Friday Roundup

Looks like the team is ready to play, Cowan is ready to play, the team talked about Utah and not letting an easy one get away from them, they had an excellent practice, and they play a team near dead last in every defensive category.  This obviously sounds a lot like Notre Dame and Utah, but we really do expect a victory.  Wazzu is awful in nearly every single offensive and defensive category.  Where they shine is passing offense.  Wazzu can't run at all so look for a full-time passing game.  That is all we need to focus on defensively to win. Wazzu's defense allows 35 points per game and is near dead last in rush defense.  All we have to do is run the ball mostly, hold onto it, drain the clock, and that will get the job done on offense.   We fully expect a win, and the obligatory Dorrellian mania afterwards. 

So lets get to some notes: 

• Wazzu coach says his team can't run.  Wazzu coach Bill Doba, himself on the hot seat, at least states the obvious, per Robert Kuwada OC Register: "'We love to have a good balance,' Doba said. 'We're just not strong enough. This is a young offensive line and in another year, we'll be able to run the ball more.'"  That should make Walker's job easier.  Doba does run the spread, which Walker is known to have problems with.  Wazzu killed us at home last year precisely because our defense could not stop their offense.  So although they run the spread, Wazzu's offense is going to be one-dimensional giving us an enormous advantage.
• Pat Cowan is near 100%.  Now QB worries as savior Pat Cowan is near 100% and ready to go, per Chris Foster LAT: "'You watch him running around and he can do all those things,' Dorrell said. 'He has all of his mobility, but we just want to make sure he's 100% ready to go on Saturday.'"  No excuses.
• No Utah game letdown.  The player and coaches are making sure there is no lack of focus or letdown like the Utah game, per Foster: "'The Utah game helps us remember to stay focused on not playing down to anybody's level,' wide receiver Brandon Breazell said. 'We've got to play like a Bruin.'"  Great. So we can expect no lack of focus, effort or letdown.
• Dorrell says he is ready for anything and everything.  Karl Dorrell says he has prepared the team for anything that Wazzu is going to throw at us, per Foster: "'We're fully anticipating anything and everything in a game like this,' (Dorrell) said. 'They've lost four games in a row and I'm sure they're going to try and make some things happen. They're coming off a bye, so there's a lot of things they can do differently that we haven't seen.'"  No excuses then.
• Wazzu punting game getting better.  Not that this is a big news item but we do expect to see a lot of Wazzu punts tomorrow.  From Craig Smith, Seattle Times: "The Cougars' punting and punt coverage is improving. Redshirt freshman Reid Forrest has punted 12 times for an average of 40.7 yards the past two games. Seven of those punts were returned, and the total return yards were only 27 yards."  If this holds then we may be starting with long fields mostly.  Holding onto the ball will be critical.

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