The Seattle Times: Husky Football Blog

Ranking the Pac

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:02:03 PST

State of Washington football fans have to just keep reminding themselves that history has proven time and time again the cyclical nature of sports. But man it would be nice to get in that time machine and get there. ...

1, Oregon --- It might be blasphemy to write this on here, but Jeremiah Masoli looked a little bit like Marques Tuiasosopo circa 2000 at the end of that Arizona game. He could end up the All-Pac-10 QB yet.

2, Oregon State --- You never hear anymore that they wish they had Dennis Erickson back. And zero signs that the Beavers are going away anytime soon.

3, Cal --- No November stumble for Jeff Tedford's crew this year, as the Bears instead are playing their best ball of the season as it nears its end. Despite it all, a 10-3 record could hardly be deemed a disappointing season for the Bears. Now has the week off to prep for visit to Seattle Dec. 5.

4, Stanford --- Cal exposed that Stanford has been susceptible to the run at times this season. But a win over Notre Dame this week puts the season back in the unquestionably successful category.

Apple Cup ticket update, and early look at WSU

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:08:03 PST

For all the obvious reasons --- and maybe some unobvious ones, who knows? --- this Apple Cup isn't exactly stirring excitement throughout the state of Washington.

UW officials report that heading into the weekend, 65,600 tickets had been sold for Saturday's 3:30 p.m. kickoff. They also report that WSU returned about 500 tickets of its allotment of roughly 4,000.

That means that unless there's a heavy run-up sale this week, this could be the first Apple Cup crowd under 70,000 since Husky Stadium was expanded in 1987.

The smallest Apple Cup crowd since then came in 2005, when 70,713 saw the Cougars beat the Huskies 26-22. That also is the last time the teams had records this bad heading into a game in Seattle --- UW was 2-8 going into that game and WSU 3-7 in the last season before a 12-game schedule.

LOOKING AT THE COUGS --- WSU coach Paul Wulff talked to reporters via a conference call tonight and Vince Grippi of The Spokesman-Review has a good wrapup.

What readers of this blog probably care about the most is WSU's QB situation. Sounds like it's still muddled. Wulff said there's a chance Jeff Tuel may be able to return after missing the last two games with a kneecap injury, but that won't be determined until he goes through practice for a few days.

Tuel, a true freshman who played alongside UW true freshman safety Nate Fellner at Clovis West High in Fresno, Calif., had earned the starting job before being injured. Senior Kevin Lopina, who went all the way in the Apple Cup last year, started against Oregon State Saturday and would presumably start again if Tuel can't go.

Wulff said tonight that WSU's offensive line may have played its best game of the year against Oregon State. It either speaks to how bad a year WSU has had, or how good OSU's defense is, that the Cougars were held to 192 yards despite apparently getting a good performance up front. That includes just 59 yards rushing on 24 attempts and only nine yards rushing on nine attempts in the second half.

WSU was within 21-10 at halftime, but the score was a little deceiving as there was no doubt Oregon State was the better team throughout, its mistakes and sloppy play the only thing preventing the margin from being a lot worse.

WSU's 80-yard scoring drive to close the half was helped by four Oregon State penalties on four straight plays, taking the ball from the WSU 47 to the Oregon State 4 (there was also a four-yard gain on one of the plays). From there, it took four plays for WSU to get it in the end zone.

WSU also had a 49-yard drive on its first possession of the game when it seemed to catch the Beavers off guard a little bit with QB runs --- Lopina had five carries for 18 yards on the drive, picking up both third downs with his feet. Otherwise, WSU only had one other drive longer than 21 yards the rest of the day.

Huskies favored by 26

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:21:03 PST

The Huskies have been installed as 26-point favorites in Saturday's Apple Cup game over the Cougars.

As far as I can tell, that's the biggest spread in the series since UW was a 34-point favorite at home in 1991, the year the Huskies won the national title.

The line for this week is a little higher than I thought it might have been. On the other hand, WSU hasn't come within 21 points of anyone on the road this season and has been outscored 216-50 in five road games this season.

In other Pac-10 lines:

--- Arizona is a 3.5-point favorite at Arizona State;

--- Stanford is a 10-point favorite over Notre Dame at home;

--- and USC is a 13-point favorite over UCLA at home.

My Top 25

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:10:03 PST

No change at the top as the first eight teams stay the same this week.

And the national title picture is now clear. Texas will play, and almost certainly beat, Nebraska in the Big 12 title game to set up a national title contest against the winner of the Florida-Alabama SEC championship game, thus making this one of the most to-form seasons in recent memory.

From there it gets more muddled, especially with the Pac-10 teams.

Oregon moves back into my top 10 with its win at Arizona, while Cal also moves back in the poll with its win at Stanford.

I also moved Oregon State a bit higher after seeing them just toy with a team from the state of Washington for a second straight week. And worth noting that the Beavers started just five seniors Saturday --- two on defense and three on offense. The Beavers are truly at the reloading rather than rebuilding stage.

I included Stanford as my fourth Pac-10 team, leaving out Arizona, and that can obviously be debated. I also left out USC --- not sure how you can include the Trojans and not Stanford after the way the Cardinal beat USC in Los Angeles eight days ago.

UA now has four losses against just six wins, and has been beaten each of the last two weeks. And think about what a quick fall it could be for Arizona, which still has two Pac-10 games remaining. UA now finishes with games at Arizona State and USC. UA will be heavily favored to beat ASU but a lot stranger things have happened, and winning at USC is still a tall order.

Pac-10 title picture clarified, and a new Husky on the horizon?

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:04:02 PST

A Pac-10 title picture that was pretty muddled a week ago is now crystal clear --- the winner of the Oregon-Oregon State game Dec. 3 goes to the Rose Bowl.

Simple as that. Wins by both Oregon schools today and Cal's upset of Arizona eliminated everyone else --- every other Pac-10 team now has at least three conference losses. And if OSU beats Oregon, it wins the head-to-head with the Ducks.

As for the Huskies, UDubSports.com reported tonight that linebacker Garrett Gilliland of Lutheran High in Orange, Calif., has committed to Washington. However, Dawgman.com reported that Gilliland has not yet had a chance to talk to UW coach Steve Sarkisian and that any commitment won't be final until he does. So sounds like one to write in pencil, for now. Gilliland is expected to take an official visit to UW for the Apple Cup. Rivals.com listed him as also having offers from Colorado, Washington State, Fresno State and Duke and rates him as the No. 75 OLB in the country.

Here's a note on Gilliland from the Orange County Register last week noting he's been battling an ankle injury all season.

Apple Cup next year apparently moving to Dec. 4

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:20:03 PST

Well, I got one Husky-related news item out of coming to Pullman today as word here is that the 2010 Apple Cup will apparently be played on Dec. 4.

WSU athletic director Jim Sterk confirmed that the Apple Cup is moving off of its scheduled Nov. 20. He would not say to what date it is moving. But WSU coach Paul Wulff said in his post-game news conference that it is expected that the game will be Dec. 4 in Pullman.

That would be the first December Apple Cup in the 102-game history of the series (game No. 102 coming next week).

The move will also give the Cougars and Huskies each two mid-season byes, one of the main reasons for the change.

The Cougars will fill the Apple Cup date with a home game against Cal on Nov. 20.

The Apple Cup was first moved off its traditional Saturday before Thanksgiving date in 2007 when it was played in Seattle on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

It stayed on its usual Saturday last year in Pullman, but will again be played this year the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

There had been a thought that the two schools would prefer not to play a game as late as the first weekend in December in Pullman.

But apparently each school has, uh, warmed to the idea to open up byes during the season and create greater flexibility in the schedule.

UW had been in talks with Oregon State to move a game set for Oct. 16 in Seattle to Dec. 4 for the same purpose, but that apparently fell through.

This move is separate from the talks of last spring to move the Apple Cup to Qwest Field. That idea is dead for now. Instead, this is simply just to try to add byes in the school.

I'm assuming this means there will be some further juggling in UW's 2010 schedule but I don't have info on any other moves.

The Pac-10 schedule for 2010 is expected to be announced soon.

The latest the Apple Cup has ever been played is Nov. 30, most recently in 1965.

Here's a link to UW's current 2010 schedule.

Saturday links

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:25:02 PST

A bye week Saturday means mostly finding some links on some future Huskies.

--- And bad news for one of them as TB Deontae Cooper sprained an ankle early in the second half and his Citrus Hill team was upset, ending a 38-game winning streak and his fabulous high school career. He had 210 yards before being injured. The injury doesn't sound serious.

--- Nick Montana threw for three TDs and ran for another as Oaks Christian won its first playoff game 70-14.

--- TB Jesse Callier had 232 yards rushing and 348 total as Warren won its first playoff game 51-21. He has 2,864 rushing yards for the season

--- WR/DB commit Keanon Lowe scored three touchdowns for Jesuit of Portland as it won its second-round playoff game.

--- All the Pac-10 links you could want from The Oregonian.

May not be much else on the blog today as I'm on assignment in, well, Pullman. Not covering the game, per se, but just getting some stuff for our Apple Cup coverage next week. But not figuring to see much of a suspenseful game here and not assuming you guys would want to read much about it in this space, anyway. But if anything interesting happens or is said, I'll check in later.

Bye week answers, volume four

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:04:03 PST

Another round. ...

Q: How many incoming recruits do you expect to enroll early?

A: So far, the only two who have indicated they will try to do it are running backs Deontae Cooper and Jesse Callier. If there's anything bad about that, it's that tailback is probably the team's least worriesome position going forward, so maybe it'd be better if it were linemen or something getting the head start.However, Cooper and Callier enrolling early means they could count as members of the Class of 2009, opening up a couple spots in the Class of 2010, which helps. Nick Montana has said he will not be able enroll early, his transfer after his sophomore year apparently meaning he has to stay the full year to graduate.

Q: Do you expect any shakeup in the assistant coaching staff next season?

A: No. For one, Steve Sarkisian has stated emphatically several times he sees no reason to panic despite the recent losing streak. It's clear that in his mind, it's far too early to make any kind of determination that he needs to make a change in staff --- I think that would be the case even if they somehow lost the last two. For another, every assistant has a two-year guaranteed contract (here are all the details on that). UW is obviously willing to spend what it takes when it comes to football, but finances also come into increasing play these days. So unless an assistant leaves willingly for another job -- and that could always happen --- I don't expect any staff changes.

Ken Knutson new interim baseball coach at ASU

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:11:03 PST

We don't usually delve into non-football matters here but thought this would be of interest to a lot of you on here as news broke today that former Husky baseball coach Ken Knutson is now the new interim head coach at Arizona State.

Here's the story detailing the sudden resignation of ASU coach Pat Murphy. Knutson was fired as UW's coach last spring and then hired by ASU as a volunteer coach.

The story indicates ASU will conduct a full-scale search for the job and it's unclear how long Knutson will remain as interim coach.

Nussmeier examines the offense

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:26:03 PST

The Huskies are off this weekend, meaning a 14-day wait from the OSU loss to possible redemption against the Cougars in the Apple Cup.

And the wait may be the longest for offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, who said on Wednesday he wished the Huskies had had a game the day after the OSU loss to get the "sour taste'' out of his mouth.

While head coach Steve Sarkisian calls the plays for the Huskies, Nussmeier helps shape the game plan each week and helps guide the offense from the press box on game day.

And he felt the Oregon State game was the worst effort of the season as the Huskies gained 11 yards or fewer on nine of their first 10 drives --- the lone exception a 66-yarder for a touchdown late in the second quarter. UW later mounted two other scoring drives but by then, the damage had been done in an eventual 48-21 defeat.

"For nine weeks essentially, win, lose or draw, what we put out there on the field we could still turn on the film and say 'hey, we put it out there,''' he said. "And I don't think against Oregon State we did. And I think our players would agree with that assessment.''

Indeed, the one silver lining this week is that Nussmeier felt the players showed the proper attitude in getting back to work after

Bye week answers, volume three

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:04:09 PST

Before I get to some more questions this morning, a quick link from the LA Times with more on Steve Sarkisian's recruiting efforts in that area this weekend.

Now, questions. ...

Q: What is the read on Skyler Fancher? He was recruited late by USC and Tyrone Willingham's staff was really high on his potential. I know that he hurt his ankle but does the current Husky staff see him as an impact player /starter next year?

A: I'm not sure they've seen him enough to have much of a feeling on him one way or the other. He got hurt about midway through spring practice, injuring his ankle, then again about midway through fall camp. He was working with the No. 2 unit at tackle at the time, and Dan Cozzetto had said he'd done some good things. But injuries and long absences always make it hard to judge where a player really fits. Sarkisian said this week he wasn't sure if Fancher would be available for spring ball, though Fancher appears to be getting healthier --- he's no longer using crutches now walking around on a boot. But if he is, that will be a key time for Fancher to re-establish his role on the team.

Picking the Pac, week 12

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:54:02 PST

Well, I finally got an Oregon game almost exactly right last week. Stanford, the other team that seems most vexing, was another matter.

But I'll take another try at it again this week as each plays in what are the most critical games of this weekend in the Pac-10.

OREGON AT ARIZONA (Ducks by 6): Go through all the Pac-10 stats and it's hard to find too many big differences between these two teams. Each ranks pretty similarly just about everywhere other than pass offense, which is largely a function of the fact that the Ducks just don't throw it as much as a lot of other teams (their 250 attempts this year fewer than anyone in the conference except Stanford). So this one mostly comes down to feel and intangibles --- will Arizona's home-field advantage make all the difference? Or will Oregon's greater experience playing in big games matter more? Finally, I settled on this --- while UA QB Nick Foles has been really good this year, he's shown some signs of hitting the first-year starter wall. Jeremiah Masoli, meanwhile, seems to just keep getting better. So call this one for the Ducks to set up a Civil War for the ages. OREGON 37, ARIZONA 30.

CAL AT STANFORD (Cardinal by 7): Must-win for Stanford to stay in the Rose Bowl race. And while it's tempting to wonder if Stanford will have to battle the post-beating-USC hangover that seems to usually afflict teams, playing at home and in what for once is truly a big game Big Game should obviously ward off any letdown. I actually think this game could come down to which team passes the ball better --- for all that's made of Stanford's running, the Cardinal leads the Pac-10 in passing efficiency due largely to Andrew Luck throwing just three interceptions this season. Figure the Cardinal to get some big plays against a Cal pass defense ranked ninth in the conference to break this one open. STANFORD 31, CAL 21.

Want the TV info for the Apple Cup?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:22:03 PST

Well here it is, helpfully provided by the good folks over at FSN.

And since they are being so helpful in providing the info (sure, it's PR for them, but what the heck) I'll leave it to you guys to decide if this is really "the most anticipated game of the season for crimson and purple'' fans as the press release suggests (though I'm wondering which is the crimson and purple team while sympathizing the tough duty of trying to make this one look good).

Anyway, here's the release with relevant TV info on the Apple Cup and other affiliated programming:

"The countdown for Apple Cup is here and FSN will again be the exclusive home of the battle between the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars. The most anticipated game of the season for crimson and purple fans kicks off on FSN on Saturday, November 28th at 2:30 pm and if you're not in Husky Stadium, then FSN will be your eyes and ears for the 102nd playing of the annual rivalry game.

The 2009 Apple Cup kicks-off for viewers across the Northwest live at 2:30 p.m. with a special 60-minute edition of College Football Northwest from Husky Stadium. FSN's Brad Adam will be joined by former WSU quarterback Jason Gesser, and former UW quarterback Damon Huard, along with FSN's Angie Mentink and Jen Mueller to bring fans exclusive interviews and key match-ups for this year's game.

FSN's Tom Glasgow will bring fans the play-by-play action for the 2009 Apple Cup game as it kicks off at 3:30 pm live on FSN. Glasgow will be joined by former Seahawks fullback Mack Strong, along with former WWU quarterback Jason Stiles bringing fans updates directly from the sidelines. The College Football Northwest crew will return with an "Apple Cup Wrap-up" show featuring post-game reaction from both locker rooms and exclusive interviews with players and coaches at 10:30 p.m. immediately following the UCLA/USC game. Fans can also watch a replay of the 2009 Apple Cup game on Sunday, November 29th at 10 pm and Monday, November 30th at 11 am and 7 pm.

In addition to unprecedented coverage of this year's game, FSN will spend the entire week giving fans a chance to relive some of the greatest Apple Cup moments of the past with FSN Classics and will count down the top-10 Apple Cup games for both teams in the history of the rivalry on Northwest Top 10: Huskies Apple Cup Games and Northwest Top 10: Cougars Apple Cup Games.

FSN Classics kicks off the full week of Apple Cup programming on Sunday, November 22nd at 7 pm, with the 1996 Apple Cup as the Huskies take a big lead in Pullman, but the Cougars fight back and take the game into overtime in a heated battle at Martin Stadium. FSN Classics continues on Tuesday, November 24th at 7:30 pm, with the 1992 Apple Cup, famously known as "The Snow Bowl," as the fifth-ranked Huskies traveled to Pullman to face Drew Bledsoe's Cougars. A blustery snow storm and a high-scoring third quarter were the difference in this memorable game for both teams.

Apple Cup legends such as Drew Bledsoe, Warren Moon, Mike Price and Don James look back at some of the top games ever played in the series on Northwest Top 10: Huskies Apple Cup Games and Northwest Top 10: Cougars Apple Cup Games. Host Jen Mueller will countdown the top-10 Apple Cup games for each team during a 30-minute special dedicated to the Huskies and the Cougars. FSN will also give fans an "All Access" pass to both teams on Huskies All Access and Cougars All Access during the week leading up to the 2009 Apple Cup.''

Thursday afternoon links, notes --- Sark and Carroll together again

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:27:03 PST

Well, sort of.

The first Steve Sarkisian sighting of the weekend on his recruiting trip to Los Angeles came at LA. Jordan High School, as the LA Times reports both Sarkisian and Pete Carroll were on the sidelines watching the game there this afternoon. Safety Sean Parker of Narbonne is one guy each is surely taking a look at. Sark's also probably trying to make sure Carroll doesn't get his hands on RB Melvin Davis, a Narbonne High senior who is already committed to UW.

--- FootballCoachScoop.com reports that UW safeties Jeff Mills could be a candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Portland State. Mills doesn't have any ties to PSU as far as having played or coached there or anything.

--- UW defensive coordinator Nick Holt said on his weekly show with Dave "Softy'' Mahler on KJR-AM that he has not talked to anyone at UNLV and doesn't know why his name is on lists of prospective candidates there. Reports today indicate that the school may be looking seriously at Dennis Franchione, as well as Dirk Koetter. It's also thought Tyrone Willingham could be in the mix there.

--- Speaking of Willingham, he's looking for work in a lot of different ways, apparently.

--- ESPN.com's Ted Miller looks at what Pac-10 assistants might be interested in the UNLV or San Jose State openings.

--- He also has this on the Pac-10 creating a new executive post.

All for now.

Grad rates released, UW fares well

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:57:03 PST

Annual graduation rates for student-athletes were unveiled this week, and the Huskies again fared well.

As detailed in this release from the school, UW student-athletes enrolling from the 1999-2000 academic year to 2002-03 graduated at a rate of 84 percent. That's second in the Pac-10 behind only Stanford.

As stated in the release:

---UW has the second-highest graduation success rate (GSR) among Division I public institutions on the West Coast;

--- UW has the second-highest graduation success rate among all Pacific-10 Conference institutions;

--- UW's class entering 2002-03 graduated at the third-highest rate among Pac-10 institutions;

--- UW's 84 percent GSR equals its highest rating since the NCAA began calculating the average five years ago;

--- UW's GSR is six percentage points higher than the overall Division I average;

---UW's student body graduates 13 percent higher than the overall Division I average (4 class average).

Also, here is a look at Pac-10 numbers. Again, this is for all student-athletes, not just football players.

Stanford 89 85
Washington 69 61
Cal 64 57
WSU 62 58
ASU 58 49
USC 58 52
OSU 57 43
UCLA 51 40
Oregon 49 45
Arizona 41 35

Thursday live chat

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:58:02 PST

Away we go. ...

Thursday live chat

Thursday links

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:11:04 PST

Don't forget the live chat at noon. Until then, a few links. ...

--- Sports Illustrated has an interesting Pac-10 fan survey. Obviously, the questions are so general hard to really know what to make of some of the responses. I'm assuming an awful lot of USC and Cal fans, or something, chimed in to make UCLA the most heated rival for everyone.

More interesting were the last three questions about favorite stadiums to visit and rudest and most polite fans. I get questions about fan behavior a lot from people who know I regularly go to all the stadiums. The one thing is that being sequestered up in the press box, I don't often get a real good sense of what the fans are like. From what I've heard, I doubt too many UW fans will argue with the choice of Oregon having the rudest fans. Stanford may have the most polite fans in part because usually none of them are there.

--- Nick Daschel writes that there is no way the Cougars will be able to win the Apple Cup and that the result will be so one-sided "it'll embarrass Husky fans.''

--- Really interesting story in the LA Times today on how hard Rick Neuheisel can be on quarterbacks. Most interesting for UW fans may be that Cody Pickett declined to be interviewed for the story, apparently saying he was "uncomfortable talking about his former coach.''

--- UW coaches are doing some recruiting at the LA City Section playoff games tonight. Here's a list of the games and a breakdown from the LA Times.

--- Lots of Pac-10 links from Ken Goe.

All for now.

Live chat today at noon

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:14:03 PST

We'll host our weekly live chat on here today at noon.

No game this week, but sure we can find something to talk about, so see you there.

Bye week practices over --- coaches now hitting Southern California hard

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:09:07 PST

The last of three bye week practices for the Huskies is over, the team working for about an hour and 45 minutes today in the Dempsey Indoor.

The team was in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts, but that doesn't mean there wasn't some hitting. At one point late in the team period, Tim Tucker and Marquis Persley sandwiched Willie Griffin with a hard hit that could be easily heard around the Indoor, causing Griffin to fumble --- and forcing him to immediately begin running a lap.

The offense appeared to win the day with Keith Price running for a TD from about 10 yards out or so on one of the last plays, rolling left then turning back against the grain and outracing the defense to the right and into the end zone.

If that sounds like the names of a lot of younger players, that's for good reason as these three practices were again used to get a lot of the younger guys work --- Price and Ronnie Fouch took most of the snaps and guys like Chris Polk, Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar, Donald Butler, Mason Foster and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim were all limited, as well.

But all are fine, and the team appeared to make it through the bye week without any new injuries.

The biggest question marks revolve around DT Cameron Elisara and LB E.J. Savannah, each still out. Elisara hasn't played since the Arizona State game with a stinger while Savannah has three breaks in his hand, a thumb break being the biggest issue right.

Bye week answers, volume two

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:10:04 PST

Another round. ...

Q: How many linemen do we have committed to come here, offense and defense.

A: According to all the recruiting sites, UW has six --- four OLs and two DLs. The OLs are tackles Erik Kohler of Oaks Christian in Westlake Village, Calif.; and Ben Riva of O'Dea, and guards Colin Tanigawa of Loyola in Los Angeles and Colin Porter of Bothell. The DLs are end Andrew Hudson of Redlands, Calif.; and tackle Sione Potoae of Lakes. Scout.com also lists UW as having offers out to seven other DTs, five other OTs and two OGs. Steve Sarkisian has said UW will sign "five or six'' OLs, so commitments from one or two more could be in the offing.

Q: What's your prediction on the Apple Cup line? I'm going UW by 13.5.

A: I think it could be more like 17-20 or so with the Huskies being at home and if the Cougars get routed again this week by Oregon State, as would be expected. But this is one game the Huskies won't take anything for granted after what happened last season when UW lost to the Cougs as seven-point favorites in Pullman.

Q: Who would you rather have as your quarterback --- Jake Locker or Kellen Moore?

A: Varations of this question have been popular of late, with questioners usually noting they've heard Moore would have come here if offered. Moore came out the same year as Ronnie Fouch, and that may really be the more applicable question --- should they have recruited Moore instead of Fouch. Locker was already here, so the question was never Locker or Moore.

The Huskies were obviously going with an offense that had a lot of running by the QB designed in it at the time, so that was one factor in who they looked at. There were also questions about Moore's size and overall stature (he was listed at 6-1, 185 out of high school)--- and again, remember that it's a coaching staff no longer here who made all those decisions. Moore has obviously appeared to answer the question of whether he could be successful against Pac-10 teams by leading BSU to two wins over Oregon the last two years, including a 386-yard day in Eugene last season.

But Moore and Locker are so different in style, it's hard to really compare the two. I would agree that if you want to criticize the old staff for not taking a harder look at Moore, in hindsight it obviously appears as if they should have --- and that would be one of about 5,890 things you can probably criticize the old staff for. Worth noting none of the other area Pac-10 schools offered Moore, either, nor did Idaho. So obviously he's proven a lot of people wrong.

Q: When was the last time we recruited and signed a true center?

A: UW has signed several players through the years that it listed as centers, most recently Mykenna Ikehara. But really elite OLs in high school tend to play guard or tackle, since that's where they can be the most valuable. So you usually recruit a guy who is a guard or tackle with the long-term intention of switching him to center if need be. The only OL in the 2009 class, JC transfer Daniel Mafoe, didn't get into school, so you'd have to go back to 2008 and Ikehara for the last player signed with the thought he could be a center.

More later.

Holt a candidate at UNLV?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:27:03 PST

Is UW defensive coordinator Nick Holt a candidate to become the new head coach at UNLV?

Holt is one of about 20 names listed in this story in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal. This story also looks at the candidates and mentions Holt.

Holt has ties to UNLV, coaching there for three seasons from 1987-89 at the beginning of his career, the first as a graduate assistant and then two years as defensive line coach.

Official word from UW today is that UNLV has not asked for permission to talk to Holt, but it's really early in the process.

The RJ story mentions that a new coach might make about $700,000 a year. That's essentially what Holt makes at UW, but he would probably take the same amount of money to be a head coach again. Holt has said what any assistant would say, that he'd like to be a head coach again if the right opportunity presents itself. Holt was a head coach for two years at Idaho --- the stories indicate UNLV wants someone with head coaching experience. Holt's 5-18 record those two seasons, however, may not help him there.

Holt is represented by former NFL player Trace Armstrong, who now works as an agent for CAA.

Also mentioned on those lists is former UW coach Tyrone Willingham.

UNLV's job became open this week when the school fired Mike Sanford.

Wednesday morning links --- Willingham to San Jose State?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:51:03 PST

In the absence of much out there on the Huskies today with a bye week and all, maybe the most interesting thing I found is a mention of former UW coach Tyrone Willingham as a possible candidate to be the next coach San Jose State.

Dick Tomey resigned as coach there a couple of days ago. Willingham has been living in the Palo Alto area since leaving Seattle after being fired by UW a year ago. He reportedly attended at least one San Jose State practice early in the season, and stated in one of the few (only?) interviews he has done since that he would wait until after this season to see what jobs opened and then pursue some. If he did get the job, he could just keep the team's current linebackers coach, one Kent Baer.

UW has often played San Jose State through the years but far as I can tell, there are no games scheduled between the two in the future. And Mark Purdry writes that whoever gets the job won't have an easy time.

--- I wrote a notebook for today's paper looking at some of UW's special teams woes Saturday in Corvallis and the decision to use MLB Donald Butler as a lead blocker on the kickoff return team.

--- Bud Withers offered this Pac-10 notebook for today's paper examining Stanford's ascension.

--- The LA Times looks at why USC has fallen this season. Some of you have asked if there is being much made of the loss of Steve Sarkisian and Nick Holt, and a few other staffers, to UW. I haven't seen much of that. Mostly, seems like people are looking primarily at the loss of eight defensive starters from last season and inability to replace them with the same caliber of talent, and the loss of QB Mark Sanchez. Because USC has done it so often there was an assumption the Trojans could just reload from what were heavy losses from last year. But obviously USC wasn't able to do that. And it's frankly a lot easier to quantify the impact of the loss of the players than of assistant coaches. The Times story, however, does make note of the stability of the rest of the coaches in the conference as a reason that programs like Oregon State and Arizona have made vast improvement in recent seasons.

--- Speaking of former area coaches, UTEP AD Bob Stull announced Tuesday that former WSU coach Mike Price will be back in El Paso next year despite now being assured a fourth-straight losing season. That's good news for the team's assistant head coach, Jeff Woodruff, a former UW assistant and the son-in-law of Don James. Stull is himself a former longtime
UW assistant and administrator.

--- The Oregonian has lots of Pac-10 links, as well as trying to make the case that WSU could beat Oregon State this weekend --- I'd guess stranger things have happened but at the moment, can't think of one. One worth highlighting is this story detailing the history of Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll.

I'll have some more answers later as well as notes from practice tonight.

Tuesday practice notes

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:47:03 PST

I'm actually down in Portland tonight for the Seattle University basketball game, but Percy Allen checked into practice this afternoon and sounds like nothing out of the ordinary.

Pretty much status quo on the injury front with nothing new of any note.

So in the absence of any news from UW, I'll pass along a few other notes and links. ...

--- A couple of you asked whether anything was said today on the Pac-10 coaches conference call about Jim Harbaugh going for two against USC. Here's Ted Miller's report on that. And here's a good review of it from Jon Wilner.

--- Miller also has this look at which Pac-10 coaches may be on the hot seat, leading off with WSU's Paul Wulff, whom he says has a "toasty'' backside. However, I heard an interview on the way down here that Ian Furness of KJR-AM had with WSU defensive coordinator Chris Ball in which Ball said the coaches have been told they will be back next season.

--- However, in bad news for the Cougars, the Spokesman-Review is reporting tonight that DT Toby Turpin, who has started six games this season, has been suspended for the last two games for an unspecified violation of team rules. The SR also notes that LB Jason Stripling, who was arrested for fourth-degree assualt over the weekend, was not at practice today with no reasoning apparent in the story.

--- With all the other stuff, I didn't make mention of Isaiah Stanback's sudden emergence as a WR for the Patriots. But this story has a good overview of it (it's in the last item) and it all sounds good for Stanback.

All for now.

Sarkisian notes from Pac-10 coaches conference call

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:11:02 PST

With UW having a bye this week, and the Huskies not exactly at the forefront of things any longer, Steve Sarkisian's time on the Pac-10 coaches conference call this week was brief.

And it mostly involved out-of-town writers picking his brain on other topics.

--- The first thing he was asked was about whether the talent gap in the Pac-10 is truly catching up to USC, as Trojans coach Pete Carroll suggested after Stanford's win over the Trojans Saturday. Sarkisian said that he thinks a couple of things have happened --- that all the Pac-10 schools have "great coaches and that all the staffs have recruited well,'' making the talent pool in the conference as good as ever. He also said he thinks the style in the conference has changed since USC started its dominance in 2002. He said he thinks the Pac-10 has gone "from a finesse conference when (USC) first going where Pete brought a brand of football where we are going to run the ball, play great defense and take shots in the passing game.'' He said he thinks other teams have begun to copy that formula, if doing so in different styles. He said that "in and of itself'' has closed the gap "because team's aren't trying so hard (with different schemes) but are just being disciplined and doing things right.''

--- Asked about OSU QB Sean Canfield being in the mix to be the All-Pac-10 QB he said that Canfield definitely deserves mention though he also said Jeremiah Masoli, Jake Locker and Nick Foles would also be in the discussion, if not others. "I would have to evaluate all those guys to say who is the first team all-Pac-10 QB. I'm not sure what we are going to do with that one yet.''

--- He was also asked about the value in recruiting in southern California of having a win over USC and said that "it's not just in southern California'' that such a win helps. "It just shows that we are a program on the rise and headed in the right direction but I don't think it has to be just in southern California (that that is noticed),'' he said. "Any time you get some landmark wins like that you are able to use it to your advantage in recruiting whether it be in Washington or California or Hawaii or anywhere else.''

--- And having forgotten to do so yesterday when I had the chance at the press conference, I asked about injured players Brandon Yakaboski, Vince Taylor and Skylar Fancher and where they are in their recovery. He said all are in various states of rehab and that it's "still too early to know'' whether any of the three will be available for spring practice. All have missed the season with various injuries --- Yakaboski and Taylor, a running back and WR, respectively, are each out with knee injuries while Fancher, an OT, had surgery on his ankle.

And that was pretty much it.

Bye week questions, volume one

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:37:03 PST

Thanks for all the great questions. Here's the first entry digging away at the answers.

Q: How much upside do you see for the offensive line next season? Any current starters, redshirt freshmen or injured reserves that have the potential to compete with the good Pac 10 teams next year? Is there a chance that some true freshmen will start in the O-line?

A: All good questions that don't have set answers. What I would say is that in general, it's a longshot for a true frosh to start. But with this team heading into next season, I think anything is possible. UW will lose only one linemen this year who plays --- guard/tackle Ben Ossai. Everyone else is back. So obviously, there has to be a hope that experience leads to a natural progression (though I'd warn that Washington State had just about all of its OL back this season and that hasn't worked out so well).

Another thing to remember is that the new staff changed the approach radically up front this season, going with a new zone blocking scheme, as well as changing the bodies of most of the players dramatically. Maybe all of that will take much greater hold in year two than it did this year, though a lot of the numbers this season are a lot better than a year ago --- UW is averaging 3.9 yards per attempt this season, for instance, compared to 2.8 a year ago (and maybe Chris Polk is the reason for most of that, but when judging OL, that stat is generally considered one of the best).

Two guys who hadn't done much this year who could make a big impact next season are tackle Drew Schaefer and guard/center Mykenna Ikehara, each redshirt frosh this season. Coaches had high hopes for each coming out of the spring. But Ikehara suffered some sort of virus and lost a lot of weight and only recently has gotten back into playing shape (and then he hurt his knee during the first bye week and was out for a while). Schaefer was in line to start for much of camp before coaches changed their minds, apparently thinking he needed more time to be forced into that duty. But he's gotten lots of time lately. And it wouldn't be unrealistic to think each takes a big step next season.

There are no redshirting linemen this year, but a few guys are sitting out due to injury. The most promising is probably tackle Skyler Fancher, who will be a junior next season. He played a lot last season and if he can make it back to full health, will be a legit contender for playing time.

As for true freshmen next year, UW has commits from four OLs --- tackles Ben Riva of O'Dea and Erik Kohler of Oaks Christian in California and guards Colin Porter of Bothell and Colin Tanigawa of Los Angeles. General consensus seems to be that Riva and Kohler are the most likely to be able to make an impact next season, especially Kohler. As I said above, generally that's a hard transition to make --- I'm doing some breakdowns of Pac-10 rosters for some stuff for later, but I think there's only one true frosh consistently starting on an OL in the conference this year, Michael Philipp at Oregon State. But where this program is right now, it may be more likely next season than most.

If I had to guess on an OL for next year, I'd say Schaefer/Kohler at LT, Cody Habben/Fancher at RT, Ryan Tolar at guard/center, Ikehara at guard/center, and Senio Kelemete and Greg Christine/Wood at guard. However, coaches have indicated potentially moving Kelemete outside to tackle. So I think there are a lot of things that will be looked at in the spring. But I'd think those nine players --- assuming Christine gets healthy --- plus Fancher if he gets healthy and Riva depending on how quickly he adjusts, would be the most likely to be in the rotation. But there's still a few months left to recruit so there could be another addition or two to the roster, as well.

Tuesday a.m. links

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:14:02 PST

It's a bye week, so not as much out there. But here are a few things of interest. ...

--- UW coach Steve Sarkisian talked at length about Jake Locker's pending NFL decision at Monday's press conference so I decided to write about it. Included is a poll with 88 percent of responders as I write this saying Locker is not ready yet for the NFL.

--- The UW Daily weighs in with 10 reasons Locker should go and stay (No. 2 on the stay list would do it for me).

--- The Cleveland Plain-Dealer had an interesting view of this year's QB class, including some thoughts on Locker, with the Browns again in the market for a quarterback.

--- If you're interested in the process of underclassmen declaring early, here's everything you need to know from the NCAA in this letter sent to all players considering making the move. (The author of that letter, by the way, is one of the NCAA officials who interviewed Rick Neuheisel about his gambling activities way back when).

--- Ted Miller has UW ranked ninth in the Pac-10 this week and says the OSU loss revealed a harsh reality that the rebuilding may take a while.

--- Nick Daschel gave the Huskies a D for the week.

--- MaxPreps.com rates Oak Christian No. 5 in the country this week.

--- Someone asked me about it today so I'll pass it along to all --- here is a list of all of UW's recruits with info and video from ESPN.com.

--- Here's an update on Deontae Cooper's team as well as Redlands East Valley, which features one of the newest UW commits, Andrew Hudson.

--- Here's ESPN's story on the commitment over the weekend of Victor Burnett.

All for now.

Question time

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:51:03 PST

A bye week means another request for your questions.

I'm learning I can't come close, usually, to answering them all, so I won't promise that. But I will try to get to as many as I can in the next week before we get hip deep into Apple Cup stuff.

So ask away.

Monday practice report

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:04:28 PST

Just like the last bye week, Ronnie Fouch and Keith Price took all the snaps at QB today during the team period as the Huskies thankfully practiced in the Dempsey Indoor with loads of rain coming down.

Unlike last time, the official word is that Locker sat out simply to rest and take a day off, no injury involved in this one.

So it was Fouch and Price at the helm for the one-hour non-pads workout.

Also somewhat of a surprise sitting out was MLB Donald Butler, presumably also resting.

A few players we might have expected to sit out participated, notably safeties Nate Fellner (biceps) and Jason Wells (foot). Both appeared just fine, though again, this was a no-pads, no-contact affair. Ryan Tolar also practiced after UW coach Steve Sarkisian had intimated he would sit it out to rest.

Chris Polk also at out just to rest leaving the RB carries to Demitrius Bronson, Curtis Shaw and Johri Fogerson --- that appeared to be the order and Shaw seemed to have a good day with a few catches mixed in amongst his run. (Willie Griffin was there but didn't get any carries during the team period. He hasn't made the last two road trips so he's definitely last on the depth chart at that spot right now).

Others sitting out included E.J. Savannah, Cameron Elisara and Kalani Aldrich.

What could be UW's starting LB corps next season --- Mason Foster, Jordan Wallace and Tim Tucker --- got a lot of work with the No. 1 unit during the team period, as well.

And the No. 1 OL again had Ben Ossai at guard in place of Nick Wood, though there was the usual rotating of guys up front, as well.

Practice ended with a two-minute drill, two drives led by Fouch and one by Price, None ended in a score as the practice ended with Bronson fumbling, apparently stripped of the ball, and Darrion Jones recovering, apparently giving the win for the day to the defense.

Highlights from Sarkisian's press conference

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:44:02 PST

What Steve Sarkisian termed today the most disappointing ballgame of the season didn't dampen his willingness to talk to the media Monday. The coach spoke for almost a half-hour on a variety of topics.

Here are some of the unfiltered highlights:

OPENING STATEMENT: "(The bye week) is a good opportunity to evaluate our film from Saturday. It was probably our most disappointing ballgame of the year in all three phases. I'm going to touch on all three here. Offensively, we came out timid, did not play fast, did not play physical, in turn ran into a defense that was not hesitant, to say the least, that was playing fast, physical football, and I think we all saw the discrepancy there, especially early in the game, where we were getting knocked back. In turn, I think it created more hesitation on our end, where we started to take penalties that we hadn't been taking all year. We dug ourselves a huge hole. Defensively, our kids played pretty hard, especially early on. They got put in some really difficult situations from a field-position standpoint, but played pretty hard and had opportunities there to create turnovers. There were four fumbles by Oregon State. We were unable to capitalize on them when the ball was on the ground, to maybe swing the momentum. It wasn't able to happen. And we just wore out. We missed some tackles there that could've negated the big plays, most notably the big run by (Jacquizz) Rodgers, the 42-yarder there. We had him dead in his tracks in the backfield for about a 5-yard loss. In turn, he gets a big gain. And then on special teams, we didn't kick the ball very well, whether it was on kickoffs or punt. For what reason, I don't know. We've been pretty solid in that area all year. It's been a situation where I love what Mahan's done for us, what Erik Folk's done for us. But we didn't strike the ball well, and in turn, it caused us to not cover as good as we would've liked. And we've got to find a way to get the returns. It's just not ... You get that many kickoff returns, sooner or later you're supposed to hit something by executing, and we're not. It's disappointing, from the head coach standpoint, that we didn't look like a team that was prepared to play - mentally or physically. We got knocked off the football. It looked and appeared that Oregon State was playing harder than us, which, in my opinion, they were. So we have to address that. That's not acceptable and that's not OK. As I touched on Saturday, the beauty of it is, I know what we're capable of because I've seen it. I've seen it, and I know it, and I've seen it in other games on both sides of the ball and on special teams. We didn't perform to those capabilities on Saturday. We'll strive and we'll fight and scratch and claw to get back to that point. And we've got two games left to do that.

ANY HINTS OF THAT PERFORMANCE IN PRACTICE LAST WEEK?: "No. That's the hard part is for us. I thought we practiced really well. I thought we were really locked in to the game plan and what we wanted to do. If you were in our locker room before the game, you wouldn't have thought they would have come out and played that way. I thought they were into it, they were excited. But it goes to show you that it's not always what's on the exterior of what your team looks like. You've got to find a way to get inside of them to see what they're really feeling.''

So where does UW's improvement this year rank?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:55:03 PST

One question asked here lately is how does the job Steve Sarkisian has done in his first season at UW rank with other first-year coaches in the country.

I was hoping to do that research this week when I found that the Iowa State University sports information department has already done it --- the check is in the mail --- as part of their efforts to pump new coach Paul Rhodes.

They compiled two lists, first of first-year coaches who have upped the win-loss totals of their teams, and ratings of teams that have improved the most in terms of wins and losses from last season. UW ranks pretty well in both.

First, a look at first-year coaches:
School 2009 2008 Win improvement
Paul Rhoads, Iowa State, 6-5, 2-10, +4
Steve Sarkisian, Washington, 3-7, 0-12, +3
Gene Chizik, Auburn, 7-4, 5-7, +2
Brady Hoke, San Diego State, 4-6, 2-10, +2
Dave Christensen, Wyoming, 5-5, 4-8, +1
Rich Ellerson, Army, 4-6, 3-9, +1
Bill Snyder, Kansas State, 6-5, 5-7, +1
Tim Beckman, Toledo, 4-6, 3-9, +1

Next, the most improved NCAA Football Teams Nationally in Wins:

Team 09 record 08 record diff.
Idaho, 7-4, 2-10, +5
SMU, 6-4, 1-11, +5
Iowa State, 6-5, 2-10, +4
Temple, 8-2, 5-7, +3
Ohio, 7-3, 4-8, +3
Washington, 3-7, 0-12, +3
MTSU, 7-3, 5-7, +2
Stanford, 7-3, 5-7, +2
Auburn, 7-4, 5-7, +2
Central Florida, 6-4, 4-8, +2
UL-Monroe, 6-4, 4-8, +2
Michigan, 5-6, 3-9, +2
San Diego St., 4-6, 2-10, +2

Obviously, Sarkisian and UW has more room for improvement than anyone else in the country, bringing to mind Bill Murray's famous line from Stripes as his girlfiend kicks him out of their apartment --- "talk about massive potential for growth.'' So it can obviously be well-debated if UW's three-game improvement to date is really better than Stanford's two-game move. But on a rainy Monday with 12 days until the next game, it's something.

And I will have more from Sarkisian's presser today soon.

Press conference update

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:58:53 PST

There was no real news from Steve Sarkisian's meeting today with the press, with this being a bye week and no real immediate injury issues.

Sarkisian said FS Nate Fellner was diagnosed with a partially torn biceps and will have the injury re-examined before determining his availability going forward.

Sarkisian said DT Cameron Elisara and LB E.J. Savannah won't practice much this week, if at all, to give them more time to recover, but he indicated each could still play this season. He also said there are some players who may rest this week to allow them to get healthier for the final two games, mentioning specifically TB Chris Polk and center Ryan Tolar.

Otherwise, there was lots of rehash of the Oregon State game, as well as a lot of talk from Sarkisian on QB Jake Locker and his future. On the latter topic, Sarkisian in essence said that nothing has been decided yet and he and other UW officials will sit down with Locker and his family after the season to investigate his options.

As for Oregon State, Sarkisian termed it "probably our most disappointing game of the year'' and that he was particularly disappointed that "we just didn't look like we were prepared to play, mentally or physically.''

He said "it looked like Oregon State was playing harder than us, which in my opinion they were.''

UW will have a similar schedule this week as it did for the first bye after the Oregon game, practicing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then taking off for the weekend. Sarkisian said similar to that week there will again be lots of emphasis on getting younger players reps and not too much game-planning on the Cougars, UW's next opponent on Nov. 28. The coaches will again take the weekend to go recruit.

As he did after that Oregon game --- kind of eerie how the Huskies have entered both byes coming off probably their most disappointing efforts of the season, each against schools from the state of Oregon --- Sarkisian again expressed faith in the overall direction of the program saying "now is not the time to panic.'' He said team's offensive and defensive systems have "withstood the test of time'' and he has no doubt they will prove successful at UW.

I'll have more from Sarkisian later.

Can this season rank as one of UW's biggest improvements ever?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:01:31 PST

For my story for today's paper, I wrote about what is left for the Huskies after Saturday's loss at Oregon State.

And among the carrots still left is to put this season in a category to be regarded as one of the biggest single-season improvements in UW history.

In fact, with two more wins, UW would finish 5-7 after having gone 0-12 last year. That would obviously be five more wins than last season, the biggest improvement since 1970 when the Huskies went 6-4 in the first year with Sonny Sixkiller at QB after going 1-9 in 1969.

The biggest improvement since then came in 2000, when Rick Neuheisel and Marques Tuiasosopo led the Huskies to the Rose Bowl and an 11-1 record a year after going 7-5, or a four-game improvement. This UW team can match that one by winning one of the last two.

One season that technically reads better than the 2000 season is 1977, when UW is listed with a 10-2 record, having gone to the Rose Bowl in the third year under Don James, a year after going 5-6. However, UW went 8-4 on the field that season, later having losses against Mississippi State and UCLA rules as forfeit wins.

As mentioned in the story, the biggest single-season leap came in 1959 when the memorable third team for Jim Owens went 10-1 and won the Rose Bowl a year after finishing 3-7, a leap of 6.5 games.

So the question for Husky fans will be whether a 5-7 season, which again would go down as the biggest single-season improvement in 39 years, would be satisfying in any way, or just that add to the disappointment considering all the earlier games that got away.

PROGRAMMING NOTE --- We'll have more later today from Steve Sarkisian's regular Monday press conference. However, since this is a bye week, there won' t be a depth chart or some of the other usual trappings of a game week.

Another new Husky?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:26:02 PST

Sounds like it as all three of the major UW recruiting web sites are reporting that linebacker Victor Burnett of Culver City, Calif., has committed to the Huskies.

Burnett is a good get for the Huskies as he also took trips to Oklahoma and Arizona, indicative of the kind of recruiting attention he was getting.

He's listed at 6-foot, 225 pounds and rated as the No. 25 middle linebacker prospect in the country by Scout.com.

That's obviously a position of immediate need next season for UW with Donald Butler graduating. True freshman Tim Tucker has drawn plaudits from coaches for his play there the last few weeks, but obviously need more than one MLB going forward.

Burnett was one of six players that visited for the LSU game Sept. 5. UW has now gotten two commitments from players who visited that weekend, the other being running back Deontae Cooper. Three others have committed elsewhere. The one uncommitted player left from that group is cornerback Demetrirus Wright of Corona, Calif., who is thought to still be high on UW. If the Huskies were to get Wright and get half the players who visited that weekend, that would have to go down as a pretty successful gamble to bring all those guys in for that game.

I talked to Burnett the day after his visit and he said then he was impressed by the competitiveness the Huskies showed that night. He also apparently likes the idea of being able to come in and compete for immediate playing time.

He is the 23rd known commit for UW's Class of 2010, and the Huskies may take five or so more in what will be the first full recruiting class for coach Steve Sarkisian. The limit is technically 25, but it's expected UW may sign a few more than that and figure the numbers will work out later with some guys enrolling early and counting against the 2009 class, etc.