1) Marshall didn't scare anybody. So what if he can throw it 94 yards? When that's 33 yards over the receiver's head it matters not how far the ball traveled. So what if he can throw a 99 mph fastball? Unless the receivers are wearing catchers' mitts that doesn't help much. Not sure what the plan was, but every team Auburn's played over the last three years recognizes when the defense gives a cushion and turns the ball inside for an easy pitch and catch slant for 10-12 yards. Is that too much to ask for the last five quarterbacks we've tried to play? Trotter, Turtle, Freezer, Wallace, Marshall -- none can handle a simple slant route? We can't get that to work? Or even a sideline route? Let the guy complete a few routine passes to get his confidence up before letting him unleash a 200-yard bomb into the upper deck.
2) Saw a few things to like about the defense. Adams has great potential. Had to defend 65 passes (which was stupid on Leach's part when they ran with abandon) and kept fighting.
3) Holland is the worst player I've ever seen in an Auburn uniform. He may practice like a beast, but he plays like a girl. No tackles. No assists. Frost got pushed around, too. New Day? Still got very little pressure on the QB. Still had enormous gaps in the secondary. Was much better in the second half when Johnson said "forget it, I quit ya'll just coach yaselfs" and they just went to playing straight man. Only two or three times all night did I say to myself, "that was good defense." But that's two or three more than most of last season.
4) Washington State isn't going to win many games. They'll get stroked by USC next week and will fall to Stanford, Cal, Washington, Oregon, one of the Arizonas and either Idaho or Utah. That was a 4-8 team. BUT, it wasn't the same kind of win like AU had against Utah State or MSU in 2011. Or ULM in 2012. Similarly bad teams that AU struggled to beat. To me, this one felt like AU was out of sync just enough on offense to prevent a 55-24 type of thumping. Missed three wide open receivers for touchdowns. Threw away a couple of first downs by lasering the ball in rather than having any touch whatsoever. Yeah, I realize that AU was a kickoff return and a 76-yard TD run from getting it handed to them at home by a gay pirate, but we could be better than we played. Didn't so much feel that the last two years. Marshall can get better. I never thought Turtle or Freezer had the potential to improve.
5) I don't ever want that lantern-head Stink-comb Bulldog to do another one of our games. He clearly hates AU and wasn't able to hide it very well. "Oh, he clearly stepped out of bounds." When it wasn't close. "Should have been a penalty (15 times or more)" When it wasn't close. Kept his mouth closed whenever WSU was helmet-tackling AU players or hitting them five yards out of bounds. Hated him passionately.