Breakdown from each series

I had time to kill, so I went back and tried to break down the Wazzu game film. I think it’s a good way to see who the true game changers were and where the problems lie. This might be too long, but here are some notable things I saw from each series:
– D series 1: D-Line came out playing hard. Nice Fillinger sack. 3rd and short stop on Borghi was instigated by penetration from Reid and cleaned up by Lloyd. 4th down stop was courtesy of Pututau and Reid.
– O series 1: O-Line struggling in run blocking right away, especially the TEs. Just don’t seem too sure about who they’re supposed to be blocking, and sometimes that means they block nobody. Did convert a 3rd and 2 run which was nice to see. First fumble of the game on first down handoff exchange puts us behind the chains. Rising damn near throws pick6 on 3rd down, kinda rushed the throw due to pressure.
– D series 2: QB gets some time and beats us on some zone coverage. Mika goes for speed rush and loses contain on RB and WR gets away with a hold which gets RB around the edge. Back to back nice tackles by Reid. Vimahi nice play. Great penetration by whole D on third and short. Really miss Broughton on that 4th and short slant they converted. Clutch redzone pick by Reid. Read the QBs eyes and fell back to the right spot.
– O series 2: Bernard shows his value as a pass catcher and runner. Decent blocking. Kuithe has two drops that weren’t perfect passes but you’d expect him to haul in.
– D series 3: Mika lost RB contain again. QB makes good read and makes corner blitz pay. Tafuna with a beastly sack beating his blocker 1 on 1. Reid with a nice open field tackle on Borghi and gets called for BS phantom face mask, Borghi leaves with injury. Corners struggling with open field tackling, miss JT. Nice D Line stunt leads to huge Mika sack. D holds WSU to FG.
– O Series 3: Curry steals KOR from Covey. Gets talking to from coaches. Safety reads Covey bubble screen perfectly and blows it up. 3rd down, 4 man rush, Bills and Kump get beat on twist that leads to sack.
– D series 4: Forced punt after 1 first down. Nice plays by Reid Carlton and Mataele.
– O series 4: Tavion gets one carry and has ball fly out. He was clearly down, but he’s yanked off the field again. Rising shows great speed on read option keeper. Completely outruns athletic D end. Nice blocking on Bernard and covey runs. Line got tons of push on JQJ wildcats runs. Nice TD. Fumbled after he scored tho, foreshadowed things to come.
– D series 5: Decent 4 man rush pressure. Good play by Tafuna stopping QB run for short gain. Got beat again on a corner blitz. They knew how to handle that. 4th and 1 QB sneak is converted. FG WSU to end half.
– O series 5: Bernard gets drilled in backfield and loses fumble first play of second half. Nobody laid a hand on left DE. Should’ve been either Daniels or Kincaid. Daniels and Ford are 10 yards down field blocking safeties while the the entire defensive front is in the backfield. Doubt that’s how it was drawn up.
– D series 6: Defense put in bad spot. Zone coverage 4 man rush fails to get pressure and Bishop gets caught out of place on TD pass.
– O series 6: Better blocking. Bam looked good. Nice quick passes to Fotheringham. Pledger runs really hard. Rising misses Kuithe on the sideline. Got lucky they called Fotheringham down on the field, probably was a fumble. Miscommunication on route to Kincaid. Howard missed in back of end zone, not much a window tho. FG good
-D series 7: More Reid tackles. 4 man rush sack for Vimahi/Pututau. Lloyd with another athletic interception.
– O series 7: JQJ wildcat looks good again, but it comes to an abrupt halt when he fumbles inside the 10. Just trying to do too much.
– D series 8: RB gashes. McKinney gets hurt. Fillinger with a beastly 3rd down sack on a stunt where he blows through the RB
– O series 8: Rising shows off the wheels again. Kincaid with a great grab getting two feet in. Bam gets beat by speed rush causing Rising to get hit as he threw, missing wide open Enis in endzone. Rising fumbles snap and loses yards. Bam gets beat again and rising hit as he throws, ball goes through Kuithes outstretched fingertips. Redding misses FG badly, Gets a not so warm welcome from Whit back to the sideline.
– D series 9: Reid and Lloyd were hammers on multiple plays. Marks gets beat on 3rd down comeback route. Mataele clutch third down hit/pass breakup
– O series 9: Kuithe gets involved again. Good blocking gets Pledger loose and into the redzone. Good blocking on 3rd and 3 as Curry gets to the half yard line. Decent blocking on next play, but Ford doesn’t get to second level in time and Curry gets hammered at LOS losing the ball into the endzone. Horrific turnover.
– D series 10: Really good play by Bishop and Reid staying home on second down that kept a QB keep from going for 1st down. Blitz and tipped ball saved us on 3rd, WR was open.
– O series 10: That Covey PR fumble was damn near the nail in the coffin. It barely touched the white line before punter grabbed it. Pledger runs hard. Rising out ran skinny D end to the edge again. OLB blitzed and didn’t fall for play action and almost sacked/forced pick. Good hard count on 3rd and 1 gets the first. HOLY HELL VELE CAUGHT A PASS IN A GAME. Covey motion and Cam running threat made the TD run happen. Two defenders came free off edge. One went for Cam and one followed covey for a split second which gave pledger the opening.
– D series 11: QB makes bizarre decision to tuck and run right into Reid. Reid sacks him the next play, too. CP3 makes 3rd down tackle and puts up finger to shush WSU sideline. He then makes pick six very next play. Looks like WSU receiver was probably supposed to stop on comeback route. CP3 read the QB. Reid also could’ve had a sack on this play but kinda stopped, likely worried about breaking contain.
– D series 12: Nice batted ball by Tafuna. Lloyd and Mataele wreck the QB on a sack. Fillinger and Pututau combine on sack, nice beating of the double team by Fillinger. Latu wrecked the QB next play to force incomplete. 4th and 25 overthrow.