Author Archives: Matthew

by | October 21, 2012 · 5:16 pm

What The Mariners Need To Do

As I noted last week, it’s hard to know what the Mariners are planning this offseason.  Payroll is the big question pertaining to the team on the field.  According to Cot’s, they currently only have about $40 million on the books for 2013, but that only accounts for four players (one of whom hopefully won’t be on the roster–Chone Figgins), Danny Hultzen’s draft contract and a Miguel Olivo buyout.  When arbitration raises and filling out the remaining roster spots are considered, I’ve heard $60 million as a likely number.  I can’t imagine they plan to spend just $60 million on payroll next year.  If they do, I will not be happy.  That would be ridiculous, but unfortunately not impossible or even particularly surprising.

The best bet is for the payroll to rise to the neighborhood of $85 million, where it was to start 2012.  That’s no guarantee, but I would expect it in that range.  All of this speculation serves no real purpose, except to illustrate that they could potentially have a lot of money to spend, as well as the situation’s uncertainty.  How large that amount is will determine the path they take this offseason.  2013 could bring a nearly identical team to 2012, give or take a bargain veteran.  It could also bring a couple of major additions through free agency or trade.  I don’t expect the Mariners will make any kind of announcement about their 2013 payroll, for negotiating purposes, so fans won’t likely know what they’re going to do until rumors spread or something happens.

All that said, there are moves the Mariners need to make and holes they need to fill.  They’ve already made a great first move with the decision to bring in the fences.  It’s difficult to ascertain the immediate effect of the change, but count me as one who thinks it could be huge.  Even if it just gives the young hitters a little more confidence and leads to more exciting games, that’s enough for me.

Here are a few more moves that I would like to see happen. Continue reading →

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by | October 20, 2012 · 9:33 am

UW vs. Arizona Predictions

Just a couple of quick thoughts before the predictions…

  • I don’t follow high school football real closely, but it seems the Seattle area is especially potent this year.  Bellevue is ranked #3 in the country by ESPN.  They have one current Husky commit, MLB Sean Constantine (who unfortunately just broke his arm but should be back for the playoffs).  Myles Jack is a terror at LB and RB, and while he’s currently committed to UCLA, people seem to think there’s a good chance he changes to the Huskies.  That’s not even mentioning junior Budda Baker, who will easily be the top recruit in the state next year as a RB/Safety.  Out in Sammamish, Skyline’s good like always and Max Browne is the top quarterback in the country.  At least two other quarterbacks are Division I commits, Bellarmine Prep’s Sefo Liufau to Colorado and Eisenhower’s (in Yakima, my hometown) Kolney Cassel to Southern Methodist.  I don’t know how good the teams are throughout the state, but there’s plenty of talent, led by Danny Mattingly in Spokane.  He’s committed to Notre Dame, but the Huskies and others are working on him.  And how about the kickers?  Mt. Si’s Cameron Van Winkle will be a Husky next year, and Austin Rehkow kicked a record 67-yarder in Spokane this week.  Congratulations to everyone so far, and get out and see a game if you get a chance.
  • We’ll get more into recruiting once December and January hit, but it’s shaping up to be a fun year.  The Huskies have 18 current commits, a class rated #2 in the Pac-12 right now.  It’s not expected they’ll take too many more than that, but experts have speculated that as much as half the class could be different by the time signing day gets here.  The good news is that the Huskies are still in on some big-time prospects.  I’ll try to put up a more detailed post if the Huskies have a big weekend of visitors soon.
  • On the basketball recruiting side, news is looking good.  PG Nigel Williams-Goss, a playmaking true point type, has been committed for a while.  This week, Darin Johnson, a shooting guard from California, committed.  Both are four star recruits.  The Dawgs will likely take two more players, and those will hopefully be forward Aaron Gordon and SG Isaac Hamilton.  Hamilton is the less likely of the two, but that’s fine if they get Gordon, who is possibly the best player in the country.  He’s a skilled high flyer who has been high on the Huskies for a while.  We’ll see if they can hold off Arizona and Kentucky, among others.

On to the predictions!

Andrew

This is a hard game to pick.  On one hand, the death march that is the Husky schedule is over.  They are now playing teams that they probably have more talent than and should be able to compete with and get some wins.  Arizona has a terrible defense and the Huskies will actually score tomorrow.  On the flip side, night games in Arizona are so weird.  They seem to use some sort of trickery down there in the desert.  Maybe the Sun Devil helps both teams?  I don’t know.  I’m getting off track.  Arizona’s offense is incredible and our defense is much improved.  Our offense is struggling and Arizona’s defense is terrible.  That all looks like a draw to me.  There doesn’t seem to be a clear advantage in the special teams department.  Maybe these teams will tie?  You can’t do that.  Today on KJR, Sark said that they’ve had this game circled on their calendar before the season started.  He said that they knew the second half would be incredibly important and called this game the biggest of the year.  It seems like he and his team know the importance of tomorrow.  I was going to pick Arizona until I heard that interview.  He won me over and now I think the Dawgs pull this one out.  The defense will need to get opportunistic stops and get tough in the red zone.  The offense needs to roll.  There’s no other option.  Keith Price can do it.

UW 38 – Arizona 31

Dan

The Dawgs roll into Tucson licking their wounds from the past 2 weeks. At 3-3, UW has gotten past the toughest part of the schedule, and it feels like they’ve approached a fork in the road. Tomorrow night’s game could propel the Huskies to a strong finish, and I will be rooting hard for that, but the schedule only gets slightly easier now and things could quickly unravel for the Huskies. The new and improved defense will have its hands full yet again against Rich Rod’s dynamic spread. Zona will score often, so to me this game will come down to whether Keith Price and the Washington offense can keep pace. I see a good ole Saturday night barn burner, full of entertainment, but ultimately Arizona has just enough firepower to beat this searching, beaten up Husky team.

Wildcats 38 – Huskies 34

Matthew

This game could very well shape the rest of the season, for both of these teams.  The Arizona offense is potent, but it’s potentially a better matchup for a Husky defense strong in the secondary.  The Huskies need to stay strong against an excellent running back in Kadeem Carey and find a way to muster a bit of a pass rush when Matt Scott holds the ball for any time at all.  I think the Huskies can hold them relatively in check, but the question is whether they will from the beginning.  That seems to always be the question with this team.  This game will likely come down to how healthy the Husky offense can get against a terrible Arizona defense.  I’m betting they feel pretty good by tomorrow morning.

Huskies 38 – Wildcats 28

Joe

The Huskies come into their Saturday night match up with Arizona as the worst passing offense in league. Not many followers of this program even thought that possible at the beginning of the year, yet here we are.  Keith Price has regressed from last season. Kasen Williams and ASJ have yet to make any significant impact on opposing defenses, and the remaining receiving corps have been very quiet. The reasons for this are manifold: the offensive line’s pass blocking has been sub par, Price simply does not look like the same QB from last year, losing starting tailback Jesse Callier and frankly the level of opponents has been strong. Throw all that together and you get a mess in the passing attack. The good news?  Arizona! The ‘Cats are simply terrible defensively, ranking near the bottom of the Pac-12 in every category imaginable. U of A simply cannot get pressure on the QB, and they don’t force turnovers. This will be the first game since PSU that UW should be able to move the ball, even in light of the above negatives casting a shadow on the offense. I fully expect Keith Price to find a rhythm and have a big game in tandem with Kasen Williams, who is flat out due to have an 8 catch, 190 yard 2 TD performance. Watch for the Dawgs to run as well, giving Bishop Sankey a heavy work load. I feel really good about this game despite the traditionally notorious and bizarre effect a night game in Tuscon can have on road opponents. I think the Huskies have more talent, top to bottom, than the Wildcats, which will lead to a wild, yet satisfying win.

UW 38 – UA 34

Go Dawgs!

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by | October 13, 2012 · 9:12 am

UW vs. USC Predictions

I’m already late putting this up, so I’ll just dive into the picks.  If you want a little more of an introduction, read Andrew’s post below.  Here we go!

Dan

In the Sark era, the Huskies have typically been extremely motivated to play the Trojans. UW has won 2 of the past 3 meetings, but it is hard to know which Washington team will show up tomorrow. Against top tier competition like LSU and Oregon, UW has not put up a fight. This is a trend that has developed over the past few years, with few exceptions. USC may or may not be in the same top tier category, but there is no denying the talent on their roster is second to none. CenturyLink Field is not the same home field advantage that Husky Stadium offers, and when it comes down to it, I see the Trojans making enough explosive plays and rattling Keith all day long. The Huskies will put up a fight, but fall short tomorrow.

USC-30, Washington-20

Joe

For some reason I feel good about this game. Maybe it’s just my optimistic side coming out, maybe it’s pure psychology after getting waxed by Oregon, or maybe it’s the fact that USC simply doesn’t have a stellar track record playing on the road in Seattle. Whatever the treason, I see the Huskies bouncing back this week and playing well.  USC obviously presents problems offensively. Lee and Woods paired with Barkley and Redd is potent. USC will score in this game. How much is the key. With the Dawgs offense struggling to find an identity, even a mediocre offensive performance by the Trojans will likely net them a win.  I hope to see Sark commit to the run early and often. Bishop Sankey has played well enough to earn the trust of the coaches and see more touches. I’m not high on USC’s defense, so I expect UW to move the ball. Unfortunately red zone offense has been poor and Keith Price simply hasn’t played like the Price we saw last year, mostly due to lousy pass protect.  In the end, even though my heart and a big part of my head says UW pulls the upset, I’ll go with Vegas on this one.

USC 33 – UW 20

Andrew

The Huskies will have to fight an uphill battle tomorrow against a team that is more talented than they are.  Yeah, what else is new?  When looking at the Husky schedule before the season we all hoped that the Huskies would be 3-3 after these first 6 games.  Sure, 4-2 would be great but it just wasn’t very reasonable.  Now, it doesn’t seem all that far away.  The Huskies play at home tomorrow where they have won 10 of their last 11 games.  The Trojan defense is giving up 26 points per game on the road and haven’t played any dynamic offenses yet.  The Huskies haven’t put together a complete game yet, no, not even against Stanford.  I see this game either going to the Huskies in a close win or the Trojans in a 2 or 3 score game.  As I’ve given you stats and information that suggests that the Dawgs might have a chance tomorrow, all I can think about Robert Woods and Marqise Lee.  We only have one really good corner and that’s the biggest reason I’m picking USC.  I hope I’m wrong.

USC 35 – UW 20

Matthew

Andrew’s written before about how terrible I am at making predictions.  In the heat of the moment during a game, as soon as I make a pronouncement about how the game’s going to go, the opposite happens.  So I’m always a little hesitant to pick my team, knowing my unique jinxing powers.  I’m also leading our Pac-12 predictions though, so I think this power only exists during games.  Anyway, I’m picking the Huskies to win today.  I’m by no means positive they will, but I think they have a great shot.  They’re slowly working on their issues.  The offensive line has improved and was fine against Oregon, not a strength but at least serviceable. The running game and defense are far ahead of where they were last season and early this year, respectively.  I’m betting today is the day the Keith Price and the Husky passing game explodes.  The Dawgs will have to cut out the mistakes they made at Oregon, but they do much better at that in Seattle and when the opponent isn’t Oregon.  I don’t think anyone feels that this is a game the Huskies have no chance of winning.  I think the Huskies play their best game of the year and pull out the upset.

UW 27 – USC 21

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by | October 11, 2012 · 8:16 pm

The Confusing Mariner Off-season

Let’s take a quick break from football to talk about the Mariners.  You may or may not have noticed that the Mariners’ season ended a while ago.  You may or may not care.  The Mariners may not have crossed your mind since about July.  Most likely, you hadn’t thought about them until you noticed one of the playoff games this week and thought, “Playoffs.  The Mariners must be done for the year.”

To sum up quickly, the M’s were bad, and then they were decent.  Some players were disappointing, but some surprised positively.  Felix is the best.  And, in the end, they were pretty much exactly what we expected: a 75 win team.  That’s obviously not great, but it is improvement.

This off-season is one of the more confusing I remember the Mariners facing, at least from my perspective.  The Mariners front office might not be confused at all.  I hope they’re not.  To us on the outside, however, there are three big issues complicating any expectations:

They’re still young. More importantly, most of their young guys haven’t clearly demonstrated their capabilities.  Moving forward, Seager looks like a sure bet to at least be average.  Jaso clearly has a role, but whether it’s at catcher or elsewhere is less clear.  Saunders was a revelation, but if you’re being picky, he’s not a sure thing at all.  Montero was okay and should get better, but again, no guarantees, plus the catcher defense thing lingers.  Ackley and Smoak were huge disappointments, but it seems too early to give up on them, especially Ackley.  Lots of questions, few clear answers. Continue reading →

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by | October 5, 2012 · 9:37 pm

UW vs. Oregon Predictions (Or Not)

As has become our tradition, there will be no Husky predictions for the game versus Oregon tomorrow.  This is nothing more than a sidestep around an honest prediction, because none of us could truthfully pick Washington to win this game.  When the Huskies regain their footing in this series, we will make predictions.  For now, take our silence as acquiescence to the Ducks domination.

That’s not to say that the Huskies aren’t making some level of progress.  I expect a closer game than we’ve seen recently, although that potentially still means a blowout.  I think the improved speed and simplified scheme of the Husky defense, not to mention Justin Wilcox’s creativity, gives them a chance to limit Oregon in a way that would have been incomprehensible last season.  The Husky offense is the danger here.  While Oregon’s defense is not as physical and pounding as Stanford’s and LSU’s were, it is faster and near the same talent level.  The Huskies must find a couple extra seconds for Keith Price to throw and running lanes for Bishop Sankey to fill.

While Oregon is undefeated and number two in the country, they are somewhat untested.  They demolished Arizona, who is probably not much worse than UW, if at all, but Arizona is a much different team: offensively talented but still seeking identity, with a spotty defense.  It’s unclear exactly what the Huskies are, still, but that’s also true of the Ducks.  An incredibly soft out of conference schedule has left open the potential for a Duck squad waiting to be exposed.  Their offensive line isn’t quite as dominant as usual, and LaMichael James’ departure has left them just a tiny bit short in the dependable playmaking department.  Throw in a freshman quarterback who occasionally makes freshman mistakes, and there’s a chance of something happening here, but the chance is slim.  Oregon is still fast and disciplined and coached by a genius.

It’s common for teams to play the Ducks tight for a half.  The Cougars just did it, and the Dawgs have done it before.  I hope to see more than that this time.  If the Huskies can keep Oregon within arm’s reach into the fourth quarter, I’ll be happy.  There are no moral victories, but sometimes an actual victory takes a few steps, and a competitive game throughout would be the first of those steps.

Go Dawgs.

-Matthew

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by | September 26, 2012 · 8:14 pm

UW vs. Stanford Predictions

Andrew wrote a nice little preview about the game earlier, so I won’t go too far into it here. This game is a chance to show progress, or show that not that much has changed. No one is really expecting a win, but given the matchup and injury issues, even a close game would be a welcome sight.

Regardless of how the game goes, it’s the Blackout of the Century, so we’ve got that going for us. Those don’t happen very often. Maybe they’ll play without power.

Matthew

I want to predict a Husky win here, but they’ve given no good reason to do so. I do think they’re better than last year, and Stanford is worse, but I don’t think the gap has narrowed enough for a Husky victory. The best hope is for some big plays and turnovers. Maybe Josh Nunes will get rattled and an already weak Stanford passing attack will become non-existent. Of course, the Dawgs would still have to stop the run. They have a shot here. It would be a tough win, but it’s possible. I’m just non expecting it.

Stanford 35 – UW 24

Joe

I have been so completely engulfed in the “Golden-gate” fiasco, I haven’t paid much attention to the fact UW essentially has no offensive line and will be running with freshman running backs against the number one rushing defense in the country. So safe to say the Dawgs won’t get a running game going. Other than that negative, I actually feel good about the game. Granted Stanford is a bad match up for UW, but Stanford hasn’t blown anyone of note out this year. A seven point win over USC is nice, but how good is USC really, at this point we don’t know. So my point is this is Stanford’s first road test, so we don’t know what they’ll do. I think a blow out is very possible, but I don’t anticipate one. The Huskies will play well, I am certain of this. Stanford will too. They are coached well, always prepared. Therefore, if both teams play well, it will be close, and the home crowd will make it closer, but the visitors will win. Stanford will be too much.

Cardinal 24 – Huskies 16

Dan

Just before kickoff here at the clink, loving the energy but I can’t see home field making up for the difference between the big boys in the trenches.

Cardinal 27 – Huskies 20

Andrew

I’ve tried to talk myself into this game all week. I tell myself that the Stanford offense isn’t anything like last year and the Husky defense is vastly improved. I tell myself that their offensive line isn’t quite as strong as last year. I tell myself that their defensive line probably isn’t as good as LSU’s, so the offensive line is at least a little bit battle tested. I tell myself that we have Keith Price and he’s ready for a signature game. But what prevails in my head is the disappointment of our ranked team going down to Palo Alto and getting beat 65-21 last year. I remember 41-0 the year before. Stanford has beaten the Dawgs like nobody else the last 2 years and I don’t think this team will overcome all of that tomorrow. The score will be better than last year but I anticipate this game being over at the start of the 4th quarter. I hope I’m wrong.
Stanford -35 UW – 17
Go Dawgs!

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by | September 23, 2012 · 12:06 pm

Pac-12 Power Rankings

The college football season is roughly a third of the way over, and nearly everyone has played a conference game or two (the Huskies are the only team without one, strangely).  There have already been quite a few surprises, so let’s take a second to step back and see where everyone stands.

I don’t claim these power rankings to be any better than anyone else’s.  I watch a good number of games and read a lot more, but there are plenty of teams I haven’t seen much of.  Still, everyone loves a power ranking, so I’ll throw one up here.  I’m ranking teams based almost entirely on what they’ve done so far, both in terms of record and how they’ve looked.  If two teams are close or if there are significant outside circumstances, I’ll look at who is most likely to be successful in the future.  That’s secondary though, and this will mainly be a ranking of how good teams have been thus far.  Here goes nothing:

1. Oregon

Oregon is the second ranked team in the country and has demolished everyone it’s faced.  That’s not saying a lot though, as Arizona is the only decent team they’ve played.  The Wildcats hung with them for a while last night, but eventually the Ducks pitched a shutout and won 49-0.  To me, they don’t look as good as they have in the last couple of years, but it’s hard to say for sure until they play someone who will test them offensively and defensively.

2. Stanford

The Cardinal has the best win in the conference, over USC, a pounding defense, and plenty of power in the running game with Stepfan Taylor and a big offensive line.  What they also have is a rookie quarterback and a couple of unimpressive wins before the USC game.  That’s just to say that we’re not positive where they’ll go from here, especially when they hit the road, but they certainly looked the part against USC.

3. USC

This is where the rankings get a little difficult, as 3-5 could all be argued as interchangeable.  We’ll go with USC because of pedigree, talent and the quality of their loss, but they have questions.  They need to dramatically improve on the offensive line and hope they don’t lose any more players to injury.  More interestingly, what will Lane Kiffin do the rest of the year?  He seems on the verge of melting down and is starting to show the attitude that got him in trouble in Oakland and Tennessee.

4. Oregon State

OSU has two impressive wins and a stifling defense.  I seriously considered them at #3.  In the end, they’re here because they’ve only played two games (through no fault of their own) and had an extra week to prepare for each of them, as Andrew pointed out to me last night. It’s too early to call them a definite contender, but they look the most legitimate of all the surprise teams thus far.

5. Arizona State

The Sun Devils have had plenty of talent recently.  Last year they were the popular pick to win the South before imploding completely.  This year they look like they’ve ironed out the attitude problems and are playing great football.  They have a bunch of playmakers, a decent defense, and a surprisingly efficient and effective quarterback in Taylor Kelly.  It may not last, but they look tough at the moment.

6. Arizona

Arizona might have been #4 before last night, but Oregon brought them back to reality quickly.  One could argue that UA held the Ducks down for a bit, but that’s often how Oregon wins games.  The Wildcats are definitely improved, but it’s hard to know how much or if it will last.

7. UCLA

This might be too low, but I’ll be a skeptic on UCLA until they do something for a full season or two.  The Nebraska win was good, but they’ve had big early wins before falling apart in the past.  They have a great young QB in Brett Hundley, but will he hit the freshman wall at some point?  Maybe the biggest question is whether Jim Mora’s toughness campaign has had any effect.

8. Washington

UW is the hardest team to call in the conference.  They have blowouts going both directions that were completely unsurprising.  The San Diego State win is decent, but they’ve looked fairly mediocre on both sides of the ball.  Really, the Huskies have done exactly what they were supposed to do, so the only thing to do is see if they can pull off an upset in the next month.

9. Utah

Utah has a decent win against BYU, but otherwise they look nothing like a team expected to be the biggest South challenger to USC.  The offense is a big question, with a hole at quarterback and their only real star, RB John White, hampered with injury so far.  I would bet that Utah pulls it together to win a few more, but I’d be surprised if they break .500.

10. California

I don’t have a clue what to make of the Golden Bears.  Talent-wise, they should be at least middle of the pack, and they looked that way against Ohio State.  Otherwise, it’s not happening on the field.  The only thing that seems clear is that QB Zach Maynard and the offensive line have to be consistently effective, and that isn’t happening right now.

11. Colorado

Congratulations to the Buffs, who stampeded their way out of the cellar yesterday.  Colorado showed good resolve and fight to pull out the win over WSU, but the talent doesn’t look to be there for many more wins.  I would imagine if they get to three or four, fans will feel moderately hopeful for the future after a dreadful start.

12. Washington State

And here are the Cougars, back in their familiar resting place.  Other than possibly USC, I don’t think any team has had a more disappointing start to the season than the Cougs.  With all of the hope from the Mike Leach hire, a 4-0 start and a bowl game seemed like a solid possibility.  Instead, they’re 2-2, with neither of the wins looking impressive and one of the losses to a team that was being talked of as potentially going 0-12.  The defense looks untalented and mistake-prone, a bad combination.  The offense has talent, but the Air Raid is taking longer to click than most expected.  At this point, the quarterbacks are a bit of a question.  Jeff Tuel is hurt and looked unsure of himself when he did play.  Connor Halliday has been better than Tuel, but he’s a gambler type prone to interceptions.  Even more concerning is the psyche/attitude of the team.  Leach didn’t seem to bring the reset they needed.  It’s hard not to wonder whether this group of players will ever understand what it takes to win football games.  I’d expect a little bit of improvement, but a shot at a bowl game seems out the window.

-Matthew

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by | September 14, 2012 · 9:54 pm

UW vs. PSU Predictions

It’s late and I’m tired, so we’ll jump right into the predictions this week. Nothing from Danny. Too bad.

Danny

The Huskies will get a win tomorrow so long as they show up and remember their uniforms and cleats. Could they win tomorrow without cleats? Something to ponder. I question if this team can run the ball, play consistent defense, and most of all, stay healthy. I don’t know that enough can happen in this game to put all my concerns to rest, but a blowout win would be a start. Im sure this is Portland State’s super bowl and they will be fired up, however, in games like this you just have to look at the talent divide. The gap is enormous in this matchup, so even if UW plays a sloppy game, they should cruise.

UW 40 – PSU 13

Joe

This is a pretty simple prediction. UW will win, and win big. Sark is in no mood to struggle in this game and I do believe this team will respond. The LSU debacle is behind them. What to learn from that game? LSU is elite, UW is not. We all knew that. I think we all expected UW to play better, but they didn’t and LSU rolled. Ok. The Huskies in most areas beat up San Diego State, which I think was encouraging. So if they blow out PSU, I think all we have is the SDSU game because LSU and PSU really don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. Get by the Vikings and focus on the most important game of the year, Stanford on a Thursday night! I am confident the Dawgs will get it done this weekend and gear up for the Cardinal.

UW 41 – PSU 10

Matthew

This shouldn’t be a game with which the Huskies struggle, even in their beleaguered state. I’m kind of tired of reading so much into how the Huskies play. They’re going to win or they’re going to lose. They looked bad last week and mediocre the week before, but what do we really know about them? They’re much worse than LSU in Death Valley. Big surprise. I’ll just be happy with a win at this point, but I expect a blowout. This is a chance for the Huskies to get a little momentum. Ideally, they’d win big, get the offense into gear, demonstrate some tackling ability, and then get healed up going into Stanford. That’d be great, but like I said, any win is good with me.

UW 45 – PSU 13

Andrew

(These first two paragraphs aren’t supposed to be included, but I get them every week and it makes me laugh, so I’m putting them in.)
What up, big boi? How about this weather! I’m sweating because I’m sitting in a leather chair and the sun is shining on me. Call it bad planning if you will but I call it a chance to lose some weight!
Does Portland State even know that pilots don’t really do anything. I take that back. Pilots fly planes and that’s more than I can do. But, take away a pilot’s plane and all you have is a guy in a weird hat, wearing some big goggles. They should rethink the name. Maybe the Portland State Losers because that’s what they’ll be tomorrow! Ooooooohhh! Here’s my prediction:

It’s been an interesting week at U-Dub. It was one of those weeks where I kind of wished that I wasn’t a hardcore fan and would just show up on Saturday’s for the games. But, because I’m not that, I get sucked into the talk radio and infinite blog posts out there. All the talk has been about the new practice policy. While I’m not for the policy, it really doesn’t affect my life if I know that Colin Tanigawa is starting this week or not. So, tomorrow I’m going to go to the game and enjoy a Husky victory. I don’t expect it to be close and I’ll be a little bit disappointed if it is. Here are three things I’ll be watching for:

1. The offense needs to look unstoppable. I want Keith Price to have a huge game and the receivers need to get open. A 3rd receiver needs to emerge behind Kasen and Kevin Smith. Perhaps most importantly of all, the running game has to look dominant.
2. The defense needs to prevent long drives. I’m okay with the Dawgs giving up a few big plays because Portland State’s offense seems to be decent. What I don’t want to see is Portland State gaining 7 or 8 yards every play on a drive.
3. The Backups. I want to see the backups in the game by midway through the fourth quarter. This would mean a Husky blowout and it would also mean some valuable time for our young guys. The Dawgs don’t usually have that optioin and it’s about time we see it.

I want a dominating performance tomorrow. I think Portland State will put up a few points but that should be after the Huskies jump out to a big lead. Go Dawgs!

Huskies – 52 Portland State – 17

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