Dylan Edwards Powers Wazzu as Marshall and Delaware Stumble

Mark Reynolds

Welcome to The Dynasty Report. Four weeks in, and we told you in the preseason that all three of our coaches would finish the regular season eight and four. Reality has not read our notes. Washington State is three and one, Delaware is one and two, and Marshall is oh and three. David, start us in Pullman.

David Mitchell

Gladly, because Jack Fletcher's Cougars are the best story we have. They beat Oregon State 28 to 25 and sit one and oh in the Pac 12. And the engine is Dylan Edwards: 541 rushing yards, six touchdowns, on 72 carries. That's 7.5 a carry and better than 135 yards a game. He's the offensive MVP of this dynasty, and I don't think it's close.

James Wilson

The numbers are wonderful, but look at the other side of the ball. Owen Eshelman has completed 36 of 59 for 399 yards and no touchdown passes. Four games, zero. In my old sport we'd call that a team playing with one lung.

Emily Carter

Come on, he's completing 61 percent of his throws. He's not turning it over. Winning three of four with a quarterback who just doesn't hurt you is a real strategy.

James Wilson

It's a strategy until somebody stacks the box. What does Eshelman do then? Zero touchdown passes tells me we don't know.

David Mitchell

I'd say we don't know yet, and that's different from saying he can't. But James is right about the risk. Edwards is the whole offense. If a Pac 12 defense shuts him down, there's no evidence this team can win through the air.

Emily Carter

And the defense buys time. Luke Webb has three sacks, and Kyle Peterson, J. Frausto Ramos and A. Noland each have an interception. That's a unit that creates its own short fields.

Mark Reynolds

Fair. Now Delaware, where the quarterback story was supposed to be the fix. Riley Trujillo came in to clean up Nick Minicucci's 23 interceptions from last year. Through three games he has five picks. Emily, you liked this guy.

Emily Carter

I did, and I'm not running from it. A 76 overall dual threat looked like the answer. But 48 of 106 is 45 percent, with 652 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. That's the same turnover nightmare in a different jersey.

Mark Reynolds

So does Jackson Harrison bench him?

David Mitchell

Not yet. Delaware is zero and oh in Conference USA. Nothing that matters has been lost. Trujillo gets the start into league play, and if the picks keep coming, then you have the conversation.

James Wilson

That's patience I can't afford. The cost of waiting is more possessions handed to opponents. And the run game isn't helping. Virginia Ellison Jr. leads the team with 135 yards. That's less than Edwards averages per game.

David Mitchell

Which is why I'd stay put. Tight end J. Bowman has 14 catches for 213 yards, B. Rehmann has 158 receiving yards, and there are pieces here. I'll also say we don't know who the backup options are, so a switch isn't automatically an upgrade.

James Wilson

Fine, but my line is simple. If the turnovers continue in the first conference game, you can't keep saying it's early.

Mark Reynolds

Agreed on that line. Now Marshall, and nobody wants to talk about it. Oh and three. Thirty points scored, 83 allowed, a minus 53 differential.

Emily Carter

I'll defend Ron Cherry a little. We said in the preseason that A.J. Fox, a 68 overall redshirt freshman, was facing a brutal opening gauntlet. Three losses to start is ugly, but it's not shocking.

Mark Reynolds

Ten points a game isn't a schedule problem, though. That's an offense that isn't functioning.

Emily Carter

Fox is 45 of 78 for 479 yards and three touchdowns. That's 57.7 percent, not terrible for a freshman.

James Wilson

And six interceptions. Two a game. And Marqus Boston has 87 yards on 28 carries, about 3.1 a pop. Fox has no run game to lean on, so every third down is a pass rush against a freshman.

David Mitchell

That's where I think the coaching question is real. Chris Culliver has 17 catches for 216 yards, so there's a target. Braydin Ward and L. Cowan have three sacks each, and A. Glenn has 18 tackles. The defense has talent. The offense has to give it something to work with.

Emily Carter

So is it schedule or system?

David Mitchell

Honestly, I can't separate them from three games. But if it's still ten points a game after the gauntlet ends, then it's the system.

James Wilson

I'm not waiting for that. Cherry is the coach on the hottest seat. Nobody's saying fire him. But the run game needs a tactical overhaul now.

Mark Reynolds

Let's widen the lens. Tennessee is number one at three and oh, then Miami, Oregon, Indiana and Texas A&M, all undefeated. Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Ohio State are lurking. Kansas State is tenth with only two games played, and Memphis is thirteenth at three and oh.

Emily Carter

I love Memphis. Undefeated and still outside the top ten means every week is a statement game.

Mark Reynolds

The Heisman top four is Arch Manning, then USC's J. Williams, Tennessee's George MacIntyre and Virginia's LaNorris Sellers. And Dylan Edwards isn't on it.

David Mitchell

He will be if the Cougars keep winning and he keeps running at 135 a game. But I'd note three of the four on that ballot are quarterbacks. Voters love quarterbacks.

James Wilson

Which is exactly why he won't crash the finalist list. A running back on a team with no passing touchdowns? Voters will say the offense is just him.

Emily Carter

Or they'll say that's the point! Seven and a half yards a carry when everyone knows he's getting the ball? I say he's in the finalists.

David Mitchell

I'm with Emily on that one, if the Cougars are still in the Pac 12 race in November.

Mark Reynolds

Quick awards. Best dynasty program, Washington State. Offensive MVP, Dylan Edwards. Defensive standout, Luke Webb. Biggest concern, Marshall's offense. Hottest seat, Ron Cherry. Predictions: Washington State stays in the Pac 12 hunt into November, Delaware rebounds in conference play if it protects the ball, and Marshall wins a game but the offense lingers as a problem all year.

James Wilson

I'll take the Delaware one with a condition. Ball security or I'm wrong.

Mark Reynolds

That's the show. Eight and four looks a long way off for at least one of these coaches. Thanks for listening to The Dynasty Report.