I so appreciate these write ups and all the videos. I learn about football, not only the opposing team. Our secondary has the ability to be darn good, and if they are on Saturday, we should hold up OK. I've come to believe that Wilcox and Sirmon are above average in intelligence and coaching of defense. Results show that. I'll be at the game Saturday in Pullman and look forward to meeting any of you who may also be there. I'll be the guy who looks like he graduated in 1991!
Very nice thanks Christopher. After watching Ward in a couple of games on TV he has a few weaknesses including throwing the ball up for grabs or into tight coverage. Hopefully the Takers 2.0 will be able to take advantage of this tendency.
Different enough that what worked against Leach almost certainly won't work against Ward and Wazzu. The most obvious difference is that Leach never had as mobile of a quarterback (the most mobile Leach QB likely being Gardner Minshew, who led Wazzu to a narrow win over Wilcox's Bears in 2018), and so the Cal defense could focus just on coverage--often simulating pressure to force the QB to throw at his check down, which the Cal defense would expect--and preventing big pass plays. Against Ward, simulating pressure probably won't work, and actual pressure might not work either. Wazzu is going to get their receivers the ball in open space and so tackling will be much more important for Cal this game. I feel like having a Cal linebacker account for de Laura as a QB spy resulted in more wide open zones for de Laura to find through the air. I don't know the answer, but I'm hoping Wilcox will work his defensive magic and find it.
Regarding the Coug fan, it was too early in the game. Couging It came later (it usually occurs in the 4th quarter; the 37-3 event not withstanding, where Couging it started as soon as the game started, and never ended). I would love to see a follow-up shot of the same 2 fans a little later on, when the Duck fan showing considerable restraint probably had an interesting retort.
I was facepalming when I saw the dude trash talking the Oregon fan (well, I was taking the screenshot above, actually, because I knew it would come back to bite him). They never showed the aftermath. I had some friends over for the Arizona game last weekend, both Cal grads, and they were both still extremely nervous even when Cal had an 18 point lead late in the 4th quarter and were still begging for more points, because we know what happens with Arizona. Apparently this Coug fan didn't know what happens with Washington State, so I guess he had to find out the hard way.
This is a really difficult question at this point in their careers. It's the other way around though, about gunslingers: de Laura is WAY more of a gunslinger, not afraid of any coverage down the field (even when he should be). Conversely, Ward rarely challenges anyone down the field unless they are wide open deep.
Because of the offense Ward plays in, it's really hard to judge him. The vast, VAST majority of Ward's throws are short: according to the PFF numbers, ~70% of his passes are less than 10 yards (and another ~20% are 10-19 yards away -- he only throws 20+ yards down the field about 10% of the time, and it's usually because his receiver is wide open).
Ward is usually running an RPO, quick slant, etc type offense. If his first read is there or he has a man wide open, great. Otherwise, he starts getting panicky in the pocket, and then it's anyone's guess. He's great at creating plays, but conversely, he also takes too many risks. He's obviously talented, but I'm not sure how/where all the hype is coming from (Mel Kiper has him as the #6 QB on his Draft board, higher than anyone else in the Pac-12, including the far more pro-ready Tanner McKee... which I think is frankly ridiculous). So I'm afraid of being too reactionary here as a backlash to everyone overhyping him.
Neither QB is ready for the pros, even though both QBs are talented. Ward has a higher ceiling, but he's playing in the confines of an Air Raid system that asks him to methodically move down the field (hence all those passes short of 10 yards, just playing to the first down marker). I'd like to see how Ward goes through progressions, see him settle down in the pocket, and I'd like to see his ball placement from the pocket against tight coverage before I say anything about the pros.
Yes, don't worry, I haven't forgotten. I'm just a bit behind with my football games and articles (I haven't caught up on all the week 3 games I missed while I was at Notre Dame).
How about I rank the Pac-12 RBs in the meantime?:
1a. Jaydn Ott (Cal)
1b. Zach Charbonnet (UCLA)
3. Tavion Thomas (Utah)
4. Xazavian "X" Valladay (ASU)
5. Travis Dye (USC)
6. Mar'Keise "Bucky" Irving (Oregon)
7. Deshaun Fenwick (OSU)
8. Wayne Taulapapa (UW)
9. Michael Wiley (Arizona)
10. Nakia Watson (Wazzu)
11. Casey Filkins (Stanford)
12. Deion Smith (Colorado)
I really just wanted an excuse to rank Ott at the top of the Pac-12. I would have Stanford's EJ Smith a lot higher, probably above Dye, but he's out for the season now.
I so appreciate these write ups and all the videos. I learn about football, not only the opposing team. Our secondary has the ability to be darn good, and if they are on Saturday, we should hold up OK. I've come to believe that Wilcox and Sirmon are above average in intelligence and coaching of defense. Results show that. I'll be at the game Saturday in Pullman and look forward to meeting any of you who may also be there. I'll be the guy who looks like he graduated in 1991!
Always Drop. Never Blitz.
Always Blitz. Never Drop.
Very nice thanks Christopher. After watching Ward in a couple of games on TV he has a few weaknesses including throwing the ball up for grabs or into tight coverage. Hopefully the Takers 2.0 will be able to take advantage of this tendency.
Thank you for the great write up, Chris!
How similar is this Air Raid to the Leach Air Raid that Wilcox had so much success against?
Different enough that what worked against Leach almost certainly won't work against Ward and Wazzu. The most obvious difference is that Leach never had as mobile of a quarterback (the most mobile Leach QB likely being Gardner Minshew, who led Wazzu to a narrow win over Wilcox's Bears in 2018), and so the Cal defense could focus just on coverage--often simulating pressure to force the QB to throw at his check down, which the Cal defense would expect--and preventing big pass plays. Against Ward, simulating pressure probably won't work, and actual pressure might not work either. Wazzu is going to get their receivers the ball in open space and so tackling will be much more important for Cal this game. I feel like having a Cal linebacker account for de Laura as a QB spy resulted in more wide open zones for de Laura to find through the air. I don't know the answer, but I'm hoping Wilcox will work his defensive magic and find it.
Alternatively, 49+ points would be cool too.
Regarding the Coug fan, it was too early in the game. Couging It came later (it usually occurs in the 4th quarter; the 37-3 event not withstanding, where Couging it started as soon as the game started, and never ended). I would love to see a follow-up shot of the same 2 fans a little later on, when the Duck fan showing considerable restraint probably had an interesting retort.
I was facepalming when I saw the dude trash talking the Oregon fan (well, I was taking the screenshot above, actually, because I knew it would come back to bite him). They never showed the aftermath. I had some friends over for the Arizona game last weekend, both Cal grads, and they were both still extremely nervous even when Cal had an 18 point lead late in the 4th quarter and were still begging for more points, because we know what happens with Arizona. Apparently this Coug fan didn't know what happens with Washington State, so I guess he had to find out the hard way.
Karma is a bitch, especially when you’re a Cougars fan….
This is a really difficult question at this point in their careers. It's the other way around though, about gunslingers: de Laura is WAY more of a gunslinger, not afraid of any coverage down the field (even when he should be). Conversely, Ward rarely challenges anyone down the field unless they are wide open deep.
Because of the offense Ward plays in, it's really hard to judge him. The vast, VAST majority of Ward's throws are short: according to the PFF numbers, ~70% of his passes are less than 10 yards (and another ~20% are 10-19 yards away -- he only throws 20+ yards down the field about 10% of the time, and it's usually because his receiver is wide open).
Ward is usually running an RPO, quick slant, etc type offense. If his first read is there or he has a man wide open, great. Otherwise, he starts getting panicky in the pocket, and then it's anyone's guess. He's great at creating plays, but conversely, he also takes too many risks. He's obviously talented, but I'm not sure how/where all the hype is coming from (Mel Kiper has him as the #6 QB on his Draft board, higher than anyone else in the Pac-12, including the far more pro-ready Tanner McKee... which I think is frankly ridiculous). So I'm afraid of being too reactionary here as a backlash to everyone overhyping him.
Neither QB is ready for the pros, even though both QBs are talented. Ward has a higher ceiling, but he's playing in the confines of an Air Raid system that asks him to methodically move down the field (hence all those passes short of 10 yards, just playing to the first down marker). I'd like to see how Ward goes through progressions, see him settle down in the pocket, and I'd like to see his ball placement from the pocket against tight coverage before I say anything about the pros.
Yes, don't worry, I haven't forgotten. I'm just a bit behind with my football games and articles (I haven't caught up on all the week 3 games I missed while I was at Notre Dame).
How about I rank the Pac-12 RBs in the meantime?:
1a. Jaydn Ott (Cal)
1b. Zach Charbonnet (UCLA)
3. Tavion Thomas (Utah)
4. Xazavian "X" Valladay (ASU)
5. Travis Dye (USC)
6. Mar'Keise "Bucky" Irving (Oregon)
7. Deshaun Fenwick (OSU)
8. Wayne Taulapapa (UW)
9. Michael Wiley (Arizona)
10. Nakia Watson (Wazzu)
11. Casey Filkins (Stanford)
12. Deion Smith (Colorado)
I really just wanted an excuse to rank Ott at the top of the Pac-12. I would have Stanford's EJ Smith a lot higher, probably above Dye, but he's out for the season now.