We start the morning off with my friend Nathan Ware who hosts the Dawgblawg over at the Seattle PI.
There are two truths about the modern era of Husky football:
1. What can go wrong, will go wrong.
2. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, something changes.What you think you've got all figured out is that everything is going wrong. That might be when something good actually happens.
I'm not going to tell you that UW is going to beat Notre Dame this weekend. As a matter of fact, I think they'll lose by two touchdowns. But, I don't think they'll lose by four touchdowns and that's a small piece of comfort to tide you over for the next, oh, three or four months.
I tend to agree with Nathan on this one. I think the Huskies are going to play one of their better games this season on Saturday. This is Notre Dame after all and who hasn't dreamed of playing and beating the Irish in front of a sold out crowd at Husky Stadium? I don't think emotion for once will be the problem.
I also think the health of the team right now is the best it has been since Jake was injured. Having a healthy tandem of Dailey and freeman at running back is going to go a long way in stabilizing the Washington offense on Saturday.
Ronnie Fouch is a good player and he is getting noticeably better every week. He doesn't have the mobility of Locker but he is much better at giving his receivers the space to make big plays deep as we saw last week. If he can start hitting Goodwin, Kearse, and Aguilar in stride we may be able to score more pints than expected on Saturday.
Another advantage that Washington has is that Notre dame is coached by Charlie Weis. Not saying that Tyrone owns wise because he doesn't, but Weis's biggest flaw is his arrogance and that type of attitude can rub off on a football team who is going on the road to play a decided underdog. Weis can't resist slamming Willingham in public and private and that tone of disrespect just may be enough to make his team come out flat.
What Washington really needs to do to win this football game is put some pressure on the Notre Dame QB. If Clausen hits 60% or more of his passes ND should win by three TD's. If the UW crowd can shake him and if the Husky D can put a little pressure on him good things might happen.
Like I said earlier in the week this is a must win game for the Irish if they want to keep their bowl hopes alive. Don't be fooled by that 4-2 record tough games with Navy, Boston College, Pittsburgh, and USC still remain. Pencil in the Irish to possibly only beat Navy, Syracuse, and Washington to finish the season. A loss to UW on Saturday would upset the apple cart and expose Weis.
All this being said I pick the Irish to win 35-17 on Saturday. The Husky defense hasn't proven that they can stop anyone this season and the ND passing attack should be able to take advantage all day. Offensively the red zone struggles don't bode well and it is hard to see UW scoring over 20 points.
Check out the Weisgipper
Weisgipper from the Band of Irish Brothers Blog has felt our pain in the past. He shares some of his mempries form the Tyrone era at Notre Dame.
Quote of the Week
"I don’t make any excuses. I never feel sorry for Tyrone Willingham. But the truth of the matter is, everything is not microwave popcorn."