Washington did the unthinkable last night and that was losing to Stanford at home to go 0-4 to open the season. It is the first Ty Willingham team to start a season 0-4 which is fitting since this most likely will be the last Ty Willingham coached BCS team.
Stanford beat Washington with a balanced attack that produced 244 yards on the ground and 222 yards through the air. The Washington defense acted like a sieve tonight after knocking Toby Gerhart out of the game in the first quarter. Tony Kimble came in and rushed for 157 yards that featured an 83 yard TD run which took the wind out of the Huskies sail.
Tavita Pritchard was 16-24 for the night as UW made another average QB look like a Heisman trophy candidate. The UW defense still has not picked up a sack after four games and it make us all long for the days of Ken Baer. The UW defense which was simply terrible in 2007 has moved to totally atrocious in 2008.
Jake Locker left in the middle of the second quarter after breaking his thumb. The injury could sideline him a minimum if six weeks if it is a clean break. If there are fragments he could be done for the season.
Ronnie Fouch came in and did a credible job in his first real action as QB, but even though he has better touch passing the ball than Jake he certainly doesn't have the wheels.
UW looked pretty good early when David Freeman was running the ball but as usual Tim Lappano abandoned the run to execute a spread offense that has little chance of working. The last UW victory was an upset of California when UW ran from the" I" formation. For some reason UW keeps putting the square peg in the round hole when it comes to offensive play calling.
The loss officially puts the final nail in Willingham's coffin, but don't expect UW to fire him till the WSU game unless there is a player revolt. As far as player revolts go it was disconcerting for most UW fans to see Jake Locker yucking it up on the side lines with a big wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth. You have to wonder where his head is at. Is the losing so ingrained that he has stopped caring? He reminded me of Charles Frederick during his final season. Your losing to Stanford, your head coach is going to lose his job, and you are laughing spitting tobacco juice on the sidelines?
Juan Garcia laid it all out on KJR earlier this week:
"We lose to a team like Stanford, there are no excuses,'' said Garcia, having just answered a question about the tough schedule UW played in the first three games. "Either we suck or we don't.''
Sorry Juan, your team sucks, and your coach is going to be fired.