by | December 28, 2012 · 4:57 pm

The Rebuilding Process, Year 5

One year ago I asked your reaction following Prince signing in Detroit. One year later, I’m curious what your take is on Josh Hamilton signing with a division foe, for nearly $100 million less than Prince got.

This is my 5th installment in a series of posts I’ve done recapping and forecasting the Mariners Rebuilding Process, since Jack Z took over as GM. You can find the prior posts here: Years 1 and 2 Year 3 Year 4

Let’s recap the 5 year rebuild plan I laid out in October 2008.

    THE BLUEPRINT

2009, Year 1: Shed dead weight, Begin overhauling the farm
Summary: Traded Putz for Guti, Carp, Vargas, and managed to get rid of Silva, Betancourt, and Johjima, while also using 3 of first 5 picks on Ackley, Franklin, Seager.
Grade: A+

2010, Year 2: Shed dead weight, Continue building the farm (and lock up Felix)
Summary: Signed Griffey and Sweeney, locked up Felix and acquired Cliff Lee, then swapped him for Smoak. Could have done without the Morrow trade and of course the Figgins contract. Selected Walker, Paxton, Pryor in rounds 1, 4, 5.
Grade: B-

2011, Year 3: Bring the youth up, Evaluate potential, Acquire more young talent
Summary: Hired Wedge, traded for Brendan Ryan, picked up Wilhelmson at a local bar, and signed low cost vets such as Cust, Olivo, Kennedy. Fielded an even mix of youth and vets, but loads of young talent in the pipeline for the first time in forever. At the deadline traded Fister for Furbush and Wells. Hultzen chosen with #2 pick.
Grade: B

2012, Year 4: continue youth movement, achieve .500 record
Summary: Swapped Pineda for Montero and made some shrewd acquistions in Jaso, Iwakuma, Luetge, Millwood, Perez, then saw a young roster come up 6 games short of .500, while improving by 8 games from prior season. Picked Mike Zunino #3 overall.
Grade: A

2013, Year 5: add 1-2 big pieces, contend for playoffs
Summary: Thus far we’ve seen a few low cost signings in Bay, Ibanez, Bonderman, and a 1 for 1 swap of Vargas-Morales.
Grade: ???

I’ve said this before, but in 4 1/2 years on the job, Bill Bavasi set this organization back 5 years, minimum. Last year I stated

“For the first time on Jack’s watch, I think the on field W/L record is important. .500 ball is a reasonable expectation this year, which would be a welcomed site for our eyes.”

Well, The M’s flirted with .500 in 2012 and showed noticeable improvement, albeit without much offense yet again. Entering year 5 the talk of laying the foundation and replenishing the system should be over, and playoff contention ought to be close. Zduriencik has said as much if you’ve heard any of his recent interviews.

If the blueprint holds form, the M’s will be adding 1-2 big pieces this offseason, and assembling a playoff capable team in 2013. This sounds great but it is nearly January and almost all the big name free agents have signed elsewhere, and the only acquisitions Seattle has made are Robert Andino, Jason Bay, Raul Ibanez, and a swap of Jason Vargas for Kendrys Morales. Not exactly blockbuster moves capable of propelling the M’s from 75 wins into contention. I suppose the big moves we hoped for are still possible if Jack can, for example, land Justin Upton and Michael Bourn, and add a veteran pitcher to round out the rotation. That would certainly be a competitive team, but is that the best route to take?

Given how the AL West is shaping up, it may be best to hang onto the prospects, add a couple decent pieces, and shoot for a respectable 80-85 wins in 2013, while waiting until next year to make the big splash. I don’t see a scenario, at this point, for the M’s to overtake Texas or Anaheim in 2013, and probably not Oakland either. So why go all in? I’m not suggesting Seattle give up any hopes they had for next year, just because the division rivals are pulling away, but I don’t want the M’s to mortgage the future to field a better team next year, but one that cannot be sustained.

Keeping a positive trajectory is crucial next year, seeing an improved offense is also important, but that’s about all we can reasonably expect in 2013. This puts real contention off until next year, and adds a year to the original 5 year blueprint, but taking the path that leads to sustained success is what is most important. We’ve seen the Washington Nationals do this, and Tampa Bay also, and with much less money. It may not be popular, given the fractured fan base, plummeting attendance, and a decade of bad baseball, but Seattle has never given a player a $100 million contract, and unless it is a Felix extension, I don’t see it happening for at least another year. And surprisingly, I’m fine with that.

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by | December 21, 2012 · 6:16 pm

The Husky Football Team Plays Tomorrow

Merry Christmas, everybody! Last time I wrote was about a month ago, before the Husky football team lost the Apple Cup. I’ve been asleep since. Just kidding. I took about a week vacation from sports and then got caught up in school and such. Life gets busy. Matthew has been doing a good job of keeping us up to date on the Mariners’ off-season but I’ve slacked on the football side of things.

I’m going to try to do some reviews on the Husky football season in the coming weeks but for now, I thought I’d throw in a bit of a quick assortment of bullet holes to recap the last month and preview the Las Vegas Bowl.

  • Let’s start with the game tomorrow.  The Huskies take on Boise State at 12:30 Pacific time.  The Dawgs do play the Broncos again to start the season next year, in the first game at the new Husky Stadium.  Boise State didn’t seem to be very thrilled with that but Sark didn’t seem to mind.  I do wonder if it favors one team or another.  We’ll never really know, but I would guess the advantage is minimal.  Anyway, as for the game tomorrow, the Huskies are the underdog by about 5 points at most places.  I think that’s about right.  This is the Boise State team that we’ve seen for the last 6 years but they’re still pretty good.  Their offense struggles, especially if you stop the run.  Their defense is really the strong point of the team, especially the secondary.  The Huskies will have to run the ball well, to open things up top.  I can’t provide much analysis (I’m not sure if we’re doing picks for this game or not), but stopping the run will be the key for both teams.  I believe that the Huskies have better athletes than Boise State but the Broncos are more consistent.
  • One of my favorite things about the last few bowl games is seeing what Sark comes up with on offense.  Even dating back to the Rose Bowl he coached for USC before taking over at U-Dub, Sark has put on impressive offensive performances.  Even the Holiday Bowl 2 years ago, when the team only scored 19 points, was impressive to me in the play-calling.  Sark is known for his offensive X’s and O’s and that should come to play tomorrow.
  • As for what this game means to close off the season, everyone has a different answer.  I think a win would be nice and would show progress but I don’t think it defines this season.  This team turned out to be what we thought it was after the first week.  There were too many injuries to become an elite team and too much talent to not be a winning team.  The team was too young to be consistent but provided enough good flashes to have a moderately successful season.  A win tomorrow would cause momentum on the recruiting trail and bring some interest for the upcoming season but I don’t think it will change how we feel about the season totally.
  • There’s a certain number of people who complained about this team, to that group I have two things to say.  One, the team is still only 4 years removed from 0-12.  Now, we’ve had three winning seasons in a row.  I understand that you want to be an elite program but it takes time.  The expectations are rising, as they should be, but they still need to stay reasonable.  The second thing I point to is injuries.  Here is a list of players who were injured for more than a game this year:  RB Jesse Callier, RB Deontae Cooper, WR James Johnson, WR Kevin Smith, OL Erik Kohler, OL Ben Riva, OL Colin Tanigawa, DL Hau’oli Jamora, DL Josh Banks, DL Talia Crichton, LB Princeton Fuimaono, LB Nate Fellner, LB Jamaal Kearse, CB Desmond Trufant.  All but two of those guys were expected to start in some capacity.  I know football teams experience injuries but this was something that plagued the Huskies all season and the amount of them was something I’ve never seen before.  If the trend continues next season then there may be a problem with the strength and conditioning but I’m guessing this was just bad luck.
  • There have been a number of players on the Huskies who have said how much the Apple Cup loss has bothered them and that this is a way to get that taste out of their mouth.  It’s good to see how bothered the players were by that loss.  As disgusted as we were as fans by that loss, the coaches and players were even more disgusted.  The loss sucks, but it could prove how important consistency is to a young team.
  • Keith Price will start at quarterback next year for the Huskies.  That’s a good thing.

That’s all for now, Dawg fans!  I’ll try to do some recapping before the 24th but, if I don’t, Merry Christmas!  Oh, and go Seahawks.  I’ve caught the Seahawk fever.

Andrew

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by | December 19, 2012 · 8:08 pm

Mariners Trade for Kendrys Morales

In their biggest move of the off-season, the Mariners today traded Jason Vargas to the Angels in exchange for Kendrys Morales.  Morales is a DH/first baseman entering his final year of arbitration, meaning he’ll be a free agent after the season.  Back in 2009, he was one of the best bats in the league, and was on the same pace through 50 games in 2010 before badly breaking his ankle.  Ironically, he did so as he celebrated hitting a game-winning grand slam against the Mariners.  Morales missed the rest of 2010 and all of 2011 before returning last year to play 134 games.

Morales’ 2012 wasn’t up to his previous level of production, but it was pretty good for a guy who had missed a year and a half.  He hit .273/.320/.467 with 22 home runs and 26 doubles.  His OPS+ (on-base % and slugging % in comparison to everyone else) was 121.  100 is league average.  On the Mariners, John Jaso was at 144, but the next highest were Saunders and Seager at 110, so Morales is clearly a big add for the offense.  He’s a switch hitter, better from the left.  Even if he got back to his 2009 level, he’s not an absolute elite bat, but he’s on that next level down.  I’d consider him the best power bat the Mariners have had since Russell Branyan had that one good year.

Losing Vargas leaves a bit of a hole in the rotation, but I’m not terribly concerned.  It should be easier to obtain a Vargas-level pitcher than a Morales-level hitter.  There are a number of good free agent pitchers still available, and the Mariners have a bevy of prospects capable of stepping into the rotation soon.  If they don’t add a starter before the season, I’ll be concerned, but there’s plenty of time to do that.

Everyone is wondering what this means for Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero, since Morales plays their primary positions.  I’m not worried.  Smoak is as likely to be in Tacoma as he is to be deserving of major playing time in Seattle.  Montero will have plenty of opportunities between, catcher, DH and potentially first.  If he hits he’ll play.  Jaso will likely be the primary catcher against right-handers and can fill in at DH as well.  There are plenty of at-bats to go around, and if all four players hit well enough to deserve major innings, that’ll be a good thing.  I think this works out well, as it gives the Mariners wiggle room to see if Smoak can do anything and to see what Montero and catching prospect Mike Zunino can become.  If by some chance everyone goes crazy this year, they can let Morales walk after the season.  If not, they can try to resign him.  He’s an excellent stopgap with potential to be a longterm solution if needed.

I love the trade.  Morales doesn’t make the Mariners a contender overnight, but he gets them a lot closer.  Coming into the off-season, I hoped the Mariners would find two solid bats and a good starting pitcher.  I don’t know if they’ll get all the way there, but this was a good start.  It has minor risk and improves the team without sacrificing the future in any fashion.

I’ll have more on the Mariners sometime before the year’s over.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see another move or two in that time.  There are only a handful of major free agents left, and most of them should sign in that time, which should also key some trades.  Or not.  Who knows?  This off-season is nothing if not unpredictable.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

-Matthew

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by | December 5, 2012 · 12:28 pm

Mariners Sign Jason Bay

If it were about three years ago, that headline would have been really exciting.  Not so much now.  Of course, if the Mariners would have signed Bay three years ago, they would likely have been the ones eating $21 million to let Bay test free agency this year.

It’s not official, but the Mariners have signed Jason Bay, pending a physical.  No terms have been released, but reportedly it’s a one year deal for $3 million (Edit- there’s now news that this is false and it’s for less than $1 mil. No official news, so just wait and see).  Some background, if you need it: Bay is an outfielder from British Columbia who was one of the top free agents coming off the 2009 season.  The Mariners were reportedly interested in him then, and he in them, but the Mets blew everyone away with a 4 year, $66 million deal.  Bay promptly fell apart.  He was their Chone Figgins, at nearly twice the money.  After this past season, Bay and the Mets renegotiated his contract so that some of the money he is owed for this year is deferred, and then the Mets granted him free agency.  Basically, they declared him a lost cause, changed his contract so that they have a little money to spend this year, and gave up on Bay.

The Mariners taking a chance on Bay seemed a foregone conclusion, so this signing should come as no surprise.  In his prime, he was a power-hitting outfielder, and if you haven’t noticed, the Mariners are searching incredibly hard for one of those.  Bay is a long way from his prime, and I, along with nearly everyone else, am skeptical he’ll ever get back to even close his previous level.  I’d say the odds are much better that he doesn’t last past April than that he has a major impact for the Mariners.  Still, there’s a chance that he’ll feel rejuvenated coming back home and the Mariners get a cheap contributor. Unlikely, but not impossible.

I’ve already heard grumbling about the size of the contract.  It’s definitely more than I expected, but it’s nothing to worry about.  It’s only a one year deal, and that amount isn’t going to prevent them from cutting him if he has nothing.  It’s no big deal.  If you’re concerned about this preventing the Mariners from acquiring a better bat, don’t be.  They still have plenty of money.  And please don’t react like this is the only move they’re going to make.  There will be plenty of people saying, “Stupid Mariners, cheap as usual. They think they can bring in a washed up local guy and call it good.”  If they haven’t picked up anyone else by the start of the season, complain all you want, but they are working hard to bring in someone else.  They are literally talking to or about every hitter who’s even potentially available.  If they can find someone better to bring in they, they’ll get him.  This is just the move that could be made right now.

In summary, Jason Bay is a lottery ticket.  He might help, but probably won’t.  The Mariners know this just as well as we do.  The fact that they thought it worth taking a chance on Bay is a good sign.  The contract is no big deal, even if he never plays an inning in Seattle.  The winter meetings are still going, so I’ll post something if anything happens, and I’ll try to do a recap tonight or tomorrow if I get the chance.  For now, follow MLB Trade Rumors for all the M’s news compiled in one easy spot.  Believe big!

-Matthew

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by | December 3, 2012 · 9:35 pm

Catching Up with the 2012 UW Freshman, Pt. 1

The Husky football season is largely over and temporarily stuck in that weird purgatory bowl game and the end of the season.  The Husky coaches spent most of last week out recruiting, and there are visitors scheduled for the next few weekends. We’ll get into recruiting more in the coming months, but I thought this would be a good time look at last year’s recruiting class to see what they did this past season.

I’ll start with the redshirts, the guys who didn’t play this past season.  Depending on how much I feel like writing, the guys who played might come in a later post.  We’re just going to have to see how this goes!

The Offensive Linemen
Jake Eldrenkamp, Taylor Hindy, Nathan Dean, Cory Fuavai
I’m lumping all of these guys together because they’re offensive linemen and I therefore know hardly anything about them. No offense, guys.  Eldrenkamp is the most highly thought of, and probably would have been the next to play if the Great Injury Plague of 2012 had continued. Dean was considered a tackle prospect during recruitment, and the Huskies need those.  Fuavai used to be Cory English, but changed his name last summer.  Still confuses me sometimes.  I look at the roster and say, Who’s that guy?  So confusing.  Hindy was a surprise commit right at signing day.

This group was conspicuous for the lack of some major local recruits like Josh Garnett and Zach Banner, but it’s a solid class still.  That redshirt year is standard and necessary, and hopefully the only reason any of this four will have to play in 2013 is for exceptional talent.  Another year to get better and stronger is almost always needed for players in this position.

The QB’s
Cyler Miles & Jeff Lindquist
Both Miles and Lindquist were among the best QB recruits in the country as big, mobile guys with good arms and intelligence.  Miles drew  raves all through the season and is reportedly further along than Lindquist.  I’ve even seen some suggest Lindquist might change positions, but that seems premature.  Both have outstanding talent, but it takes players different lengths of time to acclimate to college football.  Both will have a shot to find playing time in 2013, but it would be best for all involved if Keith Price could get back to good football.  Starting a freshman quarterback is rarely a good option, but these two are not the typical freshman quarterback, or so we’ve been told.  They were the highlight of the class on signing day and have done nothing to tarnish their appeal. Continue reading →

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by | November 25, 2012 · 6:09 pm

Mariners Off-season Update

Everything football and basketball related is too depressing to write about at the moment, so let’s talk Mariners.  It’s been a long time since the Mariners were the least depressing of the Seattle sports teams.  Helps that they haven’t played a game in two months.

So far, the off-season has been pretty uneventful.  There have been few actual moves, and most of those have been to address roster issues and limits.  That doesn’t mean they lack excitement, however, because Chone Figgins is gone!  The team waived him, meaning they’ll eat the remaining $8 million or so on his contract and he’ll be free to play with anyone who will take him.  They’ve tried to trade him literally for years and no one would bite, so this is the next best thing.  They were going to have to pay him either way, but at least now they have the roster spot to (hopefully) bring in a better player.  No offense to Figgins personally, but I’m so glad he’s gone, and he probably is too.  He had no role on the team and was sucking the air out of the fanbase to some extent.  Here’s to moving forward.

The only other move of note was a trade that sent OF Trayvon Robinson to Baltimore for infielder Robert Andino.  Andino plays a solid shortstop along with pretty much every other position and will likely be the primary back-up infielder for Seattle next year.  He doesn’t hit much, but that’s pretty standard for utility infielders.  Some people are upset to see Trayvon go, but it’s one of those unavoidable moves I wrote about here.  The Mariners were going to lose him if he didn’t make the team this spring, and that wasn’t likely to happen.  It wouldn’t shock me if Robinson turns into a solid player three or four years down the road, but the Mariners can’t keep a below-average player on the roster that long, waiting for him to blossom.  That’s just the way it goes. When there’s no guarantee he ever gets better, sometimes you have to move on. Continue reading →

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by | November 23, 2012 · 12:34 pm

Pac-12 Picks – Week 13

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!  I’m a bit late on this so here are the picks.

Utah vs. Colorado
The Good Guys:  Utah

Arizona vs. Arizona State
Dan, Joe, Andrew: Arizona
Matthew:  Arizona State

Oregon vs. Oregon State
Andrew, Dan:  Oregon
Matthew, Joe:  Oregon State

Stanford vs. UCLA
The Good Guys:  Stanford

Notre Dame vs. USC
The Good Guys:  Notre Dame

I’ll recap the picks soon!  Go Dawgs!

Andrew

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by | November 22, 2012 · 9:40 pm

Apple Cup Predictions

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  Hopefully your day was full of turkey, people you love, and Mark Sanchez running into his lineman’s butt.  Worst football play ever.

One quick piece of news broke today.  Devon Blackmon, a wide receiver who recently left the Oregon program, is reportedly transferring to the UW.  He has to sit out a year but will be eligible in 2014 with two years to play (or maybe three. Not sure why that’d be, but I saw one news outlet reporting that).  Blackmon was a highly rated recruit out of high school who considered UW at the time.  I wonder about a guy who couldn’t get on the field much for a team with inconsistent receiver production, but he’s a talented, athletic guy and hopefully that will show by the time he can see the field.

Before I get to the predictions, in the spirit of the day, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate the UW coaches.  I’m not sure how good the basketball team will be this year.  They’ve been spotty thus far and have less talent than in some recent years.  That said, I could not appreciate Lorenzo Romar more than I do.  Some people question his ability to take the team to the next level, and he might never do that.  Romar’s value goes beyond the court, though.  He’s one of the classiest, most respectable coaches in the country.  He has a lot of personality and great stories.  It would take the program completely cratering to convince me that the program would be better without Romar than with him.  Some people value winning at all costs, but I’m not one of them.  I love having a program that I feel good cheering for that’s also quite successful.

It remains to be seen whether Steve Sarkisian will succeed in returning the Huskies to prominence, but I think the job he’s done so far is commendable.  Sark has brought enthusiasm that was desperately needed, and he’s been a coach that Husky fans could watch grow along with the team.  While he doesn’t quite have Romar’s reputation, he’s conducted himself quite well.  He holds players accountable but also treats them well.  Mike Leach’s actions in Pullman have thrown into sharp relief how lucky we got with Sark.  Last week in Colorado, he brought the team onto the field early to watch Ralphie, Colorado’s buffalo mascot, run across the field.  It always feels like Sark takes the football quite seriously but also realizes that the football gives lots of amazing opportunities.  I think he has a nice balance, and I think that will benefit him in the long run.

Maybe the Huskies don’t have the best teams in the country, and maybe they won’t anytime soon.  Still, we’re lucky enough to have coaches that are easy to cheer for while they’re successful.  Go Dawgs!

Andrew

The Cougars lost to Colorado.  The Cougars played with ‘good effort’ last week, according to Mike Leach, and lost 46-7 to a Pac-12 team with 6 wins.  Serious question, would the Cougars get bowl eligible in the Mountain West Conference?  They barely beat UNLV, who is the worst team in that conference.  They’d lose to Boise, San Diego State, Fresno State, and probably Nevada.  Air Force, Wyoming and Colorado State might be toss-ups.  They might get to four wins in the conference.  I’m sure you wanted to know all of this….  Here’s my prediction.

The Cougars are just awful and falling apart.  Mike Leach is accused of having players roll around in a sand pit until they vomit as a disciplinary action.  Their best player left the team.  They lost to Colorado and are currently on a 9 game winning streak and if that’s not enough, their current best player (Travis Long) is questionable for this game.  Now, I know you throw out the records for the Apple Cup, especially when it’s in Pullman.  No question, the Cougars will come out fired up and have had moments where they’ve executed this year.  But, talent does matter some, even in rivalry games.  I think the Huskies will pull away eventually in this game and end up winning by a couple of scores.  I’m excited to see if the Husky secondary can hold up against the Cougars fairly decent passing attack.  Also, when the WSU defense shows up and plays hard, they have done some good things and kept the game close.  The Huskies will need to get off to a faster start than last week and not let the Cougs linger or gain confidence.  It should be an entertaining football game and I think the Huskies will end up with their 8th win, even if it’s not comfortable for some of the game.

UW 30 – WSU 17

Matthew 

I keep trying to get worried about this game.  Apple Cups do get weird, and these Cougars have some talent.  The Cougars have been so bad, though, and the Huskies are playing awfully well.  The Huskies pass defense has become one of the best in the conference, and all the Cougars do is pass.  They have the worst rushing attack in the conference and maybe the country.  I would be really surprised if the Huskies lose.  I think it’ll be close until the Huskies can deliver a blow or two (or the Cougars kill themselves in the foot).  That might take a half, or it might take two possessions.  The Huskies have lost Apple Cups that seemed a surer thing than this one, so no guarantees, but the Dawgs should win this one without much trouble.

UW 38 – WSU 13

Joe

The Apple Cup.  First, this game means a ton to me as a Husky fan.  No other game gets me more fired up.  I want to beat Wazzu, and I want to beat them bad.  Nothing is worse than an overly confident Cougar fan who gloats over one Apple Cup victory.  I like the lovable, funny loser Coug fans, not the cocky, drunk morons who come out of the woodwork after a victory. (I realize Coug fans are actually drunk whether they win or lose…)  If I had my way the Cougars would never win an Apple Cup.  Ever.  I like normalcy in life, and normal = UW Apple Cup victories.  Sound arrogant?  Yup, but that’s the reality of things when it comes to this game.  I hate Wazzu, always will.  Ok, now onto the game.I will keep this very simple.  It’s the same thing I have been saying since before the Oregon State game:  Run the ball with Sankey. A lot.  Then play action to ASJ and Kasen.  The Huskies have been doing this with a lot of success the past four games, and it’s translating into victories.  Second, keep doing whatever you’re doing Coach Wilcox.  The Huskies have improved by over 60 spots in total defense nationally between last season and now, warranting me to officially feel like the UW defense is “back” to some semblance of it’s former glory of tackling well and reading offenses with confidence.  As well, for the first time in over a decade, I feel the UW defense has legitimate star playmakers.  Shaq Thompson and Marcus Peters are future all Pac-12 players, Desmond Trufant has been nothing less than stellar all year, Danny Shelton has been a force on the line and John Timu and Travis Feeney (who I am massively impressed with right now) have been tackling machines all year. Look at this, I’m gloating over the Huskies defense! Amazing.  I personally expect the Huskies to come out and dominate the Cougars.  I know this is a rivalry game and it’s all circle the wagons talk in Pullman right now, but the fact is this:  The Huskies are a better football team. Period. Better players. Better coaching. The only thing going against them is the game is in Pullman. That isn’t enough for the Pirate and crew.  Drew Bledsoe and Phillip Bobo ain’t walking through that door.

UW 34 – WSU 17

Dan

It will feel odd being at work during the Apple Cup, but that’s the case for me this year.  I’m sure I’ll find a way to see some of the game but I feel like this will be a predictable outcome yet again. They say you throw out the stats and records for the Apple Cup, but honestly if the Huskies lose this game, it will be because everything that could go wrong does, and the Cougs play out of their minds. That’s possible, but quite unlikely.  WSU has not won a conference game for a reason. They are dreadful in all phases of the game. There’s no telling how long it will take for WSU to make it back to respectibility and playing in bowl games. The Huskies are in nearly the complete opposite position. The arrow is pointed up for the UW program, and while I’m excited at the possibility of finishing this year with 6 straight wins, I’m already gitty about next season. As for today, I see a slow, weird start for both teams. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a one score game at halftime, but ultimately we will likely see a lot of Bishop Sankey, some play action pass to ASJ/Kasen, and plenty open space in the Cougars defense will . Throw in a couple turnovers on D and by the 3rd quarter, things should go according to plan for Washington.

UW 30 – WSU 17

Go Dawgs!

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