Three Games Worth Watching in 2009

In the depths of my withdrawal from college football (and with no end seemingly in sight haha) I feel it is only pertinent to provide those who follow the Huskies the three best chances to watch the Washington Huskies next year.

Going 0-12 is naturally not going to garner much interest in the larger college football community. However, there are a few games worth watching, even if some of them my be losses.

The games listed below are the games in which the Huskies could potentially be the most competitive. The chance for some surprising wins, which would be a nice surprise.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian is instituting a new system, and it's safe to assume that the team will be rusty going into the first game with LSU. The Tigers of LSU may have rust of their own but that's about the best any Husky fan can hope for.

Therefore, LSU and Idaho need to be stricken from this specific list. They represent great game opportunities, but their outcomes seem assured.

In the same vein, the Apple Cup is stricken from this list for always being a game to watch on the Huskies calendar. So without further adieu, here are the three games to watch in 2009.

@ Stanford 9/26/09

This is an away game, but both these programs have been in the doldrums lately. Their respective talent levels have made for interesting games the last several years. 

The win two years ago at Stanford was a bit of a blast from the past. The run game was on display with Louis Rankin recording the fourth best single game rushing performance in Huskies history.

Last years was the fateful game in which Locker broke his thumb, forcing him out for the season. Backup Ronnie Fouch helped them stay competitive, but it was still a loss. One in which Willingham never full recovered, making it one of the death knells for his career at UW.

This years game really revolves around Stanford's quarterback play. If the Cardinal are still struggling to decide between Andrew Luck and Tavita Pritchard it could become an interesting game.

Luck will be playing for the first time, so it really comes down to that talent versus experience argument for Stanford.

At the same time, if Washington can maintain Locker's health that will be a huge boost.

This game comes on the back of LSU and USC in the previous three weeks, so it's a bit of a must-win for Sarkisian. A loss at Stanford would do the same thing as last year and send the Huskies into a tailspin.

The difference being, Sarkisian seems infinitely more inclined to get up and motivate his players, unlike Willingham.

v. Arizona 10/10/09

This was a game that the Huskies were always competitive in, except for last year. Two years ago it was a shooting fest, with the Huskies losing on a late touchdown, but the two years previous were both wins in several drab seasons.

Arizona has the great misfortune of trying to break in a new quarterback for their system. No matter whole it comes down to, no one really has very much game experience on the roster.

Sonny Dykes' system is quarterback friendly, in that there is a lot of throwing, but they have struggled against the Huskies in terms of sacks.

Last year was a terrible year for the Washington defensive line, and Arizona was the first team to give up some quarterback takedowns to that unit.

Years previous there were as many as six against Tuitama. Nick Holt will be looking to attack Arizona's youthful quarterbacks this way. 

The problem is, Arizona has a born playmaker in the tight end Rob Grankowski. To stay in the game, the Huskies are going to need to find a counter for him.

The honeymoon with Mike Stoops after getting to a bowl game last year will start to fade by this point of the season. I see the Wildcats struggling over the stretch as the coaching staff takes their foot off the gas now that they aren't on the hotseat.

That relaxation may be just what the Huskies need.

This game falls after a a roadtrip to Stanford and Notre Dame. The home schedule for the Huskies isn't great, with the exception of Washington State and Idaho. This is one of the games that Sark will be looking to dominate the homefield advantage.

v. Oregon 10/24/09

This one will be controversial, especially to many Duck fans, but I'm going to go out on a limb right now and say that this could be a special game in the rivalry, if not a win for UW.

Oregon has won way too many of the games in this recent series, and with the new staffs I think this game will be spicy. Husky stadium will be packed with Oregon and Washington fans as well, which makes it one of the best games to go see live.

Remember as well, the Huskies hung with the Ducks for three and half quarters until they fell under the Dennis Dixon/Jonathan Stewart onslaught.

Masoli is a great quarterback, but it remains to be seen if LeGarrette Blount can carry the load the same as Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson. He is a good back, but has his off the field problems and hasn't been the number one guy yet.

I would also worry that now that Justin Roper has transferred that could become a problem position for the Ducks. If Masoli has a "sophomore slump" or a season ending injury it could spell trouble.

Also, Aaron Pflugard, one of the top performers this spring at wide receiver, is transferring as well.

Chip Kelly certainly has his system, and the offensive mind to get people going in it, but it has to be disconcerting to see two players like this leave the program.

Roper being the bigger loss of course, who I thought was a really good player for them but had the misforturne of being injured and Masoli playing like a man possessed.

I think that the Ducks probably will win this game again, don't get me wrong, but I think a lot has to go right for it to be out and out a definitive fact. I can guarantee it will be a great game to watch, a la the 2007 game.

But that's what a Oregon-Washington game is supposed to be, right?

An End to the Pac-10 Round Robin?

An informal poll of the Pac-10 coaches done by Ted Miller of ESPN has them voting six to four in favor of ending the current round robin scheduling in the Pac-10. Currently every team plays the other once during the season, which is an important feather in the Pac-10 cap.

The advantages of dumping the schedule are immense, in that it allows for an easier route to get six wins (something the Huskies desperately need) and an easier time getting into BCS bowl games.

The problems would be that there would be a large dearth in visits from and visits to, say, the California schools for the Huskies.

Remember the Huskies didn't play UCLA in 1991 and 1992, and didn't play USC in 1999 and 2000. They also didn't play UCLA at home for four years between 1990 and 1994.

The only stipulation of the new schedules is that each team must play its natural rival every year.

UCLA v. USC, Cal v. Stanford, and Washington v. WSU all will stay. It's rivalries like Washington v. Oregon that could become tricky to schedule.

Ask any Oregon fan, and they will tell you they want to play the Huskies every year, and vice versa. Not saying it can't be done; it would just be more difficult.

In the same vein, the southern California schools would want to make sure they had the Bay Area schools too.

The Arizona schools, of course, being somewhat loners.

In terms of Husky news, this may prove fruitful. While taking away a home conference game every year, they can add a fourth non-conference foe. Ideally that would be someone like another Idaho or other mid-major.

Knowing the schedulers at Washington, however, it would be Florida or someone.

The round robin schedule is a huge deal for a lot of proponents of the conference. It provides them with a moral high ground when they argue (I've used it myself on many occasions).

It would be interesting to see how the perception of the league would rise or fall based on losing the round robin—especially in the eyes of the voters.

Suffice it to say, it's still going to be a contentious issue when the next Pac-10 meetings roll around.  

Will the Huskies Get Back What They Were?

Nick Daschel at Buster Sports recently posted this interview with ESPN radio personality Colin Cowherd. Now, I didn't realize Cowherd grew up a Huskies fan, but I swear, everything I hear out of his mouth about the Huskies makes my blood boil.

Essentially, Daschel's first question asks whether the Washington Huskies will be able to regain their prominence. In short, Cowherd says no. However, he backs it up with some interesting demographic statistics that have nothing if not a little truth to them.

First, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times pointed out that recapturing what they once were is an ambiguous statement.

Recapturing 1991, while nice, isn't in the cards. However, recapturing the spirit of the Don James era (what was it, 25 years of winning seasons?) is perfectly attainable.

Cowherd's first argument, that the city has a small African-American population, is completely nonsensical. While there may or may not be truth to racial demographics, it seems odd that it is used as an excuse for why Washington can't rise again.

Let's not forget, UW was one of the few schools to give a young African-American man a chance at quarterback when no one else would. His name was Warren Moon.

Let's also not forget that while the African-American population is apparently low, there is a large Samoan community here in Seattle. Last time I checked there were some pretty darn good Samoan football players out there.

I just disagree with the idea of a racial argument when it comes to sports. It makes mountains out of molehills. No less, there are oftentimes hundreds or thousands of points one could use to refute any one argument.

Cowherd's second argument is much more rational. He says that ESPN has changed the landscape of college football, and while the powers of 20 years ago are down (he includes Washington), the hot weather schools are creating a monopoly.

His argument is that now that any team can get on TV, kids are going to want to play where it is warm. 

Let's be honest, I'd rather play somewhere where it was warm, or rather not where it was cold and snowing. 

It's a good argument, but I'd also point out with scholarship limitations and whatnot, all the players can't go south and play.

USC definitely benefits from a warm-weather atmosphere in the Pac-10, but it also benefits from a huge metropolitan area. Warm weather only goes so far; the Arizona schools have warm weather, so why don't the recruits flock there as well?

Seattle is a beautiful city, and it operates as the only major metropolitan area in the Northwest. This is a huge advantage for drawing in players, warm weather or not. (I'd also make the claim there are far worse weather spots to play college football in the country.)

When UW is rolling, there is no reason to discount them as a destination for top players. Not only is the campus beautiful and the stadium one of the best venues in the country, it's a big enough city that it is easily accessible by any form of transportation you can think of.

Now, I'm not saying UW will be prominent in any way over the coming years, but that doesn't discount the potential the school has.

The Northwest of this country is somewhat forgotten, but it is hardly a barren wasteland and has tons to offer. Not only that, ask any Seattleite, and you'll find some of the most loyal fans for their local teams.

The city is aching for the Huskies to come back.

Coach Steve Sarkisian has a good foundation to work with. The players may not be there, but there are huge recruiting draws for the school.

There are plenty of talented young players on the team; they just need to be pointed in a direction, which the old staff didn't do.

Cowherd ends his answer by saying that Troy has had better athletes than the UW over the last five years. While that may be true, what a parting shot from a guy who apparently grew up a Husky fan.

Revenue Sharing for the Pac-10

Scott Woodward, the outspoken current athletic director for the Washington Huskies, came out this weekend in support of revenue sharing within the Pac-10. Outgoing Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen has called the subject "prickly" to say the least.

The formula that Woodward is in support of, described by the Seattle Times, is mildly complicated. Teams playing each other share 55% of the games TV revenue, while the other 45% is pooled by the Pac-10 and divvied up to the 10 teams.

The other tricky part of the equation is playing non-conference games, where the money splits will depend on the league in which the Pac-10 team is playing against.

However, some leagues like the Big-10, SEC, and the ACC have revenue sharing for their biggest sports. Woodward comes to UW from LSU so it's easy to see where he gets his ideas from.

The Pac-10 only has "hybrid" revenue sharing at this point, with only post-season revenue being shared. The regular season is pocketed solely by the teams in question.

Even so, the Huskies still make a decent amount of money, despite going 0-12 they were fourth in terms of revenue in the Pac-10.

At the root of it, down towards the bottom of this Times article, is Woodward's real grievance. Gate receipts at Pac-10 games have opposing teams only getting a max of $200,000 at away games.

In rivalry games, however, the profits are split evenly between the teams. In that case there is a huge disparity between earning between when Apple Cup games are played in Seattle and when they are played in Pullman. 

The Cougars make two to three times as much money when they play in Seattle as the Huskies do when they play in Pullman. 

Woodward has stated that this makes the Huskies the only school sharing a significant amount of its revenue, and that the norm should be that they all share it.

This is classic Woodward anti-Coug rhetoric, and whether the plan is a good one or not, its always fascinating how Woodward can twist it into some major slight on the Huskies by the Cougs.

In any case the Huskies would have to give back money if revenue sharing went into place. Scott Woodward has stated on this subject that he only wants to do what is good for the league in the long term. 

It takes eight members of the Pac-10 to vote the policy in, and with USC and UCLA probably having the most to lose, seeing as they top the revenue list, it would take someone convincing a lot of people to get it passed. 

If some of the big name conferences do it, and that is the reason for their success, then why not put it into practice. It's the whole I idea of money talks though, and the huge money makers in the conference aren't going to give it up to be altruistic, no matter how much we'd like to share the wealth. 

Why The Washington Huskies Offensive Line Will Be Better

A bold statement for a team that is losing three starters in a unit that was terrible in 2008. The offensive line was big but it was slow, and got overwhelmed by quick defensive linemen.

However, that is why I think the line will be good this year, they have slimmed down greatly and should be able to cope better with different situations.

The biggest hole to fill will be that of center, with six year senior Juan Garcia graduating and heading to the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings. In spring the snaps were shared by redshirt freshman Mykenna Ikehara, who had received rave reviews from the previous staff, and long time Husky lineman Ryan Tolar.

Tolar is a one of the better linemen on the team, with the versatility to play all along the line, but to be honest that versatility came back to bite him in the bud last season. He was played more as a rotational player, listed as the backup for three different positions on the line. Hopefully that will not have stunted his growth.

Cody Habben and Ben Ossai both will have benefited greatly from a year of experience, Habben especially. He looked a bit out of his element at times last season, so if he can mature that will be a good sign.

Most teams will be attacking the right side of the line, however, with the two spots vacated by Casey Bulyca and Jordan White-Frisbee are being filled by two players with little to no game experience.

Drew Shaefer is a redshirt freshman as well, while Senio Kelemete played last season as a true freshman, but on the defensive line. The new staff just liked Kelemete better on the offensive side of the ball.

It's a bit of a huge ask for two guys so young to anchor a whole side of the line, and they will need to grow into their roles quickly, lest be overwhelmed on September 5th when LSU comes to town.

That being said, new offensive line coach Dan Cozzetto will get the unit working hard throughout the entire year. The key is making sure the line is not nearly as sluggish as they were last year, but considering everyone on the line has lost a lot of weight, that seems extremely likely.

The heavy use of tight-ends in head coach Steve Sarkisian's scheme should help to add some protection for the quarterback as well.

In truth, the biggest reason i can cite for why the unit will be better, is because they sure as heck can't play any worse. 

I'm a typical Husky fan in the mold of the last few years, I have nothing but optimism every single year, and I'm hoping they don't let me down again this year.

The offensive line will be a huge component to getting the Huskies back on track, because they will allow Jake Locker to stay on his feet and make the plays he needs to. When Locker has time he can be extremely deadly, either with his arm or his feet.

A Federal Bailout For Husky Fans?

I wish!

It seems that these days, bailouts of all kinds are in vogue. The economy is in the slump, no doubt, and people are struggling to make ends meet day to day. 

That's why the Washington Huskies created a unique way to help season ticket holders who are unable to renew their tickets for financial reasons, keep their tickets.

It's an initiative called "Dawgs Supporting Dawgs," and it's put on by the University of Washington Tyee Club. They are accepting donations to, in essence, sponsor a ticket holder or family.

The program is split into two tiers: a $500 donation sponsors one ticket holder with two tickets, while a $1000 donation sponsors a family with four tickets. The press release indicates they are trying to extend this program to about 100 ticket holders.

This comes on the back of athletic director Scott Woodward saying some months ago that ticket prices would not be raised this season because of the financial crisis. 

The Huskies are in dire need of fan support at what is essentially a critical juncture for the team. The economic downturn has created somewhat of a perfect storm to couple with the winless 2008 season.

It really helps recruiting if Husky Stadium is rocking with some bigger crowds. The wins would be nice too, but it helps to impress a recruit if the atmosphere is there.

Look at Washington's schedules the past two seasons plus the 2009 schedule, and you see big name teams playing in Husky Stadium. The athletic department recognizes that the Seahawks have supplanted the Huskies as the football draw in town and they need to draw crowds.

Even for games that are certain losses, like Oklahoma or Ohio State the past couple of years, there have been big crowds. At least, bigger than some of the later games in the season.

This is a great idea, and it really helps the image of the program that there are people out there willing to get people excited for the Dawgs. Even Steve Sarkisian is getting in on the act, promising a $1000 donation to sponsor a family.

Some may say it is desperation because the Huskies have been so terrible and probably won't be good next year. I contend that they go hand in hand, fan support is absolutely vital to helping get things on track.

The wins will come, the economy will get back on track, and Husky Stadium will be rocking again. Until then, this isn't such a bad idea, and it helps fans to keep enjoying the Huskies.

 

News and Notes

The Huskies got a verbal commitment from Tevin Carter, a wide receiver from Los Angeles. He's 6'3" and weighs 190 pounds, so he fits that big framed receiver mold the new coaching staff is looking for. He also runs a 10.81 second 100 meter which helped him to an average of 29.75 yards per catch last year.

Jake Heaps has stated he will make a decision in mid-June. The nationally regarded quarterback from Skyline in Sammamish was named the MVP of the Palo Alto Nike Hot 11 Camp this last weekend, and currently has the Huskies in his top-five along with LSU, Tennessee, Cal, and BYU

Former Husky backup quarterback Johnny Durocher, who many remember had to quit football after discovering a brain tumor after getting a concussion against Stanford in 2006, is trying to make his football comeback.