I am back from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and head off to Hawaii on Wednesday. We weren't able to listen to much of the game, but we were updated on the score throughout the game and were pretty surprised by how close a game it was, and how many points the defense gave up.
It is pretty strange not to have watched a single minute of college football during the weekend except for five minutes of ESPN highlights, but I think I had more fun at my wedding then the fans did at Husky Stadium. Everything went great, the weather was perfect, and we had a fantastic time!
First of all a win is a win for a program that has only won three games the last two seasons. The Huskies showed they could run the ball, and stop the run on San Jose which was good news, but you do expect that against a smaller WAC opponent. What UW didn't count on was sloppy errors on offense, and a pass defense that was caught by surprise by San Jose in the second half. Giving up 323 passing yards is pretty ridiculous....I haven't seen the the film, and won't till tommorow night, but we all expected a much better performance. I will have a review up after I see the game. It isn't fair to comment till I do.
You do have to give Dick Tomey credit for surprising them with a wrinkle they didn't expect, but from what I read conditioning, and fatigue, and a failure to make adjustments were the biggest problems for the defense in the second half. It was a hot day, but it will be hotter in Norman next week when you factor in the humidity.
Surprises this weekend.
Washington wasn't the only team to struggle in it's opener. Oklahoma by the way came out of the gates struggling against UAB. The Sooner's have a few problems of their own, and Washington just may match up well with them.
Colorado losing to Montana St? How exactly does that happen, well the Dan Hawkins era has opened in Boulder, and Barney must have left the cupboard bare.
Notre Dame struggled with Georgia Tech. I would have liked it better if the over rated Irish had lost.
Tennessee pounded California which most of us didn't expect. Tedford picked up a little criticism in the media, but he will have the Bears in shape by conference time.
Penn State struggled with Akron.
Power Statements
We all hoped that USC would be merely mortal this year, but that was laid to rest by a 50-14 win over Arkansas in their opener.
UCLA beat Utah 31-10 which caught most people by surprise. Is UCLA good, or is Utah down?
Oregon blasted Stanford 48-10 putting it's best webbed foot forward to start the years. Stanford is pretty weak, probably on a par with San Jose.
Florida St started the season with a big win over rival Miami in a closely fought contest.
The Rest of the Pac Ten
The Coug's were out of their league against Auburn losing 40-14.
Arizona snuck by BYU
ASU was unimpressive against N. Arizona needing a big 4th quarter to come away with a win.
The Beavers humbled Eastern Washington, next week they travel to Portland to play Jesuit HS.
Points of Interest
I received an email from a reader that Bob Condotta labeled one of his posts the "Sunday Wash" and was copying my idea, and even one upping me a day by calling it the Sunday Wash, rather than "Monday Morning Wash." Thanks for taking my back, but the truth is the title originally comes from the late Royal Brougham of the PI. Using that title is just a way to pay a little homage to one of the greatest sportwriters ever to work in the Northwest.
The blog will be getting back to it's regular schedule this week. Thanks to ABC I will be able to watch the game in Maui.
Thanks for all the nice notes concerning the wedding, I am a pretty lucky guy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
6 comments:
Welcome back J&K, with all the appropriate salutations and congratulations such an event deserves.
I feel it is fair to comment without having seen the game mainly because I was in the dawgman chat room griping with all the rest of them. I did a lot of cheering as well, as there were several bright spots.
One of the things that most surprised me about the game was that it sounds like the starting OL played the entire game. While they did a pretty darn good job, I don't think that was wise, mainly from a depth standpoint. I'd rather they'd taken the risk of getting the reserves some playing time against SJSU than starting someone off against OU. If the starters can stay healthy...look out.
I'm a little torn between thinking that our secondary sucked and the coaching staff was keeping things vanilla to not give anything away. I'm hoping for the latter, especially in regard to Frisbee not playing and, to a lesser extent, Goldson not being used except when absolutely necessary. Having read of UO's struggles I'm even more hopeful for an upset. Hold on to the damn ball!
I sort of watched the Oregon/Stanford game while multitasking the chatroom, KJR feed and whatever else I was doing on the computer at the time and it took me awhile to decide whether the Ducks were good or the Cardinal sucked. the Ducks eventually won me over but Stanford tried hard to prove me wrong. One play that really stuck out was a reception near the end zone where a Stanford player tried a hit tackle without any wrapping up at all. I understand that can be a situational thing, but it looked really lame. The Ducks used a lot of motion in their offense and I think a disciplined, and/or agressive defense can take advantage of that.
Sounds like a tough week of mai tais and manapua is coming up for you so enjoy!
I didn't expect perfection in the first week, just a win, mission accomplished.
I think we can match up better than people think against Oklahoma.
I am more than ready for Mai Tai's!
Nice article, glad the wedding went well and I hope you have a fantastic time in Maui!
Johnb, enjoy life in paradise. We flew up for the game. My thoughts echo Hair. The team doesn't have the killer instinct yet to kick somebody when they are down It would have been a great opportunity to get some jitters off of Roseborough, Bulyca etc. Why not use Shelton Sampson on KOR rather than Roy Lewis who was gassed by the 4th. Positives included a lot less confusion than RN/Gilby teams. One 4th down with 13 guys on field and once with defense still shifting as SJS snapped ball. IS much improved but was hesitant on a few plays to take it down and run earlier, and also a brain fart in last two minutes not using up enough clock. We are fortunate to have Lappano, hope we give him a raise and keep him here for a long time. Sean Douglas saved and will save our bacon many times this year. Morovick is an excellent use of a scholly. The pass defense concerns me, I thought Tim Hundley and Bobby Hauck were back, 10 yards plus cushions, plus by the 4th the speed rushers were gassed. Ala in my opinion and Chris Stevens played a great game. Scott White needs to wrap up his tackles. KJ and Rankin are a good combo. WRs dropped a few easy ones, but all in all, I like C Williams, Shackelford, Russo and Reece. We also tried to give the game day experience a new chance. Programs $5. neutral on this. Food, $4 for a dried polish sausage, and $7 for a crap pizza, no more of this, we will try Porters and Ivars next time, but the normal refreshment stand is out. Band one hit wonders halftime show was lethargic at best. And we stopped by the 5th quarter in Dempsey, probably the worst deterioration under TTs reign. While admission is free, there is only pretzels and popcorn in a bowl on the table, if you get there early enough to get a table. Drinks run anywhere from $4 to 7. but the worst thing of all, I asked for a diet coke for my wife who is not a drinker, response, there are no soft drinks at all at the 5th qtr. So much for families showing up. We left ASAP so don't know if TW ever showed up. One positive, the ushers and car parkers who we dealt with this year were very nice and polite. I am curious as to other people who might have attended the game and events and their thoughts too. We leave for Oklahoma in two days, my wife hasn't been to OKC since 1973 so I will show her how much they have improved downtown with the canal project and bricktown. And I agree with you all that we might match up better than we thought we the sooners. Our run defense actually looked pretty good until at least one team adjusted their thinking last weekend. Remember, we are still undefeated this year and have never lost to Oklahoma.;
prrbrr, I'm a little surprised, in a good way, at your comment about Morovick. I mainly listen to games so I don't get to see the exchanges, but is it really that big a difference? Anything that gives Douglas time to make those great kicks is fine with me, as long as he doesn't get overworked. It was also nice to hear about some deep kicks from Braunstein(sp?) even with the one mistake. Have fun in OK!
Pbrrr...those are all great comments....and I truly believe even without watching the film that UW didn't really show a lot on purpose because of Oklahoma coming up next week.
I think if Washington had put it away in the first half which they had the chance to do a lot more guys would have played. Give Tomey credit, he surprised the hell out of our staff in the second half.
Once again on pass defense there were a lot of choices made that probably won't be made later in the season. From what I hear they were pretty conservative, and frankly undermanned and that is why fatigue was a factor.
According to Fetters, Lobos, and Frisbee didn't play because they were not part of the nickle package, plus they are still getting into game shape. Oklahoma is going to run it right at us, so keeping those guys fresh for next week is a good idea. they will see plenty of action in Norman.
I think the game day experience, concessions, etc... are going to improve over time. I think just like winning football games it doesn't happen overnight.
Turner is burdened with the contracts and relationships established by his predecessor, and I think when those contracts expire you will be happy with the results. You also have to factor in that they are in a state of flux as far as the stadium goes, no reason to add something that will be ripped out in the short term.
The 5th quarter is a mystery, and if it isn't a priority they need to get rid of it. I really think they could make much better use of the Dempsey on game day.
Most fans think the AD is blind, but he actually feels the same we do, it just takes time to make the changes in an orderly, and legal manner.
I wish I was going to Norman with you, but Maui will have to suffice. Woe is me....lol.
Post a Comment