Why Did WSU Come Out Flat At Arizona State?
by Brian Floyd on Nov 3, 2010 1:47 PM PDT
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PrintI'll start by saying I can't answer the question. The players don't know, the coaches don't know and nobody knows for sure why the Cougs came out and rolled over. I can, however, offer a bit of insight and perspective on the team and where their heads have been at.
After three weeks of playing above their head against ranked teams, I got the feeling there was nothing left by the time they headed to the desert. Is it right or acceptable? Probably not. But it is what it is. They didn't have the killer mentality or ability to get back up when punched in the mouth yet again by another team.
I kept wondering when the other shoe would drop this season. When WSU hung around against Oregon and gave the Ducks their best shot, I was surprised. They did it again against Arizona next week, never allowing the Wildcats to fully take-over the game. Against Stanford, we all expected a let-down. It didn't happen again. I immediately thought "here we go, now it will happen."
Why did I think that? Read on.
The football season is a grind. Sure it's only one game a week, but we've seen plenty of Pac-10 teams look like world-beaters one week and dead teams the next. There's so much involved in the season -- from film study, to practice, to the games themselves -- that it can be too much for 18-21 year old players to handle.
The physical and mental toll of a season is more than we probably realize. Every Monday, a new gameplan is installed. Players are learning more plays, studying the tendencies of the opponent and preparing themselves for Saturday all week. When they aren't on the practice field, they're doing walkthroughs to prepare for practice, in addition to conditioning and studying -- all on top of the rigors of college. It can be a drag.
After the Arizona game, I felt like it would all come crashing down at some point, even if only temporarily. The body language of the players wasn't quite right. They'd come out and hung with two of the best in the Pac-10, throwing haymakers and bouncing back in each game.
Take, for instance, Deone Bucannon. The freshman had been playing out of his mind at safety, recording 16 tackles against the Wildcats. When asked about Stanford and what they expected, his reaction was similar to "oh man, this is gonna suck." Each player was asked about the Cardinal and each seemed to be dreading the physical nature of the Cardinal after weeks of wear and tear.
While it was great they put together a furious rally in the fourth quarter against Stanford -- even if the touchdowns can be considered "garbage time" scores -- it seemed like they pushed themselves over the edge. In almost every game, they've been hit early and often, but to their credit they responded. When they did it again against the Cardinal, I looked at the Arizona State game and thought it would be the time they finally played dead. And they did.
We, as fans, expected a lot from the Cougs in the desert. It was a letdown to us, and an embarrassment, but it was also a blow to the players. All week they heard this was their chance, their time to shine and win, and it appears they bought into it. Take this from Kevin Kooyman, passed along by Christian Caple last night.
To clarify: Kooyman meant players bought into hype in negative way, not that fans were wrong for believing Cougs could win.
Christian Caple
ChristianCaple
This team has shown twice this year that they don't know how to play as anything except the massive underdog. Against MSU -- in a game WSU was heavily favored -- the Cougs came out flat, only using a late fourth quarter surge to defeat the FCS school. The same thing happened again this Saturday, even though the Cougars weren't favored at all.
I don't know why they came out flat and rolled over. I get the feeling that the grind of the season took it's toll. Add in the hype surrounding the game and the team just didn't respond. The question now is whether they can pick up the pieces against a Cal team with their own road and injury woes.
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After that disaster of a "game"
I, like many other Cougs, found myself trying to answer that very question. There are a lot of obvious reasons to why we were at a disadvantage going into that game: it was on the road, it was our ninth straight game without a bye, and we’re young/injured. But even so, we were picking up steam week after week, surprising ourselves as well as others around the nation who watched us compete with top-25 teams. Honestly, I think it all comes down to mentality. It’s psychological. The talent is clearly there, but the majority of these kids are young and they just don’t know how to win games. Add to that the fact that ASU was coming off a huge loss to Cal (who, coincidentally, is this week as well), and there was no way the Sun Devils were going to let us hang with them. They were prepared, we were not. I think the case was similar with the Stanford/UW game. Sure, the Cardinal clearly had us beat, and despite the final score, at no point (even the fourth quarter) was it a competitive game. But Stanford let the Cougars score 28 points against them in only a 10-point victory. A win or not, they didn’t look too impressive after that, so they took it out on the Dawgs — the lone bright spot of my weekend as far as sports.
Honestly, I think the formula is there for a win this weekend. It’s at home, Riley is out, and maybe, just maybe, we’re so tired of losing and so embarrassed that it’ll translate into a victory. But even if we’re disappointed again, at least we can check the score of the UW/Oregon game every time Cal scores!
Beward of schadenfreude
It’s the path to the dark side. But who can’t delight just a little in watching your rival get beat? Good luck Saturday against the Bears.
Need to tighten up the posts ...
… as that could be read as “I’m going to enjoy watching Cal beat WSU”, which is not the case at all. What I meant was, I don’t mind good natured barbs aimed at UW fans by WSU fans (hey, it’s a rivalry and it’s fun), and good luck Saturday, as I’ll be cheering for the Cougs to get their first PAC win. Me fail English? That’s un-possible.
Well, when a VERY good team like Stanford
is only a 7-point favorite against the Dawgs, it seems like (yet again) UW is being overrated. So to see them get stomped at home feels good; it brings them back down to Earth.
Up until Stanford and Arizona ...
… I would’ve said the tight spreads for / against UW were warranted. After those two stompings, I think we can agree that UW will be an underdog against any decent team. Now those WSU spreads … they seemed ridiculous until last Saturday. But Vegas appears to think you’ll do OK at home against Cal. Maybe they did some research on this one.
Regarding coming out flat
I think there are two things that make a difference in this area. One works in defense of Paul Wulff, the other does not.
- is talent. The Cougs just don’t have the talent to overcome being down in the dumps mentally. Good teams can phone in games – to an extent – but have the talent to overcome that and execute play after play. They may not be excited before the game but once that pads get on and the hits start happening they wake up and find themselves playing the way they usually do. To Wulff’s credit: WSU has neither the raw talent or the roster health to hang with a lot of teams in the Pac-10. The administration’s ridiculous, bye-hating scheduling of the last few years have cost the Cougs big. They desperately need a week to re-energize themsevles physically and mentally. They haven’t got it. Which is why I’m not sold on Cal being a game we have a 100% chance of competing in.
On to thing #2: Preparation. This is where you can knock Paul Wulff. In anything where I’ve performed in life – be it sports, music, or even tests – the results are almost always equivalent to the amount of preparation I put in. Sure, there are variables and some days just aren’t our days. But when the Cougs get run off the field by a team with turnover issues and deficiencies of their own it’s obvious the preparation just wasn’t there, or wasn’t effective. Maybe Dennis Erickson put it all together for one game. Maybe. But unless the Sun Devils surge for the remainder of the season it seems to me that one team was a lot more ready for this game than the other. That falls on the coaching, and it’s why after weeks of Paul Wulff’s seat cooling off, he now finds himself out of the frying pan and back into the fire.
It’s just one game. However, if one game becomes two – against Cal at home – then three – at OSU – and four – the Apple Cup – then I have to believe Paul Wulff’s rebuilding effort is in jeopardy.
Writer: CougCenter Twitterer: @GradyClapp
For me, last week wasn't the week to judge #2 (I agree with both, though)
This week probably is. It sounded like the staff tried to push the team, trying to find a way to get them in gear. It just didn’t work. There was nothing there to push and the team was at a loss physically, mentally or whatever else.
Now they come back against Cal at home after more or less taking the last week off. It sounds like practice is going better, so we’ll see come Saturday.
I guess my point is that I understand why people were mad about last week, but I don’t think it’s a “breaking point.” How they respond, however, will say a lot about this year’s team and the motivational ability of the staff.
Reason #2
I have some issues with this one. I have read alot of posts kinda dogging Wulff for the way the team played. I just don’t think it is Wulff’s fault. I think he did the best possable job trying to get those kids ready to play against ASU, they were just tired, and did not respond. I don’t think any other coach in D1 football could have gotten those kids mentally prepared for that game. In my opinion, Wulff is doing a fantastic job with the lemon he inherited.( I honestly believe, that he took over the worst football program in D1, when you take into consideration; previous recruiting, previous records, AND school location)
What are you talking about?
It’s always the coach’s fault if the team is flat. For example, Nick Saban clearly underprepared Alabama against South Carolina.
I respectfully disagree with you.
Teams lose, and come out flat all the time, it happens. The Patriots came out flat against the Giants, and blew a perfect season, but I don’t believe that Bill was to blame, it was an off game at a really bad time. It’s the coaches responsibility to accept blame when the team plays bad, but that does not mean it is really his fault. Wulff did a GREAT job with the 3 prievious games, I don’t think he did anything different for ASU. (that would not make any sense at all considering the importance of the situation) I think his young players just wore out and choked. Like I said, I don’t think there is a coach alive who could have led those kids to victory in that situation. I would love to blame Wulff and justify that loss that way. but I don’t think it is right.
I'm not at my computer
Someone help me out here.
by Jeff Nusser on Nov 4, 2010 5:50 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Another Theory
Maybe (at least for last week and definitely against Okie St.) they were just too tight. My experience is more in hockey than football – but I think this happens in many sports – and you see it all the time where a very good player wants to make things happen so badly that they almost shut down (also know as “gripping the stick too tight” – insert jokes here).
Most good players play through it and excel – other players start getting so far into their own heads that their talents regress. I have no idea where the Cougs are at mentally – hopefully they’ll just go out and start having fun… and then, I believe, success will follow.
I honestly don't think this was being too tight.
It was being physically and mentally out of it. I’m about as certain as I can be that was the case. Tight mean mistakes, drained means getting run over. The latter happened on Saturday.
You're probably right.
But I wonder, then, what can be done about it? I know the season is a tough slog (especially without a bye week until late), but then again, we’re talking about a bunch of Pac-10 caliber athletes (and one could have said something about Auburn not having a bye yet, but being undefeated is one hell of a way to keep a team inspired).
Is it the soul sucking hell of losing every week?
Is it running out on the field already “knowing” that the game is over?
Is it the mental toll of player X not trusting that player Y will do his job?
I guess I’m just restating everything that you brought up above. It’s driving me crazy and I’m just a fan.
Oh Lord, please let us beat Cal.
Call me crazy, but ...
maybe, just maybe, Erickson is a good coach who knows what he is doing since he has been doing at the Division IA level for a very long time and at a very high level.
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