Tag Archives: UW football

by | January 7, 2012 · 8:33 pm

What’s The Deal With Recruiting?

I’m usually kind of hesitant to write about recruiting, for a few reasons.  For one, I don’t really know anything about these players, how good they are or what they’re thinking, and neither do most other people, whatever they might tell you.  Outside of a few Youtube clips or maybe a single game here or there, I’ve never seen these guys play, and even if I have, I’m no talent scout.  A couple of years ago I went with Danny and Andrew to watch Bothell play O’Dea.  I could tell that Zach Fogerson was kind of special.  Michael Hartvigson and Colin Porter were huge and stood out.  I’ve also been to plenty of games where guys really stood out and weren’t anywhere close to being D-I recruits.  I can’t usually tell the difference.  If you’re relying on me for scouting, you’re in trouble.

The second reason I hesitate to write about recruiting is that it’s a pretty charged topic.  The management aspect of sports has grown almost as compelling as the game itself.  Prince Fielder and the Mariners roster construction  has received far more attention than the Mariners’ season, and that’s not just because the Mariners were terrible.  With fantasy sports becoming so popular, we like to play general manager.  That’s hard to do with college sports, and so we speculate on recruiting.

That’s not necessarily bad.  Continue reading →

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by | January 4, 2012 · 10:04 pm

Montlake’s Going Crazy!

The last week has been a wild one for University of Washington football.  Between the Alamo Bowl, coaching changes, and recruiting news, there have been no shortage of emotion swings.  I’m going to save the recruiting talk for a future post, but I want to offer some thoughts on the rest of the news.

Plenty has already been said on the Alamo Bowl, so I’ll keep it short, but it’s hard to ask for much more out of a bowl appearance.  Besides a win, that is.  Everyone expected a shootout, but this one went to a completely different level.  I’ve heard people say that the lack of defense was embarassing, and I suppose that it probably is.  I certainly wish the Huskies would have pulled out the win.  Still, I can’t get overly upset about it.  That was one of the craziest things we’ll ever get to see.  I talk a lot on here about how I increasingly watch sports for the chance to be amazed.  Winning is great, but I want to see great performances and events that surprise me.  The Alamo Bowl had both. Continue reading →

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by | November 18, 2011 · 10:09 pm

UW vs. OSU Predictions

Can any state match the Oregon universities for region-appropriate but completely unthreatening mascots.  Beavers are super-cool, but what are they going to do on the football field?  Gnaw your leg off and wap you with their tail?  Slowly build a dam that will funnel the opposing offense toward a waterfall?  That dam defense bends but doesn’t break!

I have to admit, ducks are among my very favorite birds, and I really like birds.  They have a certain je ne sais quoi.  Mystery hides behind their bills and well-groomed feathers.  But put them on a football field and you just get this.

Joe

UW comes into Corvallis licking it’s wounds after two straight weeks of getting thrashed by superior conference foes.  Oregon and USC exposed so many weaknesses in the Dawgs top to bottom, I’d bore you to death with the details.  All you need to know is they got rocked.  Thankfully, they get Benny the Beaver this week, and he is not a superior foe.  OSU has struggled all year to be competitive (except for the beat down they administered to Wazzu), and I expect that to continue this Saturday.  It’s senior day at Reser, so emotions will be high, but that’s all they have going for them at home.  A porous defense that has given up over 800 yards on the ground over the past three games should be a welcome sight for the Huskies. With Nick Montana making his first ever start, I expect Sark to called Chris Polk’s number all day. I better see 30 carries from #1.  I have a good feeling Polk will deliver. Sean Mannion is a legit, strong armed, up and coming QB in the Pac 12. Even though just a freshman, coach Riley has handled the program over to the young signal caller. He’ll play with confidence and throw a lot to his stable of solid WRs.  Since the UW secondary is terrible, expect to see OSU throw and throw often.  In the end this game will be about tempo and ball control.  If UW expects to win, the ball must be in the best players’ hands, i.e. Polk, ASJ, Kasen. If Montana finds those guys, I like the chances of winning.

UW 31 – OSU 24

Andrew

These next 2 games will define the season for the Huskies.  If they beat OSU and WSU, which they should, then the season will be seen as a success and another step forward for the program.  If they drop one of these games then it’s hard to be as excited about this season.  So, this game means more than just playing a team with 2 wins.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know why the line on this game is so low.  The Huskies are clearly a better team even if they have their backup quarterback.  Oregon State isn’t very good, but they will play hard and will play with emotion.  If the Dawgs are able to get their running game going and play decent defense they should win this game by double digits, but it’s hard to know if that will happen after the last couple of games.  I’m thinking that Chris Polk will make sure his team is ready to go.  As for Nick Montana, I think he’ll be efficient and will wow us and then make us scratch our heads every once in a while.  This game has me nervous, but not nervous enough to pick against the Huskies.

UW 38, OSU 27

Dan

My emotions are swirling heading into this game tomorrow. That’s not terribly unusual, but this game in particular has me anxious. A month ago, the Huskies were rolling and the Beavers were playing like the Beavers we remember from the 90’s. As it stands today, UW has lost 2 in a row, and coming out of its toughest stretch of the schedule, the team is beat up physicially, emotionally, and most likely mentally. The Beavers are not exactly surging having lost 3 straight, but they are as healthy as they’ve been, and from what I’ve heard the team is practicing hard, and in no way resembles a typical 2-8 football team. No matter how you dice it, the Huskies are better at nearly every position, on both sides of the ball. The offensive line’s struggles have been well documented, but the truth is all 5 starters would probably start for the Beavers. The talent gap is large, but that has never prevented the Beavs from competing well, especially in November. I expect a heavy dose of Chris Polk tomorrow, but then again I expect that every week, and sometimes it doesn’t happen. For me, the 2 factors that scare me most are the Keith Price injury, paired with the weird juju that often occurs at Reser in November. I smell an upset, and a frustrating afternoon.

Beavers-38, Huskies-31

Matthew

With Nick Montana getting the start and the Huskies’ recent swoon, this game had me pretty worried.  Then I realized how bad the Beavers have been most of this season.  I guess I’m so used to the Beavers being a tough game, especially late in the season, that I just assumed the Huskies would end up with the loss.  I could still see that happening, but OSU isn’t a major threat.  The rushing numbers are so heavily in UW’s favor that they should decide the game.  We’ve heard things like that before, of course, and it often doesn’t work out.  I have a feeling that this time, it will.  Montana should be good enough to keep the defense honest, and Polk should have a huge day.  Go Dawgs!

UW 34, OSU 20

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by | November 11, 2011 · 12:37 pm

UW vs. USC Predictions

Hello, Dawg fans.

In 2006, the UW Huskies started 4-1 with their only loss to Oklahoma.  It seemed a return to a bowl game was imminent.  Then they lost a few tough ones, Isaiah Stanback got hurt, and they didn’t win another game until the Apple Cup.  They finished 5-7, missing a bowl game.  Two years later they were 0-12.

This year, they Huskies started 5-1.  Three weeks later, they’re 6-3 and facing a tough USC squad in L.A.  It’s easy to think this season is sliding away, especially in light of the beatdowns from conference powers Oregon and Stanford.

Entering the season, however, most people were expecting a 7-5 or 8-4 season.  A few people were hoping for 9 or 10 wins, but even they admitted they were being very optimistic.  Even with the disappointing losses, the Dawgs are right on target.  They’re not anywhere near being elite yet, but they’re a solid, young team, just like we thought.  They should finish with 8 wins, with 7 or 9 being realistic possibilities.

Even if they don’t win another game, they’ve secured a bowl game.  I don’t want to be at the point where Husky fans are just hoping for a bowl game, but it’s a start, and it’s where the team is right now.  They’re making progress, and while we want it to happen quicker, it helps to take a step back and remember what could be happening instead.

Joe

Nothing about this game feels right.  USC is taking this game personally.  The Nick Holt comment, which was harmless and not a slam on USC if you read the context of the question, is plastered all over the USC football facilities.  Coach Sark complimenting Matt Barkley saying he’s better than Luck is being taken personally somehow.  Lane Kiffin today on Softy was clearly annoyed with the fact USC has lost two in a row to the Dawgs (Hey Lane, cheer up, you got a few extra timeouts from last year you might be able to use Saturday…).  The Trojans want revenge, and I think they’ll get it.  USC is playing at a very high level right now offensively, and that concerns me for obvious reasons. Robert Woods and his WR running mates will simply torch the UW secondary, and if the UW pass rush continues to be M.I.A., Barkley will have all day to throw.  This could get ugly quick.  I do think the Huskies will bounce back on the offensive side, but it’ll be too little because of the inevitable drops by the receivers will kill some drives. I expect Polk to have a tremendous game back on his home turf of So Cal.  In the end though, the Trojans roll.

USC 49 – UW 31

Matthew

I think the Dawgs are capable of pulling this one out, but they are moving in the complete wrong direction.  If this were the fourth game of the year, I would have picked the Huskies.  Since then, the Huskies are floundering a bit while USC is playing great football.  If the Dawgs play anything like they did against Oregon, they don’t have much of a shot.  Still, it feels like this team could click at any minute, so maybe this will be the week.  I’ll believe it when I see it.

USC 45, UW 34

Andrew

The Huskies have a tough fight up against them on Saturday.  USC has been playing well after starting their season a little lackadaisical and the Huskies will have to play a really good game if they want to avoid losing their 3rd out of their last 4.  Sark and company have had the Trojans number the last 2 years though and I think that means something.  This game means a little more to the coaching staff and they will be prepared (not that they aren’t usually prepared).  USC probably has a little better athletes but I don’t think the gap is that far away, as Bob Condotta pointed out with some stats the other day (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskyfootballblog/2016734593_comparing_uws_and_uscs_confere.html).  I think that points to a close game.  My hopes aren’t too high for this game and I don’t know why.  Maybe it’s because I thought the Huskies would finish 8-4 all along and this game would be the last one they lost.  I know I’ve been preaching that we should start expecting to win but I don’t feel that heading into Saturday.  I’m guessing that it’s about time USC wins a close one against us and so I’ll go with that.

UW 35, USC 38

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by | November 4, 2011 · 10:04 pm

UW vs. Oregon Predictions

I’m going to keep this intro short, because I’m tired and there’s no point trying to move the focus from the game itself.  This is shaping up as one of the most exciting weekends in UW sports history.  Andrew and I just got back from the basketball exhibition game, where the Huskies dismantled Seattle Pacific and Tony Wroten showed nothing to take away the excitement surrounding him.  More on that in a couple of days.

Between the emotion of the last game at Husky Stadium and all of the former players and festivities surrounding it, there’s going to be a lot of intrigue.  What remains to be seen is whether that intrigue will carry into the game or not.  If Oregon rattles off a quick three touchdowns, the night will just turn sad in a hurry.  If the Huskies can hang in there all night, though, we might see some magic.

You never know how these things are going to go.  You can put as much or as little emphasis on the non-game stuff as you want, but it still mostly comes down to the teams on the field.  Hopefully, the Huskies will give us one more memory in the old stadium.

Danny

I want the Huskies to win tomorrow more than any game I can remember in recent history.  The Ducks are annoying, I have sports hate for them, but more than anything I just want to see UW take that next step, from good to potentially great.  Andrew was right yesterday in his declaration that no matter what anybody says, this game is impossible to predict.  You wouldn’t think it would be, given the Ducks recent dominance over Washington (7 straight wins of 20+ points), but this is a particularly intriguing matchup, full of possibilites.  The only way I can think to sort all the factors, is to rank each facet of the game, on a scale of 1-5.  This is absurb, by the way, but bear with me.  Oregon offense-5; Oregon defense-3.5; UW offense-4; UW defense-1.5; Home field-UW +1; Special teams-UO +1; Coaching-even.  This scientific breakdown tells me Oregon-9.5, UW-6.5.  Now all I have to do is multiple x4 to get the actual score (this works every time).

Ducks-38, Huskies-26

Matthew

I don’t really believe the Huskies are going to win, but I’m not going to pick the Ducks.  I’m sick of the Ducks.  I’m sick of the Mariners losing and Isaiah Thomas going pro and Pete Carroll in general and especially losing to the Ducks.  Do something good for once, Seattle sports people!  Don’t lose to the Ducks!

UW 45, Oregon 43

Andrew

I mentioned in a post last night that this game is hard to predict.  Seeing how I haven’t had much luck with my predictions this year (although last week’s was pretty spot on), I imagine I’ll be wrong.  For the Dawgs to have any chance they’ll have to stop the Ducks running game.  Well, not stop it because no one can do tha,t but maybe they could slow it down a little bit behind the strength of the 12th Dawg (a raucous crowd) and the 13th Dawg (the Seattle weather).  Since my predictions aren’t usually right in these type of games I’m going to say that the Huskies lose 65-21 (yes, the same score as Stanford-UW), the Big Boi gets into a fight with a drunk Duck fan, the 1991 team gets stuck in traffic and doesn’t show up, Don James decides that he likes the Cougars better, and the South End of the stadium completely collapses during halftime, setting the renovation back 6 years.  Please God, don’t let any of that happen.  Go Dawgs!

********************************

By the way, here’s what else Andrew wrote in his prediction email to me.  I thought it should be shared.  I’m Big Boi, by the way.  Matthew is Big Boi (but not that Big Boi, the rapper from Outkast).  It’s a long story.

Hey big boi! Did I ever tell you that I killed a duck once.  I was driving dad’s pickup on terrace heights drive and there was a duck in the middle of the road.  I tried to stop in time but he didn’t move and then he was right under the truck and tried to fly up.  I looked in the rear-view mirror and there was a dead duck in the middle of the road.  I felt bad.  Maybe God’s been punishing me ever since by the Ducks winning the football game.  Or maybe the Huskies just had Tyrone Willingham as a coach. That seems more likely.

Anyway…. I’m a duck, quack quack! I have webbed feet and float around in a lake and sometimes I pee in the same place I float! I’m a loser! Now, I’m a husky! roof roof! I eat ducks for breakfast but I’ve stopped since I don’t like the taste of webbed feet.  They’re dumb too and lower my IQ! WOOF WOOF! BARK BARK! BEWARE DUCKS, I’m a DAWG!!!

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by | October 29, 2011 · 8:47 am

UW vs. Arizona Predictions

This was a pretty horrible week for Seattle sports fans.  After bad losses for the Huskies, I tend to tune out the media for a few days.  I guess it’s an attempt to avoid depression.  Still, a week without sports seems empty and dumb, so I turned my attention elsewhere.

I figured I’d think about the Mariners for a while.  The baseball offseason is always fun, at least until players start signing and Prince Fielder goes to Texas.  Then I read this and I got depressed again, although Seattle Sports Insider came to the rescue with a more optimistic view later in the week (starting here, with hopefully more thoughts on this later this week from the Good Guys).  Regardless of any offseason hopes, the Mariners have a lot of work to do.

I don’t care about the Seahawks as much as the other local teams, but even if I did, they were no help.  A 6-3 loss might be the worst football score there is.  Maybe it’s 3-0, but at least someone’s getting a shutout there.  The NBA has gone to great lengths to make sure Seattleites hate professional basketball, first stealing our team and then going into a lockout with no end in sight.  Even Old Reliable, UW basketball, had slightly bad news, with freshman phenom Tony Wroten undergoing minor knee surgery over the weekend and the season still a few weeks away.

Here’s to hoping for a better week.  Until then, keep your head up, Seattle.  In the words of local boys Blue Scholars, “Anybody in the town into sports, God bless ’em.  We heard that all underdogs go to heaven.”

Dan

A month ago this game did not scare me. Arizona was a mess, Stoops was coaching his last games in Tucson, and the Huskies were exceeding expectations behind Keith Price. It’s too soon to tell, but Arizona seems to be rising, and Washington is facing real adversity for the first time this season. A common theme when analyzing a UW game is, the offense should be able to score, but the game will come down to how well the defense performs. Truth is, until the defense shows a consistent ability to stop the opposition, the team’s success will hinge on the offense putting up enough points to win the game. This is a big problem, and one that I didn’t think would so glaring yet again. As for tomorrow’s contest, Arizona does not exactly have a juggernaut defense either, and I think the offenses are about a wash (Foles may very well go for 400 yards). I’ll give the advantage to UW because of home field and a little more program stability, which should translate to the little things like tackling, penalties, and taking advantage of opportunities. Take the over in this shoot out!

Huskies-44, Wildcats-38

Andrew

I’ve come to realize that I have the worst record in predictions for the Good Guys.  I’m pretty shook up about it.  Anyway, I don’t see the Huskies losing tomorrow.  Arizona has been talked up more this week than any 2-5 team I can remember.  Yes, they are dangerous but, playing away from home without the energy, they don’t scare me.  The Huskies are too dangerous on offense and the defense won’t be great but it will at least answer some of the criticism that it’s rightfully received this week.  This game will be close for the first 2 and a half quarters and then the Dawgs will pull away.  Go Dawgs!

UW 48 – UA 31

Joe

After the butt whuppin Stanford put on UW last week, I don’t know what to expect vs Arizona. I do expect the Dawgs to come out focused and determined to put last week behind them, which they must. The next two games at home will make or break their season in many ways. Lose to Arizona and Oregon, and you are 5-4 going on the road to two hostile environments with a rivalry game on the back end. Things could get sketchy. Beat Arizona and they set up nicely no matter what happens v Oregon. 6-2 looks a whole lot better than 5-3 with the specter of 5-4. I realize Arizona beat down UCLA last week, but cmon, that was Doogie lost the Bruins a while ago. Arizona traditionally stinks on the road and I believe have quite a few suspensions from their brawl last week. I fully expect UW to win this game. I expect the D to play really well. Traditionally, under Sark, the Huskies play really well coming off losses. I see no reason this game will buck the trend.

UW 38 – UA 27

Matthew

This game is a little scarier than I would have ever anticipated a few weeks ago, but less scary than it probably should be.  Last Saturday’s results are getting slightly overblown for both teams, in my opinion.  Yes, UW’s defense is terrible.  You know who else’s defense is terrible?  Arizona’s, and they’re playing without most of their secondary for at least half of the game.  Nick Foles is phenomenal, and the Wildcat running game was much improved last week.  Keith Price isn’t significantly worse, and the Husky running game is significantly better.  Arizona was playing at home with the emotion of a few coach, who isn’t Mike Stoops.  That should be worth a few touchdowns right there.  Some of that emotion will likely wear off this week.  I still expect Arizona to look much better than they did a month ago, but the Huskies should handle them.  They might not hold them under 35 points, but this should be a win for the Dawgs.

UW 45, UA 34

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by | October 22, 2011 · 10:15 am

UW vs. Stanford Predictions

A couple of quick thoughts before we get to the predictions:

Most people have probably heard about the Arizona-UCLA game Thursday night.  It had a lot of implications for a Thursday night game between two bad teams, namely that it’s probably the game that ensures Rick Neuheisel will be fired and it might signal a bit of an awakening for the Wildcats.  The most interesting part of the ingame action, though, came with 8 seconds left in the first half.  UCLA was lining up for a possible Hail Mary when someone ran on the field from the stands.  Like usual, the cameras didn’t show him, instead focusing on a shot of a referee and some players.  Suddenly, those players took off running and a full-scale brawl broke out.  When it was eventually broken up, two players were ejected, Kevin Prince threw an unsuccessful pass toward the end zone, and both teams walked off, the coaches looking disgusted.

I understand why they don’t show streakers or other people who get on the field.  I personally would rather see what’s going on, but the idea of not giving these people attention is fine.  However, I find it ironic that they won’t show some dummy running through the end zone, but they’ll show a fight between 100 college kids that perfectly embodies the poor sportsmanship that society discourages.  I’m not saying that TV should show the guy on the field or shouldn’t show a brawl.  I just think that if the choice is between having someone toilet paper my house or break in and beat me with a baseball bat because they don’t like how I care for my yard, I know which option I’m picking.

Moving on, I came across this article on WSU running back Carl Winston.  Winston has 224 yards rushing on the year, with a high of 47 in one game.  In the article, Paul Wulff names Winston as his offensive MVP so far this season.  I’m not trying to pick on Winston, and I honestly don’t remember seeing him play, so maybe I’m underrating him.  Still, let’s compare him to the Husky options for offensive MVP.  The clear choice is Keith Price, who is on pace to obliterate most UW season records for a quarterback.  He is currently fifth in the nation in passer efficiency and second in touchdown passes.  If not for that guy in Stanford, he’d be the clear choice for all-Pac-12 QB, in my opinion.  Even if you don’t want to go with him, Chris Polk has about 500 more yards than Winston and is second in the conference in rushing.  I’m not meaning to pick on the Cougars here; they are significantly improved this season.  Wulff’s comment just reminded me of the Huskies in the last few Willingham years.  I’m sure it’s at least partly coachspeak.  If he had to pick one offensive guy on his team, I’m guessing Winston would be at least third, behind Marquess Wilson and either quarterback.  Wulff’s reasons for calling Winston his MVP consist mainly of his excellent blocking and toughness.  Not sure where I was trying to go with this, but I guess I’m just glad that the Huskies can now recognize players for their incredible production, rather than for their incredible toughness.

On to the predictions!

Andrew

Well, this is an exciting game!  One team has only lost once in their last 10 games and the other has the longest winning streak in the nation.  The whole world thinks Stanford is the better team, and rightfully so.  They are older and the more proven team.  A writer for uwdawgpound.com pointed out that they execute extremely well and don’t make many mistakes.  But, he also pointed out that Stanford doesn’t have any absolute stars on the defensive side of the ball (especially now that Skov and Howell are out).  When you think of their offense you think of power running, tight-ends, and a quarterback who is the best in the nation.  Now, the Husky D isn’t set up to stop the quarterback, no one is, but it seems built to do well against the others.  Stanford will get yards, no doubt about it, but I see a little reason for optimism.  I don’t see any reason to doubt our offense won’t score either.  They are too good not to score.  Stanford has been incredible in the 3rd quarter though (and the 1st quarter but so have the Huskies), and that’s what scares me.  It’s what happened against Nebraska and I’m scared that the Dawgs won’t be ready for the fateful 3rd.  If they are, I see them winning to be honest.  There’s more NFL talent on the Husky roster in my honest opinion, it’s just young talent.  Maybe I’ve talked myself into something bad here.  The Huskies will either get blown out or win a close game, that’s what they do in these games.  But, I’m thinking that tomorrow we win.  This team has been doubted too much and, dang it, I’m ready to believe in them and believe that they’re going to win every single week.  Plus, they’re playing trees… While big, they aren’t agile.  Let’s do it Huskies!  Forget the Holiday or Alamo Bowl, after tomorrow lets be talking about the Rose Bowl!
Huskies – 42 Cardinal – 38

Dan

When I analyzed the schedule this past summer and tried to project outcomes, at Nebraska and at Stanford were my only lock losses.  I just could not envision a scenario, at the time, where the Huskies would march in and win either of those games.  I still don’t think Washigton has a great chance today, but I certainly feel better than 3 months ago, when I see Stanford on the schedule.  This game can be broken down a million ways.  The 41-0 loss last year seems like it should be part of the conversation, the fact that this game is on national tv is intriguing, luck vs. price, etc.  To me, it’s as simple as this: Stanford offense-GOOD, UW offense-GOOD, Stanford defense-GOOD, UW defense-BAD (maybe average).  I think UW is at a point where we can keep this game fairly close most of the way, but until our defense is top 25 good, we won’t win many of these games.  I just don’t see us stopping Stanford, not for 4 quarters anyway.  The only scenario where a win is possible, in my mind, is if the defense forces some turnovers, the offense scores TDs rather than FGs, and we get lucky…impossible to do this post without one luck pun.

Stanford-45, UW-31

Matthew

It’s still really hard to predict what these Huskies will do on a weekly basis.  I think Stanford is still notably better, at least on defense.  The Husky offense is so balanced and creative, but this is the best defense they’ve played.  The UW offense is the best Stanford has played as well.  This might come down to who makes mistakes, which isn’t usually Stanford, but it isn’t really the Huskies either.  I really want to pick the Huskies, but when I think about this game, all I see is Andrew Luck throwing to his tight ends on third down.  Here’s guessing the UW defense isn’t quite ready to stop him.

Stanford 41, UW 31

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by | October 14, 2011 · 9:35 pm

UW vs. Colorado Predictions

Hello, and welcome to the Good Guys Sports Blog.  I’ll be your host this evening.

Here’s tonight’s question: Who is your favorite Pac-12 player to watch that is not on your favorite team?  That means no Chris Polk for Husky fans, no Marquess Wilson for Cougars, etc.

For me, LaMichael James is probably the guy.  He’s a Duck, and you can argue he’s a product of their system, but consider me skeptical that any of their other backs will be nearly as good as he is.  He’s out for at least this week though, so I’ll try for someone less obvious, if possibly just as talented.

Every year, the Good Guys plus a few others have a Pac-10/12 only fantasy draft.  It’s slightly ridiculous but a lot of fun, and we know as much about Utah’s fourth string running back as anyone outside of Kyle Whittingham, which, I guess that’s a good thing?  Anyway, last year, I was looking for late depth at wide receiver and grabbed California’s Keenan Allen, then a probable starter as a true freshman.  The first few weeks, I think he gave me more points on end-arounds than on receptions, but by the end of the year, he was a solid starter for my team.  This year, I think I grabbed him in the fourth round or so, which raised a few heckles from fellow drafters.  It was the best pick I made.

Allen and Cal QB Zach Maynard are half-brothers, and the hope for Bear fans was that the two would develop into a dynamic duo that would provide the passing attack Cal has mostly been missing the last couple of years.  That’s been the case at times, but Maynard has been extremely inconsistent, and just plain bad the last couple of weeks.  Allen has had no such issues.  He’s been solid to spectacular, with the Huskies getting most of the spectacular.  He went for 10 catches and 197 yards with a touchdown in Husky Stadium.  Last night against USC, he seemed like Cal’s only offensive weapon, ending with 13 catches for 160 yards.  He’s gone over 100 yards receiving in every game but one this year.

Allen’s a joy to watch, big and smooth.  He’s one of those guys who doesn’t seem like he’s that fast until he’s running away from you, like he did in the first series against the Huskies.  The Pac-12 has a bunch of great receivers.  Robert Woods is just ridiculous in all aspects.  Juron Criner is excellent when he can stay on the field, and Marquess Wilson is lightning, scary as can be.  If I were picking guys for a team though, my pick might be Keenan Allen.

So who do you like to watch?  Put it in the comments.  Onto the predictions:

Joe

Even though the line on this game says it will be a blow out and not noteworthy, I believe this game is intriguing and could be another defining moment for this program (Sark has had a few defining moments, both wins over USC, the Holiday Bowl and last week vs Utah…).  If the Huskies want to be elite and return to conference dominance like so many long time fans want, they must, I repeat, must destroy Colorado.  The Buffs are simply not good.  They lost home to Wazzu and haven’t won a road game in four years.  If UW claims to be good, and 4-1 says they are, they gotta play like it and come out and crush CU.  No sloppiness like they showed against lesser opponents earlier this year.  I want to see crisp, aggressive play right from the start.  The Huskies tend to play well in the underdog role, it gets them jacked up since a hallmark of Sark’s coaching is playing with emotion and a chip.  Against Utah they had all of this.  How do they handle the biggest in conference spread since the Neuheisal days?  I am very curious to see.  I like swagger, in fact I love it, but if you want to be hardcore you better go out and back things up.  Bury them from the start.  No detailed player or scheme breakdowns in this prediction, just the plain truth: Dawgs in a blowout, POW!

UW 41 – CU 17

Andrew

The last 2 games I’ve picked against the Huskies and what have the results yielded?  The Huskies have beaten teams by more than 7 points 2 weeks in a row!  You may think that’s not a big deal, but it hasn’t happened since (I’m looking back through the records now, wait for it) the last two games in 2009.  That’s pretty amazing seeing how the Huskies record is 13-7 in that span.  By the way, the Huskies have won 8 of their last 9 games.  That’s better than most teams in the country, pretty cool huh?  It’s because of those records that the Huskies should blow out Colorado.  The Buffaloes haven’t won a road game since 2007 (double check that for me), they are completely depleted in the secondary, and they are missing one of their top offensive weapons.  I know Colorado has been going through down years but these road woes are pretty ridiculous.  Why don’t they bring the buffalo on the road with them?  You can’t convince me that they wouldn’t win at least a couple of road games in that span if they brought their buffalo along.  I know picking the Huskies to lose has worked out for us the last few games, but now is the time to start believing that the Huskies will win.  Our Dawgs have a tendency to keep things close but, on Saturday, I think we’ll see domination.  The Dawgs will run away with this one.  The fans will party out in the rain and our team will show up in the top-25 on Monday.  That will set up a showdown for the Pac-12 North that has early Rose Bowl implications.  Yes, I’m getting way too ahead of myself but it sure does feel good to write that.  Go Dawgs!

Huskies – 42 Buffs – 17

Matthew

Like many Husky fans, I’m still trying to get used to a good UW team.  I keep looking for reasons that they’re not very good.  Their opponents haven’t exactly gone on to great success.  It’s just going to take a bit before I’ll be able to expect continued excellence from them.  A blowout win over a bad and beaten-up Colorado team would be a huge step in the right direction.  I think they’ll do it.  There’s not a whole lot else to say.  Colorado isn’t terrible offensively, but they’re missing Paul Richardson, who accounts for something like 25% of their offense so far, which seems extremely high for a wide receiver not named Robert Woods.  Their defense isn’t anything special, especially if you pick up their blitzes.  The only thing really scary about them is the buffalo, and as Andrew said, he’s not making the trip.  The mascot making every trip should have been a requirement of Colorado joining the Pac-12.  Have to say though, I saw them run the buffalo out recently, and I was disappointed that they didn’t just turn him loose.  They have 4 people running along beside him.  Let that guy run!  Andrew pointed out that that would be dangerous and crazy.  I pointed out that I didn’t care!

UW 45, Colorado 20

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