Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti ripped Washington State coach Mike Leach after the Ducks trounced the Cougars 62-38 on Saturday because he didn’t like how much Leach continued to throw the ball late in the game.
Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday set an NCAA record with 89 pass attempts in the game, and the Cougars set an Autzen Stadium record with 557 passing yards. They also scored on a touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in the game. None of that sat well with Aliotti, who called all the passing bulls–t.
“That’s total (B.S.) that he threw the ball at the end of the game like he did,’’ Aliotti said, via The Oregonian. “And you can print that and you can send it to him, and he can comment, too. I think it’s low class and it’s (B.S.) to throw the ball when the game is completely over against our kids that are basically our scout team.’’
According to The Oregonian’s Jason Quick, Halliday attempted 28 passes in the fourth quarter and both of his touchdowns came after the Cougars were already down 62-24. Another aspect of Washington State’s decisions that bothered Aliotti was that they continued to play their starters the whole game, even after the Ducks replaced their starters and backups with scout team players.
“I am kind of stunned he would keep his quarterback and crew in there,’’ Aliotti said. “And still he threw the ball with 20 seconds left. But he did. They want stats, they got stats. But we got the most important stat and that’s the ‘W’ and we are happy about that.’’
I understand why Aliotti was ticked and I think he had some great points and comments about getting the most important stat. But you know what? I’m absolutely sick of people telling people how to call plays late in games. If teams want to pass late in games, let them pass. If they want to call runs to get the game over with, let them call runs. In the end, everyone knows those touchdowns and yards didn’t mean a whole lot. Oregon beat Washington State handily, regardless of what the passing stats say.
