Sunday, October 21, 2007

Aftermath

It was a great day for the game, and the threatening weather cooperated for the most part. The Huskies made it competitive, but were no match for Oregon's sleight of hand QB.

Throughout the entire game, even when Washington tied it in their best third quarter of the year, you knew there was no way the Huskies were going to be able to stop these guys unless they turned the ball over.

Oregon held onto the ball in the fourth quarter, and kept handing it to Stewart, and Crenshaw who blasted through the Husky defense for the victory.

Oregon was deceptive, and from our seats we cheered many times when we thought we had them stopped only to see Dixon keeping for another huge game. I can understand why the Husky defense didn't know where the ball was all night, because the crowd did not either.

We had our bright spots, but none really came on defense, and the best offense won this track meet. UW was way too tired in the 4th quarter to keep competing, and Willingham's decision to go with the onside kick was a good one, even though it was not succesful.

In my opinion the Ducks are the best team in the country right now.

So what's next for the Huskies?

A series of very winnable games that will determine if Washington can rebound to go to a bowl game. Yes, the goal is still intact, and yes, we have the ability to finish with five wins in the next six games.

As I said before I left, internet connectivity is spotty for me, and I will be traveling on Monday, so unless I get the time, or connectivity, I will be checking back in on Tuesday.

9 comments:

Gekko Mojo said...

John - I know you are big on the "conditioning" situation, but that is not the problem. Stewart had 150+ yds in the first half alone. The Dawgs D is not well coached and the D-Line is horribly overrated, including Gunheim. This is the second worst rushing D in the nation, statistically, and I am embarrassed to be a fan of it.

hairofthedawg said...

I wish I could see the games, but it sounds to me like we're a reactive rather than proactive defense. That, to me, sounds like a lack of confidence. A good defense dictates the game. So does a poor one, as I listened to on Saturday. Our offense gave things a pretty good shot. I wasn't embarrassed, disappointed, yes, but UO isn't going anywhere with their defense either.

Anonymous said...

I admire your optimism, I wish I could share it. It's good that I already paid for the Hawaii trip, I wouldn't be buying one now after last nights debacle. apathy is setting in

Anonymous said...

tqsxzijjohn, my feelings on game.
1. if our kids were crass at ASU during national anthem, what did you think of oregon fans? Ans: both stink.
2. I was pleased with JLs touches on the long ball, he hit at least 3 of them for completions and one hit his receivers hands.We will be more successful in remaining games as finally we have legit threat where DBs can't cheat up on run.
3. I still wish we would throw more across middle to TEs and FB/RB screens.
4 In the end, the team with more talent won as we never could stop dixon and stewart/Crenshaw.
5. I'm still thinking on onside kick. To me, it killed the momentum and rapidly changed the game tone. OTOH, the D wasn't getting it done and was dead tired by then so... long/short field, tired d etc, thats why TW gets the big$. I thought a better place for it would have been after our first TD in 3rd qtr but hey.
6 Once again, with game lost 2:20 left, why play Rankin or JL. A great time to season B Johnson/C Shaw on KOR and give them a second chance. Why have JL in there in garbage time, another lost opportunity for CB to hand off to our freshmen RBs and get them the experience needed for next year, plus JL had already taken another beating by then.
7. looking forward to seeing practice this week and I do think we will hammer Zona. No margin for error left.

hairofthedawg said...

T9O, I'm glad you did too, because I think you'll see a completely different team, at least offensively by the time you hit Hawaii. Defense may improve somewhat, but it doesn't seem like it will right now.

Every game this year it seems like I've been saying to myself, this game will tell me what kind of team this is, and the answer is always just a little bit away from what I want to hear, see or read about. Actually, it's a long way away, but still close enough to something I'll find acceptable that I can't categorize myself as a negadawg. I think that's the difference between me and a lot of other Husky fans, at least those who share their opinions. I see how close we are. I'm also patient. I wear glasses, but I don't feel my vision is that far off. Go Dawgs...go Mounties!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, HOTD

I, too, believe the O will continue to progress as Jake learns but I have absolutely no faith in the DC, his schemes or coaches to improve the D this season. The D contiues to get worse.

Hawaii in Dec will be great compared to southern Thurston County, eh?

John Berkowitz said...

Chris conditioning is part of the problem, but obviously talent is a huge concern. Oregon's offensive line was just huge. They all have great lower bodies. UW on both sides of the ball just doesn't have the size, and build you like to see. It might be more gentics, than simply conditioning. Obviously they are developing football players better at Oregon, than Washington right now.

Hair - Reactive on defense? Our front seven simply isn't getting it done. The LB's are undersized and are just getting run over. I think UO is going places, and I doubt they lose again this year if they hang on to the ball.

T90 - You paid for Hawaii? I almost went for that, but took these two games instead. This was a terrible performance defensive wise, one of the worst all time, but the offense will continue to get better, I think we can win five of six. If we had one these two games I probably would have ponied up for Hawaii.

PrrBrr - 1. I was on the south side, and headed directly for the boats so I didn't run into many Ducks. The ones I saw were fine.

2.JL is looking better, but take a look at Tebow, and Dixon to peak at Lockers future. When he learns to pass better, and be more deceptive with his fakes he will be hard to stop.

3. I don't understand why we don't attack the middle either.

4. The onside kick was really a good call. It didn't matter where Oregon took over, they were going to score, our defense was dead. The only way to win was to take a lead, we weren't going to catch them. Too bad Locker had that long interception that was more like a punt, that drives was going good. If we had scored on that drive it would have been a different game.

6. Why play the starters? You can make a case either way.

7. The only question I have for next week is if we are mentally, and physically ready to play someone we can beat. A "W" would be a big deal for these guys right now. The health of our team is now iffy, lots of guys beat up, and worn out on D. Like you say, it is must win.

Anonymous said...

Yep, I booked the Hawaii trip as soon as the game was added to the schedule. Two obnoxious dUck fans in Sec 42 were gone early but the dUck dad and his two sons right in front of us (sec44) were model citizens. No crap, from dUck fans, leaving the stadium as there would have been 10 years ago either.

I was stationed on Oahu mid-sixties and haven't been back since..time to go check out all the changes Ink was telling me about at the tailgate several weeks ago

hairofthedawg said...

John, what I meant by reactive was that we're letting the offense we're against dictate the flow of the game. We're either not good enough or the coaches not smart enough to force them into doing something we want. Or is the spread that hard to defend?

T9O, it is fun to do that, isn't it. Heck, even Rainier is a lot different, something that never seemed like it would happen when I lived there. I've never had such a large gap as you describe between visits, so you should have a great time exploring.