Coaching Errors....Rose Bowl Jinx

Washington had UCLA on the ropes last night when Pat Cowan went down with a knee injury, all they had to do was depend on the coaching staff to make the right calls, and as they did all night, they were not up to the task.

UW was terrible almost the entire night on offense, but in the third quarter the Huskies intercepted a pass and returned it to the Bruin 20. Jake Locker made a strike to the end zone, and suddenly with Pat Cowen out, the Huskies were ready to deliver a knockout blow to the Bruins. UW was only down 7 at this point and had total momentum while Pat Cowan was crying on the sidelines. The Bruins were suddenly down to a non scholarship QB with no experience to finish the game.

Kent Baer who was out coached the entire evening put his team in an improper alignment that allowed the Bruins to score from their 28 on a 72 yard touchdown by Chris Markey. The alignment was beyond total stupidity because all the Huskies had to do at this point was play as they had all night, and that was 10 yards off the line because the kid couldn't make a play if he tried. Baer panicked, didn't use reason, and abandoned the game plan that had gotten him to this point. If Baer was going to get aggressive he should have done it two quarters earlier when he had a fresh defense. At this point of the game he had a fatigued defense that had been out on the field all night long....what a total moron.

The Huskies continued to answer on offense as Locker hit Russo for a 63 yard pass for another touchdown. Stupidity once again was exhibited by the coaching staff by kicking directly to former California Sprint champion Matt Slater who returned the ball 85 yards for another TD negating their advantage once again. Why exactly would you do that with a fatigued team that had been on the field all night?

That was the story of the game even though Locker answered again with another TD drive.

Here is the point Husky fans, we had them on the ropes, and coaching errors sealed the defeat.

UW was never in sync all night despite being tied 10-10 at halftime putting up almost no offense in the first half as the result of bad play calling, and poor execution.

If there are any positives to be had from this contest it is the fact that Jake Locker may have come to age tonight under fire. The kid hung in there all night, and never gave up. He gained an incredible amount of experience, but you can't give away 21 points to your opponent on gifts and expect to win....better days are ahead, but it won't be next week.

One other thing, I would bench Louis Rankin and go with the Hasty, and the Frosh, I am so sick and tired of him not hitting the hole.