Some of the brightest minds in sports journalism including mine thought this one had the potential of being a trap game for Oregon. It did look that way for awhile in the first half when the Huskies shut down Oregon in the first quarter and outgained them in the first half despite falling behind 15-3 because of errors in the red zone and on special teams.
Washington needed to come out firing on all cylinders in the second half and they didn't. Oregon scored 21 straight points in the third quarter to put this one away early. The Husky defense didn't have any answer for the Ducks offense and the offense led by Jake Locker didn't help them out at all keeping them on the field way too long.
This was just a terrible game for Jake Locker. He looked dazed and confused out there much of the day. Jake was hesitant and was slow to make decisions. When he did make decisions they weren't very good one's. He just never really settled down.
Once again the coaching was pretty questionable. Sarks clock management in the final minutes of the second half was attrocious. His decision to go for it one a fourth and two in the first half near the goal line instead of going for a field goal is another thing that will be second guessed this week.
Jeremiah Masoli didn't look like a kid with a knee injury today. He was 14 for 22 for 166 yards and one TD. He also rushed for 65 important yards and two touchdowns. LaMichael James picked up 151 yards and two TD's on only 15 carries. The tight ends were big for Oregon as expected. David Paulson had two big receptions for 59 yards and Ed Dickson three for 44.
Jake Locker was 20 for 40 for 234 yards no touchdowns and two drive killing interceptions. Chris Polk had a good game with 100 yards and on 16 carries but he coughed up the ball in the second half for a drive killing fuble which resulted in an Oregon TD only a few plays later.
For Washington it is back to the drawing board during the bye week. The Huskies could really use a week to heal and get their heads back on straight for the stretch run of the conference season. Washington falls to 3-5 and has a tough hill to climb in their last four games if they want to qualify for a bowl game.