It's beginning to look a lot like Ve-gas

There just seems to be a different feel in the air this year compared to last. The Huskies will be playing a highly ranked Boise State team in a lesser bowl than last year's carpet burner. The likes of Robert Griffin III have been replaced by Joe Southwick....who? The defense's are taking center stage for two teams more recently known to have a tough time stopping my high school's JV team (which went 2-7 this year). And all this coming off of a bitter loss to the in-state rival, compared to last year's triumphant victory at would soon be the Dawgs new home at the CLink.

Say bye-bye to the CLink

Today will mark the last game at the Clink for the Huskies in this season of transition. CenturyLink has actually been pretty friendly to the Dawgs throughout the season, and has been welcome turf after rough losses on the road. Yes, that game against USC was incredibly frustrating, so was the San Diego State game for that matter, but, UW has beaten two top 10 teams this season at home, and has the chance to go 5-1 at home, which is very good. It's been weird. The band has become somewhat irrelevant, tailgating has been God awful and the fan base has been a little less than loyal. Students needed to take shuttles to the game after getting hammered at their homes first, and alumni have not enjoyed the extra few miles down I-5 for the commute.

With all that said, here we are in a very winnable game, despite what Vegas says, and a chance to be 6-4 (4-3) with two games on the road against the worst teams in the conference. It really depends on how the team finishes and which bowl game they are fortunate to go to in December, but it has been a throwaway type of season. Lots of things to look forward to and a few highlights, but otherwise it has been really frustrating up to this point. Blowout losses, a tough home situation and an infinite amount of injuries. 8 wins is still 8 wins, and I think the fan base will be content at the end of the year, but seeing what kind of squad we'll have for next year is what gets me excited.

Tonight we will have to contain one person, and one person alone. Star Lotulelei. He is a beast in the middle and really clogs up things. The run game has been the surprise of the season, but we are going to have to keep most everything to the outside and have a solid game from Keith Price, which hasn't really happened this year. UW is a much better team overall so I have a lot of confidence going into this game, but the boys need to have their focus, this one is big.

Go Dawgs!!!

The Big Game....(no, not that one)

The Huskies are set to kick off against the Cal Bears in about three and a half hours, and I feel a familiar thought moving from the back of my brain to the frontal cortex as I start typing this latest post. "This game will determine if the program has taken a step" or "UW has not been able to win on the road, does it all change after tonight?" or "the Huskies are better than Cal, can they prove it" or "this is the most important game on the Huskies schedule all year". All of these questions and thoughts are apt to describe how the Husky Loyal Army is feeling going into tonight.

Leave it to the Beavers

Monday morning over the last few years has been reserved to looking back over the weekend and thinking about what could have been. You wake up and think about our beloved Huskies losing another game they could have and should have won, and then get hit below the belt by remembering that the next day, Sunday, the Seahawks would lose another close game. This has been the life of the Seattle sports fan for quite some time. But look at us now. Monday morning you woke up in your Husky pajamas, looked at your UW alarm clock and dried off in your Harry the Husky bath towel thinking, "We just beat a very good Oregon State team that was ranked #7 in the country!!! Who cares if the Hawks lost, they'll be alright because they are pretty darn good football team, too." You then walked over to your sink and picked up your toothbrush that has a UW logo on it, and while brushing came to this realization, "The Huskies are 4-4 after a really tough first 8 games, and things are looking pretty good from here. Might we sneak back into the Alamo Bowl despite losing three weeks in a row? Yes we can! Yes we can!" After eating breakfast you decide it just seems like one of those work days where a traditional tie is not going to do it, so you pull out that tie that is either purple with gold stripes, or the one that has the huge UW logo in the middle of it. Why are you wearing that today? Because we are proud of our team that played so well on Saturday and you want to show the world that you are a Husky fan, a proud Husky fan, and you are LOYAL to these dawgs.

How we beat the Beavs? It's on the fans

Need all the help we can get tomorrow against the Beavers. Oregon State comes into tomorrow's game inexplicably ranked #7 in the latest BCS rankings after starting the season 6-0. Quite possibly the biggest surprise of this college football season, the Beavers have remained unbeaten after hosting Wisconsin and beating BYU on the road in Provo. A win on the road against Arizona has looked good or bad depending on the week, and that's about it for big wins. Outside of those three wins, this team may be the most overrated of any team in the country. In fact, if you measure this team up against any other in the top 10, you would have to wonder why Oregon State is even there to begin with. Yes, going 6-0 is not an easy thing, even with Oregon State's relatively easy early slate. The real test, I think, begins with UW at the CLink tomorrow. Last time the Beavers came into Husky territory it left Husky Stadium with its tail between its legs after failing to convert a two point conversion, unnecessarily, in overtime.

Coach Sark's Speech Today

What would I say to the Huskies in the locker room if I were Coach Sark today?

"Men, I believe in you. I believe we are the team we want to be. Today is a new day, and we are embarking on a one game season that will begin and end today. Play your hearts out today, and win today's championship game, because there is just one. Now that we got that out of the way, let me tell you what I really think. I think we are better than this team. They are a pack of cheats, and they will always be cheaters. Trust me, I used to be a coach there. If I showed up at a recruits house without a stack of cash, I would've been fired as soon as I got back to campus. They are overrated, they lack depth and they are immoral. Stanford beat them, they have struggled against a couple of weaker teams, and let me tell you what, gentlemen, we are not a weak team. We are the University of Washington, we play with pride wearing the purple and the gold. 1990......Todd Marinovich.... "All I saw was purple..." Just think about that when you take the field today. We are the God Damn Huskies, and we do not get pushed around by these soft, long-haired, prissy, Hollywood pansies of a football team. Fight for tradition. Fight for our fans and for this city. Make them bow down..."

Coach Sark, if you are reading this right now, use this speech. It will mean a victory for the Huskies against USC. Thank you.

Go Dawgs!!!

Speaking of the black out....

I have been tossing this idea back and forth in my head for quite some time about the Huskies, "How do I feel about the boys changing up their uniforms so often?" I have to admit that I am a traditionalist, so I have a really hard time seeing anything other than gold helmets, purple jerseys and gold pants at home, or gold helmet, white jerseys and gold pants on the road. Now, I am not so far out there as to not realize the appeal of changing things up ever so often, but after what we saw last year with the different combos (i.e. the all whites, and the white helmet, and the black pants on the road) I am ready for the "tradition" of Husky football to get back on course. This last Thursday against Stanford was a lot of fun to watch, and the blackout of uniforms and the people in the stands played out very well when all shades of black converged on the field when the clock ticked down to :00. Here is a look at the promotional picture from last week's blackout game....

 

Courtesy: Olugbenro Ogunsemore

I wasn't terrible excited about the look until I saw the crowd show up in similar colors, but I think there would have been a bigger impact, for me, if the Dawgs were wearing their traditionals. Maybe I am crazy, but I would just like to stay as far away from the "Ducks" look as I possibly can.

What do you all think? Let me know by commenting below.

Feels Good to be Wrong...

Wow, what a feeling it is to wake up this morning (at 1:20 A.M.) and know the Huskies did what we have all been waiting for......show up. I know what you are going through, Husky Loyal Army. Checking every website for coverage of the game, racking your brain for the best moments of last night's game, watching ESPN's Sportscenter over and over because you know they are going to mention it about every 45 minutes, and waiting to hear from experts about what this UW team can accomplish. And you know why we are all doing this? Because we won. We beat Stanford. #8 in the country Stanford. A team that could've possibly made a run at a national championship birth if they could have beat us and Oregon. We won. The Huskies are now 3-1 and undefeated in conference play (1-0) and at home (3-0). And you know what feels really good about all this......? Our defense won this game!!!!!! Justin Wilcox has been hoisted on all of our shoulders after providing a blueprint to beat the Cardinal for this inexperienced, small and outmatched defense. Coming into the season, people were expecting the Huskies to beat teams through the air and hope to get a couple of stops here and there. But now, we can expect something else, a grind em out, knock em down kind of game that these Huskies can win. But you know what is best about all this.......I WAS WRONG!!!! And thank Don James I was wrong. I predicted before the season started that UW would lose a pivotal game to the Cardinal 28-24 in a hard fought game. A game where the Huskies proved they are still not ready for the big time. And you know what, when Stanford was on their last drive down by 4 points, I thought the same. I thought "here we go again". But this team stiffened up and came up with the plays us fans have been waiting to see out of a secretly talented group of guys.

Thank you, Huskies. Thank you for giving us some hope. No matter what happens this season, we will now always have the "Blackout of the Century".

Husky Loyalist

The Importance of the Stanford Game?

Our beloved Huskies are going to be at "home" tomorrow against the Stanford Cardinal in what is being considered by some, me, one of the biggest games in this program's most recent history. UW goes into the nationally televised, Thursday night showdown with the record of 2-1, a record most people expected after playing the A-B-C schedule the athletic department lined up for the team. A sloppy but effective win against San Diego State, a crap-tastic in every single way type of loss to Louisiana State University and a blowout, unfair win against Portland State. Now, we play a Stanford team that barely beat San Jose State, then crushed Duke and upset a national championship contender in USC. Makes for a very interesting game tomorrow at the CLink.

I think more than anything it will determine how the rest of the season will go. I know that it is just one game, and the Pac-12 has proven this year that anyone can beat anyone on any given Thursday-Friday-Saturday, but this Husky team has become predictable enough that I think we will know UW's record by the end of tomorrow's match.

If the Stanford Cardinal beat the Huskies.....
This obviously is the worst case scenario for many reasons. I believe it means that the Huskies are still not ready for the big time and our injury issues are a bigger deal than Coach Sark has led us to believe. Therefore, if we can't win, the rest of the season looks a little something like this:

At Oregon, Huskies lose by more than 40 points, team record; 2-3
Vs USC, Huskies lose by about 20 points, team record; 2-4
At Arizona, Huskies lose in a shootout by a TD, team record; 2-5
Vs Oregon St., Huskies lose by a field goal, team record; 2-6
At Cal, Huskies finally get back on track with upset win, team record; 3-6
Vs Utah, home field advantage is key, Huskies win, team record; 4-6
At Colorado, not the season we wanted, but it's still the Buffs, team record; 5-6
At Wazzu, they really do suck, Huskies win close one, team record; 6-6

Remember, this is the bad news. And don't forget I am just some idiot Husky fan that thinks he knows the team really well. 6-6 in a year with the hardest schedule in the country with a terrible list of important injuries is not so bad, right? I mean, it still gets you to a bowl game and the future continues to look bright. But, not beating Stanford at home means all of the questionable games on the schedule will likely go to the opponent, and also puts in question some of the "locks".

If Huskies pull off the upset and beat the Cardinal...
I do not think that this is so outlandish. This is not the same Cardinal team that we saw last year in Palo Alto. We are talking about a freshman QB on the road for the first time ever, Stanford's last game was against USC so they should be a little more beaten up than UW and we have this game at "home", not on "The Farm". It will not be easy to beat the Stanford Cardinal for many reasons, but I do not think it is out of the realm of possibility. Therefore, if we win, the rest of the season looks a little something like this...


At Oregon, Huskies still lose by about 30 points, team record; 3-2
Vs USC, Huskies win by a field goal because they can beat a USC team, team record; 4-2
At Arizona, Huskies still lose to a shootout type of team on the road, team record; 4-3
Vs Oregon St., Huskies win by a field goal, team record; 5-3
At Cal, Huskies are feeling good at this point, team record; 6-3
Vs Utah, home field advantage is key, and the Huskies are better, team record; 7-3
At Colorado, Buffs only win in the last several weeks will be against WSU, team record; 8-3
At Wazzu, they really do suck, Huskies win big, team record; 9-3

In this ultimate dream scenario, the Huskies go 9-3 with a 7-1 conference record in the Pac-12 North, which will be good for second place behind Oregon unless they lose to USC and are upset by a Stanford type of team. I know that it looks crazy for UW to beat USC and Stanford in three weeks with an Oregon game squished in there, but that is the kind of confidence I will have in this team if they beat Stanford.

This game is huge, I hope Sark has them ready for it.

Go Dawgs!!!