Brutal… just brutal.
If you, like me, held out hope that the football season would help salve the wounds of the last two Mariner seasons, you’re obviously wrong. The locals –Seahawks, Cougars and Huskies, all blew it this weekend.
-The Huskies played a good quarter against Cal. They were with Notre Dame for one half. Now, against a red-hot UCLA team, they played very well for about three quarters. Eventually, perhaps in two weeks against Oregon, they’ll play a complete game again. Like Cal, like Norte Dame, there is some stuff to like here. Moreso, in fact. Isaiah Stanback is maturing as a quarterback, re-adding the threat of the run. Louis Rankin has solidified his hold on the tailback position, looking quicker through the holes than before. Craig Chambers has played himself out of the doghouse. A play here (say against Air Force on their final drive), a play here (howzabout Tusi Sa’au’s hold on Rankin’s 50-yard TD to ice the game), and the Huskies are 3-2 instead if 1-4.
They’re getting closer, though with games against Oregon, USC and Arizona State coming up, it might not look it.
-The Cougars, on other hand, just absolutely blew it. Up by 17 in the second half –even on the road- is a game a good team wins. A bad team loses it. Alex Brink threw for approximately 6,258 yards, but that doesn’t matter a damned bit because he also tossed four interceptions, one of which was returned for the game-tying touchdown. This is an ugly, bitter lose to a lousy Beaver team, and one that could haunt the Cougars the rest of the year.
-The Seahawks proved quite definitively why, in their current form, the will never, ever, ever be considered a championship-caliber team. Asleep at the wheel for the first half, the Seahawks mounted a comeback and then just tanked it. The last minute of the game, the calls by Mike Holmgren are just aggravating. You have a kicker who is dynamite inside 40 yards, but shaky past that and you hold it at a 47-yarder? I’m tired of this team jerking me around. We know exactly what we’re going to get: a team with 8-10 wins who squeaks into the playoffs and loses in the first round. Might as well get it over with.
Elsewhere
-Welcome to the SEC, Urban. Alabama just crushed Florida. The Tide now has an outside shot at an undefeated season, but losing wideout Tyrone Prothro really hurts.
-Everyone on USC’s schedule should be very, very afraid. For the second straight week the Trojans were on the ropes. This time though, it wasn’t because of any self-inflicted wounds. Arizona State was outplaying the defending champs. Then LenDale White and Reggie Bush took over and the game was done in moments. The Trojans rushed for nearly 400 yards and ended up taking the game by 10. Notre Dame and UCLA are the possible bumps now, but not nearly as threatening as the Sun Devils.
-Joe Paterno might have something. You can debate on how good Minnesota is, but you can’t argue how the Nittany Lions shut down Laurence Maroney. Holding him to less than 50 yards is impressive. And damn… how fast is Derrick Williams?
-I like Tyrone Willingham, I really do. But I have to wonder what might have happened had the Huskies not jumped on naming Keith Gilbertson coach three years ago. Charlie Weis was available and apparently interested thanks to longtime Patriot Damon Huard. Notre Dame looks far better than they did last year. They blew up an overrated (by me too) Purdue team.
-All of the sudden, Nebraska looks to be in charge of the Big 12 North. The Cornhuskers throwing 55 times? Seriously?
-Central Florida won again. Good for them.
-Michigan is a different team with Mike Hart; a much better one.
In the NFL…
-The Chargers played New England to a standstill in the first half and then just blasted them in the second. Did anybody see that coming? The Bolts have gone past the 40-point mark two games in a row now. Where were these guys against Dallas and Denver?
-Mike Martz still doesn’t get it. The Rams ran the ball 15 times total against New York and passed 44 times. Yeah, I know they got down quickly, but c’mon…
-The Lions were robbed. That was a blown replay call.
-After four weeks of play, the four unbeatens: Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington and Tampa Bay. If you predicted more than two of those, seek help immediately.
Posted by Frinklin at October 3, 2005 06:36 PM | TrackBackI got to go to the Rose Bowl for the Husky game on Saturday night. We went to the game expecting to lose by 40 but they looked pretty good for a while. I have never heard 65,000 fans so quiet. I love sitting in a section of home team fans while cheering for the other team. Luckily everone around us was really cool and fun and didn't rub it in our faces too bad when the Huskies lost.
The biggest problem with these Dawgs, and it has been a problem for four or five years now, is that when they make a little mistake they compound it by making a little bit bigger mistake, and then a little bit bigger mistake than that one and so on. That last drive was the epitome of that. I thought they had broken that habit earlier in the game, but it came back and killed them in the end. Hopefully Willingham will eventually drill this out of them but until they can stop the tidal wave of mistakes, they are going to lose a lot of games.
Posted by: Brandon at October 3, 2005 11:55 PM