BOULDER — Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre recently found a reminder of just how long his upcoming opponent, Washington State coach Mike Leach, has been terrorizing defenses with his Air Raid offense.
A coaching industry magazine found its way onto MacIntyre’s desk, with a picture of Hal Mumme, one of the originators of that pass-happy offensive philosophy, and photos of a group of coaches who have branched off from Mumme’s teachings.
At the top was Leach.
“They were really young,” MacIntyre said. “It was a cool picture.”
There may be more gray hair on the 55-year old Leach’s head now than when he made opponents dizzy as the offensive coordinator at Mumme-coached Kentucky nearly 20 years ago, but his Air Raid offense is as dangerous as ever.
If No. 12 CU (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) hopes to keep its hope of a Pac-12 championship, Rose Bowl berth or, dare to dream, even an appearance in the national semifinals alive, the Buffs will have to put at least some dent in a passing attack from Washington State (8-2, 7-0) that is second in the country at 385.5 yards per game.
The nation’s top passing team is Texas Tech, where Leach brought the Air Raid into the national spotlight while guiding the Red Raiders to as high as a No. 2 national ranking in 2008. Tech is now coached by Kliff Kingsbury, one of Leach’s quarterbacks at Tech.
Leach’s fingerprints when it comes to airing the ball out are everywhere at Washington State. The continued success of his offense, even as Pac-12 defenses have strained to adjust, is one of the main reasons the Cougars are in position to challenge for a conference championship. The Air Raid offense is predicated, in its most basic sense, on multiple receivers finding space in the secondary and making yards after the catch. Typically four wide receivers and a running back are used as receivers, with the route options depending on how the defense is aligned.
“We run our routes and let them unfold and then respond to (the defense) on the run,” Leach said.
“They like to move things around a little bit trying to get you caught off guard,” CU safety Ryan Moeller said. “You really have to start there, figuring out the different steps and different areas of where we think they’re going to attack us. Then it all comes down to communication for us.”
The other key MacIntyre has stressed for the Buffs this week is the importance of open-field tackling. In Leach’s offense, emphasis is placed on getting the ball to receivers with enough space to make a move and turn a short catch into a big gain.
“They spread you out horizontally,” MacIntyre said. “And how we tackle in space will be a big key in how we will be able to slow down their offense.”
Washington State is led by junior quarterback Luke Falk, who is second in the nation in passing at 361 yards per game. Falk is the latest in a long line of quarterbacks under Leach who have produced video-game numbers. The biggest key for a quarterback in Leach’s offense is being able to adjust on the fly and change into a new play.
“Falk does a phenomenal job of understanding of what Mike wants of him,” MacIntyre said. “Looks to me that he’s checking about 50 percent of the plays and they have a really good idea of what they want to do. (He) gets them in the right play a lot.”
Washington State’s high-flying offense presents an intriguing strength-on-strength matchup against a CU pass defense that is the 10th-best statistical unit in the country at 176.9 yards allowed per game.
The Buffs have allowed only two passing touchdowns in the past four games, and their passing-efficiency-defense rating of 98.85 is No. 4 among all FBS teams.
“They don’t break their package,” Leach said of CU’s defense. “They say: ‘We can execute this longer than you can. If you get your licks in, we’ll outlast you because we can execute well.’ Their philosophy is based on execution and tackling, so it’s very sound. They don’t break out bells and whistles and outsmart you.”
Washington State will be without No. 2 wide receiver River Cracraft, who had 53 catches for 701 yards and five touchdowns before suffering a season-ending knee injury in a victory over Cal last week. But Leach’s latest iteration of the Air Raid has relied on many contributors and the Cougars, who have won eight consecutive games after losing their first two, still present CU’s vaunted secondary with its greatest challenge yet.
“If you’re a good secondary player, you’ve got to have a little bit of that swagger, and that’s gone just like that, whether it’s a good play or a bad play,” MacIntyre said, illustrating his point with a snap of his fingers. “I think they’re excited about playing Washington State.”
Video-game numbers
A closer look at the success Washington State has had on offense this season, with their national rankings in each category:
Category … Number … Rank
Pass yds/g … 385.5 … 2
Comp. pct. … 74.1 … 1
Pass efficiency … 157.5 … 13
Points/g … 44.3 … 8
Total off. … 517.5 … 10
