Tag Archives: Steve Sarkisian

by Joe Loughery | September 18, 2010 · 7:14 pm

Nebraska v. Washington postmortem

I am a glutton for punishment, so I am typing out my thoughts after witnessing my favorite school get absolutely destroyed by a vastly superior football team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. There are a million different directions to go with this, but I’ll just touch on a few things that I am steamed about:

Demeanor – The Huskies came out flat and emotionless. I was shocked by this. How on earth can a team come out this way in front of their home crowd on national TV? They all looked like deer in the headlights. Inexcusable.

Special Teams – Simply put, the kickoff coverage was an embarrassment. Throughout the first half, Nebraska had tremendous field position. This put undue pressure on the defense. The outcome was short fields for Nebraska, leading to scores.

Wide Receivers – Terrible. I don’t care how good Nebraska’s secondary is. 4 receptions. FOUR. I have been hearing for a while now that Jake and Huskies offense has so many great weapons at WR. Well, not today, and that is too bad. Today was an opportunity to step up and play on a big stage and prove they are ready for the bigtime. Instead they flopped.

Playcalling – I really hate to even go here, because I have been a huge fan of Coach Sark’s playcalling, even if it has been erratic over the past season. Today though, I have major issues. It was painfully clear early on the Huskies could not get a passing game going. They could run the ball. On the Huskies 3rd possession, the Dawgs ran the ball down Nebraska’s throat, en-route to an 80 yard drive for a touchdown. I realize defenses make adjustments, so I am sure there is a reason the Huskies went away from the run, but over the next 3 Husky possessions, the Dawgs ran 11 plays for a net 9 yards. Very few runs. Mostly disastrous passing attempts. Momentum swung back to Nebraska during these possessions. Would have loved to see the Dawgs run more early in the game.

Tackling – Beyond bad. Atrocious. There’s not much to say here. Anyone who watched the game knows what I am talking about. Whiffs. Ole’s. Bad angles. You name it, the Dawgs botched it.

Of course Jake Locker had a bad game, and he is taking most of the heat for the loss, but he’s low on my list. It’s easy to take pot-shots at the high profile QB, and there are plenty of Locker haters out there having a fun time. The loss today was a team effort. Every aspect of the game was terrible. Everyone is responsible, top down. I think Coach Sark should take the most heat, he is getting paid, he is the face of the program, this is on he and the coaches. This is not a bad thing, I want my head coach to take the heat rather than the players. I still have a lot of hope in Sark and the coaches to rebuild this program. Yes, they are still rebuilding, games like today prove they are far from being an elite program again.

Right now, unfortunately, 6-6 is the best they will do. The Pac-10 is a grinder, and they have brutal road games waiting for them, starting in two weeks at USC. The next two weeks better be spent on the basics and self reflection. I think too many people around the program have been reading their own press clippings rather than playing with an earn everything mentality. Despite all of this, I am still hopeful this team can make a run in the unpredictable Pac-10. Anything can happen any week. The road ahead is a very difficult one, here’s hoping this group of Dawgs find themselves and play real, true Husky football.

-Joe

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Filed under Huskies Football, UW Game Recaps

Tagged as Nebraska Cornhuskers, Steve Sarkisian, Washington Huskies

by dpscansen | September 2, 2010 · 12:53 pm

A Roadmap to Pasadena

When a college team hits rock bottom, as the Huskies did following their 0-12 season in 2008, the best case scenario is to re-build and contend for the conference within 3 years. For the Huskies to accomplish this lofty goal, the process looks something like this:

Step 1, off season—Fire coach, hire new one that brings fresh approach. Begin a culture change by recruiting differently, practicing differently, thinking differently.
Step 2, in season—Back up the talk by winning a few games in year 1.
Step 3, off season—With systems in-place, raise the bar and expect more from returning players in the off-season. Focus the recruiting on keeping in-state kids at home.
Step 4, in season—Challenge for a .500 season and possibly a bowl game in year 2.
Step 5, off season—Get bigger, stronger, faster. Win some recruiting battles and sign a blue chip or two.
Step 6, in season—Compete for a winning season and possibly a conference championship.

In the Sarkisian era, Washington is entering Step 4 of this process, and thus far the first 3 steps are checked off with an A+ grade. A .500 season and possibly a bowl game would be right on track to accomplish the 3 year turnaround. But anyone who follows this team knows the hype and expectations are higher than just 6-6 this year. The X factor is, of course, the return of Jake Locker. In fact, there may as well be an asterisk under step 3 that says, “If Locker returns, skip steps 4 and 5, and move onto 6. But is conference contending hype reasonable at this point for the Huskies? Could Jake conceivably slash a year off what is already an aggressive 3 year re-build process from winless to champs? Let’s breakdown just how realistic a Rose Bowl season could be by forecasting 5 assumptions, and ranking the probability of each on a scale of 1-10.

Assumption 1: The Pac-10 is a 6 team race—Realistic scale: 9

The Pac-10 is a 10 team division, of which 4 teams can already be written off—Washington State, Arizona State, USC and UCLA will not be playing in the Rose Bowl on 1/1/11. This is not a fact, but realistically, 3 of these teams are not set up to win the Pac-10 this year, and USC is not eligible for a bowl game. Under this assumption, this is really a 6 team race, and UW is in the thick of it.

Assumption 2: The Pac-10 champion will have 2 conference losses—Realistic scale: 6

Reviewing the past 8 seasons, only twice has the Pac-10 champ gone undefeated in conference play (both times USC did it). 4 times the champ lost just 1 conference game, and twice, the champion suffered 2 losses. This year is as wide open as any of the previous 8 years, especially with USC out of the race, so my assumption is the conference champion will have 2 losses.

Assumption 3: The Huskies will go undefeated at home in conference play—Realistic scale: 6

Coach Sark has already said the Huskies will go undefeated at home this year, so the assumption is that Washington will record conference wins against Arizona State, Oregon State, Stanford, and UCLA. Wahoo!

Assumption 4: The Huskies will go 3-2 on the road in conference play—Realistic scale: 5

Of the contending competition, the Huskies are on the road against Arizona, Oregon, and Cal. UW also visits Washington State and USC this year, neither of whom factor into the conference race, but a loss to either counts the same. Assuming UW wins the Apple Cup (no I’m not counting this as a separate assumption), the road schedule boils down to 4 games, of which the Huskies had better win at least 2 if they want to be in Pasadena in January. Let’s assume the Dawgs claw out 2 wins in these games, and we’ll move on to the final assumption.

Assumption 5: The Huskies will win any tie-breaker atop the conference—Realistic scale: 4

Given the assumptions I’ve made, a 2 loss Washington team will probably have company atop the conference. Let’s assume Oregon and/or Oregon State have 2 losses as well. It is impossible to know how these teams will have accrued 2 losses, and what tie-breakers may facture in at this point, but one thing we do know is that Oregon or Oregon State will play each other in the Civil War, and I would not be surprised if this game has major implications for the Huskies, especially if 2 losses is the magic number that I’m assuming it will be. At this point, Washington may just be a team of destiny, so let’s assume the tie-breakers favor UW, and that the Ducks, who only needed a Civil War win to be conference champs stumbled in Corvallis. How sweet it would be.

By making just 5 fairly reasonable assumptions, the Huskies have landed in Pasadena. The conventional re-build model suggests a 6-6 season is nice progress in year 2, but the moment Locker announced his return, this season became un-conventional. With so many unknowns in this conference, the Locker led Huskies have as good a shot as any. So throw the 7-8 win goal out the window, and go all in for this team. Who knows, maybe Jake Locker’s last game will be in Pasadena.

-Dan

Countdown to Camp: Press Conference Notes

4 days! Sark had his season opening press conference today which didn’t give off a whole lot of news. Here were a few things that stuck out to me.

Sark said that starting tight end, Chris Izbicki, had the best off-season of anyone. This is great news if true. It’s impossible to know what Izbicki did his first two years here because he was in Willingham’s doghouse. Maybe he worked hard, maybe he didn’t. But, now we have proof that he’s making big strides and wants to help the team win ball games. Chris will play a big role on this team and if he meets his initial potential (a 4-star recruit coming out of high school) he will be another weapon in this high-powered offense.
Brent Williams and John Timu will gray-shirt this year. Timu is not a surprise but Williams is. I thought Williams would come in and redshirt but he also had the possibility of playing because of the lack of depth. Maybe this move shows that Sark has faith that the previously injured defensive ends (Aldrich and Thompson) are fine. Maybe I’m reading too much into it.
Sark stated that he thinks Jake should be above a 65% completion percentage and have a 3:1 touchdown to interception ratio. If both of those things happen, I think the Huskies will win 9 games or more. Those are some lofty goals but if anyone could get to them, Montlake Jake would be the guy to do it.
He gave the team a clean bill of health. Justin Glenn will be monitored very closely with an ankle issue but the rest of the team is very healthy heading into camp.
The Huskies announced they have 2 walk-on quarterbacks that were added to their roster. I won’t pretend like I know a thing about either of them but they both put up some good high school numbers. They are much needed extra bodies at that position.
Speaking of extra bodies, the Huskies reportedly have 81 scholarship players on the active roster (I thought it would be 78 or 79 and I’m not sure where I’m off) and have 23 walk-ons. That’s 104 players if you don’t feel like doing the addition. The NCAA limit is 105.
Josh Shirley will start out at defensive end. Although this is where he’ll start, I think he’ll get a good look at the open linebacker position also.
Perhaps the biggest news of the day were the listed weights of players. Ivan Lewis is one crazy dude and our players seem to be getting in the shape that the coaches want them to be in. Here are a few of the biggest increases/decreases (straight from Condotta’s blog):
RB Demetrius Bronson was 206, now 221
DE Talia Critchon was 229, now 246
DT Alameda Ta’amu was 348, now 330
DT Semisi Tokolahi was 340, now 298
The theme of this was the big defensive lineman losing some weight while the younger guys at other positions put on some weight. Bronson is obviously embracing the ‘big back’ role that he’ll have with the team. It’s great to see Critchon up some so he won’t get man-handled this year. Ta’amu looks like a different person, according to Sark. Tokolahi lost 42 lbs. That’s crazy. I think he’ll be in a little bit better playing shape now.

I realize that now it’s only 3 days until camp now but I just got back to Yakima after a terrible Mariner game. Poor Felix, he deserves better. I’ll be back with more later today!

Andrew

Huskies, Intro & Quick Hits

Wow, well, finished up watching the Dawgs wipe the floor with ASU. That’s great, I really don’t like Derek Glasser, he’s a bum. Thursday at Cal. CAN WE GET A ROAD WIN PLEASE!?!? National TV, ESPN, let’s do this DAWGS!!! UW wins and first place is ours.

Anyway, I was invited to be a member by Danny and so far the posts have been excellent, I expected nothing less. I am clearly NOT the best good guy here, I can tell right away I might just be the peanut gallery!! I am honored to be a part of this, as I am passionate sports. It’s a wonderful constant in my life, always a great topic of discussion and interest. I think humor and lightheartedness are vital to loving sports (especially in this town!!!!), so fair warning, I may not always be serious…

About me… I’m 32, born and raised in the state of Washington, so yes, I am a homer, but I love the national sports scene as well. Went to school at Auburn High, then college at the UW, class of 2000. The Huskies are it for me, football and hoops are 1 and 2 on my list. I am very passionate about the UW, I love the school, the campus, the neighborhood. I love the vibe before and after games. I really don’t pull for any other school, and I am generally not a “root for the Pac-10” guy. I backed Penn State in the 1994 Rose Bowl against Oregon when a bunch of so called UW fans thought it was “neat” the Ducks made it. “Go west coast” they tell me. Bull. Oregon sucks and always will. Kenny Wheaton is a cuss word in my vocab.

Regarding pro sports, I love the M’s, Hawks, Sonics, Sounders, TBirds. Yes, the Sonics. I still love them and always will. The Supes are a passion of mine. The 1990’s are the decade I really matured sports wise, and the SuperSonics had their best run that decade. I am old enough to remember Dale Ellis, Tommy Chambers and the X-Man, but for me Payton and Kemp are almost sports deity. The 1996 Sonics are family. The spring of ’96 was one of the best times of my life. The fact that this city does not have an NBA team is a complete and utter disaster and joke. I shake my head every time I think about it. But, I am hopeful. No idea why, I just choose to be hopeful that one day I’ll see the Green & Gold back out there on the hardwood.

I have a ton of thoughts about the upcoming Mariners season, the upcoming NFL draft where the Hawks MUST get it right. In the NFL if you screw up the draft, it will set back the organization years.

Random Quick Hits:

Quincy Pondexter is Pac-10 POTY.

The Mariners should bring back the teal jerseys.

Cortez Kennedy belongs in the HOF, and so does Edgar.

The Kingdome was awesome, even if it stunk of stale beer constantly and had only two bathrooms.

Safeco Field is even more awesome: Tons of bathrooms!!! ICHIRO!!!!!!!!!!! Garlic Fries!! Ivars fish!!!! Sushi!!!! Zombie Nation Kernkraft 400 BLARING!!!!! DIPPIN DOTS!!!! DAVE SIMS!!!! HEY NOW!!!!!!!

Steve Scheffler and Frank Brickowski had game.

Shaun Alexander could catch, check his stats from 2001-2004.

Vin Baker was an all star in 97-98 with the Sonics. Then he discovered donuts during the lockout. The rest is history.

Steve Emtman was unstoppable. Best defensive player I have ever seen. Period.

Jackie Z and Wak are geniuses, how the M’s were above .500 last year is beyond me, (not to mention the amazing offseason JZ has put together so far, the Cliff Lee deal was highway robbery).

Game 7 of the 1993 NBA Western Conference Finals was fixed, you cannot convince me otherwise, it’s established fact, look at the boxscore.

The 2005 NFC Championship is the best game I have ever seen live. (seeing Jimmy Johnson’s hair freeze was an added bonus…)

Both times the UW lost to UConn in the Tourney resulted in me refusing food and water for days and human interaction suffered for weeks.

I have major, MAJOR bromances with Coach Sark, Jake Locker and Chris Polk.

If you’ve made it this far, congrats, I am done, sorry no prizes… I know it was a lot about me, but I thought I better get my street creds out there now before someone asks for them. More to come!!