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by | October 12, 2012 · 11:22 pm

Just A Reminder

Today the Huskies play USC at 4 p.m.  Gus Johnson is calling the game on Fox so there’s even more motivation to watch this game.  Predictions will be posted tomorrow morning but it’s not secret that most people don’t favor the Huskies in this game.  The betting line in this game favors USC by about 11.  All the experts are picking Matt Barkley and his two All-American receivers to win.  And they probably will.  Sure, the Huskies have a decent chance of an upset but it would be just that if they won.  An upset.

But do you remember the last time USC came to town?  Jake Locker cemented his place in Husky fans memories.  Sark proved himself in his 3rd game being here.  A program started their march upwards.  Yes, that march has gone a little slower than all of us would have liked but at least we have actual win totals to point to that show improvement.  That doesn’t really happen with the baseball team in this city.  The Huskies are playing against the odds tomorrow but last time USC was in Seattle this happened:

For 7 or 8 years, being a Husky fan felt fairly hopeless.  Then this happened.  I haven’t felt hopeless about a Husky football game since.

One more for good measure.

Playing in Seattle, at home, has now turned into an advantage for the Dawgs.  Just like the good ol’ days.  I’m hoping that it stays that way at 4 P.M. today.

Go Huskies!

Andrew

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by | October 9, 2012 · 7:55 pm

Putting The Ducks To Bed

So, the Good Guys have returned from the depression that was Saturday evening to talk quickly about the game and then move on.  Sark has proved time and against that his team can bounce back after big, ugly losses.  That needs to happen again this week.  Here are two or three paragraphs on the game Saturday night and then we won’t talk about how disgusting it is to lose to Oregon 9 times in a row for at least a couple of months.

Yes, the Huskies were trounced.  They were dominated on the scoreboard but I believe that Sark was right in saying that the score was not indicative of where the two teams are.  The Huskies moved the ball against Oregon better than they have in 4 years.  Really, they rushed for over 200 yards which is only the second time they have done that since 2010.  Now, were the Huskies close to as talented as the Ducks?  No, not even close but the game should have been closer than what it was.

The real important stat of the night was 28 points off of turnovers.  That was what Oregon did to the Huskies.  You simply can’t do that against good teams.  Yes, the Ducks offense still seemed unstoppable but it the Huskies gave them the jump-start that they needed.  Marvin Hall is a freshman and made freshman mistakes.  He has been very solid in the previous 2 games returning the football and he proved to be a game changer.  He was a game changer on Saturday night, just not in the right way.  He’ll have better nights, I promise.  The Ducks did have a few long drives but were also dealt a short field much of the time because of turnovers.  Not to mention, an extra 7 points was gained because of Keith Price.

The team is improving.  It’s hard to say that after a 52-21 loss but you could actually see it last Saturday.  Keith Price isn’t playing at his highest level and the receivers are consistently dropping passes.  The offensive line has improved in the last two weeks by a mile.  There are lanes to run through and there was time to pass on Saturday.  The pressure from the week before was in Price’s head and he rushed things.  He had more time than he thought he had.  Bishop Sankey is on pace for over 1,000 yards.  Did anyone think we’d be saying that 4 weeks ago?  I didn’t think so.  He looks the part.  The defense couldn’t hold Oregon’s offense down in Eugene.  Big whoop.  No one else can.  The team got better last week and didn’t have the show to score for it because of turnovers.  I don’t think the turnovers will be a common theme.  That’s it.  Forget about it and move on.  So, let’s go beat USC!

Andrew

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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 | October 2, 2012 · 11:49 pm

It’s Oregon Week

I wrapped up my final thoughts on the Husky-Stanford game last night and now we move on to the next opponent.  The next opponent is the hated Oregon Ducks.  Technically, it’s been Oregon Week since Sunday.  Sure enough, that’s when I started wearing my Husky gear.  For me, it’s a tradition to wear Husky gear (or just purple) every day of the week in the week before the first game and the week before the Huskies play Oregon.  Maybe it’s not a good idea because my blood starts to boil the more and more I think about the Oregon Ducks.

There has been quite a bit written about the Huskies-Ducks rivalry.  The Dawgs hold the superior edge in overall record and record against in the rivalry but Oregon has beaten the Huskies 8 times in a row.  I’m not going to add much to my take on the rivalry aside from two paragraphs.  UW Dawgpound came out with a piece on Sunday that summed up my feelings about Oregon fans pretty well.  Here it is, so please read it.

For me, what I can’t stand about Oregon is their fans.  Sure, their players, uniforms and stupid mascot annoy the heck out of me but not to the point where I’d hate them.  I respect Chip Kelly, he’s an offensive genius and seems well liked among most coaches.  I enjoy watching their running backs play when they aren’t playing the Huskies because they are so talented.  They have a team speed that any fan would respect and envy.  But the hate comes when you bring their fans into the picture.

Many times I’ve felt no respect back from Oregon fans.  Of course, that doesn’t account for all of them.  I’ve met some  nice Duck fans who are willing to be kind and actually talk about football.  More often than not though, it seems like they don’t respect your team, your passion, or you as a person.  This is what UW Dawgpound was pointing out and I think that nailed it on the head.  Oregon fans complain about U-Dub fans arrogance while they have become arrogant themselves.

I don’t enjoy this rivalry.  I enjoy the WSU rivalry.  Sure, some of it has to do with Husky success but more of it has to do with the way the fans treat each other.  A few weekends out of the year some of my Cougar friends will text me and say, “Good luck against LSU” or “Good game the other night”.  I know they’ll be hailing insults down on these players in Pullman later but they respect what the team has done.  I try to be a good sport and do the same.  It’s a fun rivalry, that’s a little bit chippy. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.  Against Oregon, there isn’t much of that playfulness.  It’s just hate.  I don’t think the teams have much problem with each other anymore.  I think Sark and Chip are friends and kind to each other.  But, the fans can’t stand one another.

So, Happy Oregon Week.  Or, Not Happy Oregon Week.  I doubt it will happen, but I hope the Huskies clean their clocks, dance on the O and Husky fans party inside of Autzen until the wee hours of the morning avoiding the dog feces and bottles of urine that is sure to be thrown at them.  Beat the Ducks.

Andrew

Yeah….

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by | October 1, 2012 · 10:10 pm

One Last Review Of UW-Stanford

I promised a more thorough review of last Thursdays game and here it is!  Five days, a trip to Yakima and about 8 hours of homework later.  I did finally finish watching the game last night and I had a few thoughts about the game.  I’ll go by position and add in some thoughts about coaching here and there.  Before I begin, I think this was probably the best coached Husky game since Rick Neuheisal was coach.  Seriously.  I’ll get into more detail as the post goes, but as a whole this was an incredibly coached game for the Dawgs, scheme-wise, personnel wise and on the motivational side.  Anyway, here we go, by position.

Quarterback – Keith Price has been a somewhat forgotten man through 4 games this year.  He doesn’t have the numbers that he had last year and won’t end up with as impressive stats but he has progressed.  Last Thursday, Keith played the toughest football game he’s ever played.  It wasn’t his best but it was very good.  He was tackled in the pocket over 10 times, while only three of those turned out to be sacks.  This is a testament to him standing in the pocket and not rushing things.  At one point it looked like he couldn’t feel his right arm.  I’m not sure why Stanford was never called for a roughing the passer penalty because they went high and hard many times.  Anyway, Price was accurate and threw well even with the amount of duress he was under.  He had 3 passes dropped that would have given him about 40 more passing yards and 3 more first downs.  He generally had less than 2 seconds to throw.  Three plays before the Huskies game-winning touchdown Price lined up under center and killed the running play that was called.  This audible essentially sent the receivers deep.  The ball was snapped, Price dropped back and was pressured from the outside so he stepped up into the pocket.  His outside receiver (I couldn’t catch the number) made a double move and was about to break free but a Stanford linebacker got a hand on the ball.  It was a brilliant call by Price and a beautiful play, it was just a .1 of a second too late.  The game winning touchdown could have come 3 plays earlier than when it did and it would have looked a lot more conventional.  Price was a great decision maker and game-manager.  I hope his body feels okay.

Running Back – It sure looks like Bishop Sankey has found his niche.  He’ll never be Chris Polk.  He’s not a bruiser and isn’t as patient.  But, he’s hitting the hole harder and faster every week.  Hugh Millen pointed out on KJR today that the Huskies use more of a zone-blocking scheme this year instead of a weak-side pulling guard, man-blocking scheme.  This allows Sankey to hit the hole faster than we saw the last few years because you don’t have to wait for that guard to come across.  So, maybe Bishop didn’t find his niche, maybe Sark found his niche for him?  It takes a humble and good coach to adjust his scheme to fit his players and Sark has continually done this.  That’s overlooked an awful lot.  Moving Kendyl Taylor provided an unexpected boost to the Husky offense and he did some good things on Thursday.  I’m guessing he’ll see more and more time as we go.  The fun thing to think about is that these running backs are only going to get better.  No one playing right  now is older than sophomore status.  Sure, they’ll cause a few headaches but the more I think about it, the more I think this year is setting up for a special 2013.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends – Quite a bit has been made of ASJ not getting only 2 receptions against Stanford.  There was no other tight end who caught a pass either.  What isn’t being said is that ASJ had a block on Chase Thomas that helped spring Bishop’s 61 yard run.  No one is talking about how Evan Hudson lined up at fullback a few times and got into the second level to give Sankey some other big runs.  The tight ends will be used in different ways as this season goes on but don’t think they played an insignificant role on Thursday.  Every receiver was fairly inconsistent aside from Kasen Williams.  Kasen turned 2 yard gains into 7 at least 3 times.  The plan was to get him the ball in space and he showed why that was a great game plan that Sark never went aways from even when it was getting frustrating.  Anytime another receiver wants to step up though, feel fee!

Offensive Line – Yes, the pass blocking was pretty horrendous.  It’s a big problem that needs to be solved right away.  But, they were playing a very good front seven.  To their credit, the line did run block well.  It doesn’t matter how you get yards and points as long as you get them.  No one expected the Huskies to be able to rush for 150 yards but they did and that was because the line opened few holes.  I do think they wore Stanford down a little bit.  Where the Oregon defense is used to being on the field a lot because their offense scores in a hurry, Stanford is exactly the opposite.  I imagine that the Cardinal generally win the time of possession battle and they didn’t on Thursday night.  The Huskies, especially in the first half generally were on the field for at least three minutes on offense every time they had the ball.  It doesn’t seem like much but that adds up, especially when your defense is getting three and outs.  I might be the only one, but I think the Stanford defense was tired and they looked it on the Huskies last drive.  Shane Brostek got his first career start at right guard and looked pretty good in run blocking.  Him and James Atoe next to each other is probably my favorite configuration of the line.  When they’re on the right side, holes seem to open up a bit more.  The Huskies most successful running plays were runs off-tackle or which would follow Atoe, Hatchie, and, on the final drive, Criste.  The right side of the line seemed to open more holes, as I mentioned earlier, but the left side of the line did pretty well too when I re-watched the game.

Defensive Line – Stopping the run starts up front, so here you go.  I don’t know much about defensive lines so I won’t try to explain anything and there wasn’t a ton that stood out.  Pio Vatuvei got extensive action.  Josh Banks saw his first action of the season and made a very good tackle on Stanford’s last drive.  Not a lot shows up in the box score from these guys but they freed up space for the linemen to make plays.  It took Josh Shirley about a half to get his pass rush going but he was definitely felt in the second half.  This group continues to get better.

Linebackers – The Dawgs haven’t had linebackers tackle like they did in this game since who knows how long.  If you think back to the game, think about how many times Stepfan Taylor broke free from a tackle for extra yards.  It didn’t happen.  Even re-watching the game, I can’t think of a time.  Tutogi, Timu, Fuimaono (although he didn’t play as much), Feeney, and Shaq were all in position and made the tackles.  I’m still amazed.  Their pursuit was incredible, their tackling was the best I’ve seen from a Husky defense, and their effort was off the charts.  I don’t expect them to be able to keep this up but if they do then what was thought to be one of the Huskies biggest weaknesses has all of a sudden become one of the best positions on the team.  As one of my favorite wrinkles that Wilcox threw in, Talia Crichton played a hybrid linebacker.  He rushed the passer some but he was used to stop the run a good amount.  It was just another big body who wouldn’t be pushed around.

Secondary – Desmond Trufant was the only corner on the field about 30% of the time for the Huskies.  What a responsibility that was and he handled it extremely well.  Right now he’s an all-conference player and is deserving of All-American recognition.  Two pass breakups, one interception and shutting down one side of the field.  The other corner spot is a bit concerning still but they did okay this game.  Marcus Peters saw quite a bit of time on the field.  Especially in the second half.  Sean Parker played a great game, blowing up screens and flying around.  The defense looks fast and he is one of the players that looks the fastest.  Travis Feeney lined up as free safety sometimes to stop the run which was another wrinkle.  Justin Glenn also played a good game with a couple of pass-breakups.  There were a few blown assignments but that’s to be expected especially when there was such an emphasis on stopping the run.

Special Teams – Travis Coons was the first half MVP.  He made a career long field goal, had a pretty good yards per punt average and punted one left-footed which saved the Huskies field position.  That was a great play that I’m not even going to try to explain.  Marvin Hall is fast and will break a return soon.  He’s been very close in the last two games.  He’s a game changer and I’m glad Sark pulled the red-shirt off of him.  Not literally.  They don’t actually wear red-shirts.

After watching the game again, this game was something that all Husky fans should feel proud of.  But, it’s time to turn our attention to our bitter rival down south.  It’s been fun to bask in this game.  I doubt we’ll have this feeling next week but it seems like these Dawgs like to surprise.

Andrew

 

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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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