Saturday, September 22, 2007

UW vs UCLA Game Blog

It is early Saturday morning and we have around 14 hours till kickoff at the Rose Bowl. Most of the local writers are predicting the Huskies to win in a close game because of the fact that the Bruins will have seven starters out for this one and will be led by a QB with a gimpy hamstring. If you look at our poll an overwhelming majority of posters have picked UW to win by two touchdowns which I find quite interesting.

The game is going to be broadcast in HD by Fox tonight which is a great thing. I just happened to have picked up a Direct TV HD DVR at Costco yesterday to celebrate. If you have Direct TV there is good news coming from the HD side of things, they should go live with 75 new HD channels in the next week or so, and add a total of 150 new ones by the end of the year.

Getting back to discussing the game...this is one of those games where it is very difficult to get a good feel going in.

Ten Things to Ponder

1. UCLA has seven starting players declared out for the game. That is 1/3 of their starting lineup.

2. UCLA is coming off a 44-6 thrashing by Utah.

3. This is a crucial game for Karl Dorrell who is in his 5th year at UCLA. He needs to prove last week was a fluke, and that he has firm control of his team.

4. UCLA had five turnovers and ten penalties last week.

5. UCLA is down to one QB, and he has a bad hamstring.

6. UW also has a few things to prove too. They led tOSU 7-3 in the third quarter then imploded due to offensive, and special teams mistakes.

7. UW hasn't been able to develop a running game over the past six quarters.

8. UW's receivers have made life tough for Jake Locker by dropping a bevy of passes the past six quarters.

9. UW hasn't won against UCLA at the Rose Bowl since 1995. That would make Jake Locker around seven years old the last time it happened.

10. The last three meetings have been very close. Willingham, and Lappano seem to be able to out coach Dorrell, and the UCLA staff.

Syracuse upsets Louisville!

Remember when I called the quarterbacks even in the matchups for the Syracuse/UW game? Well I felt silly after the game because Locker was so much better than Robinson, and I even said that they both would be playing on Sundays in the future. I am redeemed, Robinson has arrived! He threw four TD passes against Louisville today as Syracuse upset the 18th ranked Cardinals.....wow. Most of us had written off Syracuse...isn't college football great!

Pac Ten Game Summaries and Updates

Three late night games on tap tonight in the Pac Ten. UW get's the latest start at 7:28 pm Pacific time.

California 45 Arizona 27

This one is plain ugly with the score 38-17 in the third quarter. Cal hit for 28 points in the first quarter, and has been on cruise control ever since.

Arizona is now suprisingly making a game out of it scoring ten points in the fourth quarter. They trail 38-27 with 12:42 left in the game....wow! when was the last time Arizona scored 27 points? either Cal's defense suck's, or UA is rounding into shape on offense.

Cal answeres with a TD and picks up the victory 45-27.

USC 47 WSU 14

The Cougars are hanging with the Trojans as it is 7-7 in the first quarter. The Cougar defense is pretty porous so if WSU is going to stay in it they need to put their track shoes on. WSU is plain bad on D, but the offense makes it interesting. the Trojans just socred again after getting the short field after a long kickoff return. 14-7 USC and the track meet is on. I know they can score against WSU, but I am keeping my eye on the USC defense to see how porous they are in conference play.

USC is looking pretty unstoppable against the Cougars. anyone who beats these guys is going to have to have a high powered offense, and a rock solid defense. I don't see that combo in the Pac Ten as yet this season. Trojans kick a field goal to cap a 98 yard drive to take the lead 17-7 early in the second quarter.

USC is putting a whooping on the Cougars 27-7 with about a minute left in the first half....this one is over.

47-14 in the 4th quarter and plenty of style points for USC.

Oregon vs Stanford

Watching film of Oregon's first three games would be enough to scare any defense.

Ducks jump out 14-3 in the first quarter.

21-17 Oregon in the second quarter as Stanford shows some life.

Stanford has taken the lead 24-21 late in the second quarter, gotta love it!

Stanford is shocking Oregon 31-24 with about 30 seconds left in the half.

Stanford realed of 28 unanswered points!

Oregon ties it up at 31-31 in the third quarter.

45-31 Oregon as reality sets in.

Oregon State vs Arizona State

The Beavers try to break the Tempe jinx.

OSU jumps out 16-0 in the first quarter....Sorry Dennis!

OSU 19-7 with eight minutes left in the half.

19-10 OSU with a minute left. 19-13 at the half.

26-13 OSU midway through the third.

26-20 OSU as we near the end of the third.

Washington vs UCLA

The UCLA Bruins will try to bounce back from a disappointing defeat. So will the Washington Huskies. Only one will succeed.

Not a good 1st quarter for the offense, but the defense saved them and UCLA only has a 3-0 lead. As predicted UCLA came out fighting tonight. The second quarter starts with a couple of mistakes and the Huskies are getting zero production out of the offense. Petro Papadakis is totally annoying as a color man.

UW gets a break early in the 2nd quarter as UCLA muffs a punt and UW recovers. Lets see iff the offense can get something going. Have to say the play calling, and execution have left a lot to be desired so far.

Huskies drive it down to the 2 and Locker hits Reese in the endzone for 6!

7-3 Washington

UCLA bets UW to bite on a TB pass for a long gain to inside the five and they convert on a nice pass on third down to take back the lead. Greyson Gunheim goes down with a knee injury.

10-7 UCLA

UW needs to put together a decent drive. The UCLA defense is getting the better of UW tonight. UW puts together agood drive on the feet of Locker. Drive stalls at the 20. Perking hots the field goal.

10-10

UCLA goes nowhere and UW takes over at their 30 with 2:32 to go. UW goes 3 and out on an ugly series. UCLA takes over on it's own 30 with a couple minutes left. The Bruins pick up a couple first down but end the half on an incomplete Hail Mary. Tied at 1o as we head to halftime.

Really an ugly half for both teams, neither are really executing tonight the way they can on offense. If you have watched UW/UCLA games in the past the second half is always a completely different game. Whoever makes the best adjustments is going to won this game.

UCLA starts the second half with the ball on their 30. UCLA drives 71 yards with little trouble to go ahead.

17-10 UCLA

UW goes 3 and out, and we are in big trouble. terrible play calling and execution.

UCLA takes over at the UW 43 after a poor punt, this game is about to get out of hand of we can't get a stop on defense. UCLA is driving again and is stopped outside the Husky 30, bu they go on 4th and 2. Huskies stop them and dodge a major bullet. 3 and out again for UW...Locker looks like a deer in the headlights. 3 and out for UCLA.

UW starts at the 34. Locker throws a 56 yard interception for a TD. Not a very good throw, or play call. Terrible call by Lappano, just terrible.

24-10 UCLA

UW fumbles the kick off and gets pinned back at their own 14. UW actualy gets a first down on a pass. Homer makes a great play for a big gainer that is called back for an illegal block in the back by Reese. Crummy call in my opinion. UW fumbles on the next play but retains possesion. UW has to punt, the penalty takes points off the board.

UCLA takes over on their own 30 and the Huskies intercept the ball on the very first play! UW has the ball on the UCLA 20. Locker throws a strike to Russo in the endzone for 6!

24-17 UCLA

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

HIE,1030 am sat morn. Didn't sleep very well, very anxious for the game. We will be driving down in one hour, planning on staying the night in Pasadena. Love your 10 points to consider, I would add that UCLA is on 3rd O coord in 3 years and Cowan hasn't played a game under him, nor practiced with team until this week since August. A true fresh DT playing after only 4 practices. Replacements at RG, WR, DT etc all lead me to believe coordinated effort problems for UCLA. The only reason I am not supremely confident that this is the year we get the monkey off our back at the Rose Bowl is our recent history with UCLA here. I hope we beat them like a drum, I believe if we can get an early lead and continue to play hard, UCLA will fold and cede the game with no effort.

John Berkowitz said...

I don't think we can afford to be supremely confident at all this year...every game is winnable and loseable.

I do feel pretty confident because when a team like UCLA unravels like they did last week it means they have serious problems to overcome the following week. I don't see them doing it.

hairofthedawg said...

I think it's either a fight until the end or, as prrbrr said, we hit them hard early and they fold. Either way I feel we'll win. 27-20 Dawgs.

Point number 4 scares me because I believe Ohio St. had a few turnovers in the game prior to ours. Not something I'm going to count on, but a few TO's would be nice.

Point 7 definitely needs to be fixed and point 8 is what could do so. I hope Rankin gets back to hitting the line hard. Please Louis?!

John Berkowitz said...

Hair, hopefully you can dial this one in on Fox Sports Quatar!

hairofthedawg said...

Nope, AFN isn't carrying it. KJR and chat tonight. Ramadan sucks with my hours, but I may try to get a different satellite package installed tomorrow. Weekends here are Fri. and Sat.

Anonymous said...

TD pass to Reece following timeout showing Ty laughing on sidelines; same thing happened last week, laughing Ty during timeout right before the TD pass to Russo at end of first half. Has to be some kind of laughing buddha/karma thing going on. Tickle Me Ty? Just score, baby!

hairofthedawg said...

I'm getting tired of saying "it could be worse". At least UCLA comes across as disinterested as the Huskies over the radio and chat.

We'll be lucky to pull this one out unless Meamber is in the locker room to light a fire.

John Berkowitz said...

I like the Ty Budha thing.

Count on this, it will be a completely different second half.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic blog, but who in their right mind saw the Huskies winning by more than two TD's? Locker needs some help, but he also needs to properly look at the field. Lack of a running game is a killer and someone needs to push Rankin because he still wants to run like a HS back.

hairofthedawg said...

I'll just say we need some magic to pull this one out at this point. Still fighting, but we need some fire!

Anonymous said...

I'm done. UCLA has a walk-on QB out there, all they can do is hand off and they run for a TD. One has to wonder about the alignment, but more about the players. Absolutely pathetic.