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Mailbag - "Football Leg Shakes" Edition

The withdrawals are almost over. There's a light at the end of the tunnel.

By Brad Johnson UW

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Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

A few useless facts about animals this week.

  • A giraffe's tongue is approximately 20 inches long.
  • Some moths don't eat as adults, because they don't have mouths. They must rely on energy stored up as caterpillars.
  • The seahorse is the slowest moving fish, traveling approximately 0.01 miles per hour.
  • The milk of a hippopotamus is bright pink.
  • A baby eel is called an elver.
  • Cats are the only domestic animal without a single mention in the bible.
  • The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lion (the "roar" seen before some movies) lived in Memphis.
  • Bats cannot walk.
  • Frogs have teeth, but toads do not.
  • Sharks and stingrays are immune to all known diseases, including cancer.
  • Squirrels plant millions of trees by forgetting where they've buried nuts.
  • The bottom of a horse's hoof is called a frog.
  • Fish can get seasick.
  • Guinea pigs and rabbits can't sweat.
  • Turtles can recognize faces.
  • Ostriches can outrun horses, and the males can roar like lions.
  • Deer are unable to digest hay.
  • The duckbill platypus can hold up to 600 worms in its cheeks.
  • Human birth control pills are effective on gorillas.
  • North American oysters don't make pearls of any commercial value.
  • The porpoise is the second-most intelligent animal on the planet.
On to your questiony goodness....

Patently Purple:

College football Mary-Bang-Kill. Mike Leach, Jim Harbaugh and Bobby Petrino. Go!

UWDP: You serious, Clark?

bowdown15:

This is a shameless plug for the pick'em group that I made for members of this site, so I'll turn it into a question.... Do you want to join the college pick'em group I made for this site? Does anyone else?

http://games.espn.com/college-football-pickem/en/group…
Group: UW Dawg Pound
Password: Bowdown

UWDP: Do I? I start things like this sometimes, then either fall behind or forget or lose interest after a few weeks and stop. That's what's happened every time I've played a fantasy league as well. I actually won a basketball league once with this strategy.

If anyone else is interested, here's bowdown15's group. You should all join.

HUSKY57:

Where can I find a printable roster by name and by number?
HUSKY57:

no question found roster

HUSKY57:

http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/washington.sidearmsports.com/documents/2016/8/7/2016_FB_Fall_Roster.pdf
link to roster by name, number


UWDP: Glad I could help. And thanks for the link.

onewoodwhacker:

The recruitment of Edmonds-Woodway HS DE Ali Gaye. This 6'6/260 monster is one of the BEST DE on the entire West Coast and he is right here in our backyard. He has offers from USC, ASU, Cal, Arizona, WSU and Oregon State. I would think that grades would be the concern but then there is the Cal, USC and Arizona offers so I took that off the table.  Have you heard ANYTHING? This a position we have an abundance at and with a VERY limited class...still...do we possibly see a late offer if some of our other needs don't pan out?

UWDP: I don't know anything about him specifically, but maybe somebody else does. It's possible he's a late offer, but as you mention, it's not necessarily a position of the greatest need, and it's a small class. And really, he'd be recruited to play the same position Marlon Tuipulotu is likely to play, so the Huskies already have their man at that spot. Having watched highlights of both of those two guys, Tuipulotu is a far superior athlete.

Chris Denton:

What's the Status on Sarrell Foster, Popo  Aumavae, Ali Gaye
HuskyDawg.WIN.WIN.WIN.:

So just how good is this Foster Sarell? And how badly (or not) do we need him to sign his LOI with us?
YungJmoney:

Can Peterson attract more 5* recruits to UW?

Dawgman:

What happened to recruiting roundup? Last update was Jun 12th?

Jackstrong:

Are there going to me anymore recruiting roundups?

HUSKY57:

Rated seventh in nation could be a recruiting tool saying we won't be satisfied till number one.  Get on board.

IrritatedHusky:

Will there be any more recruiting roundups?

Atomic Dawg:

Same question as a couple month ago:  when is coach Pete going to offer Cody Kanouse?  We have zero recruits for the OL so far.  Do you realistically see
Sarrell and Bainivalu committing and if so when?   This is reminding me of Coach Romar and the Aaron Gordon recruitment.


UWDP: Anybody that follows recruiting should definitely chime in below, as I really have no information to give.

As far as I know, all of the guys mentioned are still among the living, and most likely starting practices for their senior seasons of high school.

I don't think there's any reason Petersen won't attract and eventually sign higher-rated recruits. As he's spent more time here and been able to cultivate relationships with prospects for longer periods of time, we've seen more of those highly rated players showing interest in Washington for longer periods of time on places like scout.com each year, even though they've eventually signed elsewhere for the most part. The next step is winning more football games on the field. Recruiting begets winning begets recruiting begets winning begets recruiting begets winning...but maybe I've got the order wrong.

Mikesbike:

What is the meaning of life?
Is pigskin the missing fundamental element in a unified field theory of the cosmos?
Do ducks quark?

UWDP: I was hoping someone was finally going to ask me this.

The theory of relativity and quantum mechanics exist like two large portions of a jigsaw puzzle that have obviously been assembled correctly, but when they're brought together, don't match up. The theoretical "pigskin," once it's finally isolated and observed, is that missing piece under the table, sucked up in the vacuum, or otherwise existing both in the known and the unknown that will unify the two pieces, once and for all. And we'll finally know if Schroedinger's damn cat is actually alive or dead (although the smell coming from the box gives me a hint) so he can quit asking.

I don't know if they quark or not, but they definitely qrap all over the place. You can hardly walk through campus when after they've paid a visit.

GinkoUW:

As we hear that the defense is once again kicking the offenses butt in practice (same story as last Fall camp), how much concern is there for our offense this season? I get that our defense is vicious by no means should we hope they get beat, but it didn't help that we gave that credit to the defense last Fall camp.

So after seeing the season result of last Fall's camp, should we be concerned that our guys still can't make headway in practice against the defense?

UWDP: There's simply no "good" equilibrium that comes out of determining a winner and a loser between your own offense and defense in the first few days of fall camp. When one unit wins, it's necessarily at the expense of the other. If early reports were about the success of the offense, I think there'd be a fair number of us nervous that the offseason hype for the defense wasn't really merited.

Here are a few things to keep in mind: 1. Defenses are almost always ahead of offenses at the beginning of fall practices. Not to suggest that installing a defense like the UW's is easy, but it's less complicated than the Husky offense is, and the continuity is easier to establish. 2. The Husky defense simply is better than the Husky offense. This is actually a big benefit for the offense, as it's never going to face a unit in a real game that's as good as the one it practices against five days a week. 3. There hasn't been any live tackling yet outside of one practice closed to everyone. Quarterbacks are "sacked" by touching them, and backs and receivers are "down" with a few bumps from defensive players that may or may not have actually ended the play in a real game. 4. Both sides of the ball are working on their own things as opposed to attempting to exploit or attack the weaknesses of the other. My feel is that there's a net benefit to the defense when everybody plays "vanilla." 5. The Husky defense knows the Husky offense pretty well. When the offensive coaches are calling plays at the line of scrimmage three or four times in a row so the offense can finally get the timing down even once today on the inside zone that they've been running the last week (in my best exasperated offensive coach's voice), it tends to make the defense's job a bit easier.

We haven't seen the results of fall camp, we've heard a few reports of the first few practices of fall camp. Be happy about the play of the defense. I wouldn't be overly concerned about the offense yet by any stretch. I'd wait at least a week before any of that on even the shallowest level, and until the offense has actually shown what it can do with a real game plan, before any actual panic.

PandG:

We win the coin toss. Do we still defer to the defense or do we have confidence in trying for points?

UWDP: I've always liked starting with the ball in the second half. For someone reason, it feels like "momentum" to me, whether up, down, or tied coming out of the locker room. So, with this defense, I'd definitely defer if the Huskies win the toss.

But if the Dawgs end up receiving the opening kick, the offense should just go ahead and score some points.

Patently Purple:

When is the Brad Johnson v Howling Husky boxing match? And will it be live on Twitter?

UWDP: Right now, the attorneys are working out the details of the split on the pay-per-view revenue. Yes, it's going to be live on Twitter, the same way all those fans post their live play-by-plays on it. That's awesome stuff.

Blues247365:

I'm an out of state Husky fan and will be my first home game in years. Looking for some advice on the best 2 or 3 (available) sections to but my tickets AND a recommended web site to purchase those tickets online. Thanks and GO DAWGS!

UWDP: It really depends on your "ideal" seat location to watch a game depending on how you prioritize factors like weather, proximity to the 50, distance from sidelines, price, etc. For example, of all of the places I've sat in Husky Stadium, my ideal seat would be on the 50-yard line in the first row of the second level. It feels like you're almost looking straight down in the field. But those seats are totally exposed to the weather, and can be very hot early in the season, wet, in the wind, etc. They're also probably the second most expensive, after the ones on the 50 in the first level.

You can buy
tickets through gohuskies.com (via ticketmaster) to any game, but as you see, they're pretty expensive. $229 for a single ticket to Stanford? Wow. Wait; $100 for a good seat to Portland State?!! Good luck with that, UW.   Other than that, looks like Stubhub has some cheapies if you don't want good seats. If you can wait until closer to game time, you can probably find better seats on craigslist or someplace like that. If you're really brave, I'd be willing to bet you'll be able to get good seats outside the stadium for pretty close to face value. I know people that did that every game, for years. But there's a bit of a leap of faith involved there, especially if you're coming in from out of town.
Patently Purple:

In your "expert" opinion, what kind of improvement will we see out of the offense as a whole this year?

UWDP: I'm not sure why "expert" is in quotes...

I don't think you should look for huge improvements in counting stats like total yards, but I think you'll see it in points. More so, though, it's going to be in efficiency stats like 3rd down conversion percentage, red zone TD percentage, and in the advanced stats - S&P and FEI. If you aren't already familiar with those, you can learn about them here. Use the drop-down menu under the "Statistics" tab.

Rick Anacaona:

KJ Young, Braydon Lenius and Nik Little.....   How much are they going to be able to contribute this year?

UWDP: When I first read your name, I thought it said "Rick Anaconda," and I was going to share a laugh with you because that was my stage name when I worked in the adult film industry. I finally got out because of the politics.

The way I'm looking at it, anything Nik Little provides is a bonus.

Braydon Lenius is in the mix to start, and will definitely be a major contributor. He had 26 catches last season and 3 TDs, and I'm sure Husky fans remember this highlight:


He improved a lot from his freshman to sophomore seasons, and it's important to remember that he still hasn't played a ton of football, so he's on the steep part of the learning curve. I expect him to take another step this season, especially if he can improve as a blocker. He could be a 40-catch, 500-yard type of guy in 2016.

It's hard to know what to expect from a brand new veteran, but K.J. Young was definitely brought in to contribute. He's similar in size to Dante Pettis, and will probably compete for most of his reps at that flanker position. In watching some of his highlights, maybe the most impressive thing about him is how well he catches the ball with his hands, as opposed to letting it get into his body. It's going to be important to see what he can do as a blocker, though.

HuskyInExile:

Which opposing team blog is the most fun for posts that exchange information / opinion in the week before a game?

UWDP: I suppose it really depends on what you're looking for (and I'm just talking about the SBNation sites, not the scout, rivals, 247, etc. ones). The USC, Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona, and Colorado boards don't have a lot of comments on each article, even though the articles can be very good. Oregon State doesn't either, although Andy Panda certainly adds a lot here. Utah is middle of the road-ish. It seems like the Oregon and WSU boards used to be more active than they are today, but that could just be me. Oregon's board has the most "little boy clubhouse" feel to it, but they put out a lot of good content (I especially recommend Kalon's advanced stats previews for each game). WSU's is also good, if a bit thin-skinned with Husky fans.

UCLA's site is incredibly popular, but the collective skin there is so thin it's actually transparent. Cal's site is also very busy, and they particularly love Chris Landon over there.

I've found that there are good writers and posters at virtually all of them. The majority of opposing fans that make their way over here represent themselves well, and I for one certainly enjoy their contributions. Even if they're just for my own personal amusement.

Andrew M Smith:

With all the hype, I wasn't ready for the t-shirt fans showing up. The last time the huskies were this popular, I was going to UW (2001). Any advice on how to deal with the bandwagon?

UWDP: I guess I'm not sure what you mean, as the team has yet to play a game with the hype behind them. Bandwagon fans showing up where? Here?

As to the existence of bandwagon fans, they pretty much exist in every large, successful fanbase. They're a huge contingent of Seahawks fans, and they were a big part of the collective when the Huskies were good under Don James. It's the nature of the beast.

(anonymous):

Last year, I saw a lot f Jake Browning running for his life, Myles Gaskin making decent runs despite defendes getting into the backfield unblocked and a whole lot of undewhelming receivers. Why should I be confident that this year will be different?


UWDP: Because I said so.

Really, it's because the offense started seven underclassmen in 2015. Three were true freshmen (Jake Browning, Trey Adams, Myles Gaskin). One was a redshirt freshman in his first year at an entirely new position (Kaleb McGary). The rest were sophomores in their first real time as starters. All of them should be better in 2016.

The only three starters (and contributors, really) lost. Each is being replaced by a guy with similar potential. As much as I can appreciate Jaydon Mickens, Josh Perkins, and Siosifa Tufunga, I don't see an appreciable drop at any of those positions.

There isn't a reason one can put on paper that suggests the offense shouldn't improve in 2016.

Darin Johnson:

Now that the Dawgs have wrapped up the Pac-12 championship for 2016, it's time to sit back and take stock.  Which Pac-12 teams would you trade futures with?  For instance, it's a good bet USC is going to have more long-term success than, say, Oregon State.


In fact, why don't you just rank all twelve teams from top to bottom in terms of net present value of future wins.  Assume a 10% discount rate (i.e., a win next year is worth 0.9 wins this year).  Show your work.  Extra credit if you include a discussion of risk premium.

UWDP: Is there ever a time you wouldn't realistically trade for USC's future?

I"m surprised to get such an elementary question about college football economics here at the UW Dawg Pound. It's so simple, I'm going to let my chauffeur answer it.

Or, you can answer it yourself. I'm sure it will be will a real page-turner. Awayer-fromer-thiser-websiter.

HRSPORTSFAN:

Every once in awhile we hear Oregon fans talk about all of the terrible things UW did to them in our history (voting other teams into bowl games, etc.).  How much truth is there, really, to these stories?  Someone asked a similar question last week (as part of multiple questions) and it was not answered.  I would be curious to know the Washington side to the stories.

UWDP: It's happened (the Huskies voting for teams other than Oregon), but not since I've been alive. It's possible it was done purely out of spite, but I don't know that the Huskies actually cared about the Ducks enough back then to actually do that. It's certainly possible, and if true, would make me laugh. Odds are that there is more to each of the stories, though.

Anyone can feel free to chime in. But for the most part, these stories seem to be anecdotes used to fuel rivalries.

MSDawg:

Most fans/observers obviously hold very high hopes for the Dawg defense this year. Let's just say for argument that they really are the top defense in the Pac12 again this year, and one of the best in the country. In that context, how do we fairly judge the performance (and improvement over the next few weeks) of the offense? Let's pick on the o-line, for example. If they're giving up numerous sacks, is that because the d-line is just that ferocious or is it because they are a middling o-line?

UWDP: It's almost impossible to know if the offensive line example you give is one or the other, or both, or somewhere in between. And since I'm not personally there, I don't feel like I'm able to judge anything, period.

I'm confident that the defensive line is going to be very, very good. I have what I think is a strong basis to expect the offensive line to show a substantial amount of improvement over the 2015 season. Beyond that, we aren't really going to know anything until the Huskies have played a decent opponent.

OsidePup:

The Stanford and USC games are likely to be sellouts. The stadium used to be able to add temporary seats (???) for over-capacity crowds. How will they handle that these days - admit "standing room only" spectators??

UWDP: I certainly hope both of those games are sellouts. As it looks right now, both could get there.

I don't believe there's any capability to bring in temporary seats, nor do I think there's a standing-room-only section available.

And really, the athletic department doesn't want either of those two things; they want to encourage people to buy season tickets, with Tyee donations attached to them. Increasing the supply of single-game tickets would hurt the demand on season tickets, not help it.

Goal Post:

I think that if Chris Peterson sticks around for awhile his legacy as a Husky football coach will surpass that of Don James. What are your thoughts Brad?


UWDP: I'd love to see it, but I'm not overly confident. And I don't mean that in a negative way about Chris Petersen necessarily.

Don James went to six Rose Bowls and won four of them. He also won an Orange Bowl. I don't think Petersen will be here long enough to accomplish all of that. I just don't see Petersen as the type of guy that's going to want to be the head coach of a college football program well into his 60s, no matter how successful he might be. It's possible that Petersen could end up winning at the same rate as James, but not meet the overall total number of wins or championships.

At that point, I guess it'd be up to you individually to determine what that means for Petersen's legacy.

I think that Don James would've loved to have seen Chris Petersen eclipse James's accomplishments. I would as well.

McKinleyville:

Given: Oregon's expectations are unreasonable (fans, alums, druggers, Phil?) and
Since UDub will beat Oregon, when will Oregon (Knight) get a new coach? or
When will Helfrich be fired? or
Under what conditions would Helfrich be fired?

Please feel free to answer any of the above.

UWDP: Aside from the charged language of the question, McKinleyville, this is going to be interesting to watch. For the first time since Phil Knight associated himself with Oregon athletics, there A) appears to be a football coach that may need to be fired, and B) isn't a natural or anointed internal hire to be made. From Rich Brooks to Mike Bellotti, from Bellotti to Chip Kelly, and from Kelly to Mark Helfrich...it appears likely that an amazing 20+year run of continuity may come to an end in the next few years.

I don't know what Oregon's expectations are for the football program. I don't know what Knight's are. But it should be clear to anyone with a pulse that when Knight is fed up, a change will likely be made. And if Knight is satisfied, it probably won't. I also don't think it will be exclusively an emotional decision for Knight; the profitability of the Oregon brand for Nike will have a role (although that is going to be strongly correlated with winning).

As much as a lot of Husky fans would love to see it, I don't think there's an imminent possibility of Helfrich steering the car off a cliff. It's a question of how many 9-4, 8-5 type seasons Knight and his advisers can tolerate.

Without that continuity, it'll be interesting to see if the Ducks go after the "best coach available" even if it means scrapping the system they've built and to which they've recruited, or look for the best coach to work with the style of play they've run the last decade. Either way, Knight and Nike will be highly involved. When Dana Altman was hired as the basketball coach, Nike served as the search firm for the University of Oregon (free of charge, of course).

PatMan:

Basketball - The huskies got to practice early and get some games in before the rest of college bb.  How does that work, do they lose practices later?  Or is it a bonus that all teams can take advantage of?   Thanks


UWDP: College teams are allowed international trips like the one the Huskies just finished once every four years. They don't have to sacrifice practices later in the season.

Coaches frequently credit these tours with developing chemistry early on, and helping the team once the regular season begins. We'll see if it pays of for the Huskies.

Darin Johnson:

My cordless drill is missing.  Have you seen it?

UWDP: I was planning to pack it in my Clear Plastic Bag (trademark) and bring it to you at the Rutgers game.

Have you seen my router?

All for this week, Dawgmen and Dawgwomen.

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