AT    

Washington State              Washington
  (4-7)                              (4-7)

I've got the game thread up several hours early, so feel free to comment with any Cougar trash talk or anything else you'd like to say about today's game. I'm pumped up for this one. It's a game we really have to win and I cannot stand to be shamed by the Cougs in Seattle. It just isn't allowed to happen.

Keys to the Game:

• Force Turnovers
  As I said yesterday in the game preview, WSU will make mistakes and the Huskies need to capitalize on them. Husky Stadium is going to be a hostile environment for the Cougs and the Dawgs need to do all that is humanly possible to turn turnovers into points.

• Protect Locker
  The Cougars like to blitz. I expect to see plenty of linebackers crowding the line to get a five man, and maybe even the occasional six man rush. The offensive line will need to protect the pocket and keep the hits off of Jake Locker. This is especially important since he is coming off the neck injury suffered two weeks ago. He is healthy enough to play, but we don't want to take any chances. Hopefully the OL is up to the task as they have stepped it up in recent weeks.

• Stick with the Run
  I've been amazed (as I am sure plenty of you are) at Louis Rankin's surge the past few weeks. The Dawgs have finally been getting a good push on the line and Rankin has hit those gaps running for some solid games. This has been the key to UW's recent success and with Locker back it can completely open up the offense. We need to stay with the game plan and keep the power running attack going. It will wear the Cougs down and definitely pay off.

And I'll leave you with this quote from Jordan Reffett yesterday in this AP story previewing the game.

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The Apple Cup is upon us. This is the 100th Apple Cup no less. I know there are some of you out there that think our rivalry with Oregon is the bigger of the two, but for me, it has always been this game against WSU that I look forward to every year. So, let's ratchet up our hate for the Cougars and get pumped up for this game.

It is a rivalry that the Huskies have dominated over the seasons at 64-29-6. The lowly Cougars just haven't been able to keep up over the years. But hey, when your college is in the middle of nowhere, how could you ever expect to get solid recruits anyway. I mean, who the hell wants to play football when the cows keep roaming on to the field (and I'm not talking about those confused sorority girls). Pullman, such a pathetic place.

The Cougars come into this game on a low point. They were destroyed last week by Oregon State 52-17. Here's the thing about the Cougars. They have a decent offense, but they don't score enough and their defense can't really stop anyone. Brink is solid at QB and they have some strong players around him, but they make mistakes all the time. They average 428.9 yards a game, but that has translated only in to 24.2 points a game. The Huskies will need to cash in on those mistakes to their advantage.

And now for a little lesson from Urban Dictionary...

"UW just beat Wazzu again for the Apple Cup. Haha, those morons are cougin it again."

And even better, this article on Cougin' It.

WRONG! Oh Doba, you just don't know old man. Such a great phrase though. Makes me happy just saying it. Every single time.

I expect this one to be yet another victory for the Huskies against our hated rival. The offense has been getting on track the past few weeks and I see a continuation of that this week. With Locker starting that can only help our chances as I don't think the Cougars will have a response to him. The Cougs might manage a couple touchdowns, but I don't see them getting enough together to match the Dawgs.

And with that I will now text message my Coug sister (yes, it was hard not to disown her when she made the choice to go to WSU). At least it makes for some good trash talking.

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Well, this good news for our Huskies chances this week. As I've said previously here, having Locker on the field makes UW's offense exponentially more difficult to defend. His ability to escape the pocket turns busted plays into gains. Couple Locker with the newfound "power running" attack that the Dawgs have employed the past few weeks and I think we should be able to put together some offense.

Let's just hope that he truly is healthy and ready to come back. Yes, it may be the big in-state rivalry game, but it isn't worth reaggravating his injury or potentially hurting his neck more. I'll trust that he is in good enough health and the fact that they are making this decision early in the week is encouraging.

Big week upcoming here for the Dawgs. Basketball against Texas A&M tomorrow night (more of that coming tomorrow morning), another game on Friday night (hopefully playing for the tournament win), and then the Apple Cup on Saturday. Stay tuned for previews on all of those games.

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Huskies celebrate a victory over Cal

This football season may be lost in the sense that the Huskies won't be making it to a bowl game, but games like this at least making living with that fact a little bit easier. I wasn't able to watch this game, so my observations are based completely off the box score. At least this week gave us a little bit to be happy about there.

• Louis Rankin and Brandon Johnson ran for 345 yards on 44 carries. Rankin carried the Dawgs in this one averaging 10.4 yards a carry. Better yet, Rankin got over the 200 yard mark while only playing 2 1/2 quarters of the game. Then Johnson picked up right where he left off. They needed some offensive production without Locker and they definitely got it in the running game.

• Carl Bonnell certainly wasn't the hero in this game, but he did exactly what he needed to do: keep the Huskies in the game and avoid mistakes. He did not throw any interceptions and that shouldn't be overlooked.

• The Defense was not great by any means. Longshore completed 71.4% of his passes and Forsett had a decent running attack of 141 yards. But, the Dawgs kept the points of the board and that is what counts. I really do hate the "bend, but don't break" philosophy that the Husky coaches often mention. It's more of an excuse to make up for a lack of talent that cannot dominate. At that point all you are left with is finding ways to slow down opponents and minimize what you do give up. But, heck, it worked against Cal and that is all that matters here.

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AT

    California                 Washington
        (6-4)                          (3-7)

Putting this up a little early because I won't be around for the game this afternoon. If I am, I'll try to comment a little bit, but if any of you are around feel free to comment here.

Quick Keys to the Game:
Assuming Carl Bonnell is the QB today, for the Huskies to have success he'll have to prevent throwing interceptions. Last year Bonnell started against the Bears and actually threw the game tying TD on the final play of regulation (yeah, that game). He's good for at least a couple TDs, but it is the turnovers that will kill him. Prevent some of those costly mistakes and we have a chance to stay in the game. The other thing that will give us a chance is preventing Nate Longshore to pick apart our secondary. I can see that being a huge problem and we'll have to step up if we're going to have a chance. If it's a shootout, you can count us out.

And as always...

BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON! LET'S GO HUSKIES!

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With last week's loss, the Huskies are now mathematically eliminated from bowl competition and a winning season. We all knew a few weeks ago that were probably were not going to make it, but last week confirmed it. Even worse, we've most likely lost Jake Locker for this weekend's game and perhaps longer. I'm not even going to get into what a stupid idea it is for even considering playing Locker after last week's injury in a game that has no meaning. Why do I mention all of this? Well, because like many of you I'm sure, this season has worn on me. I'm sick of losing and I have no faith in the current coaching staff. I began this season thinking this would be where we'd turn it around. Instead, we all find ourselves pretty much where we were a year ago.

This week I'm not going to go over the stats because, well, they don't matter too much. Here's what you need to know about this matchup: Cal's the better team. The numbers would tell you that, so just take my word for it.

Let's assume that Carl Bonnell is the QB tomorrow. If he isn't, then well it is just ridiculous. Sure, I'd love to see Locker out there, but I'm not convinced he's healthy as Bonnell continues to get the majority of snaps in practice. Tomorrow's game does not matter in the long term development of this program. This season is lost and it would be a mistake to play Jake tomorrow. If he aggravates his neck injury it could be costly. Somehow, I wouldn't put it past our coaches to play him though.

All right, so about the California Bears. Coming into this season I really liked the Bears. They've got a standout receiver in DeSean Jackson, Justin Forsett is a solid running back, and Nate Longshore does the job at QB. Overall, I just like their depth and team as a whole. But they are 1-4 in their last five games after starting 5-0. They were #2 at that point in the nation and now they've completely fallen off the map. They are still a very talented team, but they simply just have not executed lately.

Put simply, this team outmatches our Dawgs and although I'd love a win this weekend, it is hard for me to see it coming. I'd love to return back to that optimism that began this season, but those Huskies haven't been around lately. But, of course, neither have the Bears, so who knows what will happen. But I'm going to pick Cal by two TDs:

Prediction: California 35, Washington 21

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The Huskies head down to Corvallis this weekend to take on the Beavers. OSU (and, for the record I'm not going to get into the ridiculous thing about how the program tried to call themselves OS) has a record of 5-4 on the season. Overall, they are just kind of lackluster to me. Sure, have a solid running back in Yvenson Bernard, but he has been hampered by injury this past week. He does claim he'll be playing tomorrow though. OSU will also be without their starting QB Sean Canfield, who will be replaced by Lyle Moevao. Both of these injuries ought to strengthen UW's chances tomorrow.

Building the Dam, Oregon State's SB Nation blog, has a look at the statistical breakdown of tomorrow's game. As I've said in previous game previews, cumulative stats at the college level are not always a good indicator for match ups. There is always the small sample size problem and the historical track record isn't there since most of these players only start a couple seasons in college. But enough of that and just to summarize the statistical match up, I'd say it is fairly even.

In my mind, the game rests on two points. First, Locker has to continue to show growth and play mistake free football. If he does that, then we've got a shot at getting some offensive production again and winning on the road. Forget Louis Rankin's standout performance last week; you won't see that from him again and Stanford is the worst defense that we'll face. Second, although OSU will be without their starting QB, how we defend the pass is going to determine if we can keep this a low scoring affair on the road. Usually, you don't go into to someone else's home field and win in a shootout (unless you Tuitama in Seattle, and I will never ever mention that again). So, the secondary needs to hold up and put the pressure on a Yvenson Bernard that is not completely healthy.

Originally, my thought was that this game would be tough to pull out a win. But losing Canfield (not that he was a superstar to begin with) makes an average offense out of sync. I don't see them getting it together tomorrow despite how awful our defense has been this year (with the exception of last week). I think we pull a win out tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, things start looking a little brighter on Montlake.

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I have not had an opportunity to sit down and summary Willingham's weekly press conference. So, we will once again rely on Bob Condotta's summary. Here are some quick bullet points of what you'll find in the presser summary and other Husky related news this week:

• Jake Locker is just fine after taking a hit to his shoulder late in Saturday's game. This is good news, because I don't think any of us want to see Carl Bonnell start a game. Ever.

• After his brilliant performance on Saturday, Louis Rankin is this weeks co-Player of the Week in the Pac-10 along with Dennis Dixon of Oregon. And that is hopefully the last time I'll ever mention Dixon here. Great player, but after he massacred the Dawgs in a game I try not to think about I'd just rather forget him altogether.

• Curtis Shaw is being moved from tailback to receiver. However, he is still listed as the #4 RB on the depth chart. But, this move would appear to open things up for Brandon Johnson and J.R. Hasty next year post-Rankin. Shaw has some quickness and according to Willingham has good hands. With so many graduating receivers, this move helps give the Huskies at least one more returning receiver for next year.

• When asked about the improvement in the defense this past week, Willingham told the media that they've tried to be more aggressive in everything that they are doing. But, really, I think we all know we just played a lesser quality opponent. Like I said before, a win is a win, but we should be honest with ourselves that Stanford's offense is pretty poor. I'm still deathly afraid of how our secondary will hold up against Cal and Hawaii, who both have strong passing games.

• Finally, a little basketball news! The Huskies played an exhibition game against against Seattle Pacific. Uh, well, we won 86-77. But we also turned the ball over frequently and only won by 9 points. These games are usually scheduled to work some of the kinks out and hopefully crush the opponent to build some confidence. I don't know about you, but it doesn't look like we should be too confident about last nights game. However, it is just an exhibition game and ultimately means nothing at all. So, don't read too much into this.

And that is it for now. For those of you patiently awaiting basketball season, I am working on a season preview that I'll be doing in segments. Expect the first of of those segments to appear later this week and continue leading up to the preseason NIT tournament.

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Feels good to win, doesn't it? Yes, we were favored to win and the opponent was Stanford. But a win is a win.

Some Notes:

• UW did not have any 3-and-outs in yesterday's game. Their shortest drive was a two play drive ended by a Rankin fumble. Aside from that, the Huskies did an excellent job of keeping possession of the ball and wearing time off the clock in the process.
• The Huksies sacked Ostrander six times; their highest sack total since the Syracuse game. Blitz packages were effective at keeping the pressure on the Cardinal.
• Defensive Coordinator Kent Baer coached from the field in the Arizona game and much of the past season. This week he returned back to the booth. Baer claims that he missed a lot of misalignment while coaching on the field. Sounds like he'll be staying up in the booth from now on. Time will tell if this has an effect on things or whether yesterday's defensive performance ought to be chalked up to a poor offensive opponent instead.

Up Next:
The Huskies travel to Oregon State next weekend to take on the Beavers. OSU has been largely inconsistent this season being blown out by Cincinnati, UCLA, and yesterday against USC. But they did pull off a win against Cal a few weeks ago. More on the Beavers as next Saturday approaches.

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A much needed win for UW that snaps the six game losing streak.

It may not have been a pretty game to begin with and it is somewhat underwhelming considering the offensive yards we generated. But, credit where credit is due: huge game for Louis Rankin, another flawed but decent performance from Locker, and the defense held an awful offense to 9 points. This game was nowhere near the shootout I predicted and a large part of that is because our defense made plays when needed.

Of course, on the other side of things, this is the worst offensive team we face the rest of the way. I am not too keen on the prospects of a repeat performance by the defense. And we had our regular dose of costly offensive mistakes: a pick by Locker on a drive that would have netted some points and Russo's wide open missed catch the he should have had for a TD.

As tough as I have been on him all year, this was Louis Rankin's day. He won the game for us in two respects: gave us offensive production on the ground and allowed us to string together long, time consuming drives. His 274 yard performance is the most the Huskies have had in a game since Corey Dillon ran for 259 in 1996 and the fourth highest in the last 60 years. As a result of the successful running attack, the Huskies were able to manage two long final drives in the fourth quarter of 5:55 and 4:47, with the last one resulting in a touchdown that effectively decided the game. So, props to Rankin for showing how running the ball is essential to opening up the offense and getting points on the board.

This game had it's problems too, but there will be time to get into that later. For now, it is just nice to win again for the first time in almost two months. And that's enough for me to be happy about tonight.

A more in-depth summary coming tomorrow and, of course, the usual press conference summary on Monday.

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AT

    Washington              Stanford
        (2-6)                       (3-5)

How can UW win this game?

* Stop the pass. Bend, but don't break.
Last week UW gave up huge pass plays. Arizona lived off of the pass and that is what put them over the top. They kept exploiting our secondary all day long. Stanford has watched the tape and most likely identified our weaknesses. Expect them to test the secondary. We're going to give up some plays, but we need to get back to the whole "bend, but don't break" strategy. What that really means is we don't have any talent on defense, but we have to come up with stops when it counts to stay in this game.

* Big Day for Locker
Jake Locker has steadily improved the past couple weeks. Yes, he has cost us with fumbling the snap last week and throwing a pick on the drive that effectively ended the game. But, overall, he's the backbone of the offense and a big day is needed from him to win this one. Oh, and it is also worth noting that he is 4 yards away from breaking the season total for rushing by a UW QB.

Willingham returns to Stanford where he is fondly remembered. The place where his legacy began. Blah, blah, blah. Nobody cares. Just win the damn game.

If we don't win this one, expect a massive revolt among the Husky faithful. I doubt many of you out there that still are holding out for Willingham to turn this program around will have much faith if we lose today.

BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON! LET'S GO HUSKIES!

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And the football season continues. Whether we like it or not we've still got five games to play. UW is the favorite to win this weekend, and although the spread is only 2.5 points, I think they stand a good chance to win.

The Cardinal (and I've always hated that their nickname is singular) have had and up and down season so far. They've been blown out in a few games, but also played some close games; the most notable coming in their 24-23 win at USC. Still, their defense, while not statistically as bad as UW's, is nothing to write home about. Stanford allows 431.6 yards a game (268.3 passing, 164.3 rushing), which places them at 94th nationally. They've also allowed 30.6 points a game, which makes them 84th in the nation. This game is going to be the meeting of two terrible defenses.

Prediction:
Washington 42, Stanford 35

It might be a little bit bold to think that UW can post another 40+ point game on the road. However, I expect a big game from Jake Locker tomorrow in the passing game. And once Stanford tries to defend the pass, then we'll just open up the run. UW's offense is much harder to defend than Stanford's offense simply because of the dimensions that Locker has in his game. Expect poor defense on both sides of the ball and another shootout. Except I see us coming out ahead in this one. Or at least that is the hope. I thought the same thing last week, and look where that got me. It won't be a pretty game, but I think we'll finally snap the losing streak.

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