HFNY
Well-known poster
I had a back and forth with someone very close to the program (an "insider" if you will).
From what I gathered it was a bit of a Pac-12 wake up call for some kids (who redshirted last year or are true frosh) after playing the likes of BSU and Utah State. This person asserted, though, that the kids are playing their ass off in all 3 phases of the game....thinks they're doing quite well considering how young everyone out there is. We both agreed that Chris Strausser is the best teacher around so we should never worry about that with him...this person said they'll figure it out and in a year or two they'll dominate so we're hoping they can at least get to Pac-12 average in 2015 with their experience ramping up quickly as they get more and more bankable reps (Petersen's term).
In general, some kids are just tougher than others and some just pick things up quicker....that's why the young guys are playing over some veterans that were recruited by Sarkisian. That's all that is. Petersen / Strausser wouldn't play the young OL (Adams, McGary, Sosebee, James) if they didn't trust them get the job done and improve.
As far as Smith goes, it comes down to executing and knowing your guys. He's not a bad coordinator. But he has had his share of fuck ups. We'll see what happens with him but this person doesn't see him being around much longer.
Both of us agreed that that ASU isn't very good and Stanford had their lack of depth exposed and what happens when they have to play from behind. Be and interesting game that's for sure, especially if the run D holds up against an emerging McCaffrey.
This 2015 UW team is also a team that isn't at its best playing from behind so hopefully they start out firing on all cylinders against a suspect USC D (4 turnovers helped make the ASU game a blowout). But SC is too hot and cold for either of us to get a read....definitely a game I'm not planning on betting on since that lack of consistency is such a staple of Sloppy Steve.
From what I gathered it was a bit of a Pac-12 wake up call for some kids (who redshirted last year or are true frosh) after playing the likes of BSU and Utah State. This person asserted, though, that the kids are playing their ass off in all 3 phases of the game....thinks they're doing quite well considering how young everyone out there is. We both agreed that Chris Strausser is the best teacher around so we should never worry about that with him...this person said they'll figure it out and in a year or two they'll dominate so we're hoping they can at least get to Pac-12 average in 2015 with their experience ramping up quickly as they get more and more bankable reps (Petersen's term).
In general, some kids are just tougher than others and some just pick things up quicker....that's why the young guys are playing over some veterans that were recruited by Sarkisian. That's all that is. Petersen / Strausser wouldn't play the young OL (Adams, McGary, Sosebee, James) if they didn't trust them get the job done and improve.
As far as Smith goes, it comes down to executing and knowing your guys. He's not a bad coordinator. But he has had his share of fuck ups. We'll see what happens with him but this person doesn't see him being around much longer.
Both of us agreed that that ASU isn't very good and Stanford had their lack of depth exposed and what happens when they have to play from behind. Be and interesting game that's for sure, especially if the run D holds up against an emerging McCaffrey.
This 2015 UW team is also a team that isn't at its best playing from behind so hopefully they start out firing on all cylinders against a suspect USC D (4 turnovers helped make the ASU game a blowout). But SC is too hot and cold for either of us to get a read....definitely a game I'm not planning on betting on since that lack of consistency is such a staple of Sloppy Steve.
