[winflop]

Yeah, it was a pretty pathetic effort. I don't know when or if we get Mills (or Costello) back, but assuming we do hopefully we have a couple more Washingtons in us.

Last night was about far more than the QB. Having Mills or Costello in there will certainly make a difference, but you still have an OL that can't sustain blocks, an overrated receiving corps that can't get separation, and an offensive "brain trust" that can't figure out how to make adjustments at halftime.

I think it is pretty hard to make adjustments that will fix an OL that isn't "sustaining" blocks (I don't think they even started any blocks, let alone sustaining them) and a receiving corps that can't get separation. In those cases, you can't run and you can't pass. What's left to adjust?

Why we were so flat is very difficult to understand. We know that the team is capable of playing better, because we have seen them do it. They didn't do it last night. One would think the OL would give 110%, knowing that they had to be able to run in order to have any shot. It may well be the coaches sent the wrong message to these guys about what they needed to do. That I don't know. But it was obvious that after the first possession, there was no effective effort out there, on offense or defense. It was as if the team just didn't want to be out there and were going through the motions.

It is for sure that the coaches were unable to raise the team's level of play after halftime. While things were bad, we weren't hopelessly behind. We let UCLA basically drive the field, which was a bad sign. Then we did nothing on offense. Game pretty much over. We needed a quick stop and a TD at that point, and didn't get it. No sense of urgency appeared. That may be on the coaches.

It may be hard to make adjustments, but you have to try. They didn't. When you have press coverage, double moves, pump fakes, slants, crossing routes could all work. None of those things were tried that I could see. Also should have yanked West, and in his postgame press conference Shaw said he never considered that option. That is a coaching failure. When your QB is visibly playing that poorly, you MUST at least CONSIDER pulling him.

On top of that, Shaw spent the first two minutes of his postgame presser throwing his players under the bus - AGAIN. There wasn't even a mention of him or his coaches in his entire opening statement. Same story with his postgame radio interview. He should have opened with something along the lines of, "We clearly weren't up to the challenge tonight, and that first and foremost is on me and my coaching staff for not having our players better prepared."

[winflop]

Yeah, it was a pretty pathetic effort. I don't know when or if we get Mills (or Costello) back, but assuming we do hopefully we have a couple more Washingtons in us.

Last night was about far more than the QB. Having Mills or Costello in there will certainly make a difference, but you still have an OL that can't sustain blocks, an overrated receiving corps that can't get separation, and an offensive "brain trust" that can't figure out how to make adjustments at halftime.

I think it is pretty hard to make adjustments that will fix an OL that isn't "sustaining" blocks (I don't think they even started any blocks, let alone sustaining them) and a receiving corps that can't get separation. In those cases, you can't run and you can't pass. What's left to adjust?

Why we were so flat is very difficult to understand. We know that the team is capable of playing better, because we have seen them do it. They didn't do it last night. One would think the OL would give 110%, knowing that they had to be able to run in order to have any shot. It may well be the coaches sent the wrong message to these guys about what they needed to do. That I don't know. But it was obvious that after the first possession, there was no effective effort out there, on offense or defense. It was as if the team just didn't want to be out there and were going through the motions.

It is for sure that the coaches were unable to raise the team's level of play after halftime. While things were bad, we weren't hopelessly behind. We let UCLA basically drive the field, which was a bad sign. Then we did nothing on offense. Game pretty much over. We needed a quick stop and a TD at that point, and didn't get it. No sense of urgency appeared. That may be on the coaches.

It may be hard to make adjustments, but you have to try. They didn't. When you have press coverage, double moves, pump fakes, slants, crossing routes could all work. None of those things were tried that I could see. Also should have yanked West, and in his postgame press conference Shaw said he never considered that option. That is a coaching failure. When your QB is visibly playing that poorly, you MUST at least CONSIDER pulling him.

On top of that, Shaw spent the first two minutes of his postgame presser throwing his players under the bus - AGAIN. There wasn't even a mention of him or his coaches in his entire opening statement. Same story with his postgame radio interview. He should have opened with something along the lines of, "We clearly weren't up to the challenge tonight, and that first and foremost is on me and my coaching staff for not having our players better prepared."