The Monday Morning Wash
by John Berkowitz on Sep 29, 2008 7:10 AM PDT
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PrintWashington starts the week 0-4 with high flying Arizona next up on the schedule. The Wildcats are off to a 3-1 start and have had an extra week to prepare for Washington after taking apart UCLA 31-10 on the road.
Arizona coach Mike Stoops started the season on the hot seat and lopsided wins over Idaho and Toledo gave him some breathing room. An unexpected loss to New Mexico for the second straight year started fanning those flames again. The Wildcats however rebounded to knock off UCLA the following week. A win over UW this week is a must if the Wildcats hope to be taken seriously in the Pac Ten race.
On paper this looks like it will be a lopsided win for the Wildcats. Washington enters the game crippled on offense with QB Jake Locker, and WR D'Andre Goodwin out for possibly the rest of the season. Promising freshman RB David Freeman is also doubtful after suffering an ankle injury in the loss to Stanford.
On defense the Huskies gave up nearly 500 yards of total offense to the Cardinal and have the worst defense statistically among the BCS schools. It will be a very tall order for the Huskies to stop Willie Tuitama and company on Saturday.
Ty Willingham commented after the game that the team can't seem to get the right rhythm. "We put pressure, but then on pressure they catch it in front of us. ... And then we don't put pressure, we don't stop them that way. "We haven't found the cure."
Willingham and his coaching staff are running out of time to get this mess turned around. Visiting Arizona on the road this week is another recipe for disaster. The Wildcats are capable of putting over 50 points on the boards against Washington.
The loss of Jake Locker limits what Washington will be able to do on offense even though Ronnie Fouch did a very good job in relief of him this past weekend. If the Huskies don't move the ball and eat some time on the clock this one could get ugly pretty quickly.
Everyone said all the same things going onto the California game last season with Locker on the sidelines. The Huskies responded with their best game during Willingham's tenure at Washington demolishing the Bears with a straight forward running attack and solid defensive play.
Locker moving to safety?
Jake Locker says he wants to play safety while his thumb is healing. The injury could take four to eight weeks to heal. He is going to visit a hand specialist on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.
Jake just happens to be the best athlete on the team and we have always thought he could play anywhere on the field. The thumb can be casted which would protect it from injury but playing him on defense would be a big risk because he could end up hurting something else like a shoulder which would complicate matters for him in the future. Tim Lappano commented that it is up to the head man to decide whether the risk is worth taking.
What's wrong with the defense?
Even with Jake Locker out indefinitely the biggest problem Washington has right now is the defense. What exactly is wrong with these guys? Is it coaching? Is it talent? Are they too young?
Washington simply isn't as fast, big, experienced, or as talented as the teams they are playing.
Senio Kelemente, Alameda Ta'amu, Craig Noble, and Everette Thompson, all have one thing in common. They shouldn't be on the playing field yet. The group may have the most potential of any defensive line ever to go to Washington but it is a lot to ask of true freshman to come in and compete against BCS competiton. These kids are routinely going up against men who are 3-5 years older than they are. The only solution to the problem is for the kids to grow up right away and that isn't going to happen.
The seeds for the inexperience on the DL were sewn before Willingham arrived at Washington. Greyson Gunheim, Ceasar Rayford, JWF, and Erik Lobos could have really been difference makers this season if they hadn't have been forced to play as true frosh. The rule of thumb is don't play your freshmen lineman right away. It destroys your future potential.
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man, you are right about the d-lineman observation. Playing them as true frosh is a big error in judgment if you have access to big enough upperclassmen bodies that can be at least slightly-below-average in on-field performance.
I don’t recall seeing Noble hit the field on Saturday. Did he? Shirting him is the right thing to do.
Shake that hand that shook the hand of Hustlin' Hugh
now what
With the way the season has turned out they should have started anybody but these freshmen..they should have redshirted them all because with or without them they would be in the same spot…0-4. They have wasted eligibility now. Hindsight is always 20-20. this is a mess!
I always thought
that UW should pick the best looking freshamn d-lineman – probably Taumu and red shirt the rest. I would have moved Frisbee along with maybe Roseborough over to the DL at least on running downs. That would give you Elisara, Woods, Duncan, Frisbee, Rosborough to rotate at tackles. Unfortunatly, Woods and Duncan not being healthy has been devastating. I’ll say it again this is as much a streingth & conditioning (Woods, Duncan & Elisara) problem as it is a coaching and recruiting problem. They need to seriously look at their S&C program.
Nobel"?
I will scream loudly enough to be heard in Chicago if they burn his RS in desparation. With Fouch running the show, maybe we can get Lappano of his love of the spread and home run mentality in the passing game. Ironically, I think Fouch is the guy who can and should throw the occasional attempted home run ball with. Fouch also did a great job running the 1 option play they ran when he took over, good read and decision. But I think we had better not run that at all anymore or its Taylor Bean ( not demeaning TB here) time. Totally agree with Big Dave: What a true mess
S & C is gone too
I believe that will be one of the first coaches to not be renewed when the trigger is pulled. We need to make sure his replacement is top notch and then the new regime needs to emphasize off season workouts. While they are and cannot be by NCAA mandate, they are military type going away parties for the Commanding General. You don’t have to go, but ….
I would hope so
I was thinking about e-mailing Woodward & Emmert about a guy named Scott Abel in Vancouver B.C. who is one of the best there is – if not the best.. I don’t know if he would be interested but if so he would be a MAJOR get for UW even if it was just in a consulting manor. To me the downfall of Husky football coincides directly with Nue letting go of Bill Gillespie.
Scott Abel?
Way too many shoulder injuries with Gillepsie, but replacing him with Kaligis, and Emtman was silly. Those guys had no formal training.
The Frosh DL – They had to play because Willingham simply didn’t get the job done recruiting in year one and two.
by John Berkowitz on Sep 29, 2008 12:01 PM PDT reply actions
Hey John
I wonder if I’m going to see your arrogant smack talk on the Notre Dame blogs? I hate to say I told you so, but I TOLD YOU SO!
Too bad about Foot Locker. He would have giving the Huskies a fighting chance against the Irish, but now, U dub better hope for some Irish turnovers to make this close. Even if Locker was 100% healthy, I don’t think it would have mattered anyway. ND’s defense is better and would have stopped the Huskies, while the Irish Offense should roll.
ya kinda like they did against michigan state right?
"There aint nothin' over till it's over. "
~Rocky Balboa
Correct me if I'm wrong, but....
isn’t Michigan State undefeated and don’t they have one of the top rushers in college football? Also ND beat Michigan, who just beat #9 Wisconsin. EXACTLY!
You can't
say one team who beat another blah blah blah. BOTTOM LINE, if you watch michigan state they arn’t very good, and wisconisin BARELY BEAT FRESNO STATE. And Michigan State is not undefeated, they lost to cal. EXACTLY
"There aint nothin' over till it's over. "
~Rocky Balboa
Weisgipper
The Weisgipper is my arch-nemesis from the Irish band of Brothers Blog.
He will sporadically be popping in to share his arrogant Irish nonsense with us.
by John Berkowitz on Sep 30, 2008 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions
Not exactly
; )….Feel free to treat him with contempt.
by John Berkowitz on Sep 30, 2008 12:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Scott is a well respected trainer...
his methods, at some points, fly agianst the norm but the results he gets are undeniable. He is said to be a VERY intense individule. He is at the forefront of training methodology and has trained hundreds of atheletes into their best shape. He’s not just an internet guru he’s the real deal. I don’t know if he’d be interested in training college football players but it couldn’t hurt to ask.
http://www.scottabel.com/biography.php
I agree with the shoulder injuries that were caused by something in Bill’s training method but from former Dawgs I’ve talked to he was intense and got the most out of them in the gym and the results transfered to the field. One player went as far as to laugh at what was considered training after Bill was gone. It was then that I started to notice, spring game after sping game, the declining shape that our players were in. Maybe it’s just me as I have been involved in bodybuilding for almost 20 years but I remember Pharms, Kaufman and Sheehee’s arms and how low in subcontanious fat they were. We don’t have anyone in close to that kind of physical shape now. Unfortuanatly the teams we are playing do.
Weisgipper
Weisgipper – I think Fouch will do a great job in the absence of Locker. The problem is we can’t stop anyone on defense at this point.
Snonstrebla
You look at the Oregon players ont he sideline and compare them to Washington and it is like night and day from a physical standpoint. Our players aren’t being developed very well in any phase of the game.
Why they are at it they need to hire a new band director.
I thought it was pretty obvious even on TV.
When Trent was hired I thought he would either make or break Ty at the UW and said so on several occasions on Dawgman and other sites. Most people just didn’t get it. I’m gald to see there is a few people out there that do. Hopefully, Woodward is one of them.
John...
remember back during the Oregon game i said these exact same things…I put on the discussion board that UW looked sloppy! Their bodies looked fat and their jersey’s were just falling off of them. It was horrible looking.
Fire Willingham NOW!
Yep
We used to be the best conditioned team in the PAC 10 and among the elite in the nation. Now we are the worst in the PAC-10 and probably one of the worst in the nation. Our predicament won’t change much until it is fixed,
Conditioning wins football games
We haven’t been a well conditioned football team since Lambright left. Finny thing…he coached under Jim Owens and Don James.
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