[Austroturf]

It may also sound controversial, but I do not think that Minshew and the Cougs are really that good.  If they ever face a truly stout defensive front, their air-raid attack will falter.  Utah almost got them in Pullman; USC prevailed against them in the Coliseum.  Truly strong defensive teams (i.e., Clemson, Alabama) would shred them.  Unfortunately, Stanford does not have such a defense at the moment; and we saw the result yesterday evening.  As d4cohn has postulated, the Pac-12 has become similar to the Big 12, with potent spread offenses and weak defenses.  Not surprising that a former Big 12 coach is now riding high in this conference, and I am chagrined to see it.

I like you analysis of the game, but I think you are under-rating Minshew and the Cougs (Is that a band?). They are good. They may not be Alabama, but The Pirate has lucked into something. Minshew is the perfect guy for the system. He doesn't have a cannon of an arm, but the ball comes out fast. He is almost the anti-Falk. Read and throw. He does have trouble if you can cover all his receivers (Duh), but to do that you probably drop 8, which means no pressure. He can wait you out, running a bit if necessary. The fact is, they are getting better. The improvement in performance has been steep. The "loss" to USC was a bit tainted, and was the first conference game Minshew had ever played. It was also on the road. They are much better on offense than they were in week four.
I think their problem is on defense. We scored a lot of points, but the real killer for the Cougs is a team that can run the ball and keep Minshew on the bench. If we could have run a lick we could have turned our 14 point lead into a victory. Teams like Alabama can do that, for sure.

Good insight.  I don't want to underestimate what the Cougs have achieved; but I also think that the air-raid, if forcefully countered, can become a house of cards.  Wazzu is running it very well and has had a lot of success; but, as d4cohn pointed out, they are having that success against teams with Big-12-like defensive units; and sadly, ours has devolved into such a unit.  The air-raid system is certainly less susceptible to the blitz because the routes tend to be shorter and the release is normally quicker; but I would have loved to see this same game with one of our elite defensive units (2010-2014) on the field.  A few sacks and a few batted passes would have shaken up the air-raid, gotten the stop, and the flow of the game would have looked very different.  A team with a menagerie of hulks on the front-seven would have a blast defusing the air-raid system.  Let's see how the Bears do next week; but they have to travel to Pullman, and that is a tall order for any team.

[Austroturf]

It may also sound controversial, but I do not think that Minshew and the Cougs are really that good.  If they ever face a truly stout defensive front, their air-raid attack will falter.  Utah almost got them in Pullman; USC prevailed against them in the Coliseum.  Truly strong defensive teams (i.e., Clemson, Alabama) would shred them.  Unfortunately, Stanford does not have such a defense at the moment; and we saw the result yesterday evening.  As d4cohn has postulated, the Pac-12 has become similar to the Big 12, with potent spread offenses and weak defenses.  Not surprising that a former Big 12 coach is now riding high in this conference, and I am chagrined to see it.

I like you analysis of the game, but I think you are under-rating Minshew and the Cougs (Is that a band?). They are good. They may not be Alabama, but The Pirate has lucked into something. Minshew is the perfect guy for the system. He doesn't have a cannon of an arm, but the ball comes out fast. He is almost the anti-Falk. Read and throw. He does have trouble if you can cover all his receivers (Duh), but to do that you probably drop 8, which means no pressure. He can wait you out, running a bit if necessary. The fact is, they are getting better. The improvement in performance has been steep. The "loss" to USC was a bit tainted, and was the first conference game Minshew had ever played. It was also on the road. They are much better on offense than they were in week four.
I think their problem is on defense. We scored a lot of points, but the real killer for the Cougs is a team that can run the ball and keep Minshew on the bench. If we could have run a lick we could have turned our 14 point lead into a victory. Teams like Alabama can do that, for sure.

Good insight.  I don't want to underestimate what the Cougs have achieved; but I also think that the air-raid, if forcefully countered, can become a house of cards.  Wazzu is running it very well and has had a lot of success; but, as d4cohn pointed out, they are having that success against teams with Big-12-like defensive units; and sadly, ours has devolved into such a unit.  The air-raid system is certainly less susceptible to the blitz because the routes tend to be shorter and the release is normally quicker; but I would have loved to see this same game with one of our elite defensive units (2010-2014) on the field.  A few sacks and a few batted passes would have shaken up the air-raid, gotten the stop, and the flow of the game would have looked very different.  A team with a menagerie of hulks on the front-seven would have a blast defusing the air-raid system.  Let's see how the Bears do next week; but they have to travel to Pullman, and that is a tall order for any team.