Cougars must make the most of every opportunity

Mike Leach addressed the media on Monday, as is his custom, to discuss Washington State’s upcoming game against No. 2 Oregon. Leach emphasized that the key on Saturday will be not “squandering” plays because the Cougars will need to maximize every opportunity to keep pace with the Ducks.

He acknowledged UO’s exceptional talent on both sides of the ball but said that the Cougars’ focus will on on themselves and taking care of what they can control.

The highlights from our interview with Leach are after the jump.

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(You had some very prominent upsets against elite teams at Texas Tech. What happens to a team that makes it possible to win games like those?)

Really you just keep building, keep getting better. A lot of those guys played when they were young, played – maybe not quite as early as some of them have here – but they played early, worked together, developed their skills together and the other thing at that point in time, well we’ve been at it for probably eight years, you know, and kind of one brick at a time, built it, got better and then the other things is well we should have, well we knocked Texas out of it twice and should have a third time up there in Austin. We busted a coverage and Roy Williams the big tall receiver caught a ball and went down there and beat us at the end. You just keep doing the same thing, keep getting better and as time goes on you develop players. For example, players that have experience winning. You know, that’s one thing that’s very important is to have guys that have experience winning so the younger guys can draw from them. And we’re at a point here where we have to manufacture it but then as they get their teammates that they can draw from I think that’s even more powerful.

(Because this team is still manufacturing that experience is it possible that they could execute perfectly and still lose, and would you be satisfied?)

Well the biggest gauge is: Are you playing the best you can? Are you playing to the best of your ability?

(When you look at Oregon do you still see Bill Moos’ influence?)

No question, in particular their facilities. Their facilities and our situation here is very similar to how it started out there at Oregon.

(Is Oregon a model for what you guys hope to be someday?)

I think there’s a lot of them out there. They’re one that basically, they invested the money, the committed to the program, they had good coaches, you know, developed it over a period of time and kept improving on it.

(What’s the most important thing when playing against Oregon?)

The biggest thing is you don’t want to squander plays and Oregon’s a fast team, they’re an explosive team and people that don’t play within themselves will squander plays and they’re not a team you can afford to squander plays against. They’re quick enough to make up for their mistakes. If (against) somebody else (we) make a mistake it might go for 15 yards, against Oregon if you make a mistake it might go for six (points). So you have to be prepared to execute more plays and be more consistent. And the biggest thing is to go out there, withstand the initial barrage and play football. But don’t focus so much on them but focus on what you do best and making your plays.

(How do you replicate Oregon’s speed in practice?)

You do some, we’ll have a fast guy playing scout team quarterback. You do some but the biggest thing is play the fastest guys you can and go from there.

(You guys had some success offensively and defensively against the Ducks last year. Do you spend a lot of time looking at last year’s game and trying to build off that?)

We’ll look at it, we’ve got plenty of games from them from last year as well as what they did this year so we’ll look at all of it and try to draw from all of them. The other thing that’s important is to make sure that its’ a specific game plan and a concise package, rather than trying to do a little bit of everything. It needs to be specific.

(Would you like to force Mariota into being more of a runner or a thrower on Saturday?)

Well he’s done a pretty good job of both this year. The biggest thing I think is eliminate the big play and then try to find ways to get him to squander plays. But one thing he’s done this year, I think he’s a more consistent passer than he was.

(Last year WSU threw it 89 times against Oregon. Is that too many?)

I don’t know why you don’t. If we’d thrown it 110 times we would have won. I mean it’s pretty indisputable if we get that many plays then we’re probably going to win. We had one deal that was kind of a 14-point turnaround on an interception that I felt there was pass interference. So, no the more plays you get the better off you are.

(Could you speak to the importance of the receivers being quick and violent with their hands against cornerbacks that will likely challenge them at the line of scrimmage?)

Really important. Oregon’s got a couple senior corners, experienced quick, fast guys that do like to use their hands so that will be important this week.

(How has Luke Falk progressed?)

I think he’s done pretty good. Not too many guys threw a touchdown pass their second college attempt so I think he’s ahead of schedule.

(Daquawn Brown obviously likes to chat with opposing receivers and try to get in their heads. How do you feel about that and what’s too much?)

I’m not real conscious of it. I like Daquawn’s confidence. I quit listening to Daquawn a long time ago so I’m not real conscious of what he says. As long as he functions right Daquawn and I do pretty well.

(Have you seen any difference in Oregon’s defense since Don Pellum took over as defensive coordinator?)

I think they’re very similar. The whole staff had been together for a long, long time and also they ran a really good defense to begin with. I guess my gut feeling is that they didn’t see any need to change and weren’t incline to anyways. They look good, explosive, bounce around.

(What effect does Dom Williams have on the younger receivers?)

Dom’s really focused, he plays consistently. His technique is what’s helped him improve and then he’s a reasonably steady guy. I think he keeps some of those other guys steady. But I think they’ve also brought good things out of him, some of those physical guys have made him more physical.