Washington showed on Saturday that their 4-1 record was no mirage taking USC to the final play of the game and losing 26-20. USC had a lot of help from the referee's in keeping UW out of the endzone as the last 11 seconds were pretty much eliminated by the timekeeper. I have been watching college football for over 40 years and I have never seen such poor officiating in the last minute of a game. All Washington wanted was a fair chance to compete in their last drive, and all the ref's wanted to do was run seconds off the clock to protect conference champion USC. The final snap was a complete joke as the ref's called the play dead at Pete Carroll's urging with two seconds left in the game. Washington certainly was cheated out of the that last play, and probably couple more with the way the officials ran the clock during the last 30 seconds.
It is very tough to win on the road, it is very tough to beat the #2 team in the nation, but it is even tougher to beat poor officiating. The Pac Ten deserves a lot better. While it hurt Washington this week, who does it hurt next week? The Pac Ten needs to make some serious changes.
Washington had their chances before that, and they didn't help themselves with poor long snapping, and having a punt blocked, but despite that they gave the Trojans all they could handle and proved that the program is truly firmly back on track. Going into the game that was what we hoped for, of course coming out of it we all realize now how close we were to victory so a moral victory does not feel as good as we all thought it would.
I wrote on Thursday that if Washington was able to pick up 150 or more yards on the ground from our TB's we would probably win the game. We actually outrushed USC yesterday which was really something. IS didn't have his best game, but it was far from his worst playing against one of the best defenses in the country. I though Booty looked marvelous, much better that I thought he would. He really is poised and puts a lot of zing on the ball.
Washington played fast yesterday, faster than we have seen them play in five years. We matched up well with the Trojans and really laid the lumber throughout the game. It was a fine performance by Washington. Pete Carroll couldn't beat Washington straight up, he had to resort to some trickery in the first quarter, and depend on the refs at the end of the game.
What does this all mean?
Washington is back, this current team is good, and getting visibly better each week, once again we have a solid top 25 program. Ty Willingham and his staff have done an incredible job putting this team together over the last year and a half. He has proven to the world, what he never doubted, he can coach with the very best of them. You think recruits up and down the West Coast didn't notice yesterday's game? It was big, even without a victory it was big. UW went toe to toe in the old Husky style with USC. The recruits can be assured that if they go to UW they will play for championships in the future. The road to playing time at UW might be quite a bit quicker than in Los Angeles.
I was pretty surprised that California pounded Oregon. We listened to the game on the way home and it was over by half. California is really, really good right now. Arkansas beating Auburn was quite a shocker, and the Coug's struggling with OSU really surprised me as they went back to being the old Coug's this week, but a victory is a victory for the 4-2 Cougs.
Well anyway, it's late, I watched the game in a country club bar, then had to drive a few hours to get home. I will have more tomorrow as we review the game in depth, and get ready to move on to next week.
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7 comments:
Boy, was I hurting this morning? Got up at 1130 last night and decided to check the score on the computer. 2 and a half hrs., later after listening to the game and reading the dawgman chatroom, I got two more hrs. of sleep before going to work. Fortunately we weren't flying today.
I think the thing that impressed me most was the improvement in the secondary with Goldson in there, both against the run and pass. Marlon Wood needs more touches. I also think Rankin needs more carries next week to get some confidence back.
My glasses are pretty heavily purple-tinted, but even I predicted the need for early turnovers and scores to give us a chance at a win. I'm impressed that we just stood toe to toe with them. SC's not as good as I thought but we're also better than I thought.
Ouch, I'm watching the game via tape delay and Rankin's fumble in the 4th Q...thanks Isaiah.
I'd also like to thank the coaches for finding a way to make these guys believe in themselves.
I'm looking forward to a few more groggy Sunday mornings...
Goldson really makes a difference when healthy. He adds a real physical presence back there.
Wood is impressive everytime his number is called, he needs the ball more, but I like the way the coaches are using personel so far. Big surprise was Berglund getting a start at OT.
SC is pretty good, but I think Cal is the bomb right now, but give them three weeks of patsies and they will be ready for Novemeber.
Ranking definitely needs carries to get in a rythym. They go with the hot hand, and he didnt have it today.
The coaching job is just superb, Ty and the staff have done an amazing job in a short time, nobody really expected us to do anything for a couple more years.
I just had an odd thought, which is normal for me, but when I was going to say something about Coach W, that's what I thought. Coach W...not RN, not Gilby...not Lambo...kind of takes me back to a more pleasant time in Husky history. That is disregarding the fact that the internet wasn't around for guys like me back then but it's an interesting change in perception.
I didn't notice Berglund being in there until someone mentioned it on dawgman. I'll bet Ben learned his lesson, whatever it was. I think what I read said Ossai came back in during the 2nd Q. Do you know for sure?
As I mentioned on the Oregon blog, I didn't see that result coming at all. I had it 38-31 Cal, but could just have easily flipped a different coin. I read some interesting things about Lynch on wildwestsports.com(get a salt shaker). Maybe not interesting, just odd if true.
On Rankin, I just want him worried about hitting the hole hard and not fumbling and hopefully next weekend we'll be in a position to give him the reassurance he may need. Having both him and KJ ready to go is vital to the rest of the season.
Ellis also surprised me. He missed a couple but who didn't? I still don't know how Kirton can catch the bullet and drop the one he did. That pass reminded me of Elway.
You guys are the real deal this year. Quite the turnaround for the Huskie program. I watched the game and was impressed. USC is ripe for the picking and they really don't deserve their ranking. I think Cal and Oregon both have a chance (if we go down there and actually show up, unlike last night). I just wish we were playing them at Autzen.
If Kirton catches that pass on the second to the last drive we probably go on to score. We had our chances, and on the road you usually don't have a chance in the last seconds because they mysteriously slip away like they did yesterday.
The Oregon/Cal game really took me by surprise. I know Cal is good, but I really though the Duck's would play better. 28-3 at halftime is plain scary....Cal is really scary...how did they lose to Tennessee?
I'm not worried about Rankin, just needs more reps....the low snaps through everyones timing off. Garcia's wrist was banged up.
Michael my condolences, I really thought after last week you guys were the best team in the league. Tough to play on the road.
How about Washington drawing USC, Cal, and Oregon all on the road in the same year...wow. Berkrley really scares me.
Once again I started the blog because I was tired of the negative TY stuff. I wanted a little positive stuff out there. So easy for the populace to be popular while winning.
Haven't been to DMan yet to hear all the gripes etc. USC really stuck us fans in the worst seating possible, behind the bleachers in the corner where you can't see the replay screen we were surrounded by ex dawgs, Greg Lewis, Dana Hall, Jamal Williams and several others. Shel mays was there all in uSC garb. Crowd around us was enthusiastic and supportive of Dawgs. SCs crowd got real silent in the 3rd qtr. My thoughts were it was a team loss. IS missed a few he shouldn't have, the receivers dropped too many they shouldn't have, illegal procedures and fumbling at critical times leaving us long downs, Morovicks and Garcias (acknowledge hurt hand) snapping, and the refs. Will be nice to hear Fleenor defend them this week again. And despite that all, these guys still stood toe to toe till the final gun and nearly shocked the nation. I am very proud of them, and the coaching staff. JB, I migrated over here because of the negativity, some still exists, but this is a team that is skyrocketing upwards. I see a loss only to Cal remaining, looks like my second worst fear, the Sun Bowl. Hope the kids continue to practice hard and never take anyone for granted and we might win out. How is this for a scenario: we win out, CAL and UO beat SC, and we win the tie breaker in head to head with CAL and go to the RB.. I can dream can't I
I think with the extra BCS bowl game the conference could get two teams in there. We still have a shot at the Holiday, but the Sun is fine.
The more I look at the film it is pretty obvious that the ref's allowed time to slip by throughout the entire last drive. We should have been able to get off a couple more play.
I don't know how the season will finish up, depends an awful lot on health. I think we can play with anyone as long as we are healthy.
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