Why This Washington Fan Isn't Going to Throw Himself Off the Cliff...Yet

I may be on suicide watch as far as most of my friends and families are concerned, but I think that may be a little premature at this point in time.

A while back I wrote an editorial piece on how the college game had passed Tyrone Willingham by in the form of the spread. 

However, with the injury to Jake Locker, Willingham might get one last shot to prove his worth as a college coach. He no longer has the quarterback to run a spread offense.

Ronnie Fouch is a solid passer, so look to the Huskies to revert to Willingham's favored West Coast style that he learned and later utilized at Stanford.

Yes, the porous secondary of an already awful defense will have to get better to have any shot of beating Arizona. Yes, the running game will have to establish itself to take some weight off Fouch's inexperienced shoulders.

But look what happened when Locker missed a game last season—the Huskies beat the Cal Bears very convincingly. Yet the next game with Locker back turned into another late game meltdown.

Don't get me wrong—I still think that Locker is our best option at quarterback. I just think that the Huskies need either a new coach or a new staff that can run the spread effectively, a la Oregon or Florida.

The product Washington will put out onto the field will be vastly different than what has been seen in the first four games. Look for a pass-oriented offense with most of the running coming from the backs. 

Fouch was 13 of 27 for 186 yards and one touchdown in Saturday's loss—not spectacular numbers to be sure, but as I said in my game recap, he was coming on as a backup and made the right throws at the right time. 

It will be interesting to see what kind of progress has been made after he gets a week or two of practice experience with the first team. 

I'm reserving judgment on this season until after the Arizona game. Even if we lose, if there appears to be hope, I'm not going to throw myself off the ledge.