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The man who very well might finish as high as third in Heisman voting behind Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray was nearly third on the Alabama depth chart behind Tagovailoa this season. Gardner Minshew was a regarded enough grad transfer that Alabama had just about locked him up before Mike Leach gave him a phone call about the spot in Pullman.The Tide had offered the East Carolina departee an eventual spot as a grad assistant Calvin Ridley Jersey Limited , presumably looking for backup insurance in the event of Jalen Hurts transferring. Leach offered him the chance to lead the nation in passing yardage. Minshew has done that, currently throwing for 48 more yards per game than anybody else and on pace for FBS’ first 5,000-yard season since Patrick Mahomes. In a year when Leach’s Cougars were losing QB Luke Falk, three starting OL, two top wideouts, DC Alex Grinch, and defensive star Hercules Mata’afa, no one thought too much of Washington State’s chances. Indeed the Cougars were close to a total rebuild when Tennessee’s AD was trying to hire Leach. Instead they patched in Minshew and are 9-1 with a good shot at a Pac-12 title and an outside shot at a playoff berth. The QB’s best known nationally for his look, which has included planting a Minshew-style mustache on Leach during a victory celebration ...... but more importantly, Minshew might be the best passer Leach has coached in Pullman.Back when Michael Lewis was writing features on Leach in the New York Times, the air raid co-founder had been rotating different 4,000-yard passers in every season at Texas Tech. After starting Kliff Kingsbury for three years, Leach plugged in four different QBs in four years, a parade of a fifth-year seniors in 2003 (B.J. Symons), 2004 (Sonny Cumbie), and 2005 (Cody Hodges) before another youngster in 2006 (Graham Harrell).Crucially, starters regularly got redshirts and backup seasons before taking over. It was normal for a starting Leach QB to have taken literally thousands of practice reps in each air raid concept. They were finely tuned cogs in a machine.Minshew didn’t arrive in Pullman until August, yet he’s executing the Leach air raid at a higher level than Falk did with three years of experience. Part of the reason is that Minshew has the equivalent of nearly three years of starting experience within the system between his year at Northwest Community College and two years of sporadic duties at ECU. Minshew also spent the spring working with Hal Mumme, Leach’s fellow chief air raid innovator. Then there were the three years he spent as the starting QB for Brandon High School near Jackson, Mississippi. And now Minshew could have the highest passer rating of any Leach QB since Harrell.Minshew was always an accurate passer with great feel and tight mechanics for throwing the ball on time, as you can see from his JUCO highlights ...... and he’s always had a knack for executing this style of offense, but simply didn’t have the platform to be well known around the country. But spending year after year in the system and concepts that Leach made into best practices for programs around the country gave him something close to a redshirt and thousands of practice reps.Now that Minshew is at WSU, the Cougars are operating the air raid at a much higher level than expected in what has turned out to be a down year for the league. Minshew has proved highly accurate in throwing to different parts of the field and quickly scanning through progressions.The Cougs’ season opened against one of the best defenses on the schedule, the Wyoming Cowboys, and Minshew led a 41-19 road victory http://www.atlantafalconsteamonline.com/calvin-ridley-jersey , throwing for 319 yards and three TDs with a single INT against constantly shifting looks.On this pass, he beat the deep safety on a post route with perfect placement to Dezmon Patmon, a 6’4, 220-pound junior who’s emerged in a big way. First, Minshew eyes the deep safety and keeps him off the route, then he quickly sets and hits his big receiver in stride and outside the hash with time to collect the ball before the hit comes.Minshew is also fantastic at getting the ball out quickly in Leach’s classic, fast-hitting schemes like mesh ...... and shallow cross.It’s hard to convert in the red zone in this style of offense unless the QB is precise with his timing and accuracy to hit the briefly open windows that can be found when bodies start to pack in tight.Finally, he’s good at extending plays with his legs, when the finely tuned machine doesn’t create a clean look. He doesn't show off his athleticism all that often, but enough to get the job done. He also allows the Cougars to use some zone-read that makes it easier to run the ball from four-receiver sets. When a really effective pocket passer adds any degree of mobility (and he’s 220 pounds), it’s generally the final piece to the puzzle for a spread offense. When an air raid QB can distribute quickly and create opportunities even if you do cover all five receivers, things get truly dicey for defenses. That’s more or less why Mahomes is dominating the NFL.It’s amazing that Leach was able to find a fitting talent of this caliber with this level of experience, all outside of his own program. Welcome to Week 11 of the 2018 College Football Empires Map. Here are the rules:To begin the season, each FBS team was given control of its surrounding territory. Each game that involves one or two teams with territory results in the winner claiming all of it. Results carry on week to week, so teams are always in the process of trying to regain or expand land. For more detailed rules, check out Week 1’s explanation.Here’s the updated 2018 map after Week 11, with notes to follow.Alabama posted their second shutout in a row and annihilated Mississippi State, taking control of Starkville, Manhattan (Kansas), Lexington, Gainesville, Louisiana Lafayette, and Central Michigan.Iowa State fought Baylor and added Colorado State, Oklahoma, and several territories in Maryland to its empire.Ohio State defeated Michigan State and retook its homeland Youth Keanu Neal Jersey , as well as all of the land lost in the Purdue game.In a battle of independent teams, BYU defeated UMass, taking charge of UAB from the Minutemen.Stony Brook defeated Delaware, capturing Temple’s home territory, which has been passed around the FCS.Next week!Iowa State and Texas will fight to keep their Big 12 title hopes alive and, more importantly, will also be playing for all of the land that the Big 12 owns.Notre Dame will look to keep its undefeated season alive, along with all the land gathered in a somewhat surprising top-15 matchup against Syracuse.UCF will take on its first top-25 opponent of the season, Cincinnati, which will hope to show College GameDay and the nation it’s deserving of a New Year’s Six position.UAB, an army that only relaunched itself two years ago, will take on Texas A&M to protect its land and look to gain its first-ever AP Top 25 ranking.Army will take on its second consecutive FCS team this week, but this one will likely prove more of a challenge. Colgate enters 9-0 with a scoring differential of 223-26.The season to this point:Stats!Territories1. Notre Dame- 212. Alabama- 173. Iowa State- 16t4. Ohio State and Clemson- 12CountiesAlabama - 556Iowa State - 320Notre Dame - 313Michigan - 306Arizona State - 268PopulationNotre Dame -65,906,571Ohio State -44,483,938Iowa State -29,223,468Clemson -24,114,545Alabama -23,947,383Land Area (sq. miles)Georgia - 700,256Arizona State - 454,000Alabama - 376 Authentic Julio Jones Jersey ,708Notre Dame - 353,924Iowa State -289,638We’re also keeping track of a version of this map that began in 2017 and is running for multiple years.On the Historical Map, Iowa State defeated Baylor, gaining the homelands of UAB and Coastal CarolinaOhio State spent the last three weeks without a presence on the Historical Map. That, however, came to an end this week as the Buckeyes defeated Michigan State and took back the empire they had lost to Purdue.Week 12 Historical Map games ranked by likelihood of land transferSMU vs. Memphis: Memphis enters as a favorite, but SMU has been improving greatly as the season continues, taking Cincinnati to overtime and defeating Houston. Both are also looking to keep their American title hopes alive.Iowa State vs. Texas: Both enter tied for third in the Big 12. The winner will stay alive in the Big 12 title race, and the loser will be eliminated.UCF vs. Cincinnati: The two front runners in the American face off for all the land UCF has gathered, the lead in the AAC, and the lead in the race for the Group of 5 New Year’s Six spot.Notre Dame vs. Syracuse: Syracuse will look to destroy Notre Dame’s title hopes and move into the top 10 as well.Ohio State vs. Maryland: Maryland will look for a good moment in a disaster of a season with an upset over Ohio State, a loss that would eliminate Ohio State from the Playoff.Georgia vs. UMass: If UMass wins this game, it would go down as one of the biggest upsets ever.North Dakota State vs. Southern Illinois: Southern Illinois has two wins this season. North Dakota State has won 16 games in a row and won 24 of their last 25. Southern Illinois doesn’t have much of a chance, to say the least.Alabama vs. The Citadel: The Citadel has experience beating an SEC team, as they beat South Carolina in 2015. That Citadel team, however, was 8-3, and that South Carolina team was 3-8. This season is a different story. This Citadel team is 4-5, and this Alabama team is one of the best teams of all time. Simply put, this would be an upset that not even 2007 could’ve given us.