The Hokey Polky

Hello Followers.

Well, tonight the Huskies earned their first Bowl birth since 2002 by beating the Cougars 35-28.

While the game doesn’t quite meet the definition of a “classic” in my book, it sure was one helluva Apple Cup.

Now, to my general comments:

First of all, the Washington team that played tonight WAS the Washington team that we all thought we’d see this year.  Indeed, the trifecta of Locker, Kearse, and Polk was LETHAL.  And they clearly showed that they were a bowl caliber team throughout the night.

Where we are concerned, well, what you can you say besides tonight was a CLASSIC TESTAMENT to what this team has been about this year.  Namely:

(a) Grit and Heart
(b) An offense that has become bowl-caliber
(c) A defense that is still bottom of the conference.

(and yes, that was the exact OPPOSITE of what we thought we’d see this year).

Now, some quick game notes:

Players:

Tuel and Blacklege were marvelous.  And with that, congrats to Danny B. for a fanstic Senior Night. We’re all proud of you, bud.

(And ditto to Monty for really turning it on in the past two games.)

Coaches:

As far as coaching goes, well, there was a whole lot there to chew on.

For the UW, on the plus side, what a great stinking call to go for it on that last drive.  And, even better was the fake punt in the first half that gave the Dawgs a 14-0 lead.

On the bad side, the call to go for it up 21-14 was one of the STUPIDEST calls that I’ve seen in such a big game–and we almost made em pay for it.

Where we are concerned, well, similar to the CAL game we simply gave up on the run way too much tonight.  Monty averaged about 6.5 a carry, but only had twelve carries–he should have had 20.  While I give the staff credit for going to the run on the drive that tied it at 28 all, there was WAY too little run calling throughout the game.  And, in the end, I think it cost us.

And, of course, the lack of run calling was most apparent when, down 21-14 with 13:00 left in the 4th, we call a pass play on 4th and 1.5.  And yes, the fact that we even went for it was stupid as all hell given that we were down only 7, on the 42, and there was still a FULL QUARTER TO PLAY!

Some other nit picks:

The two long Polk runs had BRUTAL holding penalties where the Dawgs were linching Mizell and they didn’t call it.

That said, when you give up 280 to one guy, you really can’t complain that much, right?

Which brings me to the lead:

Despite some nice showings against Arizona and Oregon State, our defense showed that it has a long, long, LONG way to go.

And so, as Moos goes to make his decision, I think that changes on the defensive side of the ball must be part of what he wants to hear from Wullf.

Because as we look forward to a returning group on offense with guys like Tuel, Kars, Wilson, Williams, Mitz, Gavin, and perhaps Monty, you have a bowl caliber offense.

But the defense isn’t there, and its REALLY hard to see them getting there next year either without some sort of change (and where the heck was Rankin?)

So, in the end, we have a very interesting next couple of weeks in front of us.

In the meantime, please be assured that we’ll get the Dawgs next year.  But tonight, they got what they deserved–a bowl.

Our time will come soon.