Pac Ten Alley

The Huskies finally get a Pac Ten opponent they have the ability to pick on. Is Washington really the best 2-5 team in the country? Well since most 2-5 teams are terrible I would think that we are the cream of the 2-5 crop.

Lets face it, we aren't a top ten team, and we have played five consecutive games against top ten type teams and have lose each one even though we had a chance to win each game theoretically. Five moral victories, five losses, and a Husky fan base that is ready to panic.

"Not So Fast", as Lee Corso often says, Washington is indeed the best 2-5 team in the country and is capable of winning five of the next six games. I wouldn't even rule out the Huskies winning out since the Bears are going to be very beatable in Husky Stadium. To me the game that scares me the most is Oregon State on the road if Canfield continues to improve.

Pac Ten Alley

Arizona is terrible, and Washington needs to beat these guys like a drum to celebrate homecoming.

Arizona’s offense seems to be front and center for those criticizing how the season is going.
The Wildcats have had some problems over the past three games, reaching the end zone just three times. At least Arizona is getting within scoring range. Remember last year? The Wildcats averaged 16.5 points and barely moved the ball any where but backward.

Jim Harbaugh has done a fantastic job in Palo Alto this year. Nothing like a young coach with a positive attitude to turn everything around.

And as many Cardinal fan might guess, when I say “Right where it wants to be,” what I really mean is: Anywhere. But. Home. Sometimes, I think the Cardinal would be better off playing 12 road games. Think about it. Stanford could collect guarantees each week, play in front of packed stadiums … and win some games.

Oregon State keeps improving each week and losing key players. Let's hope they don't forget how to throw interceptions until after Washington comes to town.

"Tavita Thompson has been ruled ineligible through NCAA rules, and will miss the remainder of the season. That was a definite blow to us, Tavita has been playing well, and with Jeremy Perry still missing that's two starters right there. Jeremy should be coming back soon; I do not think he will be ready for this week but he might be, at least in a backup role. Ryan Pohl will step in at left tackle, and then we will try and keep the rest intact. Andy Levitre went out of practice but he appears to be fine at this time so thank goodness for that. But we have had some misfortune in the offensive line and we have to overcome it."

How the mighty have fallen, and I am still staying with that prediction of a Washington victory against Cal in Husky Stadium. We need to beat one team this year we are not supposed to beat.

Cal’s eight-day plunge from No. 2 in the country to the middle of the Pac has left Old and Young Blues alike — not to mention your friendly neighborhood Hotline scribe — wondering what the heck happened. Where was the team that thumped Tennessee and made the big plays at Oregon? How could the Bears lose at home to Oregon State? How could they lose to a team that lost to Notre Dame? What’s up with all the turnovers? Why couldn’t Justin Forsett run effectively? Where was downfield passing game? Where was the pass rush? Did the Bears manage the clock properly? And then there this: Did the playcalling get conservative in crunch time Saturday? The answer to that last question, based on my research, is an absolute, indisputable YES! From the final play of the third quarter through the interception that gave UCLA a 30-21 lead — that’s my definition of crunch time, as opposed to the post-INT desperation time — the Bears had four first downs.

All signs point to Mike Price coming back to WSU to finish his career as a Cougar head coach if the fences can be mended.

Despite rumours to the contrary, Sir Brinkhater is back in action--at least for today anyway..So, before we get to the upcoming gloom fest known as game week, I wanted to take a second to speak toward Sterk's comments from this last week.First and foremost, for many, his comments are deeply troubling because they signal possible support for the return of Bill Doba as Head Coach next season. But as Lee Corso says, "not so fast my friends."What Sterk has intimated in these comments when you read between the lines is support for the existing STAFF. So, here's the broken code for you all to chew on: THE NEXT HEAD COACH WILL EITHER COME FROM THIS STAFF OR WILL BE FORCED TO USE THIS STAFF AS A CONDITION OF HIRE. With that in mind, there are two real candidates for the position given those restrictions. The first is the obvious and best choice irrespective of the bridges burned upon exit #1:

Hawaii keeps winning, but they really haven't played anyone. They need a victory over UW to finish the year with enough bounce to get in the BCS.

Brennan, playing in Jones' run-and-shoot offense, has gotten strong contributions from four receivers. Ryan Grice-Mullen, Davone Bess, Jason Rivers and C.J. Hawthorne all have at least 40 receptions, 500 yards and five touchdowns. Grice-Mullen tied a school record with 14 catches for 175 yards against San Jose State. Bess added 12 catches for 140 yards and Rivers also had 12 for 138.

UCLA is undefeated in conference play despite the best efforts of Coach Dorrell to screw everything up. The injury bug has hit them hard this year.

UCLA's defensive tackle situation is dire, because injuries ravaged the position. Jess Ward has a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Surgery is not needed, but he is expected to miss three to four weeks.Brigham Harwell did some individual drills Tuesday, but he had to stop because of his ailing knee. Chase Moline's neck and back injuries could keep him out the rest of the season. Siewierski was limited in practice because of a bruised shoulder.

USC got back to business beating the snot out of Notre Dame for the umpteenth time in a row. The Trojans aren't dead yet, and usually play their best ball in the second half of the season. Now they face Oregon in a game that is for all the marbles.

USC does not alter its defense much for its opponents and a Pacific-10 Conference coach questioned this week whether the Trojans needed to respond to Oregon's successful spread-option offense. "They need to become more progressive in their thinking," said the coach, who asked not to be identified. But USC coach Pete Carroll defended his record against spread-option teams. "Most teams, with few exceptions, have some things they do in the spread offense," Carroll said. "We've faced all kinds of teams that use it. We played Oregon last year, Washington State uses it, we played Hawaii a couple times and they use it. "It doesn't matter how many yards you give up, it only matters how many points you allow. We've handled it."

ASU is the Cinderella story in the Pac Ten. Can the Devils win out against an extremely tough schedule to close out the season?

ASU is fourth in the BCS for doing nothing more this week than sippin' on purple drank and scroggin' bitches during their bye week. During undergrad I lived across the street from a few footballers just off of Hardy Drive. On bye week Saturday they went around to all of the houses in the immediate vicinity and let us know that they were having a party and politely asked that we speak to them and not the police regarding any noise complaints. It was one of those ridiculous parties like you see in the movies with extraordinarily hot ladies and gigantic muscle-filled gentlemen stumbling and vomiting on the front lawn. They didn't invite us, oh by the way.

Michael Wines over at the Oregon Blog has some great video of last weeks game over on his blog. I can't say we didn't have some highlights too, but I have to say, the Ducks are in a different league right now in almost every respect. It's funny to me that Dixon who starts for the Ducks, and Cowan who starts for UCLA were not deemed Husky material by Keith Gilbertson. That right there explains quite a few things.

The Huskies saw a lot of Jonathan Stewart yesterday, mostly his backside as he rushed for 251 yds. and 2 touchdowns along with 3 catches for 20 yds.The Ducks finished with a school-record 465 rushing yards and 661 total yards. The final numbers even staggered some of Oregon's offensive linemen, who bullied Washington's defense.