In case you're interested, here's a look at how the Huskies regular season opponents faired in their respective bowl games. 9 of the 13 opponents made it to a bowl game and the Dawgs record against these teams was 2-7. 4 of those 9 teams won their bowl game (and all were Pac-10 teams).

Boise State
Result: W 24-10
Bowl Game: Hawaii Bowl, L 38-41 vs East Carolina

Ohio State
Result: L 14-33
Bowl Game: BCS Championship, L 24-38 vs LSU

UCLA
Result: L 31-44
Bowl Game: Las Vegas Bowl, L 16-17 vs BYU

USC
Result: L 24-27
Bowl Game: Rose Bowl, W 49-17 vs Illinois

Arizona State
Result: L 20-44
Bowl Game: Holiday Bowl, L 34-52 vs Texas

Oregon
Result: L 34-55
Bowl Game: Sun Bowl, W 56-21 vs South Florida

Oregon State
Result: L 23-29
Bowl Game: Emerald Bowl, W 21-14 vs Maryland

California
Result: W 37-23
Bowl Game: Armed Forces Bowl, W 42-36 vs Air Force

Hawaii
Result: L 28-35
Bowl Game: Sugar Bowl, L 10-41 vs Georgia

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And, we're 0 for 1 in the new year. According to the Seattle Times Dewayne Walker will be staying at UCLA as Defensive Coordinator for the Bruins. Sounds like Willingham put a lot of pressure on Walker and gave him the hard sell, but in the end it wasn't enough. Walker has a son that has committed to play for UCLA next season, so that might have been a factor. Neuheisel gets his #1 recruit and screws the Huskies over again. And as the article ends it's "uncertain where UW goes now" as the DC search continues.

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I've seen a lot of conflicting reports the past couple days, so let's try to make sense of all of it here and update you on the latest involving Rick Neuheisel at UCLA and Walker becoming the next defensive coordinator here at UW.

This morning, Bob Condotta's article for the Seattle Times lists DeWayne Walker as "possibly a leading candidate for the job if he isn't retained with the Bruins as head coach or as a coordinator." So, it would appear from Condotta's sources that there is definitely interest from UW for Walker.

An interesting note here to bring up though is salary:

So that could involved a bump in salary for offensive coordinator Tim Lappano and overall the program would be pumping out more money for their coaching staff. There is no indication that UW won't be willing to do that for the right guy, but it is a potential obstacle to consider down the line.

But, Walker may not even get an interview with UW according to this at Bruins Nation. There are some contradictions from what is reported there compared to the article above. For example, Jay Locey, an assistant at Oregon State, is listed as a possible candidate, but has since told Condotta he was not interested in the position.

Ultimately, this gets to a fundamental problem with whoever is courted for the defensive coordinator position. Willingham, by all accounts, is on the hot seat and another losing season pretty much guarantees his termination. If you're a guy coming in from the outside and looks to advance your own career, does that seem like a very enticing situation? What I am getting at is that we might have interest for guy like DeWayne Walker and others, but in the end they might avoid UW because of the lack of stability in the program. For now, I'd say we definitely are interested in Walker. But we don't know much about whether that interest will be mutual and all this about "an intense push" that we will make for him.

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Are you surprised?

Defensive Coordinator Kent Baer was let go today in a move that really isn't going to shock anyone. Baer oversaw one of the worst defenses in the country this past season. All of us who watched this team implode after the 2-0 start had to be frustrated with the defense. You could focus on any given loss and come up with a short coming of the defense. Baer's defense couldn't stop the run and it definitely couldn't defend the pass either time and time again.

I could go into the details of so many games this season, but at this point I'd just rather put it all behind. Instead, here's a look final overall line for the Huskies defense in 2007:

Per Game Averages:
Points: 31.6 (94th)
Rushing Yards: 185.0 (89th)
Passing Yards: 261.4 (99th)

All very bad indicators, and that doesn't even begin to touch on some of the details that went into those aggregate numbers. But, like I said, none of us really want to go there. We know how bad it was. Let's hope the new DC can bring some change to the defensive philosophy and put some better numbers on the board.

Tyrone Willingham has been hesitant to make changes to his coaching staff over the years. He has kept a lot of his core coaching group together as he has moved from school to school. Today, by all accounts, his hand was forced to let go of a coach who had been with him for 13 seasons. In my opinion, this program is no longer completely under Willingham's control. President Emmert has promised necessary changes will be made despite bringing back the head coach. In the last week we've watched Todd Turner go by the wayside and now today a major shift in the football coaching staff. You can definitely assume that Willingham is on a short leash here. We'll see what else will be changed, but this is a nice start.

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Got this in my e-mail yesterday. Gopher Nation, a U of Minnesota blog, has invented the College Football NIT . Our Huskies were seeded #7 as the Automatic Pac-10 Qualifier and faced off against #2 Notre Dame.

So, we took on the Fighting Irish in the "Fridge72.com Refrigerator Bowl" in the First Round. Here's Gopher Nation's outcome of the game:

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Huge news on the newest Husky tonight. Chris Polk of Redlands East Valley High has revoked his previous commitment to USC and now reportedly committed to UW. Polk is a legitimate 4 star recruit. A definitely play maker and has even been referred to as "Baby Bush". He's a receiver / running back who is most likely the type of player who can be used as a back, but is a threat in the receiving game as well. All reports I've read on him say that he's fast, elusive, and plays the game with toughness. Even better, the fact that USC went for this guy early speaks volumes about how a top-tier program viewed him. He's the real deal. Most definitely a huge addition for a class that is shaping up quite well. For more on Polk, here's a look at his recruiting profiles:

Polk on Rivals.com (Rated #4 All-Purpose Back Nationally)
Polk on Scout.com (Rated #9 RB Nationally)

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I have to say that it was a great feeling after the first quarter. We were up, absolutely cruising, and all the breaks were going our way. And then, just like that, we started to fall apart. Brennan got on track and picked apart the secondary as predicted. Sure enough, the offense didn't show up once again the second half. Though the defense was able to hold the Warriors in the 3rd Quarter, they eventually put two TDs together in the 4th to win. Then to make it even more heart breaking, we put together a strong and promising last minute drive only to fall short. Two long passed to Gotlieb and Reece for 25 and 49 yard gains respectively. Ball on the Hawaii 4 with 1st and goal. And, as many comeback drives have ended this season, Jake Locker threw another interception to end the game. I absolutely love Locker and what he brings to the team, but the one shortcoming in his game right now is his pass accuracy. That's his number one priority this off season to work on if he wants to be a top tier QB. We all have faith and know he has the talent, but he has yet to put it all together.

To me, that last drive really summed up where this program is right now. We've come a ways from where we were a few years ago, but we still have a long way to go. All in all, it's just another Husky loss to a season with a lot of promise that just was never delivered upon.

More final season analysis coming tomorrow and the rest of the week. There is a lot of decisions to be made on the direction of this team for next season. So, for better or worse, we'll start to focus more on basketball now (which was also a let down yesterday).

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Two games today for the Huskies. We've got football at Hawaii and basketball at Oklahoma State.

I won't be be around this afternoon, so I'm putting this up early here in case anyone wants to comment as the day goes on. Nothing too involved with this game thread today. A win for Husky basketball would be nice. It's all about building our team's case for the tournament and a win here against a major conference team helps. A football win, like I said in the game preview, really doesn't do much for me at this point. But, we'd be all for that too.

And, as usual...
BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON! LET'S GO HUSKIES!

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Per NCAA rules, teams that visit Hawaii for a game are allowed to play 13 games in their season. It's a way to give some incentive for a team to make the long trip. The Huskies were actually supposed to play against the Rainbow Warriors (*snicker*) last season, but instead scheduled it for this year (as Oregon State played there at the end of last season instead). Oh, and I should say that technically Hawaii's football team dropped the "Rainbow" part of their nickname a few seasons ago. Probably had to do with creating an image of toughness or something along those lines. Just maybe, right?!?!?!

Prediction: Hawaii 35, Washington 28

Yes, I think we will lose by a touchdown. Colt Brennan will throw against our poor secondary all day long. We can't stope that, so five TDs for Hawaii. I do think Locker can assemble four scoring drives for points. But, it won't be enough and I do predict the "Rainbow Warriors" will finish the regular season with a perfect record. But you know, look at their schedule and to be honest we are the best team they will have faced all year. So what is that worth to you? For me, it isn't that much. They have an undersized QB with a great arm who will kill us but isn't near top quality. Great for the WAC, and yeah you can beat the low end of the PAC-10, but you're still not a top program.

So, what I see happening in this one is quite simple. Brennan will pass all day long in Hawaii's pass spread offense. The Huskies secondary will continue to disappoint. Our offense will put together some drives and score occasionally, but it won't be enough to catch up with what our defense will allow.

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The Huskies have some recruiting news to be happy about tonight.

Jermaine Kearse (3 Stars)
Kavario Middleton (4 Stars)

Both have solid ratings and should help the Huskies in some crucial areas. I'd like to see Kearse as a WR. He's a little small, but he's quick and I think we need a speed receiver as a target for Jake.

Middleton is a big guy (6'6", 250) so he could play tight end as he has in high school. Running a 4.7 in the 40 is impressive for that size. If he is really 250 I'm not sure I see him at DB. As you can see from his profile, he's ranked at the #2 TE in the country.

Either way, it is good news for the Dawgs that despite our recent troubles we are still able to bring at least some of the solid local recruits in. Part of rebuilding this team has to come from attracting the top in state talent. This is a move in that direction.

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Tyrone Willingham has not even lost his job yet, but starting today U-Dub Dish is endorsing Jim Mora for the next head coach of our UW Huskies. We need someone with some Husky pride who not only has heard about our tradition, but has been a part of it. You know, as much as I have grown to hate Willingham as a coach, I want to make it clear that I do think he is a good guy. But I just don't think he has the talent or the know-how to build a winning team here.

By all accounts, Jim Mora is the guy for this job. His results as a coach for the Falcons were mixed, but I do think he has what it takes to build a winning college football program. I'll layout this case in more detail later, but for now, let it suffice to say that Mora brings the character that will attract recruits, understands defense (which in my opinion is what wins games) as a former defensive back, and has proven wherever he has coached that he is a great teacher of the game. For all these reasons, I think Mora will be a successful coach if given the chance at UW. To make things even better, he is a former Husky and has great pride for our university. To me, it's a no-brainer. Hire Jim Mora.

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This is the picture I wanted to post right now after a win against the Cougars tonight:

Goodbye Willingham. You've had three years now. Things have not gotten any better around here. And not they're not looking up so long as you're the guy calling the shots. Get your bags packed because you're getting fired. Oh, and get Jim Mora Jr. on the phone too.

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