Jim French Stepstool

I think there was a rude awakening re the system Longo brought with him, in that you need the people to make it work & the personnel here weren't a great fit. The TE & receiver group IMO improved this year, but moderately. Obviously you can't lose your starting QB in back-to-back years, especially when your backup isn't a fit for the offense (and regardless of how much he's criticized, even if he's at the top of his game he still isn't a proper fit). The O-line certainly wasn't up to the task of just mauling people up front in the run game, compared to the groups Alvarez & Bielema had. But they were brought here with that legacy & certainly with the run game as a priority, and their lacking in that area doesn't automatically make them fits for a totally new system. The foolish mistakes, confusion & hesitancy they showed in '23 was laughable, and after getting a lot of it cleaned up this year they still aren't that great a group (as the last three games have shown). Your 3rd paragraph is spot-on. But on the offensive side of the ball I'm not sure they've brought in better players this year with the exception of more talent at TB. Mostly agree about the lack of improvement too. Kekahuna is better, but I think that's simply a byproduct of going from freshman to sophomore year. I think Vinny Anthony is better, but not a particularly great fit for this offense. In the line, I think Riley Mahlman & Joe Brunner are better than they were last year. That's about it.

I agree with this. At the same time, had they been just as inept offensively & won 17-16 or 13-10 or something it would've made it dicey to do it at this time.

If it happened, I thought it would be after the season so this is a bit of an eye-opener but I'm OK with it. No one on the staff really stands out to me AFA filling the spot temporarily so I expect Fickell to call the plays the next two weeks. I also expect Gino Guidugli to be pressed by Fickell to replace Longo. He's the QB coach at Notre Dame & worked with Fickell at Cincy.

They've never been real big on hiring someone who you know would have no intention of staying long term. And I'm fine with that. And @OldSchoolSnapperraised the point of academics. Best case scenario, it would've given you a 2-3 year shot in the arm due mainly to his bringing his kid with him, then you're right back where you were.

Possibly. It looked like he decided to tuck & run but it just didn't look like a QB draw to me since he was rolling left rather than going up the middle & a designed rollout & run just doesn't seem like the type of thing they'd call. But yeah, the linemen going downfield DOES suggest that.

It would. But if anyone is thinking about him getting axed after two seasons, no way. I COULD see a scenario where he's 'encouraged' to make a change from Longo. I don't advocate an AD overstepping his bounds like that but it wouldn't shock me.

As to the bolded---Amen. And I suspect many believe in the portal era that should no longer be a thing. And it absolutely should. If I'm a road-grader OL looking for a school, I'm not sure UW looks as appealing to me as it once did. I have a good feeling about the new OL coach & hope I'm wrong. The ability to pass block, while a good skill to have, can be greatly mitigated if you can run the ball. Staying out of 2nd or 3rd & longs is usually the best pass protection you can have. Throwing when you WANT to, rather than because you HAVE to. Last night vs Oregon when we scored the TD, we had a 1st & goal at the two. Not only did we throw on the next two plays, but I kinda expected that we HAD to, in order to score. Kinda sad.

That reminds me of a play in the 2nd half. They were finally starting to get a little of the run-pass mix going with Walker & Dupree, and wisely (or so I thought) were sufficiently set up to throw on 1st down. Locke rolls right, has two receivers on that side. and they're both tightly covered. Nothing to do but throw it in the turf. On 1st & ten. And it's not like we've been throwing on 1st down all game. That's what made the 1st drive of the 2nd half so impressive. Just a tough group to sustain a drive against unless you can establish a running game.

I certainly didn't expect the defense to hold up through 4 quarters. It sort of didn't, but nothing like the last two games. Kudos. Anyone with even a semblance of an open mind can't help but notice how the refs impacted this. The non-hold call on a critical pass from Gabriel, contrasted with two flags on our O-line negating a TD pass & a huge pickup of a (IIRC) 3rd & nine play. Even if they were both legitimate infractions, not Lockes' fault. Nor was a tipped pass volleyball-spiked to a teammate for an INT. I'm not here to anoint Locke as some sort of outstanding signal caller. He isn't. To defeat the #1 team in the nation, he needed to be much better. But you can say that about everyone else on the offensive side of the ball, with the exception of our TBs running pretty hard despite no consistent holes & the O-line performing well in the first 2nd-half possession. And Anthony, I thought he had a nice night. Locke missed throws you needed to make to beat this team. He also had the two huge completions, one for a TD, taken away by either the officials or his linemens' gaffes, take your pick. Of course there will always be fans who can't see beyond the guy taking the snap. Yes, the backup QB that is extremely ill-fitted to lead this type of offense & was thrust into the starters' job since early in the 3rd game isn't good enough. For the seventh week in a row, we get it. And if the true freshman backup who they view every day in practice is deemed to not be an alternative at this point, I'm going to go with the people that do the viewing rather than frustrated fans. Oregons' special teams have been game-changers all year & we pretty much matched them in that area. Well done. Fourqurean stepped up & played well. I thought the D-line held together as well as you could expect vs this opponent. And Alliegro is most likely going to be a leader defensively in '25 if he isn't already. Hope Wohler is OK. You'd hate to see someone with the stuff he's made of have to end his career at less than 100%.

Nice work. I'm not sure if he'd ace someone out of your list or not, but I'd take a look at Bill Parsons' 1971 season. He won 13 games with an ERA in the low threes for a pretty bad team. Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year.

Agree. All three can shoot it, and they're all willing to put it on the deck & drive (and have the size to cause problems when they do it). I've never been a big fan of a PG-by-committee look. but it's sure working so far. It gets three scorers on the floor, and McGee seems perfectly fine coming off the bench. Great attitude from one of your vets.

.......or CDC officials.😛 From where I sat it was at least called evenly with the possible exception of the 1st 5 minutes of the 2nd half when Arizona made their run. But no, not much flow.

Storr & Tonje are both high-volume scorers. But SO different. AFA playing & getting your opportunities within the team concept.............Tonje scored forty-one points on, I believe, fourteen shots from the floor. I shudder to think how many shots it would take Storr to score close to that many. Being a terrific FT shooter while, at the same time, KNOWING how to get to the line is a lethal combination.

Arizona really attacks the boards; they might be as good at it as anyone they'll see. But yeah, it was almost a 2-1 edge for them & it's definitely something to point to.

Agree re the bench last night. And I'm convinced about McGees' role, too. He's embracing it, which is what you want. And when Zona put on backcourt pressure when he was on the bench they mostly handled it fine. I still like Winter. Like you said, a tough matchup for him (Townsend can do that to anybody). I'd contiune to start him; there certainly are options to go to if things don't work early. Alternating him w/Crowl & going w/o a "four" in the 2nd half was surprisingly effective. AFA the refs, I think there's a happy medium between last night & swallowing your whistles like it's the 1980s. Most of the calls were on dribble drives & putbacks so I'll give them that. But to me it was becoming a game where often there was nothing a defender could do other than put your hands straight up & hope the shot misses. I just don't want the game devolving into 'defense' being nothing more than blocking shots & getting steals. OTOH, it benefitted us more than them last night.😁

What was even more impressive to me than the 1st half UW played, was their response after Zona tied it up in the 2nd. That whole sequence could've easily bred hesitancy but they took the run in stride & just kept playing. And the response came with a post player & four smaller guys on the floor--no "four man". I thought that was really significant. I speculated we might see that at times, but never anticipated seeing it vs a team like Arizona. We'll see it again no doubt. This game was a lesson in what you can get done if you're smart, position well, anticipate, use your butt, shoulders & legs & get leverage. There was obviously a lot of raw talent out there; you might not think someone like Janicki would be effective. but you can see what Gard & company saw in him. Just an effective piece to the puzzle. And he can shoot a little bit. On the other side, Townsend is a PF, he's about 6'6", and was more effective in the paint than a lot of 7-footers you see. He did the same thing to Kentucky in last seasons' tournament. One of those kids who knows what makes him effective, understands his role & sticks to it. Tonje was obviously fantastic. When you're so good at drawing contact, getting to the line & making your FTs, then step out & hit a few threes, I don't know what the opposition is supposed to do. Most FTs made in a game in UW history. I mentioned Janicki, but Amos has stacked back-to-back nice games off the bench too. Still wonder about his strength & hands but he's certainly a weapon. And some of the stuff he isn't great at right now, Gilmore is (despite having a subpar game). Nice little competition going on there for minutes. I'd like to say the ridiculous amount of whistles was due to over-reacting to the shove by Love, but they were calling everything even before that. After awhile I felt like I was sitting at a late-80s NBA game & everyone with the ball in their hands was Michael Jordan. I can just see NCAA rules committee guys looking at the score and going "Ooooh!! 103-88!! Lots of points!!! Great game!!!!" Uhh, no. I mean it WAS a great game, but could've been much better. I've seen people in 2020 wearing masks making more contact than some of these fouls that were called. Oh, and great job by Blackwell & Klesmit of getting in Loves' head & helping to mitigate him.

Watching JJ Watt & seeing how they just. Couldn't. Block. The guy. Fantastic night. On my short list of all-time in-person memories at CR. Along with the Purdue win where Brees threw about 723 passes (or so it seemed), The Dayne record breaking game vs Iowa, Schabert to Evans in the rain, Stoccos' QB draw to beat Michigan, and the '93 win over Michigan with the scary, sad aftermath.

It's possible. I'm not sure Pauling would hold up physically at the next level given his strengths seem to be tied into YAC yardage & shorter routes and he's not a big guy. Kekahuna I really like. Fast, tough & competitive. But again, the size thing......I just don't know. Time will tell.

So, Longo was recently asked about Mettauers' progress. I don't recall his exact quote but it suggested he's "coming along", "getting there", etc. but made it sound like he still isn't ready to get thrown out there in a 'game on the line' situation, which is no surprise. And they're still in the running for a bowl, which lessens any chance of playing him simply to gain experience. Even if they lose the next two, Mettauer won't be inserted vs Minnesota unless they feel he gives them a better chance of winning & getting to 6-6. I thought, with two weeks off before Oregon, he might've gotten to the point where there's a package put in for him that he can effectively execute. Unless they're being really coy, apparently not. A large part of what they do revolves around reading defenses & changing plays at the line, and I suspect that's where he's severely lacking.

Great point. When you run off the volume of names it's pretty daunting. Personally, if he stays on his development track I could see Vinny Anthony making it on a roster. Possibly one of the frosh RBs, especially with Duprees' ability to catch the ball. But none stand out at the moment as guys you would confidently project to that level.

That was the beauty of that system. It gave inroads for Tolzien, Stocco, Jim Sorgi, Joel Stave, Jack Coan, even Darrell Bevell to be more successful than they otherwise would've been. Fortunate, because the list of UW QBs that could put a team on their shoulders is a short one--- Wilson, Brooks Bollinger (sort of).

Every time I read about Tyler Black & third base I feel Like I just woke up in the B&B in Punxsutawney in the movie "Groundhog Day".

It wouldn't surprise me if Turang developed into a more than acceptable leadoff hitter. But that isn't a guarantee & I've always liked Wade. He'd also fit defensively & keep you from having to maybe rush someone here from AA or AAA that would be better off staying put. They definitely should be exploring this.

The funny thing, in Tolziens' SR year he had a mess of talent in the O-Line & came four yards short of having 3 (!!) 1,000 yr rushers on the roster. Pretty sure there was an extra man in the box at least part of, if not virtually all of, that season. He took advantage of it by completing over 70% of his passes. Fast-forward to last year--Braelon Allen talks before the season about how nice it'll be to see one less man in the box. But he had the fewest carries in his UW career, and his YPC was identical to the previous year. He brushed up on his Iron Joc commercials, then quit the team before their final game (Yes, he wasn't 100% healthy. And we'll never know if he was only at 60%, or at 90% but looking ahead to the combine. Many speculate the latter). I guess my point is that what you're good at is often more about committing to & establishing something & then playing off of it, as opposed to letting a defense dictate to you. Because AFA hanging their hat on anything offensively is concerned, they have no hatrack. Losing their chosen portal QB the last two years obviously doesn't help. But when one position on the field is going to be so vital, that's the dice you roll.

Yeah. That era included Mark Tauscher, who had a pro career yet started out as a walkon lineman at UW. Coaching. Development. Lunchpail mentality. Fun times.