Husky Pigskin Opener: Duck & No Cover
Posted Aug. 31 at 9:55 am by Mike Seely
There's really not much point picking apart the Huskies' 44-10 loss at Oregon yesterday, because it was just an all-around drubbing. Despite the fact that the Dawgs trailed by a mere four points at half, that felt lucky — and the 30-0 second-half margin proved the squabble to be the Varsity (Oregon)-JV (UW) matchup that it was. The Ducks keyed their entire defensive plan on containing Jake Locker, and the Huskies woefully inexperienced corps of skill players failed to make them pay for their single-mindedness. Locker's receivers dropped about half a dozen very catchable balls, and Chris Polk was met by Oregon's frontline defenders almost as soon as he touched the ball.
But most frustrating in a game filled with frustrations was the defense, a unit that still seems incapable of wrapping up whoever has the ball on the other side of the line. The Ducks second half throttling came in spite of their having to platoon the team's third and fourth string quarterbacks, one of whom, Chris Harper, continually took direct snaps from center and just glided his way to first downs, Vince Young style. We don't want to put too much on a first game on the road, especially a first game on the road against a team of Oregon's caliber, but Ty Willingham's do-or-die season simply could not have started any worse. If the Dawgs drop this coming Saturday's home opener againt BYU, look for the calls for his head to pick right back up where they left off last year, if they ever even stopped.
Topics: Huskies
Comments
A lot of awful Washington state college football deja vu from last season. With the Cougars losing to 39-13 to Oklahoma State here in Seattle looks like the Evergreen state be left out of the bowls again. But maybe we'll at least get another well-matched thriller of an Apple Cup.
Posted Sep. 2 at 10:27 am by Laura