2019 Wash St on ESPNU at 6 vs UCLA

[confucius say]

For anyone interested

[confucius say]

These two back sets are intriguing

[Homedawg]

Is that the game WSU blew a 30 + pt lead in the second??

[Homedawg]

Better be prepared for your mute button if you want to watch.

[confucius say]

Yep

And yep. Freaking Beth Mowins (not Doris Burke). You know I'm hard up for football when I'll listen to her

[Commercecomet24]

Is that the game WSU blew a 30 + pt lead in the second??

Yeah I watched that game. Talk about a no defense second half, geez, that was brutal. UCLA wasn't any better either.

[Cooterpoot]

Getting Arnett was big. Even if he doesn't recruit.

[RiverCityDawg]

Yeah I watched that game. Talk about a no defense second half, geez, that was brutal. UCLA wasn't any better either.

Defense was bad, but the reason they lost was the 6 turnovers. A couple of picks and then several fumbles by the wide receivers after the catch. If not for those they probably would have scored 80+ and won by 50.

[Commercecomet24]

Defense was bad, but the reason they lost was the 6 turnovers. A couple of picks and then several fumbles by the wide receivers after the catch. If not for those they probably would have scored 80+ and won by 50.

Oh definitely but both those teams absolutely sucked on defense. It looked like a 7 on 7 tournament.

[Prediction? Pain.]

WSU's DC resigned a few days after that game. I'd always assumed that Leach forced him out but apparently not. In an interview (https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/oct/05/qa-washington-state-coach-mike-leach-surprised-by-/) the week after it happened, Leach said that the dude abruptly resigned out of nowhere. And then a week or two later, a former WSU QB (Connor Halliday) claimed in a radio interview (https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/former-washington-state-qb-claims-feud-between-tracy-claeys-darcel-mcbath-led-to-dcs-resignation/) that the DC and staff never got along and that he was especially at odds with Darcel McBath, our current CB coach. After the UCLA game, Halliday said that the DC and McBath got into heated arguments at practice over how to correct the defensive breakdowns. I guess the friction eventually became too much for the dude to bear so he split.

It sounds like the defense in 2019 was doomed from the get go. I imagine that playing under a fractured coaching staff whose under-the-surface antagonisms from the year before finally explode all around you isn't a recipe for success.

[Commercecomet24]

WSU's DC resigned a few days after that game. I'd always assumed that Leach forced him out but apparently not. In an interview (https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/oct/05/qa-washington-state-coach-mike-leach-surprised-by-/) the week after it happened, Leach said that the dude abruptly resigned out of nowhere. And then a week or two later, a former WSU QB (Connor Halliday) claimed in a radio interview (https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/former-washington-state-qb-claims-feud-between-tracy-claeys-darcel-mcbath-led-to-dcs-resignation/) that the DC and staff never got along and that he was especially at odds with Darcel McBath, our current CB coach. After the UCLA game, Halliday said that the DC and McBath got into heated arguments at practice over how to correct the defensive breakdowns. I guess the friction eventually became too much for the dude to bear so he split.

It sounds like the defense in 2019 was doomed from the get go. I imagine that playing under a fractured coaching staff whose under-the-surface antagonisms from the year before finally explode all around you isn't a recipe for success.

I'm glad you brought that up. I remember reading that article back then, but my old brain didn't put it together that it was after this game. Appreciate the info.

[RiverCityDawg]

Oh definitely but both those teams absolutely sucked on defense. It looked like a 7 on 7 tournament.

No doubt. I just think it's interesting a lot of our fans point to that game as THE example of why Leach and his lack of focus on defense might not work here, yet it was actually a lot of turnovers by his offense that cost him that one. Six turnovers will get you beat >95% of the time regardless of your defense and they only lost by 4.

[Commercecomet24]

No doubt. I just think it's interesting a lot of our fans point to that game as THE example of why Leach and his lack of focus on defense might not work here, yet it was actually a lot of turnovers by his offense that cost him that one. Six turnovers will get you beat >95% of the time regardless of your defense and they only lost by 4.

You got that right! Heck normally 2 turnovers will get you beat. Leach has never really been a head coach where he could get great defensive talent. Let's give him a shot and see what he can do with the defensive talent we are usually able to get. I believe he hired a guy that will turn out to be a very good DC, so I'm anxious to see what the man can do.

[BrunswickDawg]

You got that right! Heck normally 2 turnovers will get you beat. Leach has never really been a head coach where he could get great defensive talent. Let's give him a shot and see what he can do with the defensive talent we are usually able to get. I believe he hired a guy that will turn out to be a very good DC, so I'm anxious to see what the man can do.

You are correct. But, even then, Leach's defenses outperformed his predecessors - at least in scoring defense (which to me is the most important team defense stat).

In 13 seasons under Spike Dykes, over 13 seasons Texas Tech averaged a ranking of 57th in scoring D nationally with a best year of 27th. Leach averaged 54th in his 10 season - which a best season of 8th.
In the 8 years prior to Leach, Wazzu averaged a ranking of 97th in scoring D - including the last 2 seasons prior to Leach being 119th out of 120 (YUCK).
Under Leach, the scoring D averaged 79th over 8 season.