Picking the Pac - Thanksgiving Edition
by John Berkowitz on Nov 26, 2009 7:57 AM PST
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PrintHappy Thanksgiving everyone!
Here are this weeks picks in the Pac 10!
Enjoy your Turkey!
Arizona at Arizona State
The one thing the Sun Devils have going for them is a disruptive defense that leads the conference in personal fouls. The personal fouls tend to distract the opposing teams rythm on offense. Expect those type of antics to be a big part of a rivarly game held in there own stadium. Arizona is coming off a crushing two overtime loss to Oregon at home that knocked them out of the Rose Bowl. You can expect a letdown from the Wildcats but probably not enough for them to end up losing the game. Foles and Grigsby should be able to do pretty much whatever they want on offense and the Wildcat D should be able to control the punchless Sun Devil offense.
Arizona by 10
Notre Dame at Stanford
The only thing in doubt about this game is whether Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis will be fired before or after the flight back home to South Bend. The Stanford offense will be able to run all day on the Irish. Jimmy Clausen will have some opportunities in his last game for Notre Dame before entering the draft but the cards will control theball all day limiting his chances. If you can't beat Navy or UConn at home you are not going to get close to Stanford at home.
Stanford by 13
UCLA at USC
The Bruins aren't very good but somehow Rick Neuheisel has been able to get six wins out of this outfit which means they are eligible for a bowl somewhere. This has been a tough transistion year for Pete Carroll and USC. three losses in what has become a rebuilding year for the team is no reason to panic. Like all rivarly games this one hinges on who comes ready to play. The collection of primadonna's over at USC could be surprised by a UCLA team that is starting to believe in itself.
USC by 7
Washington State at Washington
This is probably the worst WSU team I have ever seen and since I have been watching college football since the mid 1960's that tells you something. How they ever beat SMU is a mystery to me. The only thing that takes the sting off this season for the Cougars is beating the heavily favored Huskies. Like any rivarly game you can throw out the statistics and just let the two teams play.
Washington hasn't been playing well. They played down to the level of UCLA and lost in the last minutes of the game. Against Oregon State they simply didn't show up at all which is disturbing. Those last two performances tell me that WSU has a chance in this one if that Husky mind set continues. Sark is still sorta on his honeymoon but if his team loses on Saturday to this WSU the seat will begin warming.
I don't think there is anyway Washington can lose this football game. I said that last year too so what do I know?However Washington has too much talent on offense and I agree with Kavario Middleton who said the huskies would score 50 points in this one. That is just fine with me as long as the Cougars don't score 51.
Chris Polk should have a field day against WSU and a 200 yard game isn't out of the question if he gets 25 carries. Jake Locker is due for a big game and he should have plenty of time to set up and go deep against the Coug secondary.
Washington needs to come out and put this one out of reach in the first quarter like just about every other team the Cougars have played this season. If they do that it will be a long day for WSU. If they allow the Cougars to hang around in the second half they are going to be in big trouble.
Washington by 28
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Happy Thanksgiving
to you, Kate and all the other folks that read/post on your blog.
I’d like to see Sark turn Jake loose in the AC
Jack
Thanks Jack
Hope you and your family have a great one too!
by John Berkowitz on Nov 26, 2009 9:04 AM PST up reply actions
Happy Thanksgiving
Dawgs should have a field day againist the Boogurs.
Who cooks for the Huskies since they cant all go home? Who cooks for the big dawgs up front should get a tax break…thats a lot of food!
I imagine they would be getting together over at Connibear
They have quite a catering facility in that building if memory serves me correctly.
by John Berkowitz on Nov 26, 2009 9:05 AM PST up reply actions
I was reading...
…that they find a local athlete’s home or coaches home to have dinner.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Gobble ... Gobble
The turkey is in the oven, relish trays are made, and the yams are ready to go. Mother in-law is making everything else.
I’ve got USC totally destroying Ucla. At home, the cross town rivarly? Fellas USC is going to role. They know what is on the line- a trip 100 miles south to Holiday Bowl. San Diego is a hot bed for recruits and to play there would be ideal for recruiting. Not to mention but they would draw a marque prorgram to play, i.e. Oklahoma.
USC is going to clobber a bad Ucla team. Enjoy your turkey and all the fixin’s.
All I saw was purple
Agreed...
…on the SC game crazi…my wife is the cook for the whole family! Unfortunately I’m the dishwasher! Happy Thanksgiving to ALL! We have a lot to be thankful for! GO DAWGS!! Put 50 on the cougs!!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Yum
We have 20 people coming over so the work started last night. Been smoking an 18lb Turkey since midnight. Have another one and a breast ready to go in the fryer later. We are doing the usual traditional things but I am doing a cajun cornbread with andouille sausage stuffing for a change up to go along with the traditional one.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Trojans in the Holiday against lets say an Oklahoma. That would be a pretty good game.
Damn John!
You’re makin’ me hungry!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Damn, I've been wanting
to try something with andouille ever since I bought Prudhomme’s cookbook. I’m stuck with ribs…oh well, they’re not bad even the morning after. Happy Thanksgiving all!
by hairofthedawg on Nov 26, 2009 8:57 PM PST up reply actions
Middleton
I’m not sure what Middleton said warrents the label as trash talk. The odds are that Washington is a 28 pt. favorite. That’s quite a bit for this young Husky team, when was the last time we were picked to win by that margin?
Oh and I am sure our offense would love to hang 50 points on anyone give opponent. Our offense hasn’t exactly been lighting up the scoreboard this season. But when you are picked by that spread and your offense has played lethargic for most of the season- who wouldn’t want to put points on the board vs. a hideous and inept Coug team?
Is it trash talk? Hell no it isn’t- just go out there and play fast, execute your assignment, run to the ball, and just get after it. If we do that, at the end of the day we’ll score a lot of points vs. this pathetic Wulff-led team.
Yeah that’s right, you heard me. It’s a pathetic Wulff-led team and I for one believe the coach isn’t qualified to be a Pac 10 coach. Big step from Big Sky to Pac 10. If you want to throw out the “Mike Price from Weber State” go ahead. The thing on Price is that he actually had an offense that was capable of moving the chains. And let’s be honest. If you can get the sort of Players that Price got to Pullman, then you my friend are one helluva great salesman. Wulff is neither. I support Middleton’s remarks- it’s not trash talk.
All I saw was purple
1991
That’s supposedly the last time the line was that great.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
I just remember...
…the 2000 team. We had winning close games all year long and everyone expected the same for the AC but we blew them out. I think we actually did put 50 on them that night!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
To Put 50 up...
…we need to force some turnovers. Come on D line turn up the heat!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Recruiting
Was a bit different in that day. It’s harder to get guys into school now and further if guys don’t graduate you lose scholarships. It’s a different world.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
We can relate with Notre Dame
We’re sort of sitting in the same boat with Notre Dame. Schools that offer a PE major can got after just about any recruit they want to look at. Notre Dame, Stanford, Washington, and Northwestern have tremendously high qualifying standards. We can’t look at the same recruits Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona, or Arizona State can.
So where does that leave us? It means that we have to out recruit all the above, we are handicapped in recruiting because we want academic-qualifying students on campus. Yet if we use our high standards to our advantage it could be a good thing. If kids don’t graduate then we loose scholarships per NCAA rules- like you said dawgfan. Moreover, kids that come with high academic structure are more likely to graduate, less likely to have run-ins with the law, or have extrensic issues outside of football. We have to start using our academic standards as an advantage rather then a disadvantage.
I might be alone on this, but I for one firmly believe this was one reason why Ty Willingham was brought in when we hired him. Standards were increasing and that meant we were going to be heading down a different recruiting path. The program needed to be cleaned up and for that part- I believe Ty got the job done. The problem is that he didn’t get it done where it ultimately counted.
Outside the win/loss column the program was in pretty good shape structurally when we released Ty from his duties. Sure we still have self esteem issues, sure we have depth issues, sure we have talent issues. But do we have issues with extra curricluar activites that involve kids breaking the law? We may have a few kids that are falling behind in the classroom, but for the most part many of them are holdovers.
The program is in pretty good shape, we just need to start using our standards positively, rather then looking at them negatively. Washington can recruit itself, kids that are brainiacs and can play football will come here. And to hire recruiting wizzards like Sark and Holt is enough to push it over the hill. We’re heading in the right direction fellas…
All I saw was purple
correction
There is no difference in qualifying standards for High School recruits between the UW and Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona & Arizona State – they all use the NCAA mandated minimum standards. Some schools like Stanford, Notre Dame, UCLA, Duke and a few others voluntarily use higher qualifying standards, but the UW is not one of them.
The issue with recruiting for the UW has to do with JC recruits. Keep in mind that many kids playing football at JC’s are doing so because they didn’t take academics seriously in High School and were non-qualifiers. At JC’s, kids can earn a lot of PE credits that count towards getting their AA degrees. Most Universities have programs that make it relatively easy to transfer all of those PE credits. The UW does not, which means that only a certain amount of PE credits can be accepted, and as a result, many JC kids that can get accepted into schools like Oregon State or WSU can’t at the UW, because they don’t have enough JC credits that the UW can accept.
As far as Ty and academics – his graduation rates are almost no different than what happened under Neuheisel.
2nd most intriguing game this weekend
Notre Dame at Stanford
Stanford should role over the domers. If they controll the clock by pounding it with Gerhart and capitalize with their play action, Stanford should waltz to victory over that non-skiled Domer defense. Keep Clausen off the field should be the key to the game.
If Weis were smart he would’ve put his house on the market following the UCon loss. Weis was going to stay on the West Coast following the Stanford game, but was told by Swarbrick to catch the team plane back to South Bend, so that he and Weis could chat about his future away from South Bend, Indiana.
All I saw was purple
Recruiting
I know Weiss has done well in this all important area but man if you can’t forge it into a winning team, you’re gone. Do you think Rich Rodriguez will get fired?
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Gotta give Rich Rod more time
It’s only been two years and he’s still in the middle of the transition from pro style players to guys who run his spread. He should get more time and will probably have a pretty good step forward next season.
Probably not
But the accusations about practice time really embarrassed the Michigan brass. When Michigan hired Rich-Rod they immediately went all-in on the spread. So as of right now it’s almost do or die for the Men in Blue. Currently they have a mixed variety of players. They have a slew of Rich-Rod spread kids and still some holdovers from Carr’s pro style.
If Michigan were to fire, now would be the time to look at it. Because if they wait and want to revert back to pro, it could potentially put them behind 3 to 4 years (depending on how versatile they recruit of course). Rich-Rod will stay on in Ann Arbor. He’s a helluva coach and doesn’t have his own kind of players in the Big House yet. Michigan will be back just like Washington and Nebraska will get back. Too many resources, too much history, and very big fanbases that exepct great things for all three to be stuck in the mud for too long.
All I saw was purple
Weis
He’s not the recruiting wizard you make him out to be. He’s not getting any quality defensive players. And defensively that is where they are failing. ND can put 35 on just about anybody, but they are severing up 38 points just as easy.
All I saw was purple
USC and ND always have great rated recruiting classes
I think their problem is position distribution. When Lou Holtz took over at ND, he acknowledged the good classes that proceeded him, but for his first spring ball he had 5 QBs and 2 healthy DLs on scholarship. $C was bad when Pete Carrol showed up, but it still had a lot of good players. All he had to do was fill the gaps with the best that Socal had.
We knew we had a shortage of OL last year, but Sark arrived too late to do anything about it. Now he has a bunch of OL commits, guys that won’t be available to the next new hot shot coach that hasn’t been hired yet.
Firing RichRod would create more problems than it solved. You can’t go thru coaches faster than Seattle goes thru school superintendents and expect to be a top program. The Big House has had over 100K fans at every game for almost forever, it will be back soon. But firing RichRod after only 2 years will not speed up the process.
The recruiting ratings are flawed to some extent
There is a theory out there that I strongly agree with. If a kid gets an offer from one of the few big boys, his stars drastically increase in numbers. Notre Dame is still one of those few big boys. Experts believe that if Notre Dame offers a kid, he is a really superb athlete and his recruiting stock rises.
So in that essense, ND would have “great” recruiting classes every single season. Manti Tao is suppose to be a great defensive player. I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I think that he gets a lot of attention because his name is so different, especially coming from a Midwestern Catholic institution like Notre Dame.
Look how lethargic ND’s defense is. I don’t see anybody making stops nor making big plays back there. And though I am not big on stats, take a look at where they rank defensively in almost every defensive statistic.
All I saw was purple
What I meant was...
…highly “ranked” classes. The classes that keep the faithful happy. Whether a coach can win or not is something else. The other part of the equation is developing talent.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
All I know...
is that this Notre Dame defense is about the worst ND defense I’ve seen in quite some time. Man! How the hell did they make those critical goal line stands on us? That is the baffling part of all this.
I know it doesn’t paint a perfect picture, but I think this Husky team is pretty good. The Pac 10 has received top billing (outside the SEC as always), but most believe the Pac 10 is No.2 in terms of strength. Now we took 3 league games on the chin (Oregon, Oregon State, and Stanford), but other then that we’ve been in some really good games. Took LSU late in the 4th quarter, Note Dame into OT. What’s not to like other then our win/loss record and our offenive line?
Swarbrick may opt to bring Weis back for another season, considering his buyout option and the thought of trying to convince Clausen to return. But I’m not buying it, I think Weis is gone after the Stanford game win or lose. He’s not the perfect man you want as the face of your university. He’s smug, arrogant, and comes across as conceited. I think what you want is a classy guy that brings a certain amount of passion to the program. You need a salesmen yet not as colorful and biased as Mack Brown and Bobby Bowden. One thing I can’t stand are coaches that lobby to the media or poll voters. Put your product on the field and let the chips fall where they may.
All I saw was purple
Manti Te'o
Manti is going to be a great defensive player but few frosh are ever ready to dominate at this level. Give this kid a year and the weight room and he will be fine.
The ND DL doesn’t have a lot of size and the secondary is questionable.
by John Berkowitz on Nov 28, 2009 6:45 AM PST up reply actions
Kitties On The Run....
I’m so confident that our Dawgs will crush the Cougs as they bounce back from a horrible loss in Corvalis, that I am headed to Ellensburg instead this Saturday.
Anyone want my Apple Cup ticket?
What can I say? Before attending grad scholl at the UW I was a very happy undergrad at WWU, where we used to have a D2 Football program. Now three of our former Vikings are starting on offense for the #1 ranked CWU Wildcats, and they host the #2 NW Missouri Bearcats, who have a former WWU Viking coach as their D Coordinator, in the national playoffs quater-final round.
Gotta’ admitt, I really like supporting the genuine playoffs of D2.
I think we win AC fairly handidly this year
This is Jake Locker’s first every start in an Apple Cup, who has probably followed this matchup thru out his entire life growing up.
I think all our players will be jazzed to have Locker in action, where we come out of the tunnel with springs on our feet. Now that I’ve said that, I seriously think we need to do a better job of scheduling.
Every season, bowl game or not, we’ve got to end the regular season on a high note. That high note is the Apple Cup. There is so much excitement surrounding this in-state rivalry and a great win could really carry over for the following season. We get Cal next weekend and win or lose will it carry the same weight as a win in the Apple Cup could?
I would love to see our Apple Cup played on the weekend of Thanksgiving. Most of the traditional rivarly games are trending towards a later date. If the Apple Cup is our last regular season game, we can’t play it on the weekend before Thanksgiving anymore. If we want to stay with the latest trends then the Apple Cup must be played on Thanksgiving weekend or beyond. Foul weather and all, we’ve got to extend the season to stay current with the trends. It’s a gurrentee a snowy field will be highlighted on every ESPN hightlight show = exposure!
Ultimately that is where Notre Dame, Michigan, Nebraska, Miami, and Washington have failed and a major reason why we(they) have all slipped into mediocrity. College football is just like anything else- you have to evlove with the game or you’ll be lapped. Army use to be a powerhouse in football but didn’t evlolve or didn’t commmit to the “football factory” concept. Army is considered a mid major nowadays.
The spread offense is a trend. Extending the season is a trend. Wildcat offense is a trend. 3-5 defense is a trend. Wearing the the most bizzare and hideous uniforms is a trend. We can’t stay old school and stay on top. New generations come and go. Just like our stripeless uniforms were out dated, we have to keep up with the times or we get lapped.
Extend the season by scheduling the Apple Cup on or after Thanksgiving weekend. Staying with the latest trends are how Ohio State, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, and USC are staying on top. Keeping your traditions and staying trendy is a fine line, but they are managing it, where Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, Nebraska, and Washington are failing.
All I saw was purple
This is Jake Locker’s first every start in an Apple Cup…
Wrong – Jake started as a RS-Fr in the 2007 Apple Cup.
Apple Cup
Anybody going to the game tomorrow and wants to meet up send me a message. Cant wait to see the Dawgs beat up on the tabby cats.
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