QB Connor Halliday, Washington State

Did anyone see that Washington State upset of Arizona State over the weekend?

Holy cow. Connor Halliday is the new Tyler Bray. Freakishly thin especially in the lower body, but with a great arm and accuracy. The way the game just came to this young man in his first action as a redshirt freshman, the way he was able to aggressively attack Arizona State's secondary and find the money throws between the zones, hit the high passes and let his receivers do the work...he just put a lot of people on notice this weekend.

He was 27 of 36 for 494 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs. He came in as the backup when Marshall Loebbestael got hurt. He had played some before and had pretty impressive stats but that was pretty part time duty. His very first action of his college career was against Idaho State, he was 6 of 13 for 67 yards, 1 TD and 0 INTs. He played a little the next game against UNLV and was 5 of 6 for 110 yards and 2 TDs, 0 INTs.

So to be a true freshman, and be 38 of 55 (69.1%) for 671 yards (12.2 ypa, 17.7 ypc), 7 TDs (12.7%) and 0 INTs (0.0%)...holy cow.

I don't think I'm making a #1 overall proclamation here, like I did with Andrew Luck back in November of 2009...I'll need to see a little bit more than just one game for that...but wow...this guy is going to at the very least be another Nick Foles in that conference. At the least.

Keep in mind that until they met Halliday, Arizona State's pass defense had allowed 187 of 300 (62.3%) passing for 2127 yards (7.1 ypa, 11.4 ypc), 10 TDs and 13 INTS. That's a 76.6 passer rating. They had forced Matt Barkley into really the worst game of his 2011 season. For Connor Halliday to come in right at the beginning of the game for an injured Loebbestael and accumulate a near-perfect passer rating of 153.7 against that kind of pass defense...that's pretty incredible.

Connor Halliday committed to Washington State before his senior season in high school. He had a heck of a senior year, throwing for 4200 yards and 43 TDs. After that season he had offers from teams like Cal and Arizona State but he chose to honor his commitment to the Cougars. The Cougars redshirted him in 2010. He wasn't heard from again until he started to get spot duty in the first few games this year.

But his 494 passing yards against what WAS a good pass defense...is the most by a freshman quarterback in the history of the Pac-10. The most ever. It ranks as the 10th most passing yards in the history of the conference period, and the most this season.

Enough about Halliday though. He's a redshirt freshman, so you're probably not going to want to hear about him for another couple of years.

I was looking at Vontaze Burfict during the game and if you want to blame he or Brock Osweiler for the surprise loss just when UCLA had lost and gave Arizona State the chance to seize control of the south division, don't dish those two too much blame. Halliday shredded up the ASU defensive secondary, not the linebackers unit and not Vontaze Burfict. The Cougars only ran for 2.9 yards per carry against Burfict's front seven, which makes Halliday's performance all the more special. Burfict had his usual performance with the only weird thing being his lack of penalties lol. Instinctive, pulls the trigger quickly, explodes, can hit real hard and has the potential to make goal line stands, be a good blitzer that closes on the quarterback with violence, with surprising good range back pedaling into coverage. He takes care of his assignments and doesn't freelance. Smart player. Really focuses all game long on doing his utmost to be a pain in the neck to every offensive player while (hopefully) not getting penalized. The plus side to that is, he baits other players into getting penalized against him.

Osweiler has this funky delivery that bugs me but the guy has big time ability, accuracy, shows the promise to make high level decisions on the fly, even shows some touch in certain situations. In this game, he actually got better as the game got on but the game got away from them for other reasons. He was drilling them all the way down the field but short yardage offense couldn't get them a 3rd & 1 conversion, then failed them again on 4th & 1, then he gets them on the door step of the end zone next drive and drills a nice throw that throw that should have been flagged for pass interference, or caught, and then on 3rd & Goal he throws a little behind on a slant and the receiver can't hold onto the slick ball (weather conditions). They kick a chip shot field goal and MISS. Then when Halliday brings the Cougs all the way down for a TD while chewing 3 or 4 minutes off the clock, to go up 10 points, ASU's kick returner fumbles the ensuing kick return. Point being, Osweiler did his part. Wasn't perfect, but did his part and seemed at his most dangerous at the end of the game, making his best throws, making great and quick reads, using touch on some throws, belting other throws. Was that 3rd down slant a key play and did he throw the ball behind his man? Yeah. But he'd done so much to that point, they should have already been winning, and should have already scored that touchdown.

 

Not letting this go away because I'm thoroughly impressed as I re-watch.

This guy is skinny. Freakishly thin, especially in the waist and legs. Tyler Bray of Tennessee is the same way. Nick Foles used to be pretty skinny too. And of course we know that Tom Brady was really thin as well. Connor needs to be introduced to some hamburgers and sweet tea.

Again I emphasize, this was not a pushover defense. This is the same defense that forced Matt Barkley into his worst game of the year. Vontaze Burfict and his pals did their job against the Cougars' ground game allowing only 2.9 yards per carry and forcing a fumble by a running back, Washington State's only turnover of the game.

It was all aerial attack, and most of it down field, finding the honey spots between the zone coverage. Very first play of the game he sees the coverage he wants and lobs a pass that goes 34 yards thru the air to a surprisingly wide open receiver, that hits him perfectly in stride to where the defense didn't have a chance to recover from the busted coverage and he runs all the way to the end zone for an 85 yard score.

His coaches told the media guys during their pre-game sessions that Connor Halliday is "oozing with QB talent". The funny part is Connor has been showing them right on the field. From that big TD on through the game he kept up the intensity throwing 3 more TDs and 400+ more yards in about 3 quarters of football. He only threw 9 incomplete passes and 2 of them were throwaways, with another 4 off the hands of the receiver. One incomplete was him trying to go for it all again with a 60 yard throw, reading the single coverage from a quarters defense, which I never mind.

He's young, so of course his footwork and body position, balance, they need work. He's got this habit of getting off balance in his follow-thru, sometimes putting his head down, sometimes lifting his back foot way off the ground. There can be a little loop in his delivery from the feet to the waist (not like the infamous Tebow loop with the ball in hand, but a loop in the lower mechanics). He's got a nice, quick three-quarters punch for a release and the ball gets distance with plenty of pace. He got away with some throws that came a little late, mostly from the loop, because he throws a nice, hot ball.

But my lord this was a super young guy and he's out there handling pressure in his grill. I had him pressured on 10 pass attempts going 8 of 10 for 178 yards. He's doing everything against pressure from making guys miss in the open then finding targets down the field, to finding the check down option, to improvising on a screen play and moving in the pocket, changing his throw platform to get the ball off the best he can. He also felt the heat and made guys miss, scrambled out of the pocket for positive yards. That was part of the problem, really. Arizona State didn't know how to react to him. They see this green freshman out on the field and they start throwing packages blitzes at him, but he's staying cool and hitting his screens, hitting his passes up the field into the soft coverage that comes with blitzes, moving around in the pocket...killing them.

He moves naturally in the pocket to create his own space and stay comfortable. He shows a tendency to get his feet moving to where he's going with his eyes. He looks off the safety then fires a bullet up the field underneath. He's actually out there pump faking the defense and then re-cocking and hitting a deep 40 yard pass, which is how he got his second touchdown of the day. He's throwing zip passes up the field after climbing the pocket and then sprinting out to the sideline under duress. He's throwing back shoulder as a freaking freshman. He's doing it all.

And you know the other crazy part about it? This was a CRAPPY weather night. You could tell it was cold as hell. It was raining. The ball was slick. Looking at Brock Osweiler's performance I couldn't help but notice over and over that he and his receivers were having trouble with the conditions. Osweiler throws the ball a little too hot at times and sometimes doesn't get great ball placement. But Halliday's ball had a nice combination of heat and catchability, and was usually placed very well. He threw some high ones but it seemed like those were the way he wanted it, safer where the receiver can go up for it. He got his throws placed lower on passes more over the middle in between the zones, which is where you want.

I mean there are times it looks awkward but you take a look at what he's doing in basically his first full game of action in college against a pretty nasty pass defense in very nasty weather in front of a big stadium full of screaming fans...I mean, I say god damn.

 

The thing is when you look at his mechanics, his tendency to fall off the throw, his sometimes having a loop in his lower mechanics, and especially his rail thin physique...don't expect to be blown away by surface noise.

What you have to look at is what he's doing out there. He's attacking a good passing defense vertically, in some cases fitting the ball into tight spots between zones, placing the ball high and outside for a jump ball or back shoulder so that the WR has the best shot at the ball, or placing the ball low and inside on the skinny post between the zones so that again the receiver has the best shot at the ball, handling and escaping pressure like a star and most importantly FINISHING the pressured play, making huge throws all over the place with tons of zip on his passes, throwing accurate catchable passes in cold, snowy/wet conditions, manipulating the safeties with his eyes, finding the right throw for the coverage, using ball and shoulder fakes to manipulate defensive backs, taking hits and popping back up, recovering from Arizona State taking the lead three times in the game, and getting better as the game went on, being really at his best in the 4th quarter.

It's just mind bottling for a freshman to look like that in his first significant action since High School. And after the game he said all the right things. Everyone was responsible for his record-breaking day EXCEPT for him, if you asked Connor Halliday. Took none of the credit. He even credited a Washington State alum that is dying of Lou Gehrig's Disease, that came and talked to the team before the game...for inspiring the performance.

Every now and then I see a young, under the radar guy that is just blowing me away and I can tell he's going to be really good when he comes out...the guys we can't draft yet for at least a year. Andrew Luck, Sam Bradford and Brandon Weeden are all examples. Christian Ponder was like that for me, I remember Week 1 of the 2009 season when Ponder was just a sophomore and he was going head-to-head with Jacory Harris, I was tweeting about that game all night and by the end of it I was kind of blown away with Christian and though everyone kept suggesting to me that Jacory Harris is the guy with the NFL potential I was saying no way, Ponder looked like a pro out there and I think he'll end up a 1st round pick. Two years later I wasn't so sure about that prognosis, with all the injuries and the bad throws he made as a senior. But, he still made it to that 1st round pick and he's looking pretty decent as a rookie, IMO.

It's not all roses, I remember Ben Chappell standing out to me similarly one year, couple years before he was to enter the Draft...and he never got any traction. I don't know if he's on an NFL roster right now or not, truth be told...

 

Just checked, Ben Chappell got brought to camp with the Redskins but was beaten out for a practice squad spot by Johnathan Crompton. Ouch!

 

LOL perhaps Lose All the Way for Halliday.

 

Just found out Halliday brought the Cougars back from behind and into overtime against the Utes with a lacerated liver he received some time during the second half. He spent 3 days in the ICU after the game.

The legend grows...

 

Looking at the game, it looks to me like the hit that lacerated Connor Halliday's liver happened with 12 minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter. He had thrown 2 interceptions to that point. One was a really poor decision, as he didn't see that his receiver got pressed into oblivion off the line and he tried to hit the fade hole between zones. He should have come off that read and gone to a check because of the broken timing. Instead he stared it down trying to give the receiver time to get back into his route, but he also gave the two-shell safety time to read it and get over, and when Connor finally decided he had to throw it and couldn't wait anymore, it was to the spot where the receiver should have been, by design, but not where he was due to the jam at the line of scrimmage. Picked off by the safety. The second pickoff was tipped up by a receiver, and honestly might not have been the receiver it was intended for.

Then at the beginning of the 2nd quarter he takes a hit as he steps up in the pocket and throws...that just kills him. You can see him clutching his abdomen and just about wanting to puke. I think that was the hit that put him in the ICU after the game. The guy laid the crown of his helmet right up into Connor's diaphragm at full unblocked blitz speed. Two plays later he threw a pick while scrambling to his right, but I'm not sure I'd blame that on the injury. He just got too aggressive trying to beat the defense with his arm, which is a pretty significant arm.

What's more clear though is that by the time they got to overtime, the clock expired on Halliday's adrenaline. He looked and played like a man that was literally dying of his injuries and needed urgent medical care.

 

I predict that Connor Halliday will be the first Mike Leach quarterback to garner GENUINE high draft standing. Until now nobody's taken Leach QBs seriously, not even the one from 2011 (forget his name) that actually has some genuine physical skills.