Hoffman-Ellis: Cougs thought 'they were just going to hand it to us'
by Jeff Nusser on Sep 16, 2009 7:55 PM PDT
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PrintNo, I am not making that up. Linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis told Mike Gastineau on KJR-AM in Seattle today that the Cougs saw a team that nearly got beat by an FCS team and figured they had a win in the bag (my words, not his):
I'd probably say it was just we watched game film and saw they squeaked by a I-AA team and took that as, "Oh they probably will just come out and give us the victory." We came out really flat and came out with this attitude that they were just going to hand it to us, and it really backfired.
Alex Hoffman-Ellis, winner of the obvious statement of the year award.
My first thought was, "WHAT?!?!?! How can this team possibly take someone lightly?" But, in a rare moment of clarity, I think Gastineau makes a fair point -- that can happen to young teams, who often have to learn lessons the hard way.
I'm betting it won't happen again (the taking lightly, not the result; we're clearly going to see that again). You can listen to the rest of the interview via the player below. It starts with Jake Locker -- I know you all want to listen to him, but in case you don't, Hoffman-Ellis starts at the 8:00 mark.
Sort of going hand-in-hand with this was an interview Ian Furness did on the same station yesterday with defensive coordinator Chris Ball. In case you missed it, Ball has taken a lot of flak for this quote: "You can’t expect coaches to come out and get them fired up. Players are responsible for getting themselves ready to play mentally."
Well, I'm guessing it got back to Ball that it wasn't such a good idea to say that, because he starts off the interview saying the exact opposite. If a listener wasn't aware of the existence of that previous quote, his talking might sound a little odd -- as if he's trying to convince everyone of something. Put in context, he clearly is trying to convince us of something: That he didn't really mean what he said.
I don't want to hammer Ball too much -- he said what he said right after the game, and I guarantee every single one of us would say something stupid at some point with a microphone shoved in front of our faces just minutes after an embarrassing performance. So I'll give him a little bit of a pass on this one.
One thing I do love about this interview? This quote:
They're coming to Pullman, and we're hungry. We're going to get this thing fixed. We're going to play with a lot of emotion, we're going to fly around, we're going to be excited -- we're not going to be tight -- and we're going to play some dang good Cougar football this weekend.
Man, I sure hope so. Audio in the player below.
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Ball is not the problem
I invite any of my fellow Cougs that have not sat up front in the student section to join me Saturday at about the 40 yard line on the student side. You’ll see that Chris Ball not only gives a damn, but he wants his players to give a damn too. At the Stanford game he was coaching his face off and he got his guys up and motivated to try and stop Gerhart and the Trees. It may not have all come together but there was definite progress during the game, and at no time did heads start to dip or guys start to get lazy out there.
They were watching the game, they were attentive in the huddle, and they were talking about what they needed to do and wanted to do to Stanford once they got on the field. I’m with Coach Ball 100% even if I’m not crazy about the co-coordinator setup on that side of the ball. This guy ain’t the problem and I’d put good money on this defense surprising us a couple of times by the end of this season if he keeps coaching and the guys keep listening on the sidelines.
I can't make it this Saturday
But I might just take you up on that seat on the 40 sometime this year …
Man, do I miss the student section. Only now, all your friends would be asking, “Who’s the old guy?”
I sat at the 35.
With “Legion of Coug.” I wasn’t a Beta, but they made me an honorary member anyway. The student section was amazing, $75-99 bucks for season tickets and all I had to do was wait in line for hours and hours for front row seats!
by Craig Powers on Sep 16, 2009 9:19 PM PDT up reply actions
I guess I didn't "sit" at the 35.
It got kind of crowded down there and seats sort of disappeared.
by Craig Powers on Sep 16, 2009 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions
I like Coach Ball too, but...
…do you see any chance that based on the Hawaii game, SMU will be taking us lightly, and therefore allowing us 35 points to open the game? I didn’t think so, Coach Jones would never allow that. I guess that is what concerns me about the comments by Hoff-Ellis, and the earlier comments by Coach Ball (even though he later back tracked). If they really just took Hawaii lightly, it may be a sign of some leadership issues both with the staff and with the folks on the field.
Hope SMU falls asleep at the wheel like we did last weekend.
I doubt SMU will fall asleep.
This is a huge game for them. You don’t get many chances like this to knock off a team with the “BCS” tag on the road.
by Craig Powers on Sep 16, 2009 9:04 PM PDT up reply actions
I think these comments are why Ball made his original statement
Coaches can teach, preach and prepare the kids all they want. If the kids heads aren’t in the game from the opening kick that falls onto the kids.
Hopefully they have learned their lesson.
Only team in history to get a big head after a 26 point loss.
by Craig Powers on Sep 16, 2009 9:14 PM PDT up reply actions
Game Thread
I wondered on the game thread if it was possible they were overconfident after losing 39 to whatever against Stanford. I guess it was possible. WOW! Well, hopefully a good lesson? Stanford was so vanilla. They really didn’t try to do too much.
I am not in a very good mood right now.
look at the bright side
they can’t overlook anyone else on the schedule
right?
by woolybugger on Sep 16, 2009 10:38 PM PDT up reply actions
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