Saturday, September 17, 2005

HUSKIES BLOW OUT THE VANDALS

A win is a win is a win. Bottom line the Huskies will take it anyway they can get it. Also, the Idaho Vandals are terrible.
Here are a few thoughts from Husky Stadium while the Dawgs blow out the Vandals.
Could you imagine if the Huskies had won the Air Force game. They would be 2-1 having lost to a great Cal team. You also have to wonder if the Huskies would have quit against Cal had they beat the Falcons. Cal still would have won and won easily as they were a far superior team.
This was vintage Tyrone Willingham football. Find an advantage and milk it to the end. The Huskies came out and pounded the football. They called running plays on 18 of the first 25 plays. The offensive line was making hay on each and every run.
Louis Rankin had a good day and showed some nice footwork that many wondered if he had.
Defensively the Huskies coaches had some very nice blitz packages dialed up for the Vandals. Early in the game they brought two guys up the middle with the first guy tying up the blockers and the second guy would get to the quarterback. The Huskies also implemented a pass rush front 4 on passing downs, it included Caesar Rayford on an end with Greyson Gunheim on the other end. Manase Hopoi and Wilson Afoa were the tackles for most of those allingnments.,
Idaho was slow. Numerous times it looked as though Idaho’s backs would have a running lane and then they never had the speed to get to it.
Finally, I know it is a nice win, but I have to throw a word of caution. I am very worried about Isaiah Stanback’s play. He was awful early completing just 1 of his first 6 throws with an interception and a fumble. Throughout the game, he almost never went to a secondary receiver. Moreover, his best plays were often very poor decisions. The bomb to Craig Chambers was into double coverage, the touchdown to Johnnie Kirton was ill advised and he should have two other balls intercepted. His scrambling ability and escapability are impressive, but his quarterbacking game is not progressing.
A win is a win is a win.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You would have to make a serious effor NOT to beat Idaho. I think the only reason they exist is to allow bad team from big conferences to get at least one win a season. Mission accomplished

Anonymous said...

WSU is better than UW; they scored 14 pts in the first 2-3 minutes of the game against Idaho. Plus, we have Alex Brink at QB; to get any win with him at QB is good(obviously he isn't my first choice at starting QB).

Just because WSU didn't "blow out" Idaho more than UW did doesn't mean anything. WSU vs Idaho was the first game of the season, a 'rivalry' of sorts, & rivalry games are generally close. Last year the Cougs killed the Vandals 55-7, or around there w/ Swogger, & they went on to a mediocre 5-6 season.

Idaho is an insurance win, just like Grambling, Air Force, Nevada, etc. are insurance wins--Pac 10 schools are expected to beat these smaller programs....WSU did, & UW beat Idaho....

Anonymous said...

YEAH BUT COUGARS FUCKIN SUCK!!!

Anonymous said...

Simply put, UW is a 4 win team this year (it would be nice to play Stanford this year, thanks Pac-10 schedulers again!), and WSU is a six win team this year (granted 3 of those wins come over Idaho 'on the road' at Martin P. Vandal stadium, against Nevada running what has to be the stupidest offense ever, and Grambling, who isn't NCAA D. 1), with both teams beating OSU and UA (I don't find OSU that good) and then WSU beating Stanford, and Washington beating WSU.

In the second half of the Idaho game, the light came on, and the D-line realized that even if you run straight up field to make the quarterback go down hard, you still can get the run, and have to depend on the LB's to make a tackle. (By the way, how many tackles can Benjiman blow? At least 5 in the first half, and Joe pulled his head out in the second half, thank god)

Right now, UW has two players on D, and that is Wallace and Gunheim. I think Rayford will be a player, if he can put on a little more strength in his legs. Hopoi and Lobos looked good in the second half, and Mataki, well, he reminds me of a man on roller skates when he is blocked.

Final thought is this, UW is better this year, and will continue to get better. The gameplan is there, and the will is there. This team is still disciplined, and is lacking at RB (hopefully James will be back, since Sims and Rankin can't figure out to put their head down, and run low so a good burst of wind doesn't knock your ass down) but a playmaker is still needed on Offence, and the game still needs to be won where every game is one, on the lines. They are the greatest multiplier in College Football.