Grading the Portland State game
Let me preempt those of you who will see fit to remind me in the comments and on Twitter by saying that yes, as far as tests go Portland State isn't exactly the MCAT. But it's still important to ace the easy exams and Washington State clearly did that on Saturday.
Tougher tests may await but for now it's nice to know the Cougars have given themselves a little grading cushion and something to build off of.
Unit grades are after the jump.
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Quarterback: Six touchdowns and 544 yards in a blowout win means Connor Halliday played a great game. Yes, the pick-six was a bad throw but when you go to the air 62 times it's going to happen once or twice. The other interception occurred late in the half and I'm not going to ding Halliday very much for taking a shot. Besides, any imperfections in the starter's game were offset by Luke Falk's 84-yard bomb to Dom Williams. We got our first live look at the backup and hey, he looked pretty good. Grade: A-
Running backs: Halliday and the coaches got the running backs involved early and Jamal Morrow rewarded them with solid play rushing, receiving and blocking. Neither back broke any particularly long runs, but only one rush, by Morrow, went for a loss, and that was just one yard. The duo totaled 88 yards on 22 rushes and Morrow had a nice 53-yard reception on Halliday's first pass following the pick-six, taking back any lost momentum. After the game Mike Leach said he'd still like to see the running backs even more involved in the offense. A few more touches and a few more explosive plays and this grade is an A. Grade: B+
Receivers: It may seem odd given the sheer numbers this group put up – particularly Isiah Myers, who gets a personal A+ -- but I felt this group could have looked a little better. The receivers did a good job of getting open, which led to big passing plays, but it still seems they need to get better at collecting yards after the catch to really be effective. Drops are still an issue and I'm sure Drew Loftus would like to have that pass in the end zone back. Grade: B
Offensive line: A clean game is just what this group needed as it gels on the fly and that's what it produced, giving up just one sack and generally giving Halliday all the time he needed. Just as importantly they cut down on the penalties that plagued them against Nevada. Still, it seemed they could have been a little more dominant in the run game considering the competition. Grade: B
Defensive line: Xavier Cooper and Ivan McClennan each came free for a sack but the defensive line didn't consistently get the kind of pressure you would expect against an FCS opponent. The Vikings didn't run the ball often but they were able to get to the second level when they did. Overall it wasn't the performance you would hope to see out of this group with Oregon coming to town next week. Grade: B-
Linebackers: The Cougars tackled well in this game and Cyrus Coen was all over the field, making plays in the box and near the sidelines to help combat PSU's quick passes. Darryl Monroe still had a few whiffs but this unit seems to finally be rounding into form and was a big reason the defense only gave up 14 points. Grade: B
Secondary: For the second time this season an opposing offense had a player get free deep and if backup quarterback Paris Penn hadn't dropped the pass it would have been the second time this season the breakdown cost the Cougars one-play touchdown drive. After that initial hiccup, however, the secondary really settled in nicely. Daquawn Brown and Charleston White were tested by a PSU's quick passes to the sideline and showed no reluctance to get their hands dirty, combining for 16 tackles. Brown added five pass breakups and Taylor Taliulu forced a fumble. The defensive backs are the youngest group on the defense and on Saturday they were also the best unit. Grade: B+
Special teams: Rickey Galvin had a good day fielding punts, returning one 44 yards early in the game and finishing with 70 return yards. Granted, he did muff a return. Jordan Dascalo had another good day punting the ball, there weren't any big coverage breakdowns and Erik Powell managed to get touchbacks on three of his 10(!) kickoffs. Grade: A-
