Back by "Popular Demand"...

....and by "Popular Demand" I mean one person. Kind of like that one time 2 years ago one person requested Ricky Martin's Living La Vida Loca to a radio station and they played it. I am the DJ that played a Ricky Martin Song.

It has been almost EXACTLY two years since I posted in the blog for the Husky Loyal Army. A lot has changed. The Huskies have gone from zero hype and mediocre results to an inordinate amount of hype and yet to be seen results.

Chris Petersen or Coach Pete or Coach Carlos (nobody calls him that) has turned around the program liked we had all hoped. Here we are in Week 4 of the 2016 season and the Dawgs are ranked #9 in the country after all the offseason hype and a trio of great wins against terrible teams.

The Huskies are finally going up against a conference foe for the first time this season, and it just has to be in the State of Arizona. With so much going for the Dawgs this season it is only fitting that their first real test is in Sheriff Arpaio country. UW has been dominated in Arizona as much as an undocumented Mexican has been by the aforementioned Arpaio...for the last 10 years. The Dawgs have not won in the Grand Canyon State since I graduated from college in 2006 (for an easier reference, that was the year the Crocodile Hunter and Saddam Hussein died. Too depressing, alright, the Wii was introduced that year).

Each year I essentially count the game against the Arizona school on the road a loss. The Huskies haven't proven that they can win in that hotness, especially when it is a night game in September. There have been years where you feel like, "this year is different." And then sadly, it is not. Kind of like how you said this was the year you were finally going to get ripped like Will Smith in I Am Legend, it just aint happening. But seriously, this year is different.

The Huskies have been one of the most balanced teams in the country so far. Again, we have been playing a JV schedule so far, but the Huskies MO over the years has been to play down to the level of their competition; that finally has not been the case so far. The Dawgs are leading the Pac 12 in both points for AND points against through three games; that is not very common, even if they are playing the equivalent of those poop stains that get left over in the toilet bowl the morning after a long night of drinking beer.

Arizona has been terribly inconsistent so far this season. Bear Down lost a close game to BYU in a "neutral site" game, had to come back against Grambling at home (yeah, Grambling) and beat up on Hawaii (the team that has travelled 50,000 miles so far this season, who schedules a game in Australia?). The quarterback play has been spotty due to injuries, and the fact Anu Solomon can't replicate any of the highlight plays he has had over the last couple of seasons. The defense is terrible. Not Arizona State terrible, but atleast Hannah Montana terrible.

UW is favored by a couple of touchdowns going into this game. I like the confidence from outside sources like the city of Las Vegas, but it still scares me thinking the Dawgs are playing confident on the road in Arizona. A win has not been easy in the desert regardless of the circumstances, and even though everything stacks up well for UW tonight; that is what frightens me the most.

I am praying that my blog post and the hype machine aren't what jinx the Dawgs in Arizona tonight. If they play their game, the Huskies should win by atleast 10.

Let's hope this is the first hurdle the Dawgs can get over this season. Some momentum going into Friday's big showdown against Stanford and the impending road game against Oregon the week after.

Glad to be back, I have missed all.....1 of you. Here is to doubling the comments in the comments section today (if you go from 0 to 1, is that doubling?)

The Pick: UW 35, Arizona 24

Define Important...

A million apologies to the Husky Loyal Army for my absence over the last few weeks. The Husky Loyalist has some other things going on in his life, and sometimes the most important thing in life (this blog) needs to be put on the back burner. Alas, here I am, a month later and our Huskies are in a very interesting situation. 6-3 (3-3) with the chance to upset a very good UCLA team on the road. UCLA has been so good, in fact, that despite their back-to-back losses to Stanford and Oregon (remind you of a team we know), they are sitting at #13 in the nation according to the BCS standings. This is a very solid team.

The Bruin defense is led by an outstanding foursome of linebackers which include Anthony Barr, possible All-American, and Bellevue’s own Myles Jack. Jack was a prime target of the Huskies this time last year, and while many thought he would choose the school closest to his home and a program which is on the rebound and ready for big things, instead he chose UCLA. It’s not my place to bring up any kind of Judas comparisons, because that just wouldn’t be fair to the young kid (I guess that technically counts as bringing up a Judas comparison, oops, ah well). Jack has been a great player for the Bruins all season as a Freshman linebacker. So impressive on defense, in fact, that  when UCLA was banged up at the running back position this last weekend they decided to use Jack as a running back for six plays. What did he do? Not much. Oh wait, that’s right, he went off for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns on SIX carries, one of which was on a 66-yarder for a TD.

 Look, I am very happy with the personnel at the University of Washington, we have a solid team with a bright future, but if we are going to start winning Pac-12 North division titles anytime soon we have got to lock down local talent like this guy. Having said all that, I don’t think Jack will be a factor on offense today. Yes, he was effective last week, but it was a gimmick, and we will be ready for it. Plus, even 18-year-old kids slow down after that much playing time on both sides of the ball. I don’t see UCLA pushing Jack into a situation where he ends up not being effective on either side of the ball. That just leaves star QB Brett Hundley. This guy is pretty dangerous as well. He doesn’t line up on the other side of the ball as well like Jack, but he is enough to handle on offense. He has the size and speed of a Marcus Mariotta, but without the weapons around him. I feel like he can either put up monstrous numbers against us, or do nothing at all. Nothing in between that, trust me.

Our defense has really come together this season despite a couple of blips (see fourth quarter against Oregon and not showing up against ASU) and can shut down a good QB like Hundley. Our offense really does seem to be clicking, don’t you think? You know the kind of clicking when you are playing beer pong and the cups look bigger and bigger while the ball gets smaller and smaller, and the girl watching is getting more and more impressed with your ability to not only drain shots but also come up with witty comments like “it’s not how you make the shot, it’s what you do with it when you put it in”. I really like this offensive system the Huskies are playing in and it makes the team as a whole better. It will be tough to get behind those linebackers, but Sark will have something ready for them.

I have mentioned in the past how it appears the Huskies have way too many “direction of the program” games, I am sorry, that’s just where we are at. Sitting at 6-3 when we could or should be 7-2 stings and it has come down to a game like today that tells us whether or not we are close to beating good teams on the road and finishing in the upper echelon of the Pac-12. Lose, and all of a sudden we are looking at a very strong possibility of ANOTHER 7 win regular season, that just can’t happen with this team at this point. Win, and in my eyes it makes up for either the Stanford or Arizona State loss and it gives you the confidence to go into Corvallis next week and finish this season on a 5 game win streak and 9 wins (assuming we beat WSU, I mean, come on). It’s possible. It has to be possible, because that is what Sark and his team have told us.

Expectation and reality have often been adversaries when referring to the Huskies, why can’t we have a season where the expectation of a 8/9 win season plays out? It’s what the players deserve, it’s what the coaches deserve and Dawgfather dammit it is what the fans, the Husky Loyal Army, deserve. Come home in three weeks against Wazzu with something to play for. Show us and the nation we haven’t wasted nights crying with 14 beers around us and cheese dip clinging to the end of our socks while your wife debates whether or not to sleep at her sister’s place. Let us know that all this passion, all of this love for the Huskies, means something. 

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.

Spreads are out.....not too bad.

One of the most exciting elements to start the lead up to the college football season (which is already just 82 days away) is the release of the spreads for each college football game. It is almost completely unfounded, irrelevant, inaccurate and pretty stupid if you think about it, but at the same time really awesome. The spreads themselves have zero impact on the games, but it reminds all of us loyal fans that football is just over the horizon and thus begins the "summer season of projection". That's really all these spreads do, but isn't it fun? Every fan across the country is happy, sad, angry, confident and sometimes indifferent about each of the spreads for their respective favorite team. While I was listening to the radio yesterday and heard some of the spreads for the powerhouses across the country, which for some reason did not include the Huskies, I thought about the opportunity the Huskies are being presented for this season. We have great talent, great coaching, a new stadium and buzz going into this season, and the opportunity to turn some heads. Here are my thoughts on all of these spreads:

Oh, Oregon, thank you for being you.....

News has just come out in the last 24 hours that the University of Oregon football program has recommended it should go on two years worth of probation and strip one scholarship away each year for the next three years. I really am not sure how to take all of this in. My first reaction was, "THANK YOU FOOTBALL GODS, JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED!!!" Seeing the Ducks in this unenvious position really does make me feel good deep down inside. I know the Huskies haven't been angels when it comes to NCAA regulations in the last couple of decades, but the timing of the Ducks success and this investigation just make this feel so slimy and blatantly egregious. I mean, there has got to be a direct correlation between the Ducks going from the middle of the Pac-10 to national title contenders year and year out, all while committing to questionable recruiting practices.

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.

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.

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!!!

Playing the Ducks...

This has become one of the hardest weeks to look forward to each year. As Oregon has become one of the premier teams in college football over the years (by cheating), we, as Husky fans, have had to endure years of obnoxious, unintelligible Duck fans who have gained a national following for........their uniforms. I don't think there could be any other way to hate the Ducks after years of growing up hating in every way the boys from Eugene (shitty town), but this new "tradition" of having a different uniform for every game really eats at me.

Accompanying their stupid style of play that resembles a 7 on 7 drill at my high school football camp in Moscow, Idaho, are these dumb freaking uniforms. What the school basically said was, "we have sucked for so long, we need an overhaul, and we will do it by throwing tradition out the window." And what's worse, people all over the nation think this it is the coolest thing in the world. Watching the Ducks on TV is really hard to do. The fans, the stadium, the field, the fans, Chip Kelly, Kenny Wheaton, the fans, the uniforms, their recent success and the fans make it a miserable experience.

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!!!