Category Archives: Huskies Football

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by | September 3, 2011 · 8:42 pm

The Good Guys’ Husky Season Predictions

We’ve had more posts in the last day than we have in the last month!  This post got up a little late, but we promise that we wrote this before today’s game.  If we hadn’t these posts might not seem so optimistic.  More from the game later tonight or tomorrow.  Anyway, here are the Good Guys’ Husky season predictions:

Joe

It all comes down to the schedule. The Huskies have a tough road ahead, especially after the realignment to twelve teams. Playing in the P12 north means Stanford and Oregon will be on the schedule. Utah, on the other hand, doesn’t play either one. So right off the bat teams in the P12 north are at a scheduling disadvantage for 2011, the UW included. With road games at Stanford, USC, Utah, Nebraska and Oregon State, the path away from Husky Stadium will be tough. I see no real shot to beat Stanford or Nebraska on the road. Utah, USC and Oregon State are all winnable games, but the Dawgs will only get 2 of them. My road record prediction? 2-3.

At home is a different story. Eastern, Hawaii, Cal, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon and Wazzu. I can honestly see them going 6-1 at home. All of the games except Oregon are very winnable, in fact I expect them to win all of them except Oregon. Don’t get wrong, I do think they can win the Oregon game. It’s a classic trap game for the Ducks, the week before the smackdown with Stanford (and the weeks prior to UW they get Colorado and Wazzu, two games that could be blow outs, softening the Ducks senses a bit). So I am really hanging my hopes of beating Oregon on two things: The Ducks look past the Dawgs, and it’s the last game at the old lady, Husky Stadium, before the remodel. Both those intangibles help the Dawgs tremendously. The only thing the Ducks have going in that game, assuming they are undefeated, is to slide by and get to Stanford with no losses. It’s about freaking time the Dawgs beat the Ducks, I’m sick and tired of losing to the Univ of Nike. My heart says Dawgs win, my head says Ducks win. For the sake of my season preview, I’m going 6-1 home record.

In the end, the Huskies will be 8-4. I know that sounds very “kool-aidish”, but just look at that home schedule and tell me how they don’t go at least 5-2. The key is the road, they must get 2 wins this season away from Seattle if they have any dreams of another bowl appearance.

Dan

The 2011 Huskies have the most talent of any Washington team in the past 10 years. Pair this fact with a momentous end to last season, and another solid recruiting class, and expectations are high at Montlake. Not championship high, but close. The Huskies won 4 games last year by a touchdown or less, but their average margin of loss was 26.5 points. Given this, achieving 7 wins was a minor miracle last year. I doubt we see as many blowout losses, and I’d be surprised if the Huskies weren’t better, at least to the eye this year. Whether this improvement equates to a better win-loss record, we will have to wait and see. Looking at the schedule, 6.5 seems to be a fair line for wins. Most fans will probably say 7 or 8 wins, but I tend to think 6 is more likely, especially given the top to bottom strength of the conference. I think the Huskies are still 1 year away from championship contention, kind of like every other local team!
Andrew
Last time we saw the Dawgs they were celebrating in San Diego.  It seemed like Husky football was back.  The strong defense, power rushing team from the early 90’s showed up in late November and December and gave Husky fans reason to dream.  I think it’s clear that this program is on it’s way back and the 4 game winning streak to end last year proved that.  With that being said, this year is crucial for the program.  The Huskies lost their star quarterback and best player on defense.  It’s time for Sark to prove that his recruiting will make UW take another step forward.
I believe there will be some bumps along the road this year.  A new QB and a relatively young team will prove that.  But, I also believe that this team is the most talented team we’ve seen in Seattle since the wildly inconsistent 2002 team.  Are we going to be playing for a championship at the end of the season?  Probably not.  But, anything less than 6 wins and a bowl game would be a disappointment.
I don’t remember much from the early ’90’s since I was roughly 1, 2 or 3 years old during the Huskies best run.  I’ve read, heard, and learned about those teams and how nasty they were.  How they’d run the ball down opponents throats and suffocate teams with the purple-reign defense.  I’ve never seen much of that football at Husky Stadium.  This year, they’ll take another step to becoming that team and it will be a special year.  It seems fitting that this style of play will be back for the final year before the renovation.  I’m looking forward to the memories, because I think this year will bring a few of them.  No, we aren’t all the way back but we’re getting there.  The Dawgs scratch and claw their way to an 8-4 record (6 wins at home and 2 on the road) and Seattle will start dreaming about 2012 Pac-12 championships once the season is over.
Matthew
I touched on my general thoughts about the season the other day, but I’m going to look positively at this season. I’m tired of saying, the Huskies should be good, but I can’t quite bet on them to do it yet. That might still be true, but I’m going to expect big things anyway. Or slightly bigger things, anyway. I’m saying an 8-5 season. I can see them winning 7 or 8 in the regular season. If they win 7, they should have a very winnable bowl game. If they win 8, I’m not so sure about the bowl game, so 8-5 seems like a good guess.That said, I could see them edging their way to 9 or even 10 wins. To do that, they’ll likely have to beat one of the big three (Oregon, Stanford, Nebraska), and they’ll probably need a few of the Pac-12 teams on the edge to really fall apart. I’m looking at you, UCLA, Cal, Arizona and OSU. Let’s make it happen!

Individually, I think Alameda Ta’amu will be considered one of the three best defensive players in the league by the end. I expect Sean Parker to join the ranks of great Husky safeties. Kasen Williams and Austin Seferian-Jenkins will have the most impact of any offensive true freshmen since Reggie Williams. And that’s all I’ll write for now, because we’re on our way out the door for the game!

Go Dawgs!

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by | September 2, 2011 · 10:21 pm

UW vs. EWU Predictions

It’s finally here.  Without further ado, here are the Good Guy predictions for the battle royale at Husky Stadium tomorrow.

Joe

Eastern is no slouch, and I don’t think the Huskies will treat them as such. I believe Sark has the Huskies focused and prepared to play the Eagles at a high tempo and tons of emotion. I expect the Eagles to come out jacked and just as prepared, which I think will help the UW get “up” quicker than normal, especially when playing a perceived easy win. I honestly see the Huskies running the ball early, then working the middle of the field with ASJ. I expect Callier to get the bulk of the carries, even if Polk somehow plays or Fogerson. I’d be all for Callier getting a ton of carries. I think the Huskies WRs corps could be unstoppable, how EWU will combat that I have no idea. Defensively the Huskies will be fine, EWU hasn’t seen this level of talent in FCS. There won’t be a shutout, but I don’t expect EWU to move the ball at will. Early season game, lots of jitters, emotions, there will be crazy plays, blown assignments, timing will be off, and the Dawgs will win:

UW 31 – EWU 14

Dan

Even when Washington tries to schedule a cupcake for once, they fail. Eastern is no slouch, and if this were a week 2 game, or god forbid it was being played on the red turf, I’d be very nervous. But the Huskies are at home, and given that this is the first game, the players have had all offseason to think about the Eagles. Bo Levi Mitchell is a legit QB and he has a veteran group of receivers to throw to. I expect Eastern will move the offense through the air, and rack up decent passing totals between the 20s, but the Huskies are too deep, too talented, and too hungry to start 1-0. They can’t lose this game, and they won’t.

Washington–30, Ea. Washington–20

Andrew

If you follow the Huskies at all, you know this week the theme by the coaches has been “1-0.”  In fact, Sark has said that this was the theme since fall camp began.  “1-0.”  The Huskies haven’t started the season with a win since 2007, and if you remember that it wasn’t a feel good win.  We’ve also heard all week about how good Eastern Washington is.  It seems every person in the state has said, “Eastern is going to surprise on Saturday.”  I have no doubt that Eastern is a very good football team that is in the FCS.  But, they’re no match for the team they’ll face on Saturday.  They don’t have as much depth, talent, and it will take a minor miracle for them to win this game.  I’m sure the Dawgs are sick of hearing how Eastern is going to surprise them.  I’m sure they’re sick of Eastern players saying, “The Huskies don’t respect us” or things to that extent even though no Husky player or coach has come close to saying that.  It’s a Saturday on Montlake and Husky football is on its way back.  The Dawgs make it a bit stressful but then dominate.  Welcome back Huskies, I’ve been waiting for this since a certain night in late December.

Huskies 38, EWU 13 

Matthew

Eastern is certainly scarier than the typical FCS team, but I think their talent is maybe getting a bit overblown.  Could the Huskies lose this game?  Sure, it’s possible, I guess.  Will they? Not a chance in the world.  Eastern might score a few points, but I can’t see this being close.  My only question is how long it takes the Huskies to break away.  In past years, they’ve started slowly in the few blow outs they’ve had before pulling away later.  This Saturday, I’m hoping the first quarter has Jesse Callier running through 10-foot holes, Jermaine Kearse 20 feet behind the EWU secondary, and Bo Levi Mitchell flat on his back after every play.  Go Dawgs!

UW 48, EWU 17

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by | September 2, 2011 · 9:35 pm

Get Pumped!

softy – podcast – 950 KJR.

-Dan

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by | August 31, 2011 · 6:35 pm

Hello Dawg Fans

To anyone still reading this nearly dormant blog, welcome to the 2011 season of college football and the first season for the new Pac-12 Conference.  This is a favorite time of year for the Good Guys, so you should start to see a lot more posts here.  Personally, I am finally done with the graduate school that’s kept me from posting for the past 8 months or so, and I’m looking forward to getting back to writing.

The Pac-12 season kicks off for everyone this week, with Arizona State and Utah both kicking off tomorrow and everyone else starting the season on Saturday.  The only real attention grabbers for the weekend are UCLA at Houston and the battle of off-season troublemakers between Oregon and LSU.  Everyone else plays an FCS or comparable team.  Not to say that all of the teams have a definite win, but even the Cougars should have a pretty easy go of it this week.

Reading through the multitude of Pac-12 previews over the last few weeks, the conference seems unsure, at least after Oregon and Stanford at the top.  Oregon, despite the offseason drama, is still as fast as anyone and a threat to return to the BCS championship.  Stanford has a few more questions after losing Jim Harbaugh and several receivers, but they still have Andrew Luck and as much or more talent as anyone else in the conference.  Expect these two to stay at the top of the league, perhaps meeting as undefeated teams later in the season. Unfortunately, both play in the new North division with the Huskies, meaning that only one of them can play in the new Pac-12 Championship.  Of course, if the Huskies want to play in it instead, they’ll probably have to beat at least one of these teams and win just about everything else.  More on them in a bit.

After those two, the pecking order is anything but clear.  In the south, there is talent with question marks.  ASU looked like the top dog, but they’ve suffered some major injury losses, and the Sun Devils haven’t met expectations since Jake the Snake was there, as far as I can remember.  USC still has excellent talent, but they’re banned from the postseason.  Utah is always good, but how they’ll transition to the Pac-12 is a big question.  Arizona could put up crazy passing numbers if they’re o-line holds up.  Even UCLA and Colorado seem like they could surprise, although each have big questions or weaknesses.  I could truly see just about any order of finish in the south, but none of these teams seem truly dominant.

There is similar uncertainty after Stanford and Oregon in the north.  California might have the conference’s top defense to go with some weapons on offense.  If new quarterback Zach Maynard can consistently get the ball to Keenan Allen and Marvin Jones and Isi Sofele provides a reasonable facsimile of Shane Vereen, they could easily surprise and make a bowl.  It’s hard to imagine Oregon State struggling for a full year, but the offseason has not been kind to them.  They lost Jacquizz Rodgers somewhat surprisingly to the NFL and will start the year with at least four starters out due to injury.  James Rodgers is among those who might return later in the year, so it’s quite possible this will be another season where the Beavers play good football by November.  They have questions on both lines even before the injuries, however, so I have my doubts.  Cougar fans have been talking for months about this being their season to break out.  Their schedule starts easy, and if they can beat San Diego State to go 3-0, they might have something this year.  WSU is definitely better than they have been, but I’m betting talk of a bowl game will prove to be wishful thinking.

That leaves us with the University of Washington.  They’re being picked anywhere from 3rd to 5th in the north, with projections of 6-8 wins.  That seems likely, with a couple of significant injuries the only real plausible path to fewer than 5 wins.  It’s become difficult to expect much out of the Huskies, but this might be the year that starts to change.  I remember a comment on a chat board somewhere saying that the Dawgs won’t really return to dominance until they have Pac-12 starter level players who are unable to get onto the field.  The Huskies are still too young for that to really be the case this year, but they’re getting closer.  Their talent level and depth is significantly better than it has been in years.  They have difference-makers at every position.  The question now is whether all of these players are actually ready to make a difference.  The offensive line needs to translate their talent into consistent performance.  The young linebackers on either side of Cort Dennison will have to grow up and make plays in a hurry.   Everyone else just needs to show consistency.  There is plenty of talent, but in past years it hasn’t always produced results.

After that, it comes down largely to one player: Keith Price.  If the rest of the team plays up to its talent-level, he only needs to be okay.  Manage the game, make most of his open passes, not do anything crazy and the team should be fine.  I think he can do that, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he does more.  Jake Locker was one of my favorite Huskies of all time, but realistically, he wasn’t that great last year.  Price should be able to produce similar, if not better, passing numbers.  However, like many great quarterbacks, Jake had the ability to get better and make plays when he needed to.  There’s no way to know if Price can consistently do that yet.  Probably, he can’t, but luckily there are plenty of others on the team who might be able to fill that void.

I don’t know what the actual over/under line is on regular season Husky wins.  If I had to guess, I would set it at 6 1/2.  I’ve talked myself into expecting 7-5 or 8-4 before a bowl game, and if everything broke right I could see even better than that.  It’s been 11 years since everything broke right for the Huskies.  I’d say they’re due.

-Matthew

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by | August 10, 2011 · 1:00 pm

Glaring Similarities–2011 Huskies & Seahawks

The commonalities began last season, when Pete Carroll was brought in to lead the Seahawks. He brought a few USC guys, and we couldn’t help but notice that the Huskies had done the same thing one year prior with Sark and Holt. The 2010 seasons played out quite similarly, with both teams accomplishing much more than their record would have indicated; the Huskies went 7-6 and won the holiday bowl, while the Seahawks finished 8-10, won their division, and even came within 1 game of hosting the NFC championship. Nice accomplishments despite unimpressive records were not the only parallels.

Husky avg. margin of victory-9; won by less than a TD in 4 wins
Hawks avg. margin of victory-12; won by less than a TD in 3 wins

Husky avg. margin of loss-26.5; loss by more than 3 TD in 4 losses
Hawks avg. margin of loss-21; loss by more than 3 TD in 3 losses

Heading into 2011, the glaring similarities continue with our 2 local football teams. Here is a list I’ve compiled, without stretching it too far (i.e. yes, they both play in Seattle, and yes, both play on field turf)

1. Inexperienced QB following the exodus of a legend- Price following Locker, TJack following Hasselbeck

2. Emphasis on running the ball- A talented but young offensive line to create lanes for Polk and Lynch, both known for hard, all out style

3. QB waiting in the wings- 2012 draft or free agency as well as Montana/Lindquist/Miles

4. Strong receiving core- Kearse, Aguilar, Kasen, KSmith for UW, Rice, MWill, Tate, Obo for Hawks

5. Newcomers- WRs Kasen and Rice, TEs Sefarian-Jenkins and Zach Miller are the headliners

6. Focus on acquiring and developing bigger, faster, stronger athletes- The USC way!

7. Leadership void on defense, specifically MLB- Mason and Lofa are gone, both were vocal leaders, and heart of the defense

8. Counting on the class of 2010- Both 2-deep depth charts are littered with guys entering their 2nd year. This comes as no surprise, given that 2010 was Sark and Carroll’s first class of “their guys.” A few similar positions that come to mind are safeties Sean Parker, Taz Stevenson (UW) Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor (Sea). O-lineman Erik Kohler, Colin Porter, Ben Riva, Colin Tanigawa (UW), and Russell Okung (Sea). WRs Kevin Smith, DiAndre Campbell (UW) and Golden Tate (Sea).

9. Expectations- Had UW landed Jake Heaps, we might be talking about 8-9 wins, and if the Hawks re-signed Matt, the same would be true. As it stands today, 6-7 wins is the number I hear most for both.

10. 1-2 years away from championship contention- Ty Willingham and Tim Ruskell each left their program/team in shambles, meaning Sark and Pete inherited a major re-building situation. It looks as though each are building towards championship contention around 2012-13 (same with the Mariners!)

Other less notable similarities–Question marks at fullback and linebacker, possible strengths at tight end and D-line. Last but not least, the punting game looks promising!

-Dan

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by | August 8, 2011 · 7:39 pm

Dawg Days – Day One 2011

The Huskies took the field today for the first time since spring practice.  Sometimes I think these days are bigger for fans than they are for players because the players have been working out all Summer.  In fact, the individual Huskies have probably taken the field many times since spring.  But, today they took the field all together, coaches included, which tells us fans that the games will begin sooner rather than later.

These days seem bigger for fans than for the players but then I think back to my sports playing days.  I think of the training I put in during the off-season (granted, it wasn’t as much as these players).  I remember walking from the snow into a 50 degree hop-factory-turned-batting-cage to hit a little bit and throw a bullpen.  Those days were done out of necessity.  I needed to stay in shape and I needed my skills sharpened.  But, the first day of practice was always significant.  The coaches were actually there and the team was finally working all together to communal goal.  That goal was to win.  Thinking back on those days make me realize that the players are probably a little more jazzed for their first practice than I am.  As much as fans love settling into a stadium with 70,000 other people for a game, the players still love it more.  If they don’t, there’s a problem.

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by | March 30, 2011 · 8:17 pm

Spring Football

There’s too much going on and too little time lately.  With all the sporting events to cover over the last few weeks (Husky basketball, the most interesting tournament I can remember, Spring Training, and Husky football) you’d think the Good Guys would be posting up a storm.  Unfortunately, it’s been a busy time and we haven’t got to cover all that we’d like to.

Of course, baseball season starts tomorrow.  To be honest, I didn’t know who played tomorrow night until earlier this evening.  When people asked, I just said that it was the Yankees and the Red Sox.  To my surprise, there are 6 games tomorrow and the Yankees and Red Sox don’t play each other.  There couldn’t be a much better way for the season to start than with a Verlander vs. Sabathia match-up and that’s what we’ll see tomorrow.  I’ll have more on the Mariners tomorrow and hopefully we’ll get some predictions for the season up here soon.

Getting to the actual topic of this post, the Huskies started spring football practice yesterday.  As usual, Bob Condotta has all the information we could hope for over on his blog, but I’ll give you a quick few thoughts on the spring because I get excited for college football of any kind, even if it is just practice.

First for a bit of news:

  • Johri Fogerson was out practicing yesterday with the team.  He had been arrested for being in possession and was suspended indefinitely.  Sark said that he still could be suspended in the Fall for a game, depending on what happens in his trial.  His trial date is set for June.
  • One of the most prized recruits of the 2011 recruiting class, Austin Seferian-Jenkins is now in school and practicing.  He’s expected to compete right away for a starting position at tight end, which was a weak spot for the Huskies last year.  He’s the only true freshman that enrolled early.
  • Chris Polk has lost about 10 pounds and apparently feels faster.  I don’t actually know if this qualifies as news, and is one of those things that is reported because a player is popular and fans are starving for news.  But, hey!  If Chris Polk feels even better, then sweet deal!

Here’s a few things that I’ll be looking for over the course of spring practice:

  • Price vs. Montana – Of course, this is on the top of any Husky fan’s watch list.  Keith Price will be dueling with Nick Montana for the starting quarterback spot over the course of this Spring (and probably into Fall camp as well).  There’s no clear front-runner and if there is someone ahead in Sark’s mind, us fans sure won’t know.  I’ll be getting a feel for each of these guys games.  Montana is more of a drop-back passer, while Price is more of an athlete who will use his feet more.
  • The Tight-End Position – With ASJ now in school and Michael Hartvigson returning from injury, we should expect to see a giant upgrade at tight end.  These guys are both freshmen, but they’ve come into school highly rated and provide a huge talent upgrade.  It’ll be interesting to see what Sark does to utilize the tight end position this Spring.
  • The RS Freshmen Offensive Linemen – Last year, the Huskies red-shirted 5 offensive linemen and then named them all scout team players of the year.  I’m thinking at least one or two of them will emerge and challenge for a starting job.  Keep an eye on Ben Riva, he was reportedly working with the starters in the first practice.  This could mean nothing at all or he may be a step ahead in the coaches eyes.
  • Linebackers – The Huskies have to fill in two spots at the linebacker position with the graduation of Mason Foster and Victor Aiyewa.  These are giant shoes to fill and may be even harder to fill than Jake Locker’s gap.  There are a few injuries here during the Spring, so we won’t have a clear picture until Fall but keep an eye on JC transfer Thomas Tutogi who looks to fill Mason Foster’s role.

That’s all for now.  I’ll be hoping to make it to a few practices and will have recaps from those.  Also of note, it was UW Pro Day today at Dempsey and Jake Locker had a very good day.  It looks like his draft stock keeps improving and let’s hope so.

Thanks for reading!  Tomorrow is baseball!  Go baseball!

Andrew

 

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by | February 27, 2011 · 5:37 pm

2012

In 2005, the Sonics made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs, UW basketball earned a 1 seed after winning the pac-10 tournament, and the Seahawks won the NFC. Despite the Mariners and UW football sucking, 2005 was a good year. Seattle sports fans have only seen blips of success since, and nothing close to ’05. But in 2012, not only may the world be ending, our fan frustration may also.

Here’s how much I have been looking forward to the year 2012-for the past 2 years, anytime I have created a password, 2012 is included. I might regret giving out that info, but oh well. When I think of 2012, it puts a smile on my face. The way things are shaping up, the 5 local teams should all be good, if not great. The word re-building should be replaced by contending, and young prospects should be on their way to becoming stars. Let me elaborate, by looking at how the local teams project a year from now.
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