WSU Vs. SDSU: 5 Things I Want To See From The Cougars

by Jeff Nusser on Sep 16, 2011 3:00 PM PDT in 2011 WSU Football News

You might be wondering why I don't just call these "Keys To The Game," as many others do with this sort of thing. The explanation is pretty simple, and gets back to my nature as a person more interested in process (at least at this stage of rebuilding) rather than results.

There will be a day when all I care about is whether we win or lose. Those days will be when we are once again fighting for conference championships, ostensibly because the process has run its course in previous years. We're obviously not there yet. So while I want us to win each game, I'm just as interested in seeing how we're progressing toward that championship level.

Those are the things I'm looking for right now. This weekend, that includes these five things:

Blocker-absorbing play from the defensive tackles. It appears WSU may finally have found its space-eating, wrecking ball of a nose tackle in Toni Pole. He commanded double teams against UNLV, and I'm being honest when I say I'm not really sure I remember who the last guy was who fit that bill. That kind of a guy makes a huge difference, allowing the guys next to him to only have to win one-on-one battles and letting linebackers roam free. Against Ronnie Hillman, that's going to be paramount. We don't yet know how much Pole's knee injury will slow him; if the answer is "not much," then WSU has a chance to contain Hillman. Anthony Laurenzi will need to do that when he rotates in for Pole as well.
Sure tackling from the linebackers. Hillman is fast. Hillman is slippery. And that combination means that a blown tackle will lead to a long touchdown. The linebackers have met every challenge put before them this year; if they do a great job containing Hillman -- who has as much big-play ability as anyone left on WSU's schedule -- I'll be on that bandwagon just like I'm on this one.
The offensive line not missing a beat. The five guys up front have been awesome, and one has to wonder how much of that has to do with continuity. That continuity is going to be tested tomorrow, as Andrew Roxas will miss the game with an injured ankle. Junior college transfer Taylor Meighan, who's been in the program since last spring, will take his place. There was a little bit of a competition between he and Roxas, so he's gotten time with the ones; in addition to that, he was originally an Air Force commit, so you figure he's pretty smart. I'll be looking for a seamless transition.
Rickey Galvin holding up over 15-plus carries. Galvin's got 12 carries total. I'm almost certain he'll eclipse that tomorrow. Can he put up with a little bit of a pounding on his 5-foot-8, 172-pound frame? I think so, but I want to see him looking as explosive on carry No. 16 as he was on carry No. 1.
A continued steady hand from Marshall Lobbestael. This will most likely be a recurring theme until Jeff Tuel returns. It's all but a given that Lobbestael will be pressured more tomorrow than he has been in the previous two games, and he must hold up to that with no more than one turnover. The windows will also probably be smaller tomorrow, so the margin for error will be smaller.

Those are my five. What are yours?

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completely with you on the D-line

I want/need to see those guys prove that they are legit against much tougher competition than they’ve faced the past two weeks. They can do a lot to set me at ease for what to expect the rest of the season.

by Blackie1829 on Sep 16, 2011 3:13 PM PDT via mobile reply actions

The five things I want to see besides total punishment include:

- Containment of Hillman. 2 games in its all about not what we did but who we did it against. San Diego State alone is enough to make a statement with a win, but more importantly the name Ronnie Hillman will standout if we were able to keep him in check. On the flipside, if we get blown up by him and give up 200 yards it will feel like we are back at square one with our run defense.

- A big game from Ricky Galvin. In my heart I believe that we have one of the Pac-12’s best running backs but in order to be sure we have to see him run a complete game.

- Related to that and again in agreement with you, offensive line. It’s always the most important key to success on offense.

- Special teams. Destroying two opponents means we get to see less punts, less kickoff returns, not many FG attempts. I have no real idea how good those departments are.

-I’d like to see our secondary obliterate a less experienced WR core of SDSU. It would be understandable if they didn’t do great, but it would feel great if we were able to keep their 1 and 2 shutdown all day.

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 16, 2011 3:19 PM PDT reply actions

The good news is that Hillman legitimately has not faced a defense with our speed this year

Damn, it feels good to type that.

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by Jeff Nusser on Sep 16, 2011 3:26 PM PDT up reply actions 5 recs

I don’t think that will slow down Hillman, he is a beast.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Sep 16, 2011 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Ok, their speed can't literally slow him down

but it can get them to him faster and then they can use their strength to slow him down…

by tclaus on Sep 16, 2011 11:44 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Assuming starters will play a full game for the first time

I’m very interested to see how the WR targets break down. Wilson and Karstetter will lead the way but how will it shake out between Barton, Williams and Ratliff? Will either true freshman see time? How much rotation will we see?

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by Mark Sandritter on Sep 16, 2011 3:41 PM PDT reply actions

Just a little bit more about this game that I'm thinking about.

A win tomorrow would probably be our best non-conference win since Nevada in 2005. Wins over Baylor and SDSU since then don’t seem quite as significant since Nevada only lost 3 games that season and went to the Hawaii Bowl. 2005 was also the season we started 3-0 then lost our first 7 pac-10 games :(

2005 might even be a healthy reminder of what its like to feel really good when you dominate a mostly soft non-con schedule. Though we didn’t dominate Idaho that year. 2005 was a rough season.

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by Kenneth Arthur on Sep 16, 2011 4:44 PM PDT reply actions

I want to see one thing from the Cougars tomorrow...

a win

Attractive, Intelligent, Smart A**

by Neil Vincent Roberts on Sep 16, 2011 4:48 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Just to add to your five

-Galvin has a coming out party and has an equivalent or better game to Hillman.

-Lobster is a more effective passer than Lindley due to the coug receivers and coug pass defense having a big game.

by dertingfactor on Sep 16, 2011 4:54 PM PDT reply actions

Mine is the same as last week...

I want us to look like a Pac 12 team and SDSU to look like a MWC team.

The team more than met my expectations last week… even though I didn’t get to see the game I was pretty pleased with the final outcome. Anything close to last week will be great by me.

by bliznair64@gmail.com on Sep 16, 2011 6:13 PM PDT reply actions

I would think anything close to last week's game

… would be exceptionally great.

by Aaron Whiteman on Sep 16, 2011 6:25 PM PDT up reply actions

If this game is anything like last week

I would expect to receive a few votes in the polls.
That said, this game won’t be anything like last week. Because SDSU has greater talent across the board then UNLV or ISU

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by Neil Vincent Roberts on Sep 16, 2011 6:50 PM PDT up reply actions

if this game is anything like last week, we may have a 10-win team

by Blackie1829 on Sep 16, 2011 7:52 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

I would like to see adjustments

when the game plan breaks down and SDSU makes some plays on offense and defense. This will be the first game where the Cougs will have to regroup and possibly adjust some of their game plan on the fly and I want to see how well they deal with this adversity.

by t-line_coug on Sep 16, 2011 7:20 PM PDT reply actions

I don't think #5 can be overstated

I want to see Marshall continue to be “just one of the 11” and not try to do too much. Get the ball in the hands of the playmakers and don’t give SDSU extra possessions. In what will certainly be a closer game than the previous weeks, I want to see our QB play remain safe and steady.

I also want to see the defense bend but not break. You mentioned it in your #2 point, but I just don’t want to see any big plays that really swing the momentum for the Aztecs in front of (what everyone is saying will be) their biggest crowd of the year. If they move the ball efficiently down the field, but our defense is assignment-sound and tackling well, I’m OK with that.

by Coug11 on Sep 16, 2011 7:32 PM PDT reply actions