Budgett led the team w 8 tackles, 5 solo.

He also got burned often. I think he was the guy that allowed a simple toss for a TD to the front corner of the end zone Lots of times DBs get tackles after allowing a catch. That makes sense sometimes but in the end zone not so much.

Yeah high tackles for defensive backs isn't necessarily a good thing. Typically means the other team is moving the ball down field frequently. As river said, Budgett was the primary defender on at least 2 of EWU's TDs.

i thought Hastings was 'okay', but the lack of running game really hurt, along with the strong pass rush they generated with their front line. we couldn't get anything going up the middle, other than Thompkins with the wildcat. I think Gilliam was something like 8-25 in rushing, and none of those 25 came easy. the fly action was solid, but didn't generate many big runs.

i was talking to some folk on Friday who were very confident about the offense -> they were winning the 1 vs 1 battle throughout the week. That surely didn't show on Saturday. on to the Causeway; time to put this one behind us and hope the offense peaks.

Gilliam had 2.2 yards per carry at half time.

I think in this game we got away from the play mix we have to use. We don’t have a QB who we’re going to be able to just live off his arm. In the spring and in the Tulsa game our play mix was weighted in favor of runs. They didn’t work at first against Tulsa but did at the end of the game. We’ve got to be able to run between the tackles to some extent, we have running backs in Gilliam and Larison who excel in it, now we have to commit to it. If we can’t do it successfully we won’t win anyway. That’s the kind of team we have.

I disagree. We recently set up the run with the short passing game - look at Cal Poly and NAU games. Hastings 28 / 34 vs Poly w controlled short passes. At NAU, we added a deep game. I believe in both, UG took over in the 4th Q. ... but if you think our depleted OLine is ready to run power, OK. Optimally, sure.

When Hunter was throwing aces, his mobility kept the defense honest. He could do it with his legs if he had to. This helped open up lanes for Gilliam. I like Miles, but the lack of mobility allows the defense to focus on our backs. EW often had all their dbs moved up to about 5 yards deep, with just one deep guy. I’m not sure if you can coach mobility into a qb. I think Miles is going to be a good one, but not this year.

O line not that depleted, Lamson was back but at the left guard spot he lost in 2019 to Ford. Banks is at right tackle, as the one reserve now starting.
I’m not sure it’s easier to pass block than run block for these guys. Traditionally the teams with really heavy linemen are more designed for pass offenses and lighter quicker linemen are more suited for run blocking. Slostang told us in the spring that Polys tackles were too short for a passing team and ours are 6’3, 6’4” like their “too short” guys were. Running gives the smaller quicker guys a chance to be aggressors.

I actually feel better about our performance in the game after watching these highlights. Our offense struggled, for sure, but we shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times also when we were moving the ball with a fumble and an interception too.

All the breaks also went EWU's way. The ruling on the potential Aggie interception that was ruled a fumble, or whatever they ruled that kept the ball with EWU, was a big break for them. It kept their drive alive. The Ags thought they had another turnover on a fumble recovery that was ruled in favor of EWU and another possible INT that the Ags thought they had went in favor of EWU also. No one could see whether the ball touched the ground on that possible INT by the Ags including the refs but the call went against the Ags with no replay. These breaks were huge for EWU.

Then there was the blatant personal foul by EWU's Keshawn King when he smacked Crawford in the face right in front of two refs. The refs were literally 5 feet away and neither one did a thing. We were driving deep in their territory at the time and a 15 yard penalty would have been huge.

EWU's offensive numbers were gaudy, no doubt, and, even if the breaks went our way, it may not have made a difference. However, despite the numbers being put up by EWU, we were in the game right into the 4th quarter and, with a break or two going our way, this game might have gone right down to the wire.

I'm glad I watched these highlights. We played better than I thought and we competed hard against a very good football team. We just need to put this behind us and take out our frustrations on Sac!

Agree. I don’t think mobility can be coached, although one can work on it a bit. Maier wasn’t mobile, but he was very smart and could read defenses and go through progressions quickly. He also had an uncanny thing going with Doss. This fall has seemed like one big experiment. In general quarterback shuffling is not good. In the EWU game, Tompkins actually inserted some energy, but in a play that he extended with his legs, he missed a wide open Gilliam (under three) in a play that would have been a first down in EWU territory. I definitely think there are times for Tompkins at QB.

I actually think it best at this time to go with Rodrigues, as this still is a playoff team, and I think his legs add a dimension to the offense. If not going to the playoffs and in development mode, then stay with Hastings if that is the plan.

Maybe next year it’s someone else, one of our taller young guys perhaps, so I think they should play whoever they think is the best at this moment. If we were in development mode we’d be playing younger players generally, which we’re not.
I too felt better after watching the game again. We were in the game through three quarters, against a very good team.

Edit

If we were in the game w powerhouse EWU after 3, that bodes well for Hastings. And he's not responsible for protection (or lack of). It's Cody's call.

Has no one mentioned we had a golden opportunity to go with TT inside the 5, and we didn't? Didn't that bite us?

The time Marsh and Dunning raised the issue was our first drive which ended in a touchdown pass to Harrell.
The next drive in the red zone Tompkins was used for the entire drive, included his long run, settled for a field goal from the 12.
So no missed opportunity

When are these coaches going to understand that TT is the only offensive threat we have? OK so he isn’t the pin point passer, but he delivers another threat that HR and MH just do not have. Put him in and let himGO! IMHO

They're at practice. We're not.

Recall WR Aaron Moore's anazing catches? Hawkins once said, "we see that in practice all the time".

The holding call when Tompkins is at the goal line was one of the worst holding calls I've ever seen. That cost us 4 points

Full Broadcast:

The game was still winnable in the third quarter due to early good defense, early EWU miscues (pathetic kicking), and a kickoff return for a TD in third quarter. Only 1 offensive touchdown is not going to cut it against EWU or Sac. I am not blaming just the QB, but when things are not happening you have to change it up, and “boding well” is not going to cut it at the end of the season - you need to win or your out. The only thing that was a bit consistent was jet sweeps.

I do not have inside information about HR and Hawkins interviews seem to be cryptic on the status of HR even using the word “injured” at this weeks press conference - but tense was a bit weird. I don’t think that is the case as he has been cleared and is on the sidelines. So I think that is almost some sort of a cover but I have no idea. I do know that when TT came in (and somewhat similar to the Idaho game) he breathed some life into the offense when swapping out for MH. I am not saying TT should be the guy at QB, but rather I think it is indicative of the benefit of scrambling ability when maybe other things aren’t working. Barriere of course is a master of that plus he is an accurate and strong passer. If Hawk thinks Miles is the guy-fine with me but at end of year with playoffs, he needs to be on a very accelerated schedule or otherwise I think you need to be open to alternatives for the balance of this year.

Obviously the offense is not working as it should. We have known that since Idaho State. TT brings life to it IMHO. If something is broken try and fix it as it will not fix itself.

The staff has a real dilemma at QB. TT and Hastings are one dimensional. Imagine that Hastings dominates in practice, but in games he's really limited when the pocket breaks down. To me, Hunter provides the best chance to win despite not being as accurate as Hastings or as mobile as TT.

So far TT has not shown he can get the ball to anyone beyond the line of scrimmage consistently enough to be an every down quarterback. I guess but don’t know that is true in practice as well. He’s still best used as a quarterback because otherwise he pretty much duplicates Larison at running back or receiver.
I think next season we’re going to see open competition for the quarterback job, maybe with new names.
But the QB position isn’t our only area on offense where we aren’t as good as the competition when we’re playing the top teams in our conference. I think our offensive line is an area that needs improvement, and where we don’t have underclassmen ready to take over.
It’s an old story so we overlook it but in big games we get physically beat. Always have through the years, and we expect the QB to compensate for that. It never quite works out.

Gunnor Faulk seemed very mobile in limited action.