Mike Alisa!

Had two carries coming into tonight. Had 16 tonight for over 90. He will get more reps next week and Kariya and JJ will get fewer. Alisa was great tonight. Runs hard with speed and elusiveness. Nice to see that combo.



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Also brings something we haven't seen since Unga. Hits the holes hard, and doesn't go down on the first hit. It takes a crew to bring him down.

Glad they finally found him. The run game (Alisa, Nelson, and Quezada) made the difference tonight.

Ungoy wrote:
Also brings something we haven't seen since Unga. Hits the holes hard, and doesn't go down on the first hit. It takes a crew to bring him down.

THIS



The guy has a very similar style to Unga. His ability to stay on his feet after first contact and get additional yards was really nice to see. He deserves the bulk of the carries based solely on what I saw tonight. Bronco said he's been doing it in practice too, has the ability to always fall forward and get at least a couple yards.

Alisa = Quezada last year. He is a violent runner which Quezada was last year. We haven't seen that at all this year, from anyone.



Game Ball to Alisa.

Enjoyed the game very much (with a few hiccups). Where was Kariya the hammer? A few runs. Alisa was the man tonight though. Nelson is not a long ball thrower. 20 yards or less - more surgical.

CougarClaw wrote:
Alisa = Quezada last year. He is a violent runner which Quezada was last year. We haven't seen that at all this year, from anyone.



Game Ball to Alisa.

hmmm. I always felt that Quezada was more of a finesse type runner. Definitely more power than JJ, ever thought of him as a power runner link Unga, Vakapuna, or even Kariya.



But what do I know.

Alisa is (or should be) the story of the game.



After tonight I don't think there's any way Quezada stays above him on the depth chart. Not sure that Kariya will either.



This kid is a beast on wheels.

Based on his performance tonight, he should get the starting job next week. I saw some flashes of Unga in him. Impressive!

hawkwing wrote:
Alisa is (or should be) the story of the game.



After tonight I don't think there's any way Quezada stays above him on the depth chart. Not sure that Kariya will either.



This kid is a beast on wheels.

Was I the only one who noticed that Alisa and Quezada were the primary ball carriers in the second half?? I think JJ maybe touched the ball once or twice. If anything Alisa and Juice are at the top of the list now after the second half of last nights game. I think they both averaged over 6 yards per carry

The two seniors are not as good all around as their backups. Pretty clear to see.



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Had we not abandoned the run in the 2nd half when it still mattered, the score would have been 35+ - 13. They simply could not force us into long 3rd downs.



Oregon State will stack the box and make Riley throw. I am not optimistic, in spite of how bad OSU has been. (on another note; OSU must be excited to go up against our very very mediocre safeties... we made their tight end look like Jay Novacek)



I am optimistic that we've found a north-south runner that will pay major dividends in the next few years; it was badly missed this year. The kid did not look like a fresh RM.

Two points.

One, I am too lazy to find my post about Alisa when I saw him at a scrimmage toward end of fall camp. He showed the same stuff. I called it then--and I know I'm rarely correct. But I love the energy he brings as well as effectiveness.

Two, if you didnt hear Bronco's postgame comments. Coach said that the reason Alisa and Juice got more touches, is that for more effective "play-action" set up, they need runners who can go up the middle and "not run around the edge." He then mentioned that JJ can run around the edge great, we just need up the middle running.

I will have comments about JJ in a separate post.

dmcougar wrote:
Two points.

One, I am too lazy to find my post about Alisa when I saw him at a scrimmage toward end of fall camp. He showed the same stuff. I called it then--and I know I'm rarely correct. But I love the energy he brings as well as effectiveness.

Two, if you didnt hear Bronco's postgame comments. Coach said that the reason Alisa and Juice got more touches, is that for more effective "play-action" set up, they need runners who can go up the middle and "not run around the edge." He then mentioned that JJ can run around the edge great, we just need up the middle running.

I will have comments about JJ in a separate post.

Huge props, DM. Alisa was a complete stud last night. He ran with power and confidence. That was easily the best an RB has looked all year.



JJ didn't play much, was that due to Alisa's stellar play or JJ sitting a little for the fumbles?

Alisa and Juice both showed good enough speed last night in my opinion so I don't see too much of a problem with them going around the outside either. Did you see last night in the second half when JJ tried to go around the outside and got arm tackled and thrown to the ground by their LB?? It was pretty funny. After the Ole Miss game I was hoping to see more of Alisa too. Glad to see it's finally happening. Maybe Jake needed a better run game to get him going??



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SpiffCoug wrote:

Two points.

One, I am too lazy to find my post about Alisa when I saw him at a scrimmage toward end of fall camp. He showed the same stuff. I called it then--and I know I'm rarely correct. But I love the energy he brings as well as effectiveness.

Two, if you didnt hear Bronco's postgame comments. Coach said that the reason Alisa and Juice got more touches, is that for more effective "play-action" set up, they need runners who can go up the middle and "not run around the edge." He then mentioned that JJ can run around the edge great, we just need up the middle running.

I will have comments about JJ in a separate post.

Huge props, DM. Alisa was a complete stud last night. He ran with power and confidence. That was easily the best an RB has looked all year.



JJ didn't play much, was that due to Alisa's stellar play or JJ sitting a little for the fumbles?

At first, in my regular reactive, inflammatory scorn toward JJ, I thought that Bronco and Doman made several changes to the O this week--to quote Ogletree, "if youre not performing, you need to sit"--but, Bronco, did say that the O needed more effectiveness up the middle and not just running around the edge.

I will say that watching JJ, he was very frustrated with limited reps. During one time out, he wasnt even with the rest of the Offense huddled on the field as they do during time-outs. He was hanging out on the sideline, not participating for whatever reason, not looking very happy.

I did see his Dad leave early, not looking very happy. Kind of felt sad for the guy. Anyway, those were my observations from the East sideline.

I wonder if one reason Alisa hasn't played more is his pass protection/blitz pickup. Perhaps with Riley back there, the coaches feel they can get away with someone a little less ready in blitz pickup because Riley can keep the play alive.

SpiffCoug wrote:
JJ didn't play much, was that due to Alisa's stellar play or JJ sitting a little for the fumbles?

The offense finally sitting guys who haven't been performing? Now that is new.



I still think that JJ will be a part of our offense, both running to the edge and catching passes, where he excels. But Alisa showed that his up the gut running was really top notch, and when you're getting 5 or 6 yards ever time up the gut why bother running to the outside.

And next year Pritchard should be back from his broken leg. The two are pretty similar.

How's Alisa with catching? Loved him running up the middle. Definitely more effective than JJ and Kariya. Am I the only one that thinks JJ actually isn't that great getting around the edge. I think he had one play last night where he went around the edge and got some decent yardage, every other time he got stuffed.



JJ is a pretty good receiver; so, unless Alisa can pick that part of the game up we're going to become pretty predictable. Defenses will know if Alisa is in it's going to be a run up the middle unless we pass. If JJ is in then it's going to be to the edge or a pass to the RB.