Can Mike Leach And Washington State Stun Oregon in Pullman?

Friday, September 19, 2014

Jeffrey Martin, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Depending upon your view of Washington State coach Mike Leach, Oregon’s Pac-12 opener Saturday night in Pullman may or may not be a trap game.

If you’re of the opinion that Leach is one of the finest offensive minds of his generation, believing he has taken his time not only installing his “Air Raid” offense but also in altering the Cougars’ losing culture, then a 7:30 kickoff at the Palouse could be an issue for the Ducks.

But if you suspect he’s a product of the hype, an overrated one-trick offensive pony, then this weekend will merely be more of the same for UO - another blowout victory, opponent be damned.

Leach is polarizing like that.

Know this - he’s recorded one conference victory in each of his seasons at Wazzu. In his first season, the Cougars were winless in the Pac-12 until a 31-28 overtime triumph in Pullman against rival Washington in the Apple Cup.

And last year, it was a road victory at USC, a 10-7 win in the second week of the season.

From the outside looking in, it seems like Leach could use another fast start in league play.

Washington State is already 1-2, dropping winnable games against Rutgers in Seattle and Nevada in Reno. The lone victory was last week’s 59-21 thrashing of Portland State, a FCS foe that allowed the Cougars to score touchdowns on six of their seven red-zone trips and surrendered more than 700 yards in total offense.

Obviously, the Ducks aren’t Portland State.

No build-up

But Leach isn’t building this game up more than the others, preferring to gauge his program’s growth in terms of weekly progress.

“The biggest thing is, what I hope is that it reinforces that we just need to focus on little individual things,” he told the Seattle Times.

It’s a dry, boring quote, not the fun stuff those who covered Leach in the past grew fond of hearing. Really, though, he’s a fascinating figure - this sheds some light on his day-to-day life - with varied interests and pursuits.

It’s weird - we ridicule coaches like Alabama’s Nick Saban for being so obsessed with football and/or winning, but when we encounter someone like Leach, for whom those same things are just as important but not quite as consuming, it’s almost a little unsettling.

But it’s Year Three of the Leach experiment, and it’s reasonable to ask if it’s all been worthwhile. Maybe he’s feeling pressure, as some have suggested he might be on a short leash.

Is there a better way to squash questions of job security than with a timely and surprising upset?

You’ve been warned, Oregon.

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