by | September 6, 2010 · 7:02 pm

Pac-10 Outlook: Week 2

A fairly predictable week in the Pac leads to another one.  This week, like last, doesn’t have a ton of huge match-ups.  That comes next week.  So lets take a look at how each school did and who they’ll be taking on this week:

Arizona
Last Week: Arizona-41, Toledo-2
This Week: Home vs. The Citadel
Arizona was the team that probably impressed me the most this week.  Toledo isn’t very good but they’ve played a couple BCS schools tough when they get them at home.  The offense did everything they were supposed to and the defense was a pleasant surprise.  The Wildcats had questions on defense but this game helps silence those for the time being.  This week will be a cakewalk and then they have a huge match-up against Iowa.  Expect a blow out this week.  Keep an eye on their running back, Nic Grigsby.  I’m not sold on that guy and he didn’t go off last week.  If he becomes great then the Arizona offense could be the best in the league.

Arizona State
Last Week: Portland State-9, ASU-54
This Week: Home vs. Northern Arizona
The Sun Devils did exactly what they were supposed to last week.  This week, the Sun Devils will do exactly what they are supposed to do.  My dad always used to joke about how the Huskies should schedule the school of the blind for football, Arizona State has gotten pretty close to that.  The main thing is for the Sun Devils to stay healthy this week so that they can go get stomped by Wisconsin next week and not have any excuses for losing.

California
Last Week:  UC Davis-3, Cal-52
This Week: Home vs. Colorado
Dang, the Huskies should have started with one of these terrible teams.  We are so smart with scheduling… Anyway, Cal was impressive.  This week they face a little better quality of opponent but should still win.  Colorado is not a great football team and doesn’t match up well with an athletic team like Cal.  It should be a fairly close game but the Golden Bears should end up winning pretty easily.  Keep an eye on Kevin Riley; he needs to take a step up this year if Cal wants to be in the upper tier of the conference.

Oregon:
Last Week:  New Mexico-0, Oregon-72
This Week: @ Tennessee
I don’t care who you play, 72-0 is impressive.  Also, New Mexico shouldn’t have a football team.  No one plays football in that state.  I don’t know if anyone does anything in that state.  Oregon has a test this week when they go down to Tennessee.  The Vols aren’t the powerhouse they used to be but they’re still athletic and have an intimidating environment.  Go Vols!

Oregon State:
Last Week:  Oregon State-21, TCU-30
This Week: Bye
Oregon State played pretty well by most accounts.  They played a tough team in a tough environment and, if it weren’t for a few mistakes, could have won the game.  That loss didn’t make me think any less of the Beavers and I still think they’ll finish in the top 3 in the Pac.  Now, OSU gets a week off before they take on Louisville (which should be a pretty easy win for the Beavs).

Stanford:
Last Week:  Sac. St.-17, Stanford-52
This Week: @ UCLA
Another blow out against a terrible opponent.  There’s not a lot you can say about these games so onto this week.  Pac-10 play begins!  Stanford starts Pac-10 play the way everyone wants to begin it, against UCLA.  Expect a win this week, although it should be an interesting game.  Stanford has some injury problems but no one really knows what they are because they aren’t being specific.  It’s a weird deal.

UCLA:
Last Week:  UCLA-22, Kansas St.-31
This Week: Home vs. Stanford
UCLA might have had the most disappointing loss of any Pac-10 team this week (I’d argue it’s between them and Washington but Kansas State is a lot worse than BYU so that’s my reasoning).  UCLA looked pretty bad and I don’t see them winning many games this season.  Stanford is a tough way to start Pac-10 play.  The Bruins were run over last week by a Kansas State line that is nowhere near as good as Stanford’s.  But, Brett Hundley did just commit which is something to be excited about if you’re them.  Man, this was a bad weekend to be a Husky fan.

USC:
Last Week:  USC-49, Hawaii-36
This Week: Home vs. Virginia
USC may have looked the worst of any Pac-10 team (not counting WSU).  At least defensively.  Their offense looked incredible.  But, the defense was terrible.  We don’t know if it was because of it being a season opener or not but giving up almost 600 yards to a WAC opponent is terrible.  They could be in for a lot of shoot outs this year.  It will be interesting to see what the defense will do against a mediocre Virginia team.  I expect them to be much better at home.  But, for now they look like a middle of the Pack team in the conference.

WSU:
Last Week:  WSU-17, Oklahoma St.-65
This Week: Home vs. Montana St.
What to say?  WSU looked improved for about 6 minutes in this game when they scored 10 unanswered points.  Other than that they looked worse than last year or the year before.  Yes, I said worse.  Now, we get to see just how awful they are as they play Montana State this week.  The fact that WSU losing this game is possibility shows you what kind of state that program is in.  If they lose this one, Wulff should be fired immediately.  With that being said, even the Cougars should win this game.

Pac-10 Power Rankings after the jump

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by | September 6, 2010 · 2:02 pm

Labor Day Laughter

Umm, ya, this story is awesome…

Baseball fans have long been warned to look out for foul balls and flying bats.

Now add falling letters to the list.

A fan at the Toronto Blue Jays’ game was OK on Monday after being struck in the right shoulder by a tumbling, metal “B” from a sign honoring Jackie Robinson.

The middle-aged man had a scrape after a foul ball by home run leader Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays dislodged one of the letters in a tribute honoring Robinson’s retired No. 42.

The letter fell about 30 feet from the facing over the third deck behind home plate in the seventh inning of the Texas-Toronto game.

“I was very surprised, because I didn’t expect a ‘B’ to fall on me,” said the injured fan, who gave only his first name as Ian and said he was a season-ticket holder from Toronto. He was watching the game with his son.

Although he was sore, the fan who was struck said the injury wouldn’t prove too serious; he throws left-handed.

The white letter, some two feet high, bounced down the aisle and was picked up in the front row by fan Bruno DeRose, who proudly held it over his head. Other fans booed when stadium security took the letter away.

“They should have at least given me a couple of tickets or a ball,” DeRose said. “I couldn’t believe it happened.”

Happy Labor Day.

-Dan

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by | September 6, 2010 · 11:44 am

Glaring Numbers–Game 1

O: Husky points in the 2nd half

-39: Will Mahan’s rushing yards total

131: The passing yards total by both Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson. Neither were exceptional, but both QB’s were effective for different reasons, and the combination kept UW on it’s heels.

25:53: Time of Posession for UW. In comparison, BYU had the ball for 34:07. That’s half a quarter more, and in a tight game, those 8+ minutes are valuable.

14: The average yard line UW began it’s drive on. On 11 drives, the yard line UW started on was their own…27, 2, 20, 12, 1, 20, 7, 16, 14, 20, 25.
Conversely, BYU’s 12 drives began on…22, 21, 30, UW 47, 29, 43, 31, UW 48, 20, 23, 20, 27.

So that’s 6 drives Washington started inside it’s 20. Field position is an underrated aspect of a game, and probably the biggest culprit for Washington never finding it’s offensive rhythm was it’s horrible starting position. The playbook is very restricted inside your own 10.

36: Combined tackles by Mason Foster (14), Nate Williams (12), and Victor Aiyewa (10). Good performance by those 3 guys.

13: Consecutive road losses. The last road win came at Stanford on 11/3/07. If the Huskies do not win at USC or at Arizona, the road skid will hit 15 games, spanning 3+ years. Ouch.

2: Rating on my 1-10 “Memorable Game Scale.” This game was not very exciting, and like many 1st games, it was just weird. There was no rhythm from the Huskies offense (thanks to horrible field position), and there were a ton of 1st game mistakes. A lot of the special teams miscues we saw Saturday probably won’t happen again all year. I also wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being the only game that the Huskies don’t score a point in the 2nd half. 2 years from now, I won’t remember much from this game.

-Dan

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by | September 5, 2010 · 9:01 pm

Huskies Post-Game

Well, I guess it’s time one of us do this.  We’ve had over 24 hours to digest a disappointing loss and now I am a little more rational than I was a night ago.

Let me start off by saying that this wasn’t the team we planned on seeing.  This wasn’t the team that had taken a step above last year’s.  Sure, there were some aspects of the team that improved (more on that later) but as a whole this wasn’t the team we expected to see.  This was the Husky team that lost to Arizona State and UCLA on the road last year.  That team wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t good either.  We saw moments where the Huskies looked like a team that was about to take it to the next level but those moments didn’t last.  Will the Huskies become that team?  There is no reason to give up hope on that after the first game.

The game started off the way it was supposed to.  The Dawgs were clearly the better team.  They were faster.  They had more weapons.  They looked like they wanted it more.  Then everything bounced BYU’s way.  A couple of stupid penalties led to a field position switch and the good bounces for BYU became evident with every punt.  Seriously, think about the game (assuming you watched it) and try to remember a bounce that went the Huskies way.  It was unbelievable.

With that being said, you have to put yourself in position to get good bounces and credit BYU for doing that.  The Cougars were better than any of the good guys thought and will go on to win 9 or 10 games this season.  They were a very physical football team and extremely well coached.

Also, the Huskies did put themselves in a position to win the game.  The defense made stops to get the offense the ball.  The offense drove far enough to give us hope.  Who knows?  If the last pass of the game wasn’t tipped we could be talking about a comeback win that will start a season of magic.  Instead, we’re stuck thinking, “Here we go again.”

It’s not all doom and gloom though.  We’ll take a look at that after the jump.

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by | September 4, 2010 · 2:21 pm

Alex Gibbs resigns

Reports all over the place that offensive line coach of the Seahawks, Alex Gibbs, has resigned. This is shocking news. Speculation is the Hawks will release OG Ben Hamilton, who Gibbs brought in to help mentor Russell Okung. So much for that plan. This development is mystifying on so many levels. I understand how a guy can resign over health issues, which if that is the case, I hope he is fine, but it also could be the fact that it is becoming more and more apparent by the days and weeks that this franchise is rebuilding, and Gibbs may not have the patience for that. Wish he would have figured this out when he decided to come back to coaching. Ridiculous!

-Joe

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by | September 4, 2010 · 1:38 pm

Good Guys’ 2010-11 NCAA FB Predictions

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by | September 4, 2010 · 10:10 am

Hawks cleaning house

The news yesterday and today is that T.J. Houshmanzadeh has been released by the Seahawks, additionally, today, Jason LaCanfora is reporting they have released J.P. Losman, leaving Seattle with two quarterbacks on the depth chart. Obviously this will not be the case going into week 1. I fully expect the Hawks to sign a 3rd stringer soon, because as we know, Patrick Willis, whom they play in the opener, has a knack for putting QB’s in the hospital.

On the Housh front, I am fully in support of cutting him. I know his defenders will say he is a competitor and wants to win, hence his brash behavior, something Seattle sports needs because we are a soft sports town, and the Hawks are a soft team. News flash: He was on the team last season that was the softest I have ever seen. Huffing and puffing, undercutting your offensive coordinator, and going on local sports radio stations ripping media members who are paid to critique and give their opinions was chump and frankly embarrassing to the franchise (I include Deion Branch in my criticism as well…). Teams in the NFL with distracting, big ego diva players will not go far. (Unless you are the 1990’s Dallas Cowboys who had HOFs all over the field, they are the exception…). The Seahawks are light years from that. The Hawks need team players who keep their mouths shut and go out and let their play do the talking. I could give a rip what Housh did in Cincy. What he did in Seattle was meaningless. I’d rather have Mike Williams, Deon Butler, Golden Tate. They have something to prove and will play hard and won’t belly-ache about getting the ball, then disguise that opinion by saying “oh, I just want to win, I’m not bitter”. Sure, never heard that before, c’mon.

The Seahawks have a long way to go to be in serious playoff contention, so a move like this I think is healthy in purging the team of problems and looking to the future. Is it a drop off in talent? Probably, but I think it will be an increase in moral and team chemistry. This is Carroll and Schneider’s team. Any time they cut ties with the Ruskell era, I am all for it. I am fine with the Josh Wilson trade as well. If they don’t think he fits, better deal him, or he’ll be a problem as well. Wilson has some talent, but people are overreacting like the guy was a pro-bowler. Again, the Hawks will be thin in the secondary, but this regime wants to see if Walter Thurmond can play. I like the move. I think Thurmond has all the tools to be a good NFL player.

Overall? Addition by subtraction.

-Joe

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by | September 3, 2010 · 9:19 pm

Good Guy’s Husky Predictions: Week One

It’s almost here!  It was hard to focus during my first week of classes and I’m a little tired of having dreams about this game.  So, gather ’round everyone and read what the Good Guys have to say.  We’ll probably be wrong on numerous occasions this year but here’s to hoping we aren’t wrong this week!  On to the predictions:

Matthew:

I have a hard time believing that the Huskies are going to lose this game. If it were being played at Husky Stadium, I don’t see any way they wouldn’t be the overwhelming favorite, but two years without a road win is certainly a neutralizing force. Here’s betting they overcome in Provo. Outside of a big offensive line (although all I’ve seen about the line is that it’s big, not necessarily good), BYU is full of question marks on offense. That should help a young but promising Husky defense find itself in time to support an offense that could run all over the field against the Cougars. For all the BYU talk this week about being better prepared for a running quarterback, they won’t be able to keep up with Locker. My feeling is that the gap between the teams is much more than Locker, but either way, I see the Huskies getting their first of two wins over Cougars this year.
UW 34, BYU 20

Dan:

The last time UW played at BYU was Rick Neuheisel’s first game coaching the Dawgs. I remember sitting in Red Robin watching Kevin Feterik pass for 500 yards as BYU hung on to beat the Huskies in a thriller. Weird stuff happens at BYU. Maybe its the Mormon voodoo, or the high elevation, or the players there who leave for 2 year missions and then re-appear on the roster. At any rate, BYU games scare me. But the Cougars lost a ton from last years team, especially on offense. It’s a rebuilding year in Provo, and while Jake Heaps is a load of talent, I’m not too scared facing him in his first collegiate game. The Huskies desperately need a road win to jump-start the year, and they will be ready in Provo on Saturday. Too many question marks and a patch-work defense for the Cougars have me picking UW.
Huskies-27, Cougars-21

Andrew:

I remember sending out a text 220 days ago that said, “221 days until the first Husky game.”  Needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to this game for quite a while.  But how will it play out?  I’ve been trying to figure that out for a month and am still not too sure.  The Huskies seem to have more talent than their opponents but BYU has a proven coach and a homefield advantage.  They also have an offensive line that scares me a little bit.  Fortunately, I just don’t think that’s enough.  Starting new skill players all over the place against the fastest Husky team in at least 7 years.  Jake Locker will be the star throughout the season, but I think Chris Polk will be the guy tomorrow.  Against an unproven Cougar front seven, Polk could run all over the place.  Expect BYU to pack the box and make Jake beat them over the top.  Fortunately, Jake and his array of receivers can do that.  Man, this offense could be amazing.  I think the Huskies will prove to be just too much for BYU.  I sure hope so, or this 3 day weekend will see me laying in bed, upset for a little longer than usual on Sunday.
UW-31, BYU-20

Joe:

I think the road woes end here.  I know it’s tremendously easy to say the Huskies have Locker and BYU doesn’t, but I think it’s that simple.  Jake is a 5th year senior with other worldly leadership and athletic skills.  He’s the best football player on the field.  He also, by the way, has eight other returning starters on offense that will allow the Dawgs to control the ball.  In the air with Jake and the talented WR’s, and on the ground with Chris Polk.  I think Washigton will win the time of possession battle, and they will minimize turnovers, winning that battle as well.  Defensively, I think the Huskies will surprise.  They may not be the most talented bunch, but they will play hard, and will be disciplined, being in Coach Holt’s system for two years now.  I think BYU’s plan to play two different QB’s will be an advantage for the Huskies defense.  Look for the Dawgs to blitz and hide coverage schemes a lot to confuse the two inexperienced Cougar play-callers.  I also think the Huskies have the kicking advantage as well.  High altitude and Folk kicking could be the x-factor late in this game.  The only reason this game is close is the home field advantage.  If this game is at Husky Stadium, I would not be this generous to BYU.
31-24 UW wins.

There you have it!  Post your predictions in the comments for this game or any other pac-10 game.  GO HUSKIES!

The Good Guys

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