behind the scenes,” he said. “My philosophy isn’t a quick fix. We have to fix this the right way. We want to fix it with longevity. People have got to understand and trust that we’re doing it the right way,” said Wulff. “We’re working very hard, the players and coaches. It’s going to take time” (I realise we were all about riding Price out of town on a rail after the 99’ season) but the thing about price is he was a tremendous coach, who could make great adjustments)…Wulff may be right and we may be the ones ending up stupid…but blaming an amazingly poor playing expierence on its just part of the ride, and it takes time, is not taking responsibility for the A#@ whooping at all..at least Doba had the juevos to say that when he was coaching….grow a pair coah..
Doba took responsibility?
I must have missed that. All I ever heard from Doba was “gee, we’re trying really hard!”.
I’m not sure what Wulff is supposed to say. If he says we don’t have talent (which is, unfortunately, true) he’s ripping the players. If he says they need to get better and it takes time, he’s not taking responsibiity.
Unless Wulff can magically make our players faster, I’m not sure what anyone can do. The speed on this team is atrocious. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Coug team in my lifetime that is slower on both sides of the ball. Recruiting is the only cure.
That's kind of my point
I know we’re lacking in the talent department. So that means you can’t lack in scheme and execution. We were atrocious — HORRIFICALLY ATROCIOUS — at both yesterday.
Doba didnt make the kind of weasly excuses
after the USC whoopin at LA 2 years ago, he mentioned that it was just an ol fashioned butt whoopin..true..yes it was, way to be honest…that sounds better than Wulffs BS…about there will be some painful expiernces…if the players think they have the talent after being handed to by Hawaii..there high on crack…As was mentioned before..it wasnt about WSU having the talent…it was poor coaching…poor defensive schemes against an obvious hawaii air attack..It was Wulff shoveling blame on the alibi that it takes time. It has been proven before that Wazzu just cant recruit top notch recruits..not gonna happen..good coaches make marginal players better by outcoaching and out-thinking the other team…I remember a few years where Rob AKey didnt have the most talented D, yet improvised gameplans and showed different blitzing packages…
as was mentioned by Hawaii..we just, did nothing..no change our D.. sat back on man coverage and let them slice thorugh us like a hot knife through butter…thats what pisses me off…not that we dont have talent..not that were slow….cause we are..its the coaches lack of coaching and Wulff shelving blame….
my two cents
Ok, ok, we know this team seriously lacks talent. I have been following WSU FB closely for 45 years. We have never had top Pac10 talent, and never will. WSU has to win by overachieving, playing with emotion, outworking the opposition, being disciplined, executing plays properly, being in proper position, playing fundamental football, and not hurting ourselves with bonehead mistakes and turnovers. . . Physical talent is one thing. It is the job of the coaching staff to maximize the talent at hand. Good coaches make their teams better immediately. Dick Bennett took crappy talent and made us better almost immediately. Wulff has not done that.
—Wulff needs to stop making excuses and look himself and his coaching staff in the mirror. We look like we’ve never been to practice. I would like him to show some emotion as well. Jim Sweeney took over an awful situation after Bert Clark; we knew there was no talent, but the head coach showed emotion, bled Crimson and Gray, and gave it all he had. Wulff showed more emotion at his initial press conference than he has at any time since. The excuses need to end. This team needs to get better quickly, otherwise there may not be any fans left by the time his “long term plan” takes effect. I am so pissed off right now. This team SUCKS.
that's not entirely true about bennett
between moore, kelati and varem, dick bennett had some players he could work with from the first minute he stepped on campus.
year 3 when all we had was sophomores low, weaver and cowgill was embarrassing and had a lot of people questioning the direction….
then again, it was never THIS bad.
Wrong season.
Ok State was in the second year. Kelati and Varem were part of that.
by Craig Powers on Sep 13, 2009 9:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Its tough because on the one hand
We are playing beyond bad. Even if Wulff was left with no talent there are other signs on the field that you can usually see when you have a good coach with bad players. We have not really seen those.
On the other hand, he is relying on many young players to start/contribute. Once you get guys like Simone and Karrstetter in the system for 4 years, the team will be better. But how much better? Are we taking these embarrassing losses only so we can be 5-7 in 3 years?
"Are we taking these embarrassing losses only so we can be 5-7 in 3 years?"
I’m starting to think yes.
Even with the misspelling.
Possibly better with the misspelling.
by Craig Powers on Sep 13, 2009 9:27 PM PDT up reply actions
This is pretty much exactly how I felt after the Maurice Jones-Drew game
You know – the UCLA game in Pullman where we blew a 21-0 and 28-7 lead, and lost in OT cause we couldn’t once stop MJD. I got reprimanded by the Cougfan forum brass for calling for Doba’s head without explanation.
Having said that, I don't feel the same about Wulff right now
I think a lot of what you saw today was the lack of talent, experience, etc. A lot of it was coaching, too — but FCS isn’t exactly church league and Wulff ran a successful program there.
I’m not sure what to think. Even if we hired a new coach we’d still be awful, so… I guess I’m gonna try to be patient and hope for the best.
I think they should sell alcohol at the SMU game.
Wrong.
They NEED to sell alcohol at the SMU game.
by Craig Powers on Sep 13, 2009 9:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Right now we're without talent and have a coach we *know* is terrible;
Fire Wulff and we’ll still be without talent, but we may end up with a better coach. What’s the downside?
by Pman on Sep 13, 2009 9:13 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
This was the same problem with Willingham last year
… fire a coach mid-season and replace him with who??? You are far better waiting til the end of the year when there is a supply of coaches available to consider your calls.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
A better coach?
As much as I don’t think Wulff is the right guy, I just don’t see anyone else willing to take the little amount of money we can offer to fix this bad of a team. I’m with Grady, I just don’t see any alternative to letting Wulff run his course for now.
by displacedcoug on Sep 13, 2009 10:43 PM PDT up reply actions
well, you would have to stay within the program
I think the obvious choice for an intern coach would be Levy. He has spent enough time in the program to earn some respect from the other coaches and has the knowledge necessary to handle play-calling offensively.
Not saying canning Wulff (especially mid-season) is the solution, but if it were not for the buy-out amount, I don’t see a terrible down-side.
As for a replacement, I think with a long winded, make-up session between Price and Sterk, Mike Price would be ready for a reunion tour. Perfect way to circle the wagon and “apologize” to the Cougar Nation on the Alabama departure. I don’t think we would necessarily do it, but I’m sure he would make the jump if Sterk were sincere about him returning and got the impression that he had something left in the tank. I’m sure he would try to push for some decent deals for his sons though. lol.
None of this is logical because of the buy-out, but we can always waste time on the hypothetical, right?!
by LeaveItToWeaver on Sep 14, 2009 12:09 AM PDT reply actions
We must remember...
I must preface my comment by letting everyone know that I was unable to attend the game or watch it on TV (for whatever reason, Vancouver is considered part of Oregon, thus no coverage, even though there is a WSU Extension campus less than 5 minutes from my house). So I have no idea how horrific the visual display was. However, listening to it on the radio and reading the post-game write-ups in the papers and on the blogs I think have adequately reflected just how gawd-awful that first half was.
That being said, while I’m still not sold on Wulff, I’m not ready to send him packing just yet either, for one simple reason: lack of talent and lack of experience. Jim Walden brought up a good point on the post-game. We have 10 seniors. Not 10 seniors that start, or even 10 seniors that get significant playing time. We have 10 seniors TOTAL. An interesting fact pointed out by the wonderful Vince Grippi is that 62% of our travel squad was comprised of Freshman/RS Freshman and Sophomores. We can’t possibly expect to beat ANYONE when the experience has very little talent, and the talent has very little experience.
Coach Wulff is caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. As a commentator above pointed out, if Wulff says we have little talent, he’s copping out. If he protects the players by simply saying "we’re making strides" and not pointing out the obvious lack of talent, then he’s not taking responsibility. Again, I’m not saying that Wulff is still the answer, but for pity’s sake, we can’t possibly expect him to win (no matter who the opponent is) with a squad that is at such serious disadvantages.
I will not argue that Wulff should consider displaying more emotion and do a better job of pumping up his players, making them believe in themselves. However, none of us know about everything that is really going on behind the scenes. With that and a 3 year buyout in mind, we’ve got to allow Wulff to stay the course.
You know, he could say that he and his staff didn't do enough to prepare the players to win
Good leaders do that from time to time. Unless I’m mistaken, don’t recall ever hearing those words come out of the mouths of Wulff and his staff. More often, we’ve heard what Ball said after the game.
Oh, and FYI:
- The Huskies have eight seniors listed on their depth chart with seven of them starting.
- The Cougars have 12 seniors listed on their depth chart with eight of them starting.
One team is executing. The other is not. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
Fair enough
For all we know, Wulff and staff said that very thing to the players, it just wasn’t said in the press. It appears that Coach Wulff is trying to take the positive approach by saying “we’re making strides.” I suppose that if Wulff and Co. said that they didn’t do enough that it’d make a lot of people feel better, but that’s about it. It wouldn’t change the result, and it sure as heck wouldn’t make up for our lack of talent. And for the record, it was documented that Wulff said he’d do things differently from a leadership standpoint when asked about last season.
As for your point about UW, I’d venture to guess that all of the youngsters playing for UW are simply more talented. We all know that UW, no matter how bad they’ve been, will still out-recruit us most of the time . The reason they’re getting it done right now (seemingly…the season is still young) is because of a healthy Jake Locker and more talent and depth. We all acknowledged that even though we beat the Huskies last season, they were obviously the more talented team. You can’t possibly expect Coach Wulff to be able to fix that in 1 1/2 seasons when no coach in the history of Cougar Football has overcome a lack of talent in that short amout of time. It took Coach Walden 4 seasons after the disaster that was the early/mid 1970s of Cougar Football. It took Coach Price 4 years to get back to a bowl game, even though he inherited some of Walden’s/Erickson’s talent. Wulff inherited next to zero talent.
Look, I’m no Wulff apologist. He and his staff simply MUST do better. However, I just don’t think that all of the blame should be placed at his feet. He didn’t turn the ball over 7 times or miss 21 tackles. At some point, the players have to play and execute better, too.
by '03CouveCoug on Sep 14, 2009 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions
If I gave the impression it should all be laid at his feet, that's not what I meant to do
I was trying to say that at least some of it has to be — and the stuff that should is the same crap as last year.
by Jeff Nusser on Sep 14, 2009 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions
Sadly, that is true...
I 100% agree that this staff needs to start taking more responsibility. I’m just tired of the “Fire Coach Wulff” crowd being reactionary and more often than not, obtuse, which is why I wrote my first post on this thread. I’ve ready enough of your excellent writing that I know you are simply frustrated and likely realize that canning Wulff is probably not the best solution right now.
Unfortunately, there are so many problems with the program that it’s hard to know where to begin. I just happen to think that firing the coach 15 games into a massive rebuilding project isn’t the answer.
by '03CouveCoug on Sep 14, 2009 12:29 PM PDT up reply actions
You're right
Hence, my disclaimer at the beginning of the post. I wrote the post at about 10 p.m. after the game. Emotions were still raw. And I as I said (either here or somewhere else — I can’t remember in which thread), I’m not convinced that changing coaches is the answer.
It’s just that the only unbearable thought in all this is that we’re really not actually better. And that’s the thought that was crossing my mind on Saturday.
I’ll attempt to take off my Husky glasses for a moment and offer as an outsider’s perspective that is as unbiased as I can manage:
There are things that Wulff is doing right IMO. I think we all recognize that WSU isn’t going to consistently attract top talent the way a USC or UCLA can. For WSU to be successful, they have to be good at identifying under the radar guys with potential, developing that potential, motivating them and putting them in schemes that maximize their ability.
Wulff’s decision to redshirt as many guys as he can is a long-term investment in the program, one that hurts in the short-term but could pay off in the long run. Depth is obviously a big problem for you guys right now, and I’m sure there’s great temptation to put a guy like Tuel in there to see what he can do, but I think it’s the smarter move to stand firm and redshirt these guys. I think you should gladly trade a year of them playing as 18 year old true freshmen right now for a year of them as 5th year seniors in 2013.
And as much as it must feel like too little, too late, I was impressed that the Cougs didn’t fold their tents in the 2nd half against Hawaii. They easily could’ve mailed it in and felt like “here we go again, just like last year” but they didn’t. And you guys were short-handed on defense.
On the other side of the coin though, I question whether Wulff’s no-huddle offense is actually providing any kind of competitive edge for the Cougs. Doesn’t seem like Hawaii was having any trouble matching up and getting their subs in.
And on a more fundamental level, I wonder if Wulff is the right personality for this program. Granted, the following perception is based on a short snippet of TV footage, lacking in context, and is just one example, but bear with me:
I caught a portion of the Cougars All-Access show last week on FSN, and saw Wulff addressing his team before the game, and I was struck at the way he came across – he just didn’t seem like a dynamic leader. His words were somewhat hesitant, he didn’t seem to project confidence, and he seemed flat emotionally. I reiterate all the caveats I made preceding this, but after seeing similar footage of Sarkisian addressing his team in a similar setting and observing the marked contrasts between the two of them, I just have to question if Wulff has the right personality to be “the” guy at WSU.
Anyway, just my $0.02 worth from a fan of your rivals. I wouldn’t rush out with the pitchforks and fire just yet – I think Wulff took over a really tough situation, and given his long-term strategy it would be harsh to not give him at least 3 years to see if his plans are starting to bear some fruit. On the other hand, as someone that had to suffer through 4 years of Ty Willingham, I know how painful it is to see your favorite team coached by the wrong guy.
by kirkd on Sep 14, 2009 2:14 PM PDT reply actions 2 recs
In a lot of ways I agree
And I think other Cougs do as well. He’s doing the right thing with redshirts, with training, and generally with recruiting. He’s fighting to make us a program that has character and good offseason habits, things we have lacked in the past. And I, for one, really value that ideal.
The problem is the final points you brought up. Building good athletes with diet and excercise, encouraging good behavior and recruiting good players gets you only so far. And with the exception of the redshirting of players, it’s mainly all assistant coaches executing the game plan of the head coach. But motivating guys on game day, making them believe in themselves even if they know they are less physically gifted, that is part of the Head Coaches job. And I’m not sure Wulff has that.
At this point, I think Wulff has a great understanding of some of the building blocks. And with time as an assistant Head Coach at a FBS school, he might have learned some more motivation techniques. But we made him The Guy, and as such he isn’t showing the game plans or the motivation that makes me believe we will win once it’s all his recruits, who have trained his way, and know his system.
The Real Question
More than what we think, are the players buying in to Wulff’s plan? We all know the Huskies are barking for Sark. Do the Cougs believe?
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