Originally Posted by
Prediction? Pain.
WSU's time of possession ranks (National and conference-games-only Pac 12) in Leach's tenure:
2012 - 109th / 10th
2013 - 94th / 6th
2014 - 33rd / 1st
2015 - 57th / 4th
2016 - 21st / 4th
2017 - 17th / 1st
2018 - 25th / 2nd
2019 - 80th / 5th
WSU's national adjusted offensive pace rankings in Leach's tenure:
2012 - 64th
2013 - 85th
2014 - 95th
2015 - 97th
2016 - 117th
2017 - 119th
2018 - 130th
(Not sure Bill C. published 2019 stats for this category after he moved to ESPN and I haven't looked.)
WSU's national and conference-only-games Pac-12 ranking for opponents' total plays during Leach's tenure (the worse the rank, the more plays the defense faced):
2012 - 64th / 5th
2013 - 112th / 9th
2014 - 39th / 1st
2015 - 88th / 6th
2016 - 39th / 2nd
2017 - 28th / 1st
2018 - 29th / 1st
2019 - 72nd / 4th
In sum, Leach's offense, at least once he's gotten it installed, is not a hurry-up offense. Not even close. Odd though it sounds for a pass-first (and second (and third)) system, it's a methodical, ball-control offense that's usually very efficient. (In eight seasons at WSU, the offense was Top 50 nationally in S&P+ seven times, Top 40 six times, Top 30 four times, and Top 15 twice.) Now, obviously if we're not passing it well, then yeah, we're going to struggle sustaining drives and the defense is going to be on the field more. But, at least at WSU, it seems that he was usually able to avoid that. Will it work here? And if so, when? Well, we're just going to have to wait and see. It took a couple of years at WSU.