So much new...

Mrs. Loyalist: "You know, Loyalist, now that we have a son, your college football Saturdays are going to look a lot different."
Husky Loyalist: "You're right, finally someone in this household other than me will appreciate sitting around and watching football all day, even if that other person is just learning how to put everything, including the toilet seat, in their mouth."

"Seasons change, mad things rearrange, but it all stays the same like the love Dr. Strange..." - The Fugees, How Many Mics.

Ahhhhh, it is the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and for a lot of people that means recovering from a long car ride from the day before and trying not to get mosquito bites near their private parts at their favorite (and most hated) campground. For the Husky Loyalist over the years it has meant the ushering in of the greatest 4 or so months of the year; college football season.

For our Dawgs, this last off-season brought great change to the Husky Loyal Army and the team we support, but none of those changes take away any of the pageantry that comes with the first day of the season. New coach, new QB, new RB, new TE, new...hope. The first day of the season allows you to take a look at the college football landscape and figure out how the Huskies fit into the jumbled, beautiful mess that comes with being a college football fan.

Five years ago we saw the introduction of Steve "Trust me, I am probably not a racist, maybe" Sarkisian to the UW program and with it something we hadn't had in quite some time...hope. Despite Sark's unceremonious departure from our beloved, he did turn this program around from an underachieving pile of disappointment to a perennial "this could be the year, and then it sort of wasn't" program; and we thank him for that. But it is time to move on.

Coach Chris Petersen (Don James incarnate) is here. Holy crap, I can't believe I just wrote that, Chris Petersen is the new head football coach at the University of Washington! Doesn't it feel so good to say that?!? Hope. Tons of hope. Real hope. This is change I can believe in (corny, but true).

Onto tonight's game against the artists formally known as the Rainbow Warriors. Not much to say here. We are double digit favorites on the road in the first game of the season, that is not easy to do. It means the Huskies are primed and ready to show they are here and they mean business. The Rainb.....(sorry), The Warriors are just awful. I like Norm Chow and the work he did at USC way, way back, but he has not been able to match that magic since he left there (probably because he doesn't get to cheat like he used to with USC). The Huskies are stacked in just about every position this year, which is pretty fun. A little green in the secondary, but anchored by a very talented Marcus Peters. Our O-line and D-line are stacked. Our position players are deep and talented, not much to worry about Hawaii tonight.

The biggest thing about tonight is setting a precedent for the season and showing that we can dominate on the road. Hawaii is as close to being FCS-talented for being in the FBS as it gets, but it is still a long flight, tons of distractions and the first game of the season with the starting QB sitting on the bench wondering if it was really worth it to attack people who were celebrating a Seahawks super bowl win (the answer, Cyler, is no, no it was not worth it). Despite all of the potential challenges, I think UW shows up.

So here is to change, hope and and my baby's infectious mouth.

UW beats Hawaii, 34-10.

Go DAWGS!!!

Look who's coming to lunch...

What has been your favorite response to, "we are gonna make it a decade on Saturday"? I mean, don't you just hate this team and their fans so much? We understand the Cougar Complex, it is simple for us to understand that they don't have a lot to celebrate in the middle of nowhere so when there is any kind of success (like, a first down kind of success), then they freak out and bring the incoherent "in your f*****g face" comments. With the Ducks, there is just something about the way the team conducts its business and who their fans are that make you just want to pour gasoline all over your body and look for the first smoker wearing one of those Oakley sweatshirts Duck fans love so much. Phil Knight is like the dad of that rich kid you hated so much growing up. You know, the kid that got any and everything he wanted and his rich dad wasn't around very much so he made up for it by buying him the coolest crap. And then you finally meet the dad and he is the cockiest little punk you have ever met. That's what Phil Knight is like to this team, and this team is that stupid son that everyone loves until you get to know him. For instance, I have a lot of friends spread out across the country and they love the Ducks and their uniform crap and all that. But if you are in the Pac-12 or moved into the Northwest and started to get to know the Ducks and their fans, you know you hate them (enough of the metaphors and analogies for now). The reason this rivalry is so heated is because there seems to be such a difference in the type of people associated with either program. I am not saying that Husky fans are not without dumbasses, trust me, there are quite a few out there unfortunately. Whereas the Cougar fans are like that annoying little brother who you tolerate, Duck fans are like your wife's ex-husband; you just don't like anything about them. Everything they do just pisses you off and most of the time you can't even pinpoint why it pisses you off.

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.

2013 Season Preview

Well, you probably thinking to yourself, "Loyalist, isn't it a little bit too late to be coming out with a season preview the night before the season is supposed to start?!?" A valid question. But I say to you, do we really know what our team is going to look like in Spring, early Summer, or even after Fall camp? Here we are about 24 hours away from kickoff for one of the most important Husky campaigns we have seen in years, and you tell me whether or not what we found out at 10:00pm on August 29th, 2013 has any relevance on how the season could play out. If you don't know what the announcement was, you were probably on vacation or slipping on your toe shoes when the announcement came out last night. Needless to say, a certain All-American will not be playing in tomorrow's Boise State game. Some of you out there say it was fair, others say unfair. Some say it will make a huge impact on the game, others say he didn't have very much impact on the bowl game against Boise State last year, so he won't matter tomorrow. That is why you do a season preview the day before the games start. Regardless, we are in for an incredible season of football, a new stadium, and hope that Husky football is back. Here is my game by game breakdown of what I think will transpire this 2013 college football season.

As the recruiting dust settles.....NICKNAMES!!!

Another year of recruiting has more or less come to a close and you have to feel good as being part of the Husky Loyal Army. Great class. Really, really good class. Besides Daeshon Hall being as cool as the guy at the gym who wears those shoes with toes, we more or less closed the recruiting season landing in the top 20 nationally with all of the major recruiting sites. In fact, we landed as the number 14 team according to Scout.com, pretty freaking good. And, most importantly, we are ahead of the Ducks in most experts eyes and the #2/#3 Pac-12 team as well. Yes we lost Hall. Yes we couldn't steal Nico Falah (see my comment regarding toe shoes). Yes Eddie Vanderdoes teased us right up until 5:00pm. And yes the Robinson Twins turned out to be as loyal as Bill Clinton (you know, goes away for a little...but comes home when he realizes he'll make more money if he sticks with his first). BUT, there is a lot to be excited about with this class. Awesome defensive line class, amazing group of receivers, solid offensive line pick ups and a QB of the future. There has not been a lot to be excited about with Husky football over the last few months, but this is where it turns around. A veteran team with a favorable schedule and a great crop of players on their way in with a new stadium. This is starting to feel pretty good.

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.

We be bowlin'...

The Huskies finished the season 7-5, good enough to land into the bowl madness that comes about each December and January. No, we aren't playing on New Year's Day or even the weekend leading up to what used to be considered the greatest day for college football each year. But, considering the meltdown that occurred in Pullman this year, heading off to Vegas playing against a ranked Boise State team is not half-bad.

No words to describe

This is the most challenging and depressing blog post to date, and could be one of the toughest I will ever have to do. There are not many words to describe how it feels three days after one of the most frustrating and embarrassing losses these Huskies have ever seen. High expectations, heavy mismatch, overwhelming momentum, a blown lead and much more describe what could have been and what ended up not being. As a longtime UW fan I have gotten used to disappointment, it kind of comes with the territory and is what makes Husky fans who they are (which is very special). But this one seems tougher for a lot more reasons than "we should have beat our rival". What hurts so bad is looking at what this season could have represented. Eight, maybe nine, wins, a decent bowl game, great play from a backup running back, a complete 180 from our defense, hype and momentum going into next year and, finally, something to be proud of. What do we have now? Seven wins, maybe eight, likely against Navy in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, a loss to the G-D Cougars, a fire brewing underneath Coach Sark's seat as head coach, possible recruiting setbacks and a bunch of angry fans. Not exactly what we were hoping for heading into our new digs on Montlake next season.

Apple Cup

The question has been asked quite often this last week, is the Apple Cup as relevant as it used to be? I think that has got to be the dumbest question out there right now, and I feel like I should not even address it. But, alas, I have an obligation to the Husky Loyal Army to talk about the things that are out there. Yes. The answer is yes. The Apple Cup represents the battle between UW vs WSU, the Dawgs vs. the Cougs, good vs. evil, east vs. west, city vs. farm, smart vs. whatever they are. In the past this game has had some meaningful consequences to bowl games, and even more specifically the Rose Bowl, but it has always transcended those consequences. For the longest time the Dawgs would try to hold off their pesky little step brother from the other side of the state in the last game of the season before heading to a great bowl game, and those were the roles. But more than that it was a game that represented a whole season. Both teams go into the Apple Cup 0-0 and are trying to win a one-game playoff championship series.....that's it. Leading up to the game, each side of fans tries to make the other look stupid by bringing up past embarrassments, stereotypes, recent proud successes and most importantly, pointing out who won the last Apple Cup (if your team won, easy enough, if your team lost, you try and discount it as much as possible). That is the fun of the Apple Cup. Each side thinks the other is delusional and often it leads to bar fights and, now, Facebook status squabbles. What a great tradition. Who cares how bad the Cougars are this year and most every other year. They don't know that when they step on the field against their hated rivals who win more than them, it doesn't matter. When a team is playing from a lower position they have nothing to lose, and the Cougars have made a living playing from that viewpoint and it has hurt the Huskies on several occasions....you gotta love it.

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.

Bear Down? Hopefully Not.

Before the season started Husky fans looked at the Stanford game as the most important game in determining how far this program has come along since the days of Keith Gilbertson and his run-run-pass-punt offense and the disappointing days of Tyrone "Coach Rone" Willingham. Halfway through the season the Huskies are 3-3, and, on paper, just about where people thought they would be. However, if you've watched every game, you know that this team should be better than the record would indicate, and the potential for success has not been achieved in any way conceivable, minus the Stanford game. UW beat Stanford, a win that fans thought at the beginning of the season meant this team is on its way back. But after a bad loss at Oregon and a disappointing performance against USC at "home", we Husky fans are scrambling a little bit.

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!!!