While we wait for JB to bring us his grades of the game, I thought I'd post a post-mortem thread to give Dawg fans a forum to discuss last night's historic win. The Huskies improved to 6-2 last night by beating a short-handed Arizona squad 42-31 in a game whose score really doesn't reflect the effective domination that occurred in the trenches. In doing so, the Huskies assured themselves of bowl eligibility for the second straight year.
More quick hits after the jump.
War Daddy Notes
- The story of the game was Chris Polk and his historic performance. War Daddy became the first Husky to ever run and receive for over 100 yards in the same game. All tolled, he compiled 244 total yards and five TDs in the best all-around performance by a UW tailback that I have personally observed. He ran inside, he ran outside, he juked, he spun, he bowled people over and he just kept coming and coming and coming. It was as physical performance as we've seen from a tailback since Corey Dillon was stomping clowns all over Montlake. Polk came into the game #4 in the nation in rushing just ahead of Heisman candidate Trent Richardson. With his showing last night, he will be moving up the charts and will start poking around the periphery of the Heisman discussion.
- Interesting note on Polk - not only is he #4 in the nation in rushing, he is also #4 in the nation in total yards from scrimmage just behind Trent Richardson ... until last night. With 100 yards receiving and 144 rushing, he will move into third place on that list.
- War Daddy passed the 1000 yard mark for rushing in a single season for the third straight season last night. He joins Napolean Kaufman as the only Huskies to ever accomplish that feat.
- Last night was the 18th time in his school career that War Daddy has rushed for 100 yards in a game. In achieving this mark, he broke Napolean Kaufman's record of 17 games over the century mark.
- War Daddy was the celebrity of last night's locker room debriefs with the media. At one point, he was heard asking a reporter to hand him his headphones. The reporter said "which ones" to which War Daddy replied "its the one that says 'Bad Muthafuhker'".
via www.duckshit.net
- This bullet is for Ted Miller (and I know he reads this blog)... you are hereby given permission to call Chris Polk by name in your helmet sticker section. It is spelled W-A-R D-A-D-D-Y
Other Notes
- JDHusker noted in last night's game thread that bowl eligibility before Halloween is another milestone on the path of rebuilding for a program like UW. A very cogent observation.
- Strange night for Keith Price. He looked rattled / discombobulated on his first two series and then got burned for not one, not two but three very fluky interceptions. The James Johnson volleball tip to Robert Golden was one of the most bizarre / lucky pick 6's that I've ever seen and was clearly payback for the Mason Foster shoestring miracle. The football gods do have a sense of humor.
- That said, Keith had an overall solid game. His accuracy and decision-making continue to be remarkable for a sophomore
- The O-Line was shaky throughout in its pass protection. I really can't remember a time when I saw an O-Line in which there was such a gap in how good their run blocking is (dominating) versus how bad their pass blocking is (barely acceptable). We have a long way to go with that unit.
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Nick Holt can breath a sigh of relief. The Defense was more than adequate last night against a team that averaged 471 yards of offense a game coming into the game. The Dawgs D held Arizona below their season averages in total yards and yards receiving while forcing four turnovers. Arizona only mustered 36 yards rushing despite trying and the pass rush, which featured an excessive amount of blitzing, was enough to knock Nick Foles out of his normal rhythm. Husky fans were pleading for "soemthing different" in this game and, truth be told, we got it.
- The D-Line continues to struggle in getting an unassisted pass rush assembled. Our ends got manhandled by a pair of Freshmen UA Tackles. However, we finally saw the re-emergence of the big man last night. Alameda Ta'amu was truly a force inside once again and, in particular, his efforts in collapsing the pocket caused a few plays to go awry for Nick Foles. Foles's completion % of 64% was well below his average of 71% despite the presence of all those bubble screen passes.
- Kevin Smith will break one soon ... he was #10 in the nation in KO returns before last night and only improved on that stock.
- The reffing last night was ... uhhh... horrible. How Michael Hartvigson wasn't credited with a pass reception in that first half is something the Pac 12 office is going to have to chime in on.
- The "hunting" penalty on Nate Fellner was also complete BS. After watching the replay, not only did Fellner not "hunt", he didn't even move. The WR (Dan Buckner) initiated the contact with a stationary Fellner and paid the price for it. Buckner did not return to the game after that.
- The 'Cats got their own share of bad calls. The offensive face mask in the first half just after the Hartvigson garbage call was a clear and embarrassing make up call.
There are more things on my mind, but I'll leave some for you guys. We are bowl eligible and awaiting the arrival of the Oregon *ucks. What could be better?