A few quick thoughts on UW.........

[cougjunkie]

1. David Nixon played like a man possessed and had an unbelievable game, I dont think he is getting the credit he deserves for how good he actually is.

2. Scott Johnson did a great job making open field tackles, but I still think his cover skills are suspect (minus the nice play in the endzone) I wouldnt mind seeing Johnson take over Tafunas spot at safety and Bradley or Pittman play the corner spot.

3. Brandon Howard really struggled, he was beat deep on several occassions had it not been for overthrows it could have been bad. He was trailing guys by 5 steps on plays, the one play he was in a position to make he let the receiver box him out and didnt even make a play on the ball.

4. The middle backers were awful, Bauman, Doman and Ah You all struggled and overall did not play a good game.

5. Offensive line- was unbelievable (minus the low snaps to start the game) Hall had all day to throw the ball.

6. Fui- the unsung hero of the game, he was absolutely blowing people up, go back and rewatch the game and just focus on Fui, it is crazy how well he played.

7. Harvey ran hard, showed great footwork and proved that he is the best back in the conference. The fumble he admitted he needed to take himself out, eh said he could barely breathe but he wanted the touchdown bad so he stayed in the game.

8. Pitta best tight end in the conference if not the country.

9. Hall another solid game, can make all the throws, and is very poised.

Overall I am excited to see how we do against UCLA, they have two of the best D-tackles in the country so our O-line will have their hands full.

[MikeWaters]

Middle LBs in particular and LBs in general could not come off any blocks.

Yeah, I did get a kick out of Fui. Esp. the one I noticed where he blocked a guy, then ran over and blocked another guy.

I'm glad that Fui goes after that role with gusto. He's more likely to be in the NFL as a blocking back, than a RB, and this is his opportunity to demonstrate that.

[CJF]

The middle linebackers are the problem with the defense right now. I didn't think Howard was as bad you, but a lot of terrible coverage looked like fear of Locker running and LB'ers not containing and the lack of respect for Locker throwing. It'll be interesting to see what happens this week with a QB that actually complete a pass and WR's who can hold on to the ball.

Fix the MLB'ers and the entire defense becomes much much stronger. Not sure if there is anyone on the roster right now that can do it though.

[Indy Coug]

What in the hell was that angle Nixon was taking on the TD run by Locker? Not only did he take almost the exact opposite angle of what he should have, but he took out another BYU player in the process.

I like Nixon, but taking bad angles is a little too common with him.

[DapperDan]

I was mostly disturbed by the fact that BYU did not seem to be aware that they were playing against a quarterback that was a known runner. BYU's defense appeared surprised every time Locker ran through the middle of the line with nary a defender in sight.

[Hot Lunch]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Middle LBs in particular and LBs in general could not come off any blocks.

Yeah, I did get a kick out of Fui. Esp. the one I noticed where he blocked a guy, then ran over and blocked another guy.

I'm glad that Fui goes after that role with gusto. He's more likely to be in the NFL as a blocking back, than a RB, and this is his opportunity to demonstrate that.

Fui was awesome on Saturday. There was a play that was right in front of me late in the game on the drive that was fumbled in the end zone where Fui blocked the backer and when he realized that he was not going to be able to make a play on Unga, Fui released from that guy and got a block on the safety to spring Unga for a 9 or 10 yard gain.

Fui was awesome on Saturday and deserves a ton of credit.

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by DapperDan

I was mostly disturbed by the fact that BYU did not seem to be aware that they were playing against a quarterback that was a known runner. BYU's defense appeared surprised every time Locker ran through the middle of the line with nary a defender in sight.

What amazed me was that we didn't expect Locker to run the ball on that last play. We had the DL stunting and LBs completely out of position. Amazing.

[cougjunkie]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

What amazed me was that we didn't expect Locker to run the ball on that last play. We had the DL stunting and LBs completely out of position. Amazing.

Bronco claims that the D-line stunted to keep Locker in the pocket.

[CJF]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

What amazed me was that we didn't expect Locker to run the ball on that last play. We had the DL stunting and LBs completely out of position. Amazing.

Nixon took a bad angle, but Bauman and Doman basically looked like they were dancing with Washington linemen. They couldn't get off the hold....errrr...blocks.

[Hazzard]

Originally Posted by cougjunkie

4. The middle backers were awful, Bauman, Doman and Ah You all struggled and overall did not play a good game.

Bauman, Doman and Ah You are listed, respectively, at 232, 232, and 227 pounds in the media guide. I think those weights are each inflated by about 10 pounds. And whatever they say their 40 times are, you can go ahead and add another 2-tenths. We have small, slow linebackers who are going to struggle all year.

I think it might be time to bring in the younger, more athletic DB's, too, but I doubt Bronco will make any rash decisions on that front. He'll wait until they are clearly more consistent in practice than the current starters before he throws them out there.

Before the season, I figured we would probably lose one game (either vs. UCLA, Utah, or TCU). Now I think we'll lose two or three -- and maybe one of them will be against a team like Air Force or New Mexico. Our defense is going to get better, but we aren't going to get THAT much better. I will be very happy with a two- or three-loss season. With a struggling defense, that's probably the best we can hope for and I'll take it.