At some point Saturday after another Marshall Lobbestael pass splashed in the sodden turf at an open receiver’s feet, I turned to Amieable and our cats and declared that it was time for Connor Hallidy. Of course this was an emotional reaction to witnessing a hapless performance where Marshall was far from our only problem, but I’m definitely not the only one thinking about this. Marshall has filled in admirably for the injured Jeff Tuel and posted completely respectable numbers even when measured against his peers in the Conference of Quarterbacks. His line so far this season is: 60%, 2231 yds, 16 TDs 7 Int’s. Like I said, respectable. However, during the game Saturday they flashed his stats in the Cougs losses. It should come as no surprise that a QB would have worse stats to show in his team’s losses, but in Marshall’s case it’s worth noting just how much of his season totals were compiled in the Cougars 3 early wins. If you remove the OSU and Stanford games in which Marshall threw 0 TDs and 1 Int as Jeff Tuel’s replacement, and just focus on his starts, here are his numbers in our other four losses:

54%, 6 TDs, 5 Ints

Not exactly lighting the world on fire. The bottom line is that this offense is not getting adequate QB play. Of course when you are already using your backup QB, there may not be too much you can do about it. Playing Connor Halliday is not likely to drastically change the Coug offense’s fortunes. Whatever you would gain from Halliday’s superior arm and slightly better mobility, you would likely lose even more in the way of game management, poise and decision making. As far as winning games is concerned, Lobbestael is by far the best option available. But come the 3^rd quarter of the ASU game this weekend we are likely to find ourselves in a position where the wins no longer matter in any material sense. Sure, the Apple Cup ALWAYS matters, but a beat down at the hands of ASU leaves us officially eliminated from the bowl season. With that in mind I think it is time to start preparing for the future and making sure Mr. Halliday is getting the live action reps he needs to be ready next year in case Jeff Tuel goes down again, God forbid.

This team needs some home cooking in the worst way and the LAST thing they needs is any kind of QB controversy. However, there is a sensible way to get Halliday significant reps down the stretch as part of our normal game plan, especially since we are likely to have nothing left to lose after Saturday. It would also give Coug fans something they are finding harder and harder to find... a reason to watch the games.

Okay, Followers.  Now, that we've all our had our chance to talk about (a) Why Wulff should be fired; (b) Why Wulff should be retained; (c) Why we here at the blog should go bleep ourselves for supporting Wulff, its time.......

TO STEP WAY, WAY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mind you, not only will we have due time to dissect the future of Wulff and the program in the days and weeks to come, we will.  

WE ALL WILL.

In the meantime, I respectfully ask that every one of you take a deep breath and examine the following FACTS.

1).  There are three games left in this season.   And, however unlikely, this team could still very well go 6-6 or 5-7.  So, lets not burn the house down until the assessors have finished their job.

2) Save a game against the #2 team in the country, this young football team has played NO CONFERENCE GAMES AT HOME this year.  So, if you take at face value that this team is 2-1 at home this year, then give this group two more games to prove itself against two Bowl teams in Utah and Arizona State.

3) THERE WAS ONE PERSON ON THIS SITE WHO SAID THAT WE WOULD WIN MORE THAN SEVEN GAMES.  In fact, most of us were stuck in the 5 to 6 win camp.  AND, all those predictions came with the assumption that our best players and leader was going to play every game. Obviously, that didn't quite happen this year.

Oh yeah, and if you don't think that matters.  How about the Colts record to date without this guy:

Moreover, if the one player who you needed to NOTget hurt got hurt, what would you do?  

Answer:  (a)  You'd go to the guy with the most experience.  

And if your replacement/back-up initially played very well in spite of his limitations, what would you do?  

Answer (a) You'd stick with him.  

And what if he seemed a bit shaky as you headed down the home stretch once he started to face tougher defenses, would you change course with your job on the line?

Would you turn to a guy with no experience?  

Answer: PROBABLY NOT.

Again, you can trust that there will be a BUNCH of criticism that we will levy toward Wulff and his coaches in the days and weeks to come.

But in the meantime, please remember that these kids have now played SIX conference road games (and yes, when you take a 6 hour bus trip to a home game, it counts as an away game) in the past seven weeks.  

Can we at least grant them and the coaches the courtesy of seeing what they will do after a "full" (meaning three) slate of conference home games,  and then judge them with a full slate of evidence?

All for now.  Go Cougs.

Hello Cougar Nation and The Ball Hater Army.  Hope you've had a great week.

As for me, well, I don't know about you all, but this feels to me like the biggest College Football weekend in years.  Tonight, we get the incredible smash-mouth match-up of LSU and Bama in Tuscaloosa.

Then, later tonight, the Defeateds have a once in a lifetime chance to close out the old Muttlake Digs with a win over the defending conference champions, the Oregon Yucks.

And of course, before both of those games our Cougars face a must win game against a Berkeley Bears team that WILL NOT BECOME BOWL ELIGIBLE if they lose this one to us.

So, lots and lots of bowl implications on the line tonight, and a few jobs might be on the line tonight as well. 

What do we make of all of it?  Well, even though we Cougars hate to draw from the words of our rivals, this quote seemed just too good to pass on.....

Per the Dawgfather in an interview with Benedict Bob a few months ago:

"I don't care what level you are at unless you run the ball, if you can't run the ball you are really in trouble, and if you can't play defense you are in more trouble"

Yep, sure would seem that whatever teams run the ball the best and plays the most consistent D will be happy heading into the second weekend of November. For the record, I have CAL, Oregon, and Alabama as the most llikely candidates to do just that. 

In the meantime, use this thread to comment on the game if you wish--I will not be able to watch today, so I will be looking for your comments and insights throughout the evening.

Also, LucasCoug is on the scene tonight, so be sure to follow him on Twitter for some alchohol induced insights on the game.  I know I will.

Go Cougs.

WIN THIS FRICKING GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click on the jump for the most recent, breaking news on the Coug-A-Sutra's recent arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Happy Football Thursday Cougar Fans!

Another week is upon us, and I for one am packing my bags and hitting Sea Tac for the quick trip down to the Bay Area. It should be a great weekend, and if we are able to build upon last week and take advantage of Cal's weaknesses (see QB and turnovers), I think we have a great shot to win this one.

A quick update on both our Pick Em Leagues. Over in League One, St Pete Cougs leads the way with 220 points, followed by The General (CJ Mizell is that you) at 217 and Cougar Country Fry Sauce with 215. Over in League Two, Hawaii Hentai leads at 41-18, followed by Softy Makes Me Puke, CWhite & Selah all tied up at 39 points!

Keep up the good work folks!

Lastly, if you missed Jim Walden on with Ian and Jason the other day, you can find the podcast of the conversation here, beginning at the clip's nine minute mark.