OPTIMISM OPTIMISM OPTIMISM // Washington State Game Recap

This is so far the most difficult thing I have written for On The Banks. This hurts more than Kent State. This hurts more than Louisville in 2012. Hell, this hurts almost as much as West Virginia in 2006, almost.

Sitting in the second row behind the Washington State sideline, I watched a PAC-12 team prove me wrong on just about everything I said about them.

They were hyped. They were crazy. They WANTED this game more than Rutgers did. Their offensive line dominated both run blocking and pass blocking. Luke Falk was clinical, and had the most heart-breaking QB scrambles ever. Quite simply, Washington State earned it.

Now on to the team that you came to read about.

Where do I begin?

#FreeRettig

Laviano didn't look comfortable and was playing injured for a good deal of the game. He was floating the ball and could've gotten a receiver seriously injured. He made a slew of embarassing plays that including a horrific decision on an interception. He pulled a Jameis Winston and dropped the ball while trying to pump fake. He tried to throw the ball away and threw it to two Wazzu defenders in the end zone who were nice enough to run into eachother and drop it. The closest red jersey was in the stands.

His stat line doesn't tell the whole story. He was a lot worse than his stats let on and I was never comfortable or confident in him. There is just something about him that doesn't make me feel confident when he drops back to throw the ball. He got booed, a lot. The biggest cheer he got was a pretty large sarcastic ovation when he finally succesfully threw the ball away. It was just bad. #FreeRettig

That is all the negative I have. Moving on...

The secondary won't have a worse game

Man, they were a lot worse than advertised. Words cannot explain how bad the secondary was. However, they caught on late and showed that they are very good at tackling. Anthony Cioffi made a huge play and almost killed a guy on 3rd down before a pretty memorable punt. The safeties were consistently late and Davon Jacobs got mossed for a TD that should've been deflected at the very least. This game film will be a great learning experience for the young group who are still gelling as a unit.

Kyle Flood will learn not to piss away his timeouts

One timeout was taken because there were 12 men on the field on a field goal. Worst case? The kicker gets five yards and still makes it. The player running off was about two steps from the sideline and the kicker wasn't even set. Inexcusable, Kyle.

Fullbacks and Tight ends look good

Lots and lots of non-wideouts were making catches. This is a very promising sign, as they were mostly anonymous against Norfolk State. Matt Flanagan scored his second touchdown of the year. Charles Scarff has a very strong game as well. These guys will be key for their young QBs.

The D-Line won't have a worse game

Their only sack came on the final drive and other than that, they were absolutely manhandled. Kemoko Turay was out of position a lot and had an awful offsides penalty that gave Wazzu a 4th and 5, instead of a 4th and 10 on their final drive. They were really missing Darius Hamilton and we are gonna need him next week.

GRILLS GRILLS GRILLS!

Janarion Grant = The G.O.A.T. His punt return is #SCTop10 material and would be lock for play of the year if Rutgers held on. Hell, it's still play of the year in my books. I just can't believe how good he is. Hasn't dropped a pass, either. Get excited for this kid, he's a rare talent.

We're not Maryland

LOL

IT'S TTFP WEEK! GET PUMPED!!