Huskies Football | No time for UW to dwell on loss

If ever a trip to Hawaii in December could be ill-timed, this might be it.

Fresh off what felt like the most dispiriting loss yet of the three-year Tyrone Willingham era — a 42-35 come-from-ahead defeat to Washington State in the Apple Cup — the Huskies now prepare for a trip to Honolulu to take on undefeated Hawaii on Saturday night.

The Warriors have already won the Western Athletic Conference championship and need to beat UW to ensure a spot in a BCS bowl, with many calling this the biggest game in school history as a result.

Hawaii often plays a game against a nonconference team on the first weekend in December and UW had a chance to do so a year ago but postponed it for a season, with Willingham saying earlier in the year he thought his team would be better prepared for such a contest this year.

It's a 13th game for UW — teams are allowed an extra game when they play at Hawaii as an inducement to make the expensive trip — and only the second time since 1948 the Huskies are playing a regular-season game after facing Washington State.

The other came in 2001, when a game at Miami was postponed because of the Sept. 11 attacks. A week after beating WSU 26-14 that year, the Huskies suffered one of their worst losses ever, a 65-7 defeat at the Orange Bowl, with some players admitting it was hard to rev back up after the Apple Cup.

The look on the faces of the players who showed up for postgame interviews hinted that could be a tall task this week as well.

But Willingham and several players all said they are looking forward to facing Hawaii.

"I think there are a lot of good things to draw from this," Willingham said. "We've got an opportunity to go play a football game that gives us an opportunity to recover some of the things that we've lost this year. We've got an opportunity to play a football game in December. When you start playing in December usually good things are happening, and we want to start recognizing that."

Lots of December games will determine bowl slots and conference titles, but UW will be playing solely to prevent a disappointing season from getting worse. The Huskies fell to 4-8 and with the loss to WSU are 1-8 against the traditional Northwest rivals under Willingham.

Most on the hot seat in Hawaii will be a UW defense that is now almost assured of being the worst in school history. The Huskies are giving up 438.8 yards per game this season — the previous worst is 419.1 in 2005, the first year for Willingham and defensive coordinator Kent Baer.

That stat, coupled with the team's 11-24 record under Willingham, has the rumor mill cranking, and many are speculating that a high-scoring blowout loss could force Willingham to make changes on his defensive staff, possibly including Baer, who is his longest-serving assistant, having been with him since he became a head coach at Stanford in 1995.

Baer will have his work cut out for him this week trying to find a way to slow down a Hawaii offense that leads the nation in scoring at 47.18 points per game. Hawaii also ranks second in passing at 450 yards per game.

But Baer said after the WSU loss that the Hawaii game is a chance "to make a statement in a huge game" and, sounding like a coach who plans on being around for a while, he talks about the bright future he sees for the UW defense.

"I think we will get better," Baer said. "We've got a lot of good young kids."

Baer was less clear on what happened on WSU's winning touchdown, saying he "couldn't tell" how receiver Brandon Gibson broke so open behind the UW secondary to catch a 35-yard pass from Alex Brink.

Willingham and players each mentioned a communication breakdown, with half the players apparently playing one defense, half another.

QB Jake Locker said the Hawaii game will be "a chance to send the seniors out right. There are a lot of really good relationships on this team. Everybody really cares about each other. So I think it will be important for us to send those guys out on the right note."

What the game won't do, however, is change the fact that the Huskies will finish in last place (or a tie for last) in the Pac-10. UW is 2-7 and Stanford is 2-6 with a game this week against California. The Huskies are 6-20 in Pac-10 play under Willingham, the fewest wins of any conference team in that span.

Asked about finishing last, Locker said "I wasn't even aware of that. That's unfortunate. We definitely didn't play to our ability and we are going to have to change that and do better in the years to come."

NOTE

• One play Locker might like to have back was a pass on third-and-two on Washington's possession before the Cougars scored the winning TD. Locker said he had an option to run but saw Cougars LB Andy Mattingly hovering. Mattingly batted down a pass intended for tight end Johnie Kirton. "That's one of those plays I have to make," Locker said.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com