Pawlawski and Brink Break Down WSU O, Bears-Cougars Matchup
My guest today as a signal caller for the Cougs, led Washington State in passing yards, touchdowns, attempts, completions, and total offense: Washington State quarterback Alex Brink.
MP: I read in the notes that you are the only wazoo quarterback to win the Apple Cup three times. Is that right?
AB: This is true. Yeah. It's a huge claim to fame in a rivalry game like that, especially with the quarterbacks that have come through on the Washington State side. It's fun to hang my hat on.
MP: I got to call a couple of your games. You’re a quarterback’s quarterback. And so I appreciate that. And if you haven't listened to a wazoo broadcast, anybody out there, you should do it. Because between Alex and Chaz they do a fantastic job of breaking down games. So check that out.
Right now let's break down the cougs and let's talk about where they're at. Obviously, you go from the most interesting man in college football in Mike Leach to the most interesting man in college football. Nick Rolovich. You have to like that.
AB: Yeah, I mean, I certainly think it is a little bit by design. When AD Pat Shun hired Nick Rolovich, both from an offensive scheme standpoint but then a personality standpoint, he definitely fits in Pullman and with the Washington State fan base.
He's a player's coach so he connects with the kids really well. You saw right away during the early, early start of the pandemic, when everything shut down. He's going around in Pullman, and he's buying gift cards out from different restaurants, and he telling people to meet him at the pizza shop, he's buying 20 or 30 pizzas for people because he wants to keep the businesses going. So he's just got that sort of personality that that really connects. And then on top of that, he's a great football mind that’s had a ton of success, particularly offensively in Nevada and Hawaii. So by all rights early in his tenure at Washington State, he's been a home run.
MP: And when he first came out, when he came out as a player from college, after I think he got initial shot in the NFL, but then he was going to go to the Arena League to San Jose and he gave me a call. We actually talked all through Arena Football, kind of X's and O's scheme, the whole nine yards. And so we have my background there, and I got to hang out with him in Australia. Talk about how his runn and shoot system differs from the air raid.
AB: The air raid in it's kind of very nature is very black and white. They want to eliminate gray area. There's obviously very few play calls/ The staple of the Mike Leach version of the air raid, they're trying to really make it easy for the quarterback and the receivers to make decisions and execute.
Where the scheme differs is it's very pass heavy. There's no doubt about that. But as the name suggests, it's run and shoot. You're gonna run the football a little bit more, like with the back to back 1,000 yard rushers at Hawaii. The other thing is they want to be more vertical. So whereas the air raid wants to go sideline to sideline and create space, that way, the running shoe is gonna gonna throw the ball downfield. He said before the year he wants to average 12 plus yards of completion, whereas Mike Leach was around nine or 10.
So far this year up until the up until the USC game last week, they're averaging 12.7 yards per completion, so they're gonna throw the ball more downfield. That’s the biggest difference and what gets talked about a fair amount is the receivers are actually reading coverage and leverage and changing the route based on what they see. So there has to be great synergy between quarterback and receiver, right? They could be running an out route when the play is called in the huddle, and then it might change to an in route when the play’s being run. So that can create big plays, it can also create some stakes at times.
MP: And talk about that SC game last week. Obviously I don't think it's fair. Washington State hadn't played since November 14, is that right? And so you get three week bye in the middle of the season and that makes it kind of tough.
AB: I think it's the nature of this season in 2020. Like we were basically on the buses on the way to the, to the airport to go to Stanford, and then you’ve got to turn around and go and go back home. USC had their issues with COVID protocols so that was up in the air. So I think it's definitely mentally draining on players and coaches to prep for that. USC is playing great football right now. I mean, they've kind of hit their stride after some early struggles. Washington stages ran into a buzzsaw. A freshman quarterback, a couple early turnovers and bad field position. And defensively, it's just hard to match up against those receivers. So I think this week, the Cougars are hoping for a bounce back. But again, California’s a great football, obviously coming off a huge winning against Oregon.
MP: And talk to me about that young quarterback, Jayden de Laura. I watched that first game against Oregon State. And immediately I said, ‘This kid is going to be a star in the PAC 12.’ He is just that gunslinger get out there. And it may not be the way you designed the playbook, but he's gonna make something happy as a sense about making plays.
AB: Yeah, he's kind of got a new age feel to him and the way that he plays that position. He's definitely really scrappy. He makes plays off schedule, but he'll stand in there and deliver the ball. He's not a huge guy, and he's true freshmen. So he's gonna get better as you get stronger. But he really attacks throws, I mean, when you watch him play, he's not afraid to rip it. He'll go downfield and make plays. He’ll make throws from one hash to the far sideline so I love that about him. I think he was great decision-maker through two games against Oregon and Oregon State. And then against USC, he had his struggles early and kind of settled down, which, as you and I both know, it's typical of a true freshman quarterback. That's just kind of part of part of the deal. So I think coug fans got to kind of ride that wave a little bit. But in the end, I think Washington State has a good one.
MP: And you talked about receivers making adjustments to routes based on leverage as a staple of the run and shoot, I ran a little bit up in the CFL. I know you played up there, as well. Talk about the receivers you guys have because Renard Bell, Trevell Harris, both fantastic wide receivers out there for a young quarterback.
AB: In the air raid, you're going to see eight or nine receivers rotate. In the run and shoot, they're going to kind of run out the same four or five guys throughout the game. So guys like Travell and Renard are going to get a lot more touches than they might in the air raid. And so far, they've been great. I mean, just fantastic. Actually, what's been interesting is his offense coordinator, Brian Smith. And with Coach Rolovich, you obviously have the hand and the offense.
They've been finding unique ways to get them the football. Travell Harris has been running some fly sweeps, some sort of kind of receiver trap type of plays. Some really, really creative ways to get those guys the football. They've been incredibly productive. I think the one thing for Washington State is they need another guy or two to step up.
There was a lot of attrition in the offseason. You had a couple guys opt out, a couple guys grad transfer, to graduation. And so you're kind of left with Renard and Travell and Jamire Calvin, who's coming back off of an injury last season. And you just like to see probably a third or fourth guy step up to create a little bit more depth, you know, for Washington State.
MP: And everybody remembers Max Borghi from last year. I believe he's had some injury issues this year. Talk about his status coming into this game.
AB: Yeah, he got banged up early in fall camp. I think last week he got back to practicing a little bit but I think right now he's still questionable. I know for Max as a competitor, he wants to be out there, right? He wants to go. If he was on the field, he would be a huge piece of the puzzle for Washington State. I think it's going to be a matter of kind of what the risk reward as you head into the last game or to have this shortened season in regards to getting back on the field.
For more insights and to view the rest of the interview, use the embedded link above.
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