ok now....Herbert made some bad throws, the worst being on that screen to Verdell with about 3 minutes left. If he gets that pass down a foot or two, Verdell scores easily and ices the game but you need to notice something...when Herbert misses, he almost always misses in the direction that makes an interception impossible. He has 21 TD's and only 1 interception this year. That has a lot of value and for certain, it's something NFL scouts key on somebody mentioned Darron Thomas. If Herbert had the type of skill position players this year that Thomas had, he'd be a front-runner for the Heisman. Thomas was handing the ball to LaMichael James, Kenyon Barner, & DeAnthony Thomas. And for receivers, he had Jeff Maehl, Drew Davis, Lavasier Tuinei, DeAnthony Thomas, & Josh Huff. He had David Paulson and Colt Lyerla at TE too one of the biggest problems Herbert had tonight was that his WR's could not get separation. That's been a problem over the last 3 seasons. Tonight, the Ducks really really missed Jacob Breeland. He would have gashed the WSU defense in the middle. Herbert certainly isn't a better college QB than Mariotta or Joey Harrington. But he is as good as Thomas or Kellen Clemons. And he's certainly better than Masoli ************************************ by the way. On that final drive, Herbert was 4-4 for 52 yards also, the Ducks missed Troy Dye terribly tonight. WSU completed a dozen passes and scored 2 TD's in the zone Dye usually covers. Dru Mathis was in over his head
F That’s fair. I bash Herbert a lot because he just isnt dynamic enough for me. But your right the skill positions might be lacking or the OC just might not be that good..
I know a couple of boosters pretty close to the program. The rumor is that Cristobal is really stubborn about the offense establishing an identity of downhill running. Stubborn enough to ratchet down Arroyo's playbook a bit Verdell had a great night tonight, but if Herbert had a RB like Lamichael James or Kenyon Barner it would freeze the LB's and safeties for that critical 1st beat after the snap. And having even one all-conference level WR, like Dillon Mitchell, would open up the running game a little more and make passes easier. It really hurt the offense losing Breeland; and that's after losing McCormick before the season started
As all of you know, I refuse to blame the refs. THAT BEING SAID, I have never seen a worse officiated game EVER COMPLETELY BRUTAL
It really was. The pass interference call when the WSU receiver pushed off and then stepped out of bounds was game changing. As was the spot they gave Herbert after he ran and slid. They spotted the ball about 2 to 3 yards short of where he started his slide. Took away a drive.
Still got the win. But yeah, the officiating could have cost the Ducks the game. But the Ducks could have put themselves in a better position. Pac-12 officiating has to be the worst in the NCAA.