Yes indeed. This gets deliciously compounded by the belief (of what feels like the majority of Beavis fans) that they were somehow doing us a favor by agreeing to play us. Not sure how that works in their brains.

 

The reality is they should do everything in their power to play us every year. But alas, us playing ANY G6 a home/home is just not sustainable for a good playoff formula. G6 road games should flat out not be a thing.

 

 

OBD offense looked like a high-octane OBD offense against a defensively oriented rival on the road. It wasn’t an accident they announced the PIG2 adding members this week. They thought this was going to be a showcase to add more members and it blew up in their face a bit. They were pouring their entire being into that first half.

 

This is the same team that struggled to score and pass the ball against IDAHO at home two weeks ago. I’m guessing we’d beat Idaho by 50+ if we played next week.

 

OSU and BSU are probably about equal and it was like a different universe. We’re back and there are currently only 2 ranked teams on the schedule. So feeling pretty good about our chances.

Post this question again at about 4:30 tomorrow 😆 

Height of delusion. Combing the MWC and the Big Sky with a couple Dakotas = super conference?

 

As someone that lived in Moscow, ID for 10 years, I would be extremely disappointed if Idaho takes the bait and goes back to FBS. They, along with the other Big Sky powers are in a perfect spot and enjoying themselves, don’t mess it up with anything resembling this foolishness.

Once again, I could nearly respect them if they actually embraced the hypocrisy instead of trying to spin that what they just did is somehow different than what they claim was done to them.
 

Next step to complete the lame journey would be to add some more G6 schools that aren’t regionally oriented to increase their travel footprint.
 

Side note, if Scott Barnes can arbitrarily use the term “P5” with every breath, then everyone else should feel free to arbitrarily use the term “G6”. Get used to it piggies 😆 

 

For me, it begins and ends with OBD looking like OBD on offense, full stop.

What I was getting at earlier…AQ status does not exist, for anyone, because of which conference they are in. You just have to win a conference that will result in you being highly ranked.

 

From ESPN:

 

The five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams will earn a spot in the 12-team bracket. There is no limit to how many teams from one conference can qualify. The rules also don't guarantee spots for certain conferences. The champions of the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten will almost certainly routinely qualify, though, along with the highest-ranked champion from the Mountain West, American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt, Mid-American Conference or Conference USA.

 

There is no minimum ranking requirement for the five highest-ranked conference champions. There could be a conference champion ranked No. 23, for example, that's the fifth highest-ranked league winner and earns a spot in the playoff -- at the expense of the committee's No. 12 team.

 

 

On 9/11/2024 at 11:02 PM, Charles Fischer said:

John Canzano also sent out a bulletin stating that there will be announced tomorrow morning. He was chortling about how the announcement is just ahead of the Civil War and the Apple Cup, as if to upstage the games with their own publicity stunt.
 

So they’ll have four teams from the Mountain West, and two teams that nobody else wanted among the Power-Four?

 

I just can’t wait to watch Fresno State play Colorado State…

 

No no no…it’s very different than joining the WAC, err MWC. I still don’t understand the benefit to teams leaving the WAC, err MWC.

Believe it when I see it. The MWC already has those markets, what’s the point of dancing around instead of just adding a couple teams from Texas to the MWC?

 

Ross also seems to indicate he thinks they will get back their “automatic bid” for the football playoff. That’s not a thing. Lol

On 9/8/2024 at 11:10 AM, David Marsh said:

I disagree here. 

 

Linebackers in Lanning's defense aren't simply run pluggers but they need to cover in space as well. 

 

And in terms of coverage they did a fantastic job. Bassa had two deflections right over the middle that were also nearly interceptions. 

 

The linebackers also did a pretty good job running the Boise running back down when he was bouncing to the edges. Minus a couple of plays but he's a legit good running back. 

 

Devon Jackson also had an incredible play covering Boise State runningback Jeanty as he slipped out of the backfield as a receiver on a critical third down. He forced an incompletion. 

 

I think the linebackers did a great job showing off their required versatility. Even in the run game for much of the third and fourth quarters Jeanty was picking up barely any yards or was picking up some negative yardage. Just couldn't keep him contained forever. 

 

Especially when the offense didn't spend much time on the field. 

I think LBs are the key to run D and we just got trampled for 6.7 per carry. Awesome job covering space, but it’s a miracle to win giving up that average.

Yada yada not much to add to the overwhelming concern over the O-line. I think the D will be very good if it gets some support from the O. We had that game seemingly in hand until the offense fumbled twice in a row.

 

Where do I find hope?

• Zero sacks in second half - did we improve? Shuffle the right guys to work well with a lefty?
• Opponents Good? - Those might be two really good playoff caliber teams (I fully understand Idaho is FCS) we opened with while we gel. BSU has a Heisman candidate at HB, had zero turnovers, and does not fear us at all. Both teams were incredibly sound and played nearly mistake free football. Maybe we just survived a baptism by fire?
• Special Teams - More action than last few seasons in one game. Won with a FG kicker!

Gloom?

• O-line - sacks out of control for first 1.5 games
• Linebacker - seem to be lacking
• NIL Darkside - Did we bring in a collection of mercenaries that won’t gel or care if they gel?

We do feel a lot like UW last year. I keep saying “we’ll know after this week” and I’m saying it again. I don’t think Beavis is as good as either team we just played, but it’s on the road, they’ll be fired up beyond belief, and they have no reason to not be confident. If we win that game I’ll continue to reassess. 

•  
•  

I sense…my Saturdays freeing up.

So a MWC team has multiple injuries on their oline and is unphased. We get a couple of owies on ours and fall apart.

 

Did I get that right?

I do wonder if having a lefty QB is an adjustment issue.

We’re not a serious team. Oline is what it is, with no improvement from week 1 to 2. Time to recalibrate goals for this season in my mind. 

On 9/4/2024 at 2:30 AM, Mike West said:

LSU going 4-8 is tremendously better than Idaho going 11-1.  We're talking about an SEC team.  That would bury Idaho is fifteen seconds. 

 

I can't say what I really want to say, so I'll say this instead - comparing a team ranked below 126 to a top 20 team before Sunday is like saying a Praying Mantis is more dangerous than a Grizzly Bear.

 

Not to mention, I don't see ANYBODY challenging USC to a matchup next week.  

 

I'll say this until people can't stand me anymore: USuc and the Fuskies playing well is damn good for us.  We're supposedly better than both, right? The better their respective records are, the better it is for OBD. 

 

Rise to the challenge and quit begging for their demise.  Champions don't want wimpy competition. They want to prove they're the best.

Sure, but I really wasn’t trying to compare USC’s win to ours. I’m aware of the differences between the SEC and an FCS team 😉  I can’t say what I really want to say, so I’ll leave it at that.
 

My point is LSU could possibly suck given they had no D last year and lost their award winning QB. Or maybe they retooled the D, found a QB and are awesome…it’s an unknown.

LSU could go 4-8. Week 1 means almost nothing…or maybe they’ll both win out and have a rematch.

Look, that offensive performance was absurd.

 

However, it’s not like we were playing a high school team that had a bunch of undersized 225lb defensive linemen. Idaho is accustomed to winning (shocking after I spent 10 years working there with horrible football) and their roster has 6 defensive line players listed at 285+. A great game plan and very good execution doesn’t care how many stars you had as a recruit. Their D played a great game and our players thought it t was going to be easy after our first TD. Play them in week 9 and we might get a very different score.

 

Inexcusable mindset, hopefully lesson learned.

I agree, sky is far from falling unless we see the same thing against Boise, which I don't think we will.

 

 

Noah is listed as a Redshirt Junior btw.

On 9/1/2024 at 7:15 PM, David Marsh said:

We did add a portal guy in Bedford. 

 

As for adding a second... There is very very very few quality linemen on either side of the ball in the portal. Oregon does a good job cherry picking what we can and is one of the best programs in doing so. 

 

It would have been nice to add more but linemen usually take a year or two to develop as it is. 

 

Outside of the Conerlys and the Sewells of the world. 

Bedford is listed as an OT on 247, I was going off of that.

 

In any event, even OSU had a better line than us last year, and so far we’re not looking too hot this year. If we want to take the next step it’s all up front.
 

I’m still hopeful we’ll get more cohesion next week and that will be taking the next step, right now.

On 9/1/2024 at 6:40 PM, David Marsh said:

Dave Ilui is our number 2 guard and is out with injury. (Prep recruit)

 

Bedford is out number 1 and is out with injury. (Portal)

 

We went through all our depth right there. Additionally they did move players in and around that rotation which probably just made things worse. 

Which to me makes our lack of recruiting inside even more of a whiff for 2024. We’re that thin with depth and only added one 3 star IOL in the cycle. How do you not add another portal guy or 2?

Better O-Line recruiting. Out of HS, our 2024, #4 recruiting class had one interior line recruit and he’s a 3 star….and zero IOL from the portal. When you do this you end up with a walkon starting apparently. 

O-Line

 

A walk-on starting at center is not a positive, that’s lipstick on a pig imo. I think the coaches knew the line is an issue and developed a game plan that utilized getting the ball out of the QBs hand in under 2 seconds.

 

That being said, we’re not doomed, we’ll know all we need to know after next week. If the offense looks more like Oregon, all will be well. If it’s more of the same we in trouble.

As a follow up, since the PIG2 don’t wish their former players well, I find myself wanting to see Martinez and Ward light it up. Not to mention, if Florida stinks it up, UW might lose their coach again. 
 

The petty wars are tough in this one.