Huskies Football | Consolation: Pac-10 not looking hot

There was no silver lining for the Washington football team Saturday at Husky Stadium.

Instead, for hope they had to peek at their Pac-10 brethren, who joined them in suffering through one of the conference's worst days in memory, with seven of 10 teams losing, many in embarrassing fashion.

"It looks wide open when you look at what happened today," said UW defensive coordinator Ed Donatell following Washington's 55-14 loss to Oklahoma. "If you get your game together, you can play."

The Huskies will now have two weeks to try to do that before returning to action Sept. 27 against Stanford.

Two weeks to prepare for a game that looms pivotal for the Husky football program, and specifically, the future of head coach Tyrone Willingham.

The Huskies are now 11-28 under Willingham, and 2-12 since a 2-0 start to the 2007 season that seemed to herald a turnaround.

A loss to Oklahoma on Saturday wasn't a surprise considering the Sooners were 20-½-point favorites.

But most fans were expecting a little more than a fumble-filled, mistake-laden 34-0 halftime deficit, which grew to 48-7 at the end of three quarters.

Some have even wondered if it's possible there could be an in-season change of coaches. All indications, however, are that Willingham will be given the entire season to turn things around. In-season coaching changes are fairly rare in college football, if becoming a little more common, done usually in cases of team mutiny or other such issues.

UW's problems seem to be a bit more focused to the field — they just don't seem to block or tackle very well. Or snap the ball. Or kick it.

The Huskies were dominated in every area by the Sooners, nowhere more than up front, where UW never had a chance.

Washington's O-line, once figured to be a strength of the team, was again exposed as the Huskies were beaten to the punch from the start and managed 2.6 yards per run.

Defensively, the Huskies were often blown so far off the line that OU running backs sauntered untouched into the secondary before first encountering a defender.

Oklahoma finished with 591 yards, 558 coming in the first three quarters before OU began substituting, sending in everything but the Sooner Schooner.

Donatell, in his first year as UW's defensive coordinator, said that observers need to realize the schedule UW has played to date — Oregon, BYU and Oklahoma — and "keep that in perspective."

"Those three offenses will be in the top 10 in the nation," he said. In fact, all three are in the top of the national ratings through three weeks.

Each received little resistance from the Huskies, who are being outscored an average of 42.3 to 17 points and outgained an average of 520 to 305 yards.

All are numbers worse than a year ago when UW allowed a school-record 446.4 yards per game and 31.6 points. UW ranks 116th out of 119 teams nationally in total defense.

The general theme afterward from UW players and coaches, however, is that a better barometer will be found in the next month when the Huskies face more teams seemingly in their class — Stanford, followed by a game at Arizona, another bye, and then home games against Oregon State and Notre Dame.

That's a sentiment, though, that is unlikely to draw much sympathy from UW fans with long, and getting longer, memories of seemingly annual Rose Bowl runs.

Still, a 3-1 record in those four, which doesn't seem impossible, would give UW hope of a winning record heading into the last month of the season. Anything less and the obits for Willingham's UW career will be readied — something that could happen with a loss to the Cardinal.

Players vowed they'll do what they can to stave off the rumblings.

"With us I can say confidently our senior class is nowhere near giving up," said fifth-year senior defensive tackle Johnie Kirton. "We've seen that in the past and that's not how we want to leave this place."

And while a bye might indicate a rest, quarterback Jake Locker said there's too much to be done for a vacation now.

"We're going to take these next two weeks to work," he said. "We're not taking any time off. We're going to use it to get better."

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