The Monday Morning Wash

The Pac 12 network called it a monumental weekend...some Husky fans are just calling it another monumental embarrassment against a highly ranked opponent on the road.

I don't want to make too many excuses for the Huskies because they obviously didn't play well offensively...but the team they played is much better and deeper than any other team they will play this year unless they can schedule a scrimmage with the Seahawks.

LSU clown stomped a solid Oregon team a year ago 40-27 with half of Oregon's points coming in garbage time. The top level of the SEC is simply playing at a much higher level than anyone else in the country right now. If USC or Oregon had visited Baton Rouge last Saturday they would have been spanked too.

The big concern for Washington right now is on offense. They haven't scored a touchdown in the past seven quarters. Keith Price has looked tight. Bishop Sankey isn't running with authority. The wide receivers are dropping way too many balls and the offensive line has been hit with some serious injuries.

The losses of Colin Porter, Ben Riva, Eric Kohler, Jessie Callier, Deontae Cooper, and James Johnson are a big part of the problem on offense. You can't realistically expect reserves in their first or second career starts to do well against the best defense in the country.

Up next on the schedule is Portland State followed by a much needed bye week to get healthy. The Dawgs should have no problem beating the Vikings while resting the injured who have three weeks to get ready for the conference opener against Stanford.

Who this team will be this season will be determined in practice over the next three weeks. We expected the Dawgs to be 2-1 when conference play begins so nothing was really changed with the loss to LSU (except for style points).

This past Saturday was a tough pill for Husky fans to take but LSU is currently playing at the level of our 91 national championship team...we aren't there yet...but it will happen in the not too distant future if we are patient and stay on course with Sark and his staff.

I truly believe that we have a decent shot to be 3-1 after the Stanford game.

Pac 12 Power Ratings

1. Oregon - The Ducks were dominant against Fresno State despite giving up some meaningless points in garbage time. Up next is 1-AA Tennessee Tech which is where Michael Jackson's physician (the one who killed him) went to medical school. Oregon could have benefitted from playing a tougher non-con schedule.

2. Southern California - The Trojan defense gave up way too many points to Syracuse which to me is a huge red flag heading into a road game with long time nemesis Stanford. The Trojans currently don't look like the number two team in the country and by next Saturday they may not be the number two team in the Pac 12.

3. UCLA - Jim Mora picks up his first signature win in game two of his college coaching career. This week the Bruins try to improve to 2-0 in CUSA with a home game against 0-2 Houston. The big difference for UCLA is Brett Hundley who passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns in his Rose Bowl debut

4. Oregon State - Time for all those losers in Corvallis to put away their "Fire Mike Riley" buttons for a couple of weeks. The Beaver defense held the 13th ranked Badgers to seven points and 207 total yards. The Beavers take the week off to prepare for the conference opener in the Rose Bowl against the resurgent UCLA Bruins.

5. Arizona - A very impressive win by Rich-Rod and company that should scare the bejeezus out of the rest of the Pac 12. Okie State uncharacteristically imploded with 15 penalties and four turnovers. There were 101 combined pass attempts in this game....wow! Up next is an exhibition against South Carolina State.

6. Stanford - One week makes a big difference as the Tree puts it in cruise control against the Dust Devils on the road. We begin to find out who this rebuilt team is next week when they play USC in a rematch of last season's triple overtime thriller.

7. Arizona State - Knocking the snot out of Illinois at home is a big deal. The Sun Devils have outscored their opponents 108-20 in their first two games. Following it up with competitive performance next week against Missouri will open some eyes.

8. Washington - They looked more like the Generals than the Huskies last week against LSU. The Dawgs play an exhibition against Portland State this week before taking a much needed week off to heal before conference play begins. Sark needs to get some key players back and find his offense or it is going to be a long season for the Dawgs,

9. Utah - I never bought into the premise that Utah would be contender. A loss to Utah State reinforces that. Up next is a sure loss to a much tougher than expected BYU team...lucky the Utes didn't schedule Southern Utah, or Utah Valley State this season. They could have gone 0-4 without leaving their own area code.

10. California - The Bears pick up win number one against Southern Utah but they gave up an astounding 31 points! What the heck is wrong here? The Bears have recruited extremely well on defense. Why aren't they performing? This week they travel to Columbus to be pounded into oblivion by an Ohio State team that wasn't exactly sharp in a win over Central Florida.

11. Washington State - The Cougs are bad...really, really, really bad...they aren't buying into what Coach Leach is selling and they had to hold on for dear life to beat Eastern by four. Jeff Tuel was 20-26 so maybe he was listening to the pirate. Up next is UNLV who sucks even more than the Cougars do.

12. Colorado - I-AA Sacramento State upsets a Pac 12 opponent for the second year in a row. The days of Jon Embree are getting shorter and shorter. The Hornets leave Boulder with a $460,000 check, another victory over a Pac 12 program, some garbage cans kicked over, and a lot of phone numbers from some hot Colorado chicks. Up next is a blow out loss on the road to Fresno State.