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And it won’t be the next week after that (against Arizona State) or the week after THAT (against UCLA). With Rudy Carpenter coming back for his senior year, I don’t think the Huskies are going to present much of a threat against the Sun Devils. It’s sad because beating Arizona State would be one of those signature wins for Willingham that he could use to prove he’s turning the program around. I think he’ll have to look elsewhere.
New UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, who was fired by the University of Washington after the 2002 season, is going to want this game more than perhaps any other game on the schedule (except maybe USC).
Remember in ‘02 when Neuheisel had the Huskies players chanting, shouting, and dancing at the center of the field of Autzen Stadium in Eugene after the Huskies decimated the Ducks? Then just one week later he had them doing the same thing at Martin Stadium in Pullman after the Huskies defeated then-No. 3 ranked Washington State.
I think that being fired from the University of Washington helped Neuheisel realize how much he needs to mature. But after this game, I still don’t think he’s going to stop his players from having a big ol’ dance party on that big W in the center of Husky Stadium.
That leaves our beloved Huskies at 3-7 and no chance at mediocrity. If it means anything, I think they’ll defeat Washington State and California on the road to finish the season.
Washington State is equally as horrendous as Washington, and they don’t even have Locker. And California, especially its defense, just wasn’t very impressive last season.
So there you have it. 5-7. If there’s any consolation, my predictions give the Huskies a mark of 4-5 in the conference, which is better than they’ve been under Willingham yet.
It’s sad that this team feels the need to keep scheduling such brutal non-conference schedules. Doing so is throwing away almost any opportunity to go to a bowl game.
Last year, the Huskies were ranked as having the toughest schedule in all of Division I-A football, with non-conference games against Boise State and Ohio State. This year, with BYU and Oklahoma, it’s not looking much better.
I know the Huskies think this will toughen their players, but it’s at the expense of Willingham's job. He could be a very good coach, but giving him schedules like this makes it hard to tell.
It is amazing the amount of talent this team has though. Freshman Chris Polk might be so fast even Locker won’t be able to overthrow him, sophomore running back Brandon Johnson might be the best running back the Huskies have had since Corey Dillon, and freshman tight end Kavario Middleton might be a future Top 10 draft pick.
But that’s a lot of “might be’s” that I don’t think the Huskies can rely on—not this year, at least.
I also just read a report today that E.J. Savannah, the team’s leading tackler last season, is ineligible this season for academic reasons. I like to think even with the newness of much of the Huskies offense that they’ll be able to score a lot of points. But it’s really becoming scary how many they’ll give up. Unless this new defensive coordinator has some amazing schemes, it could be VERY ugly.
Maybe things will get better in 2009 and 2010. But then again, maybe they won’t.
Looking ahead to the Huskies' non-conference schedules for those two years, I see the Huskies are scheduled to play LSU, Notre Dame, and Idaho in ’09, and then BYU, Nebraska, and Syracuse in 2010. Somebody, please, shoot this university’s athletic director.
In the end, it looks to be another sad season on Montlake for the Huskies. Maybe some day they can be mediocre again.
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