Unacceptable….on a lot of levels.

Please enjoy my rant.  It’s pretty much a bitchy, whiny, tantrum (it’s also long). 

I would like to address the following:  

To Tim Lappano:  When UW lined up against California two weeks ago they played inspired football.  They played without Jake Locker but with attitude.  They lined up in traditional offensive alignments and knocked the bears on their ass, compiling over 300 yards rushing.  Heading into Apple Cup, and with Jake Locker back in the fold, it would stand to reason that Offensive Coordinator Tim Lappano would look at that success and try to build on it.  Wrong.  Enter the spread option attack.  Enter the five wide formation.  Enter confusion.  With powerful Fullbacks Luke Kravitz and Paul Homer split out wide, or on the bench, UW could not establish the run with Louis Rankin and Brandon Johnson like they had against Cal.  Jake Locker provided his usual outstanding play, but he can’t do it alone (a lesson we’ve learned over and over again this season).  Inexplicably, UW tried to re-invent the wheel on offense against WSU if only because Jake Locker came back in the lineup.  Instead of looking at the Cal game and saying, “hey, we’ve got a running game that can control the clock and take some pressure off of Jake,” UW scrapped that plan and put the weight on Locker’s shoulders again.  Why?   Lappano should answer for that.

To the Wide Receivers:  At the beginning of this season, a perusal of the depth chart would indicate that UW would have depth at Wide Receiver.  Anthony Russo, Marcel Reese, Cody Ellis, Corey Williams, and De’Andre Goodwin all figured to be in the mix, with the first four listed being Seniors.  Since the season started, Curtis Shaw has been shifted to Wide Receiver,  giving UW more talent and speed at the position.  The sad fact is, however, that while UW may have depth at the Receiver position, they do not have talent.  Only Marcel Reese and Anthony Russo (most of the time) have proven to be capable of catching the ball with any consistency.  The group simply cannot focus and catch the damn ball.  They drop catchable passes every single game, increasing the pressure on a freshman QB to make plays on his own.  It is ridiculous and unacceptable.  I could write the exact same paragraph for TE’s, but I won’t.  There has been no improvement demonstrated in this position over the course of the season (again, exception for Marcel Reese, who, for the most part, has played well).

Defense:  Yikes.  With senior leadership and supposed talent, I think it would be fair to call UW’s defense an unmitigated disaster.  UW can’t pressure the QB, can’t effectively cover in the secondary, and can’t really tackle.  The style of play they employ is infuriating (more on this later) and they can’t get off the field.  My least favorite position to be in as a UW fan is facing a 3rd and 14, because it seems like 9 times out of 10 the other team will pick up 15 yards on an out pattern with the defensive back on the play 10 yards away from the wide receiver.  Here to, I have seen no improvement over the course of the season (very possibly a regression).

Defensive Coaches:  These coaches have done a bad job.  Straight up.  Just bad.  They have not come up with one scheme all season that seems to fit the personnel that they have out on the field.  They can’t figure out when to blitz or where to blitz to get to the QB, can’t scheme effective zone coverage, and can’t get their unit off the field.   I refuse to believe that the problem is all talent related, because year after year ineffective UW defensive players find a way to make an NFL roster and contribute (Goldson, Alexander, Wallace).  These kids aren’t getting proper coaching and aren’t being developed.  They aren’t being put in a position to make plays.  In long yardage situations the UW defensive coaching staff essentially concedes that it cannot figure out how to sack the QB, and instead trots out a 3 down lineman formation that says, “We’re going to sit back and wait for you to do something, and then try and react.”  This is a BS way to play defense.  Ironically, while we play a style of defense that desperately tries to avoid the big play, we give up more big plays than any other defense I’ve ever seen.  Why wouldn’t we say ’screw it’ and come after the QB?  So what if he beats us deep, he’s going to anyways if we play cover 2.   A good defense, in my opinion, goes out and makes plays.  It doesn’t wait for the other team to give the ball away, it takes it.  It doesn’t sit back and watch to see what the other team is planning, it forces them to make a play, to adjust to what they are doing.  The way UW coaches call a defensive game can only be described in one way: scared. 

Ty Willingham:  I want this guy to succeed at UW.  I want him to be our coach for the next 20 years and have people say, “at Washington, they have great stability, a great coach, and a wonderful program.”  However, Ty needs to figure it out.  If you are going to act the way he does towards the alumni and the media, then you need to get results.  Last year, Willingham dismissed a number of players from the team who had another year of eligibility remaining.  Notably Chris Hemphill, a defensive secondary player.  I presume that Ty had his reasons, but he didn’t share them.  Now, watching true freshmen and possibly injured players being forced into duty in the secondary due to a major depth problem, I question the wisdom of that decision.  Did Ty’s principles cost the rest of the team and the fans?  Now, I’m all for a disciplined team that represents the University in a honorable manner.  However, I do not recall ever hearing anything in terms of off the field trouble from Chris Hemphill.  I just don’t.  Maybe it happened and I wasn’t aware.  However, if you are going to kick players off of your team because you don’t like their attitude, practice habits, etc., then you better be right.  You better improve without them and win, or it will probably cost you your job.  Running your team like it’s North Korea is only a good idea if you are winning more than losing.  Otherwise, maybe you should explain some of your decisions a little more (like I said, maybe there’s a great reason Hemphill is gone, but nobody knows.  What I do know is that we need defensive players, and he would have been a starter).  Tell me why he’s not around so at least I can watch our current defense with the knowledge that it’s not hamstrung by it’s own coaches principles and stubbornness. 

Believe it or not, after all that, I still don’t think Ty should be fired, but I am done making excuses for him (schedule, youth, etc).  He should get his 4 years, but if we look like this next year, that’s all she wrote.  You have squandered 1 year of Jake Locker.  Don’t squander another.

The defensive coordinator, however, is out of time.  The Oregon debacle (400 plus yards rushing?  At UW) followed the next week by the Arizona debacle (over 500 yards passing, at UW) was enough for me.  Add to that the fact that we’ve given up 40 points 5 times (Hawaii pending) and over 500 yards 5 times (ditto) and it’s clear that the system is broken and embarassing.