Wet, Windy.....Win

If you haven't looked outside today either you are still struggling to get passed that hangover you deserve after partying too much at your high school homecoming game you were too old to go to, or you are like lots of Seattleites who keep the windows closed up until spring when the sun comes back out. Spoiler alert: it is disgusting outside. The Husky Loyal Army from across the country knows this weather, we grew up in it, walked through Red Square on the way to class in it and urinated in an alleyway on a late, Thursday night for the first time in it. This is what we live in. Husky teams practice in this weather and know this weather very well (they also grew up in it, go to class in it and pee in alleyways in it) and are much more prepared than the Arizona Wildcats. We all looked at the forecast and saw heavy rains, strong winds and thought, "The tailgating is going to suck, but atleast our team just increased its home field advantage." And to a certain extent, you are right. This is exactly the kind of thing we need when playing a team who is used to 90 degrees and a dust storm (named a Haboob, yeah, that's right, a Haboob). My biggest issue with a game like today's with this kind of weather is the Husky balance of offense calls for the team to have an effective passing game to free up the running game, or vice versa. Arizona has a STRONG rushing attack led by Ka'Deem Carey. I mean, one of the stronger rushing attacks in college football coming in at 14th in the nation. Arizona has relied on their rushing all season against the worst non-conference lineup I have ever seen (see Northern Arizona, UNLV, and UT-San Antonio). Good offense is good offense, so there is something to worry about there. Contrarily, the Wildcats have one of the worst passing attacks in college football, so they will be running the ball 3 out of 4 plays. What does this mean for UW? Well, for one, if you go back and click the hyperlink that will tell you Arizona is ranked 14th in the nation in rushing, falling just 4 spots below at #18 are the Huskies. We can run. We can run real well. On top of that, we can pass in a multitude of ways that will allow us to spread the field and open the middle up for Bishop Sankey to do what he does. On top of that, the head coach of Arizona is Rich "I now suck" Rodriguez. He does not care about defense. UW is going to run and pass all over it. On defense, the Huskies will get to load the box to dominate that rushing attack led by Carey, and it is starting to look like UW is in good shape.

I made my prediction in the season preview, and I am sticking by it. I would've liked for the weather to be better so we could pad some stats for Keith Price and Sankey, but I will take a lower scoring rout of Arizona and the W; taking UW to 4-0 and a showdown with a likely undefeated, top 5 Stanford. Here is to celebrating tonight with a urination session in an alleyway off of the Ave.

GO DAWGS!!!!!!

Big step forward?

Can this team win on the road? The big question that the Husky Loyal Army has gone back and forth on coming into this season. One of the major frustrations of the past decade has been the team's inability to win the games they are expected to win, and simply executing on the road. Road wins have been tough to come by as the Dawgs have only won six away from Husky Stadium/CenturyLink since Sark has taken over. And outside of the USC upset on the road, those were all games we were "supposed" to win. The oddsmakers are calling this a neutral site game.....give me a break. The crowd will overwhelmingly be in favor of this upstart Illinois team that has taken down an FCS team and a Cincinnati squad who hasn't been good since Brian Kelly left them at the prom to go hang out with the cool kids who have an after party at their parent's lake house (Notre Dame). Yet a lot of experts are seeing some strengths in the Illinis that we all didn't expect. I picked UW to win this game before the season started and I am still confident the Huskies, with their new and improved hurry-up offense and shut down defense, can win this game. What will be so important for the Loyal Army is coming away from this game with the idea that this Husky team can FINALLY win away from home, and have the confidence to win with the brand of football we have become accustomed to at home. You know the kind of confidece when you are about four drinks deep and have that good buzz going and you feel like you can do just about anything or talk to anyone? You know, you're at the bar, you have had an IPA, two coors lights and a shot of well rum. The girl in the corner of the bar who you thought was way out of your league 45 minutes before you started drinking all of a sudden is right up your alley. I am talking about that kind of confidence. THIS IS A GAME WE ARE SUPPOSED TO WIN. The experts think so, the fans think so, Dubs the Husky mascot thinks so, but most importantly the Husky players should KNOW that they should win this game. Keith Price has to KNOW that Nathan Scheelhasse has the razor ready to shave off one of his eyebrows.