Brett Rypien the Gunslinger has been wounded but isn’t dead.
I just think Rypien is a Gunslinger in training. And the way you train one is let them learn from their mistakes. Ryan Dinwiddie, Kellen Moore and now Brett Rypien are not the type of QB who will tuck the ball and run out of a bad situation. Bart Hendricks and Jared Zabransky could do that.
No, these pass first guys throw out bad situations. With no fear. Kellen though especially knew when to throw away the ball and when to go for broke. Rypien is still getting fooled here and there. His 4th quarter interceptions last night are good examples. Both were, for different reasons, surprise attacks by the defender. In both cases, Rypien either never saw the safety or didn’t think they could get there fast enough and make the interception. The last interception was odd because, after a Washington State time out, they came out onto the field, apparently, with only 10 defenders.
Or did they?
As Rypien saw one-on-one coverage on Cedric Wilson to his right, he checked off the play to his left and launched a “50-50” ball into the end zone.
Just like any good Gunslinger-in-training would do. Out of nowhere, or maybe just in bounds but hiding, came #4 Charleston White running to his safety position to provide over the top help to the corner. He made the interception and Rypien told Jay Tust of KTVB that he thought he could get the ball there before White could help.
He didn’t.
But, when he checked to the play, there is no way Rypien could see that WSU had a safety to help, because he wasn’t even in the middle of the field yet. So, this is a mystery to me.
And, to some fans, is the play calling of Bryan Harsin.
Harsin admitted he wanted a few plays back but the ones that set off fans the most were the long balls that were not complete. That is going to happen when those throws are they are coming on 3rd and long situations. These are obviously passing downs and everybody knows it. Boise State was 3-10 on 3rd down conversions and most of those were 3rd and 11 yards to go.
So, the problem really lies in the lack of execution on 1st and 2nd down.
And, if WSU was leaving corners in one on one situations , Boise State is aggressive in switching out of whatever they are doing to attack that situation. I hope they never stop doing that because Wilson and Anderson can win more than their fair share of those battles. And when they do, defenses have to keep safeties high to help and it opens up so much more for the run game.
Rypien completed 3 passes over 35 yards and averaged about 15 yards per completion. That’s awesome. Teams will fear this for sure as the season progresses. The Arizona Cardinals led the NFL in average yards per completion last year at 13.5. Rypien is 14th in FBS football right now.
The Gunslinger lives.
