Author Archives: Matthew

by | January 10, 2011 · 12:27 pm

National Championship Poll

Bob Condotta has this same poll on his blog, so I thought I’d throw it on here.  Tonight’s championship should be a pretty entertaining game, but it contains two fairly unlikeable teams, at least in my opinion.  Usually, cheering for a team from your conference is the way to go, but usually that team isn’t Oregon. 

So, the question is, do you want to see Oregon win a national championship or not?  I’m sure not all reading this are Husky fans, but Oregon isn’t exactly widely liked throughout the rest of the northwest, or the Pac-10, for that matter.  Some positives of the Ducks winning:

  • Helps with the perception of the Pac-10, which is always good.
  • Hopefully would shut up the SEC people a bit, who might be even more annoying than Oregon fans.

Negatives:

  • It’s Oregon trying to win the national championship.

Ultimately, I don’t care too much, but for the record, I’m picking Oregon 52-41.

-Matthew

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by | January 9, 2011 · 9:33 pm

UW Recruiting- Defensive Line

On to the defense.

Defensive Tackle

Commits

Danny Shelton  6’3″ 286 lbs.  Auburn HS (WA)

Maataua Brown  6’5″ 295 lbs.  Paramount HS (WA)

Possibilities

Uriah Grant  6’1″ 285 lbs.  Fullerton JC (CA)

According to Scout, Grant is the only remaining DT with a UW offer.  They also say UW is currently in the lead to land him, so we’ll see how it plays out.  He would really complete this class.

Overview

The Huskies missed out on several elite DT recruits before landing Shelton.  He was one of the most important commits in the class, as a local guy at a position of need who was also considering Oregon, among others.  Brown is a big, good prospect, but it sounds like it’s a toss up whether he’ll have the grades to get into school.  Grant would be a good pick up if Brown doesn’t make it in, although adding JC guys is always dicy in itself.  This is a good group, if not quite what Husky fans would have liked when DTs like Viliami Moala and Todd Barr were still considering UW.

Defensive End

Commits

Taniela Tupou  6’2″ 260 lbs.  Archbishop Murphy HS (WA)

Aubrey Coleman  6’6″ 215 lbs.  Walnut HS (WA)

Connor Cree  6’4″ 220 lbs.  Skyline HS (WA)

Possibilities

UW still has a number of offers out, but none of them are overly noteworthy.  I don’t expect this group to change much before signing day.  Then again, I know pretty much nothing about it, so who knows.

Overview

This looks like a sneaky good group.  Tupou is a four star guy, Scout’s 26th DE in the nation.  He committed so long ago that he’s become something of a forgotten man to a degree.  Coleman is one of the more intriguing players in the class.  ESPN has him in the top 150 recruits in the country, but Scout’s not quite as high on him.  He sounds like a freak athlete who plays wide receiver for his high school, but his position in college is unclear.  DE seems the most likely, but he could end up at TE, WR, or even some linebacker hybrid type position.  Cree is another local boy who looks like a good athlete as well.  Once again, I don’t know much, but I’d expect this group to make some noise in a few years.

-Matthew

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by | January 8, 2011 · 11:50 am

A New Husky

The Huskies picked up a new commitment this morning from safety James Sample out of California.  He announced during today’s Army All-American Bowl and is a pretty big pick-up.  He’s long been rumored to be coming to UW, but it’s good to hear him make it official.  Sample is a big hitter who could challenge for playing time immediately.  While a different type of safety, he’s comparable in rating and potential impact to Sean Parker in last year’s class, and that could be a great combo in a couple of years.

Sample makes three future Huskies in the game, joining previous commits Kasen Williams and Austin Seferian-Jenkins.  Unfortunately, the game is fairly unwatchable, as the teams throw like crazy but have had little time to build up any kind of rhythm.  Williams had a short catch and Sample made a nice tackle, but otherwise there hasn’t been much to see, halfway through the third.  Still, it’s good to see this many future Dawgs in this big of a game.

-Matthew

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by | January 8, 2011 · 11:35 am

UW Recruiting- Offensive Line

After taking a huge class of seven offensive linemen last year, this year’s class is lagging behind with only two current commitments.  Expect that number to grow before signing day, but it just isn’t as good of a year for offensive linemen, it appears.

Offensive Line

Commits

Dexter Charles  6’5″ 270 lbs.  Stanwood HS (WA)

Siosifa Tufunga  6’3″ 288  Jordan HS (Long Beach, CA)

Possibilities

Paulay Asiata  6’5″ 290 lbs.  St. Louis HS (Hawaii)

Akeem Gonzales  6’4″ 250 lbs.  Bishop Alameny HS (CA)

Cyrus Hobbi  6’3″ 285 lbs.  Saguaro HS (AZ)

According to Scout.com, these are the only three uncommitted players at the position currently holding offers from UW.  Hobbi is the highest rated player, but also sounds like the least likely to be a Husky.  The rumors are that Asiata is leaning toward UW, which would be pretty big.  Getting the best lineman in Hawaii is usually a good way to go.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see someone else get offered late.  I imagine the Huskies would like to take at least four linemen in this class.  I would expect at least one more commit for sure, hopefully Asiata. Continue reading →

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by | January 4, 2011 · 12:25 pm

It Keeps Getting Better

I’m excited to introduce the newest Good Guy, although this one probably won’t be writing for us anytime soon.  Dan became the proud father of Bennett Steven this morning.  His measurables were solid at 8 lbs. 6 oz and 20 inches, and I sensed Bennett’s incredible intangibles and charisma the moment I walked into the room.

After writing about lots of exciting events in the past few weeks, this is by far the best one for The Good Guys.  Congrulations Dan, and we’ll all understand if we don’t see many posts from you the rest of the year!  Continue reading →

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by | January 3, 2011 · 5:54 pm

Looking Ahead to UW 2011

There’s no time like the incredibly early to look ahead to next season.  After the glorious Holiday Bowl win, I was curious what the starting line up will look like next year.  There are some obvious losses, but it’s easy to focus on those and miss the bigger picture.  I’m not going to try to do a full 2 Deep or anything, but here’s the starters as I see them, along with any other major contributors worth noting.  Returning starters in bold.

Offense

QB  Keith Price or Nick Montana

RB  Chris Polk  / Jesse Callier / Deontae Cooper

FB  Zack Fogerson

WR  Jermaine Kearse / Kasen Williams /Kevin Smith

WR  Devin Aguilar / James Johnson / Cody Bruns

TE  Michael Hartvigson or Austin Seferian Jenkins

LT  Senio Kelemete

LG  Colin Porter

C  Drew Schaefer

RG  ?

RT  Erik Kohler

PK  Erik Folk Continue reading →

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by | January 3, 2011 · 12:19 pm

UW Recruiting- Wide Receiver & Tight End

Outside of Jermaine Kearse, the receiving positions lacked playmakers for the 2010 Huskies.  Luckily for the Dawgs, each position has an elite talent in this recruiting class, as the two highest rated players in the class are Kasen Williams and Austin Seferian-Jenkins.

Wide Receiver

Commits

Kasen Williams  6′ 3″ 215 lbs. Skyline HS (WA)

Josh Perkins  6′ 3″ 200 lbs. Gahr HS (Cal.)

Jamaal Jones  6’2″ 180 lbs. Graham-Kapowsin HS (WA)

Possibilities

The Huskies have a number of other offers out, but few of them seem likely to be Dawgs.  The possible exception is Marvin Hall, QB recruit Joseph Gray’s top target at Dorsey H.S.  Hall is a smaller receiver who might be a nice complement to the big guys already committed.  He’s slated to visit UW at the end of January and is planning to decide on or near signing day.

Overview

Williams is the big name here.  It’s no stretch to call him one of the greatest high school players in Washington state history.  He’s big, physical, a good route runner and tough to tackle.  Reportedly, he lacks elite speed but seems to fit that old Jerry Rice profile of never being caught from behind.  He’s probably the highest rated recruit UW has had since Reggie Williams, and definitely the most talented receiver since Reggie.  If he doesn’t receive a good chunk of playing time next year, it will be a surprise.  I don’t know much about the other two commits, but they fit the mold of big, athletic receivers that USC favored while Sarkisian was there.  This is a good group that should go a long way toward replacing Kearse and Aguilar when they graduate after next year. Continue reading →

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by | January 2, 2011 · 9:42 pm

One Week Down

Week one of the Pac-10 basketball season is over and the Huskies sit atop the Pac, tied at 2-0 in conference with Oregon State, of all teams.  The Dawgs now host the Oregon schools in what should be an easy week, although Saturday’s game against OSU could be interesting.  Some really quick observations:

  • WSU went winless against the same opponents UW swept.  WSU has lots of offensive talent, but it looks like they still have some holes, especially on the inside.  There’s lot of season left, but I can’t say they scare me a ton.  I’m always happy to see the Cougars lose, especially after they’ve been getting hyped up the last few weeks.
  • California and Stanford is now looking like the easiest road trip of the year.  Before the season, everyone would have guessed the Oregon schools would get that honor, and they still might, but Stanford doesn’t have many threats and Cal is extremely young.  Cal at least has a couple of decent post players, which might challenge the Dawgs, but they don’t have much else.
  • It’s hard to say right now who sits at #2 in the conference.  Arizona should be tough, but they just lost to OSU and didn’t look real great doing it.  The L.A. schools are the scariest to me, but they both have some holes.  WSU really came back to earth this week.  It’ll be really interesting seeing who emerges from this group, or if OSU can put together a few more wins.

All for now.  Have a good week, everybody.

-Matthew

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