I've been ripping Leach since 2002 or 2003. His style was always paper mache, doomed to failure given enough repetition. That's why opinion of him has been one of the great litmus tests of all time, along with opinion of Barry Switzer and the triple option. If you don't understand that high volume rushing attempts in college football are gold, and that minimal volume rushing attempts are ultimate frailty, then you are guaranteed to make one basic mistake after another. The hilarious aspect is that those people who have absolutely no clue regarding the correlation are generally the loudest.
One of the joys of the onset of every college football season is the opportunity to wager against Mike Leach. The OP didn't mention it, but Washington State was a 31 point home favorite against Portland State. I won't say that Leach is the worst college coach of all time. That covers plenty of territory, plenty of decades. He's certainly the worst who somehow had a reputation of a top coach at one point. Of course, that phony reputation sourced from the goofs who spout the clever phrases like "high school offense" and "give Leach the Miami athletes..."
The best spread offenses stem from high volume rushing attempts and very basic power plays. Those power plays coexist with distracting material everywhere. Watch Auburn or Ohio State sometime. Forget about everybody except the quarterback and the running back. It could not be more simplistic. All the motion serves to confuse and paralyze the defense, creating gaps for those basic power plays. Some of the blocking schemes are sophisticated but they also are very familiar from decades ago. The only difference is all the confusion on the flanks take defenders out of the picture, instead of congestion. Then the power opens up lethal downfield passing strikes.
Mike Leach's version of the spread is exactly the opposite. He ignores the running game other than occasional draw plays, eliminates power, and abuses wimpy short passes. The defense salivates because they are never being hit. The best teams attack those formations and batter the quarterback. I actually felt sorry for Connor Halliday last season vs. Stanford. It was like going 15 rounds and getting smacked in the face throughout. At the end of that game Halliday was literally staggering back to the huddle, and running the ball simply so he wouldn't take another lethal shot. Halliday was a decent college quarterback prospect. He deserved a better coach than Mike Leach.
My annoyance with the Canes last Saturday night was that our new version of the spread shares too many similarities with Mike Leach style, and barely anything with Auburn. As I mentioned that night, we ran the ball 5 times in the first quarter. That's basically what Leach averages per quarter throughout his career. It is asking to fail, for the quarterback to be roughed up. Granted, it's only one game, and perhaps we were ******** around in a game we knew we would win handily. Still, the danger is there. James Coley has yet to demonstrate that he understands the enormous benefit of running at least 40 to 50 times per outing.
I have to say that I wasn't happy when Mike Leach lost to Portland State. My +31 was never in doubt. You don't want the Cougar alumni base grumbling already, to the point that Leach is fired. That money-making circus act needs to continue. Last year Leach was a tiny home underdog 4 times within the conference and I don't think he came within 3 touchdowns in any of them. Cupcakes.