After last weekend’s heartbreaking affairs, the Good Guys felt it was time to gather together and face the hard questions. Okay, they aren’t really hard questions but there are some answers to a few questions. Enjoy everybody!
After Saturday’s game, do you think Stanford is a top-5 team? Does that mean the Huskies are a top-10 team based on their performance?
Dan: I’m not sure if Stanford is a top 5 team because the offense and defense both seem good but not great. Top 5 teams have an elite “something” and I don’t see it’d on Stanford. I think both UW and Stanford are in the 7-10 range. Look, if your only loss is by 3 points on the road to the #5 team, and you outplay them in nearly all facets, you belong in the top 10.
Joe: I agree with Dan that Stanford is a top 10 team, and that UW could be a top 10. The problem I have is Stanford hasn’t been tested on the road yet, with two home games vs ranked teams, and in both cases, ASU and UW moved the ball just fine on their defense, out gaining Stanford in both games. But I understand a win is a win, so I’ll let that sleeping dog lie. I think Stanford is a very good football team, very well-disciplined, they just don’t beat themselves, and that’s why they are undefeated right now.
Matthew: I think Stanford is capable of beating anyone in the country, but I don’t think they’re good enough to go undefeated and win the championship. I don’t know if that puts them in the top five or not, but I imagine they’ll hang in that range most of the year. I see them losing to Oregon and maybe one more team. I would have the Huskies in the 10-15 range right now. If they keep playing like they have been, however, I don’t see them losing many more games. They could easily be a a top 10 team, and I think they’re playing like it right now. It’s just a matter of keeping it up.
Andrew: It appears that I’m in the minority here but I do believe Stanford is a top-5 team. Outside of Alabama, I’m not sure that anyone has a better resume than Stanford right now. I think their front 7 is elite and is probably the best in the country. As for the Huskies, they really do look like a top-10 team to me. I think they can play with anyone because of the weapons on their team and because of the growth on the coaching staff. This weekend will go a long ways in showing whether the Huskies are or not.
What was your favorite play from Saturday’s game?
Dan: I thought the 3rd and 1 stop with 2 mins left was amazing. Peters was off-balance and Hogan appeared to have an easy path to getting a yard or 2 outside, but Marcus recovered and made a phenomenal play that only elite D’s pull off.
Joe: Any play that involved Bishop Sankey doing something awesome, and then seeing Grandpa Sankey go nuts.
Matthew: I’ll second both of those. Grandpa Sankey was great, but that third down stop by Peters was incredible. I’ve been raving about it ever since. It came out of the same formation as Stanford scored (I think) their last touchdown: 8 lineman, shotgun, two backs beside the quarterback. It’s very symmetrical and looks like a goal line offense. Because of that, UW got sucked into the middle on the touchdown, and Tyler Gaffney was untouched going off-tackle to the right. There are so many different plays that can be run out of that alignment. They can hand off either direction, go right up the gut, slip the tight end or a back out for a pass. This time Hogan kept it, Peters mostly stayed home and then closed and made a difficult tackle. Given the circumstances and level of difficulty, that was one of the better defensive plays we’ll see all year.
Andrew: I can’t disagree with the Peters play. It would have been my favorite UW play, maybe ever, if the Dawgs had pulled the game out.
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