On June 5th 1995 at 17:55h, a mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) died after colliding with the all glass new wing of the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam. Immediately after falling to the ground, the dead duck was mounted by a (live) duck — also of the male sex. The copulation took 75 minutes, and became known in the scientific community as ‘the first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard’. The victim is on display in the museum. Each year on June 5th at 17:55h, just outside the museum, right on the spot where it all happened in 1995, people gather to celebrate ‘Dead Duck Day’. This short ceremony commemorates the dramatic death of the duck — and the tragedy of billions of other birds that die from colliding with glass buildings.
Questions?
Cyrus
Who was the last Husky QB to have a winning record (min. 2 starts) against Oregon? Considering Jake Browning is 2-1 against the Ducks, this feels like a huge narrative game for his legacy.
UWDP: My guess would be Cody Pickett, who got the start in a 42-14 win in Eugene in 2002, and a 42-10 win in Seattle the next season. He didn’t play all that much in the 2003 game, suffering a concussion in the first half.
I’ve enjoyed the wins over the ducks the last two seasons, but they just don’t have the impact on me that they do other Husky fans. A win or loss is important for Browning’s legacy, but I don’t attach any special value to what it means for his career record against Oregon.
Bullsfan12
We are going to be Oregon right?
UWDP: I hope not. I don’t ever want to be Oregon.
Topgundawg79
What happend to our D in the second half? I was rubbing eyes a lot in disbelief.
UWDP: It actually started in the first half. Washington’s offense was pretty dominant, though, and that kept UCLA from actually doing much. Washington’s D didn’t really make stops in the first half as much as UCLA stopped itself. The Bruins averaged almost 8 yards per play in the half, but they only got 26 snaps (not counting punts).
The second half was almost the exact opposite of the first. UCLA controlled the clock and the ball, and Washington couldn’t get on the field.
Defensively, Washington just looked a step slow and a half-beat slow to react all game. They made stupid, uncharacteristic little mistakes much of the night. It manifested itself in poor coverage and sloppy tackling.
I’m not really concerned about the defense. We’ve seen these guys all play good football this season, even on the road. I expect them to be their normal selves on Saturday - which is a really good team.
KPreston
I noticed a bunch of weather delayed games this weekend, got me thinking have we (UW) ever had a home weather delay?
UWDP: Not that I’m aware of, but others might know of something I don’t.
Just Askin’
If you had to be a fan of a Pac-12 football team other than UW, which team would that be? I don’t mean just this season. I mean over a lengthy span of years. Please consider all factors, not simply W-L record, national prominence, etc.
UWDP: I strongly considered going to Cal after high school because I thought I wanted to get further from home. I can’t really remember what ultimately swayed the decision. Not having any real idea what I wanted to do was a huge part. There was also a girl that was sort of in the picture that played a pretty big part.
Cal. It’s a beautiful campus, a lot of similarities to the University of Washington, and I just can’t think of any real fatal flaw in being a Bear fan like I can most other schools.
Dawgfan, man
That was a nice second half adjustment by the Chipster. Did he just create the blueprint that everyone else will use for the rest of the year? Will it work for better teams?
UWDP: Soooooo......what specifically was this second half adjustment? “Execute better?” “Capture and keep momentum?”
What did they change?
Mindflowers
Do we have a clear path to the championship series? Bama and Georgia might knock one out, but Notre Dame, OSU and Clemson all have seemingly easy paths. Also WVU seems to have a more challenging schedule.
What are likely outcomes if we win out?
UWDP: Man, there are way too many football games left to give any sort of accurate answer. If Washington wins out, including the Pac 12 championship game, they have an exceptionally good shot of making the playoffs. Even though there are a bunch of undefeated teams left, very, very few make it to the end of the regular season. Most years, there are zero.
Let’s just look at the math here. Assume Alabama has an 80% chance to win each of their remaining games. With six regular season games left, the math is 0.8^6, or just over 26% chance of going undefeated. Lots of teams are going to lose once or twice between now and early December. As long as Washington keeps surviving, they’re going to be in the hunt.
Pass Rush Projecting
Common wisdom ‘round these parts seems to be that the pass rush was ineffective against the Bruins as we never sacked their QB. Seems to me the guy was scrambling for his life on multiple occasions, leading to hurried throws, throw aways, and scrambles for short gains. Sure, there were also times when the pocket stayed clean and he completed passes, but I wouldn’t say our pass rush was a complete failure. What say you?
UWDP: I tend to agree with you. The pass rush didn’t generate sacks against Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but it made him pull the ball and move. Unfortunately for Husky fans, when he moved, he was able to reset and find open receivers virtually all game long. He had a great game throwing the ball, and never really seemed too inclined to tuck it and run (only two carries, I believe).
Here’s the other thing about the pass rush. The Huskies weren’t exactly selling out on the blitz the way it might have appeared, and the way the commentators made is sound. They rarely rushed more than four people. There was a lot of three-man defensive fronts, and the fourth rusher was frequently an inside linebacker, so it is a blitz. But it’s a coverage-safe blitz.
Island husky
Worse Ok. Better
Defensive. Browning. Receivers
Backs
Offensive. Middle Gaines
Line. L. Backers
Pass rush. Rushing
Coaching. Kicking
Intensity
Defence getting
Off field 3rd downs
(I’d suggest a lower
Category but space
Doesn’t permit)
UWDP: It’s all pretty subjective, but I’m not really sure what your beef is with the coaching, the intensity, or the defensive backs. Particularly the defensive backs. They obviously didn’t have their greatest game against UCLA, but other than that, they have been lights-out this year. Even with that “poor” effort against the Bruins, they’ve now allowed three (!) TD passes, in six games.
Opponents converting 3rd downs against the Husky defense isn’t new. It’s higher this year (conversion rate allowed of 42%), but it was almost 38% last year. Yes, everyone would like to see it be better. It’s not a new problem, though.
Hairbreadth Husky
Do the people calling for Haener really believe they’re smarter than the UW coaching staff, and can anyone really be that stupid?
UWDP: These sorts of things always become a very strange dichotomy. No, they don’t actually believe they’re smarter than the coaching staff, but they certainly believe they’re correct. It’s not unique to Jake Haener, it also applies to fans that want to fire a coordinator or position coach, too.
Fandom, almost by its very definition, isn’t actually logical.
Luke
How can we get consistent pressure on Herbert? If we can I think we win by double digits. If not, could be trouble.
UWDP: Oregon has a pretty good offensive line, and Justin Herbert is a strong, mobile quarterback. The Huskies aren’t going to get pressure unless the usual suspects play better than they have, or the team blitzes a lot.
I’m not remotely suggesting the line has played poorly in any way, shape or form. But they have an incredibly difficult task in rushing the passer. The coaches commit very few resources to it (typically only four rushers, or fewer), and the ones that they do, are put in a difficult position to do it by scheme and alignment. It pretty much takes superlative individual play for two-gapping defensive tackles to collapse the pocket and get to the quarterback. For the outside linebackers/defensive ends, they have very strict containment responsibilities, which is going to be critical against a QB like Herbert.
I’m not a very big fan of the Husky blitz this season. It doesn’t seem to work too well. I’m not sure I’m going to be calling for more this weekend. I’d probably vote for more of what has worked thus far: contain Herbert, play coverage, make tackles.
Stewak
Seems like we’ve seen very little trick plays lately. Is this by design, or are we just not clicking enough as a team to add these? 2016 we could score as quickly as we wanted. Maybe we still can and are purposefully slowing it down. Thoughts?
UWDP: I don’t think scoring quickly in 2016 really had anything to do with trick plays. That offense had a receiver that was simply faster than everyone else in the world, which opened things up for two other receivers that were also fast to work in the soft spots of the secondary. There was a multiplying effect of big-play ability through the air. I think Aaron Fuller is having a great season, but he’s a one-to-one replacement for Dante Pettis. So we have a guy that’s more suited as a possession receiver playing the lead role, and just like last year, Jake Browning doesn’t seem to have a lot of confidence in anyone else. Take the interception against UCLA - Fuller simply wasn’t open. Not close. Ty Jones was open right at the snap (he ran a deep out, and the coverage was way, way off him), and Andre Baccellia was open after Browning scrambled. If Browning was more willing to throw to Jones (who’s mostly in the role Ross had in 2016), it would open things up even more than they are now for Fuller. Jones obviously doesn’t have Ross’ speed, but man, that guy can catch the ball if it’s in the same time zone as he is.
Right now, Fuller has 35 catches on the year. Baccellia has 16 for second on the team. Jones only has 14, but he’s averaging 19 yards per catch. If you had two bona fide threats on the field putting pressure on a secondary, it’s going to open up a lot of things for a lot of different people.
RunningFaster
More hand-wringing from the “fans” again. This is just getting annoying, to the extent that I avoided the game thread altogether this time around. Prior to watching the game, I watched the replay (the Pac 12 60 minute version) of the UCLA at CU game. What stood out to me about that game was the flashes of talent UCLA was showing. They are clearly a team on the cusp of “getting it”. They also certainly have the team speed and team strength to contend; Kelly just has to get their minds right and get them to buy in to the system.
Our Huskies played well. Was it a perfect game? No. But was it horrible? Not at all.
1. We won.
2. We had few mistakes. I’m sure Jake wanted that one INT back, but overall he played a clean game.
3. The line played solid; yes, they allowed a couple sacks, but Jake wasn’t being knocked to the ground all the time. He had enough time to make some pretty darn effective plays, both with his arm and with his feet.
4. The line produced for the running game, too.
5. Quite a few non-calls by the refs.
6. Gaskin is a beast.
Taking all those things into account, what are these supposed “fans” whining about? And not just whining, but being downright vitriolic.
UWDP: I’m mostly fine with the way the game went given (most of) the things you point out, but I can also agree that some of the complaints with the game were valid. It wasn’t pretty, and it didn’t seem like the Huskies had any answers for what UCLA was doing. A performance like that is a little bit scary, and with a high ranking, it should be reasonable to expect a more dominant performance against a team that has largely been blown out four out of four times this season.
I don’t really buy that, but I also don’t think it’s an unreasonable take, given the state of the college football world. I think it requires perspective, that the Huskies aren’t really designed to blow people out. They have a very deliberate offensive design (slow pace of play, run-heavy, not big play-centric), and a defense that bends without breaking. To the people that think it’s boring, unimpressive football compared to point-a-minute offenses, I can see the perspective. I don’t agree, but I can see it.
From what I hear, game threads tend to take on a life of their own. It’s up to you to decide if they’re something that’s good for you or not.
JakeFan
Why haven’t we paid a little more attention to the striking success of the passing game incorporating more sideline fades - the kind of play you can make even against the best coverage. I feel like we have seen oodles of envy over the last few years at teams that can do that, and now Jake and receivers are really winning with that play. This is big time folks! Props to Bush and the boys for getting this going since game 1.
UWDP: Yes, the Huskies have hit that pass a handful of times this season.
southkingcountydawg
My impression is that Lake is calling more blitzes than Kwiatkowski did, and that the only effect a lot of them are having is opening up passing lanes. Do you think either of these statements is true?
UWDP: No, not really. Two things on that: 1. I don’t think they’re blitzing as much as it appears because a lot of the time the “blitz” is coming with a fourth rusher out of a three (or even two) man front, whether base personnel or out of the dime, and I really don’t think those are blitzes, and 2. It’s mostly a continuation of what we saw last year. I don’t think the defense looks significantly different. There’s probably more dime than last year, and there’s more three-man fronts, but only because that defense wasn’t as common early in the year as it was later.
When they do blitz, I agree - it doesn’t seem to work all that well. I don’t know if the answer is to do it less or not, though.
Raul
Seemed like we really took the gas off the pedal in the second half and played a lot of back ups and played bend don’t brake defense. Is this observation wrong and UCLA just kicked our butts in the 2nd half, or were we playing it conservatively to rest guys and keep the tape a little vanilla for Oregon?
Travis
Did the Huskies play possum against UCLA to pull a Jedi mind trick on the Ducks? UW 31 UO 17
UWDP: I think the offense played well in the first half, then lost some momentum at half time with their comfortable lead, and then just didn’t get back on the field. I think the defense struggled all game, but it was masked by the offense early, then magnified as the Bruins got some confidence going.
Basically, the team just didn’t have their best game long enough to put the Bruins away. I thought the offense did the job it needed to do when it was needed in the second half, but nobody was as focused or energized to do it all game.
I think it happens. I think it’s not great, but it’s part of a football season, even for the best teams. I think the Huskies weren’t in real danger of losing, but it was an uncomfortable win.
I don’t think it had anything to do with the Oregon game in terms of putting stuff on tape. I think getting guys some breaks was a good thing, but more because UCLA had the ball for like 50 snaps in the second half.
Rawse206
What did we change on defense that allowed DTR and UCLA to get back into the game?
UWDP: ‘Bout the only thing I can say is execution. It just wasn’t there all game.
What about Bertolli?
I find the endless discussion of the players looking past the game, that they will be fully engaged this week and weren’t last week, etc to be rather frustrating. Do people honestly believe that the players don’t focus for each game? Seems more like a tired, worn out trope that fans tell themselves so they can feel better about a game that wasn’t as easy or comfortable as they thought it should be.
UWDP: There are a lot of things that go into “performance.” To me, “lack of focus”, “flat”, etc. are all just terms for a team not playing their best game. I don’t think it’s a lack of preparation or effort or want-to, it’s just not easy to create the conditions that allow for peak performance week-in and week-out. It happens to every team every year. I think everybody actually means the same thing with what they’re saying, but people just handle it in different ways.
This question sponsored by Vleet Hair Removal Cream For Men
Hi Brad! What are three things the Huskies need to do to beat the Ducks (besides score more points - duh!)
UWDP: Scoring more points should be enough on it’s own, though, no?
- Win first down on both sides of the ball - average five yards on first down on offense, hold the ducks to less than four.
- Try to make the smart play, not the hero play. Catch the ball, follow blockers, make sure tackles, make the easy read, identify your man, etc.
Weather the storm. The ducks are going to be sky-high, but it’s not going to last.
Aus*Dawg
Is this the greatest period ever for Husky football? If not, what would it take to make it the greatest era?
UWDP: No, it’s not, but it has the trajectory and the potential to do just that. With a playoff (vs the old setup with the Rose Bowl as a conference champ), it’s difficult to compare things. But as it stands, the team is going to have to - at the very least - get to some title games to take down the early 90’s run under Don James.
Anon
Assuming the Huskies finish at the top or near the top of the P12 this season, is there any hope that we get more equal scheduling next season? We don’t have as much of a gauntlet this year, but it still seems like they have some work to do in not hindering the top teams chances for once.
UWDP: I certainly don’t think the schedule makers at the Pac 12 have it out for the Huskies, but I also do not expect them to do good teams any favors. If anything, I think they’d fall more toward the NFL model, where teams theoretically have schedule difficulty due to how they finished the past season, with the Super Bowl champ having the toughest schedule and the Cleveland Browns team with the worst record having the easiest. I think parity is the goal, and 12 different champions in 12 years would be the ideal, but not something that much effort will be put toward attaining.
bkdawg
I thought our pass defense deficiencies in giving up a few big plays against BYU got overlooked; then six big passes against UCLA. They’ve been showing unusual chinks in their armor.. Is giving up big plays in the passing game something we should be concerned about? Is it something that needs fixing?
UWDP: BYU hit a misdirection shovel pass, a screen pass, and one pass down the field (to a tight end, I think?). I can live with every single bit of that. UCLA was different, but right now, given how incredibly well the secondary has played, it’s a one-off.
I think it’s important to keep some perspective, Dawg fans. Teams are going to complete passes against Washington’s secondary.
TomDawg
We’re 1 for 5 on coin tosses this year. What can we do to improve that part of our game? Maybe Haener should be sent out to midfield? Or perhaps we should just burn one of the redshirts if we have an up and coming coin toss caller.
UWDP: I certainly agree, TomDawg. I love getting the ball in the second half. It feels like momentum. Washington has had some real struggles with the toss this year, and it’s starting to become “a thing” with this team. I hope Chris Petersen can figure it out, because I’d really love to shut the opposition down right out of the gate, and then take the ball after the break.
I hadn’t considered sending Jake Haener out there. It worked for the Seahawks a few years ago. At this point, I’m willing to try anything to make that sweet, sweet “defer” call.
Oregon Dawg
I’m worried. I live in the alternative 3 P world of Portland, Protests, Pot, and Piercings. Portland is 65% duck fan and they are bonded together in a hate for Washington. It is truly hard to live here. Losing means months of verbal hazing and having to relive things like the “Catch”, the “Streak” or how Nike pumps more money into this program than all others combined. Thank God we are going Adidas next year.
Question: how worried should I be? Will we get pressure on Herbert or will he pick us apart? Can Browning deal with the constant blitzing and will our line hold up. Did UCLA provide a wake up call for the Dawgs or did it expose a weakness for Oregon to use. Should I go big on my bets or stick to 20 or less per friend.
UWDP: The ducks are a pretty good football team, but Washington is better. Washington is going to win. As to how you deal with your Portland friends and other co-existers, those are questions you chose to take unto your self when you chose to live in Portland. But let us know how it goes.
Hoyt4UW
Going to UW’s third straight win over the Zeros this week with three friends. Is there a bar or two where UW fans will congregate on Friday night and Saturday night (after the victory)?
JerDawg
Where does a lifelong dawg fan go in Eugene before/after the game to find other Huskies when his friends have persuaded him to go to his first game down there?
UWDP: Anybody that knows should help the man out.
Hoyt4UW
Is it possible that the coaches have saved up a couple pass-rushing wrinkles that they can bring out to get to the UO QB? A consistent pass rush will be one of the keys to stopping their offense and UW has not shown that ability as yet.
UWDP: Sure, it’s possible there’s something new. I sort of doubt it, though.
As for the importance of a pass rush, it should be pretty clear that the coaches disagree. They put almost criminally little effort into generating one. Very few rushes with more than four people, and scheme and alignment that make it very tough for the front three/four to actually get production. Like it or not, the defensive coaching staff puts a far higher premium on coverage and preventing big plays than they do rushing the passer or generating negative plays.
OsidePup
Is Sosebee the best we have to be backup at center. Performance of the O-line seems to be taking a significant hit when he’s come in to replace Harris.
UWDP: He’s been the guy to come in every time, so it sure seems like it. He’s not as good as Nick Harris, but I don’t think the difference is quite as marked as you seem to.
Adjust Yo’ Self
After the UCLA game, there’s been all sorts of hand-wringing over the lack of adjustments at halftime. We were winning 24-7 at the half. What needed adjusting? Were UW coaches supposed to guess what UCLA’s halftime adjustments were going to be and then respond to those, hoping their guesses were correct?
UWDP: I think the whole notion of great “halftime adjustments” is entirely overblown. Yes, things can change at the half, but there’s certainly no rule that says “adjustments must be made at halftime; any adjustments noted either before or after halftime shall result in a 15-yard penalty.”
Teams get a chance to reset. Momentum fades. Guys cool off. Guys lose focus. Or get refocused. Whatever. In terms of game planning, half time is spent reaffirming what was practiced all week, not coming up with drastic new tactics based on a half of play. Picking a few plays to focus on, discarding a few, etc. The actual adjustments are subtle.
Cat Scratch Fever
It seemed like the Huskies had more success running the Wildcat against UCLA than in other games? Or am I just imagining that? If I’m not imagining that, why did it work?
UWDP: I’d say they’ve had about the same amount of success the last year and a half. Myles Gaskin is a good running back. He can do good things no matter how it is he gets a carry. It worked because UCLA’s defense isn’t all that great. Pretty much everything worked. It was mostly about avoiding penalties or drive-killing sacks, same as it always is.
Trudawg
What’s the best duck dish to serve at my viewing party?
UWDP: I’d say a good slow-roast duck.
Kevin Love’s Grandma
Do zeroes’ fans need to practice throwing crap at visiting teams and their fans? Or are they born with that talent?
UWDP: You’ll definitely see a lot of natural talent on display. But everyone can hone their craft.
OsidePu
Oregon’s defense was pretty effective against Stanford in stopping their rushing attack. Conversely, they were pretty effective against Cal in limiting their passing attack, but not so much against the run. Where do you see the Ducks doing the best against the Huskies? Will they keep the Dawgs in check and beneath their averages in FBS games in either catagory for this game?
UWDP: Stanford has been shockingly mediocre running the ball this season. Bryce Love isn’t 100% healthy, but he wasn’t last season, either. I expected him to come down to earth a little bit, but not like this.
I don’t know how much you’ve watched Cal play, but they pretty much have a running back playing QB. He can’t throw the ball at all.
Oregon’s defense isn’t terrible, but they aren’t actually very good, either. Washington should be able to have success on the ground and through the air.
All my friends turned out to be insurance salesmen
Did you see that Devo, John Prine and Chaka Khan have been nominated for induction to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame? Finally!
UWDP: I did not know that, but it’s good news all the way around. Especially Devo, and I can now remove them from my list of “Greatest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs.” On the list currently are Outkast, John Coltrane, Brian Eno, Nine Inch Nails, Bjork, Iron Maiden, Depeche Mode, Sonic Youth, Pat Benatar, Motorhead, New Order, Warren Zevon, and Whitney Houston among others. And please note, this isn’t a list of music I love, these are artists that belong in the Hall of Fame.
Muppet Mania
Are husky57 and unclephil55 the two hecklers from The Muppet Show? Statler and Waldorf?
UWDP: Husky57 is definitely one of them, but I think there are rotating guests for the other.
unclephil55 isn’t really a heckler, is he? I think he tries to be, but he’s just not very good at it.
Thanks for the names. I don’t think I ever knew them. Statler and Waldorf. Huh.
Golden Dawg
What makes Oregon fans (and a lot of the national media) so confident in Oregon this weekend? What has Oregon done this year that breeds confidence? I get it, they are 4-1... but they lost to a HIGHLY overrated Stanford team. Their only significant win is against Cal... who just lost to lowly Arizona. Jeff Sagarin has UW’s schedule ranked as the 27th toughest, while Oregon is ranked at 137. Maybe this is just me trying to reassure myself before I have a mental breakdown on Friday afternoon.
UWDP: Yeah, honestly, I’m not really sure either. They’re recruiting well, and Herbert is a good quarterback. I think they’re an improved version of the 2016 ducks - good offense, not a very good defense.
I absolutely do not expect to beat them down like that year; this team isn’t in give-up mode like that one was. But I don’t think this team is good enough to outscore everybody, and they still need to recruit better on defense.
I think Oregon is getting the benefit of the doubt. They were a good program very recently, and nobody really expects them to fall back into the abyss. I don’t.
Fan
Do postseason games count in the four games that freshmen are allowed to play without burning their redshirts?
UWDP: Yep, any four games.
Huskies
Doesn’t it seem fact people are down on UW after the UCLa game may give them more fire? Also wanted to say the writers on this blog are top notch.
UWDP: The Huskies are going on the road to play a ranked Oregon team. I really hope that they aren’t hurting for things to fire them up.
I do think those guys know they can play better, particularly on the defense. And they’re going to be eager to show it. I think motivation for this team is mostly internal.
Ryan and Max have made a pretty seamless transition taking over, and there’s definitely been some good stuff coming out from them, Jeff, Chris, Gabey, John, Andrew, Aaron, Lucas, Ben, and Ed (apologies if I missed anyone).
New to UWDP
Could you comment on play calling and if it’s a factor in our success?
UWDP: No, not really. I think it’s pretty similar to what a Chris Petersen offense is always going to look like. Pretty diverse.
Guys that know a lot more about football than I ever will have said many times that it’s extremely difficult to separate play calling and execution. A great call can look poor if the players don’t execute, and a poor call can look great if they do.
I don’t think the play calling was any different between 2016 and 2017, or from either of those years to today. Maybe slightly, but not a primary factor in the success or failure of the offense.
Brett Johnson
Hi little bro, I already know the answer, but could you tell the rest of the goofs how we play Herbert either similarly or differently to other QBs we have played this year?
UWDP: I hadn’t heard that you got paroled man, that’s great.
It’s really not going to be that much differently than the way the defense played Jarred Stidham, Tyler Huntley, Manny Wilkins, or Dorian Thompson-Robinson. All of those guys are quarterbacks that can move, either to run themselves or reset and throw. The Huskies have spied on the quarterbacks at times, mostly out of their dime package. They might do the same against Herbert, but while he’s a good runner, he probably isn’t as fast as Huntley or Thompson-Robinson.
Outside of that, the defense is mostly going to continue to expect their really good athletes to continue to play at a very high level against Herbert.
Nickelbase the Band
Who is our best corner not named Bryant, Miller, or Muprhy.
UWDP: Jordan Miller has been banged up a couple of times, and Keith Taylor has been the guy to come in and take his spot. I haven’t seen Byron Murphy miss too many meaningful snaps, so I can’t say for sure if the coaches really only like Taylor on the right side of the defense, or if he’s the first man off the bench, period. Elijah Molden has spelled Myles Bryant here and there, and plays a lot in the dime package. Again, I can’t say for sure if he’s exclusively that “extra” DB, or if he’d play a pure corner if necessary. Austin Joyner has played as a 7th defensive back on a few snaps, too. We’ve seen him play pretty well, in 2017.
Both Molden and Taylor drew rave reviews during spring and fall. I think Husky fans should feel fairly comfortable if either was playing extended minutes. Add in Joyner, and things aren’t too bad.
Derk Fan
What are the subtle things that Herbert does well (Apart from being tall)?
UWDP: Subtle things? Man, that’s hard to say. He puts the ball in really good position for catch-and-run plays on short and intermediate throws. He’s got a strong enough arm that he doesn’t need perfect feet to make a solid throw on deeper passes if he has to move.
About the worst thing I can say about him is that he looks like he’s a little streaky.
He’s a good quarterback. I like watching him play. I’m going to hate watching him play on Saturday.
Magnificent Obsessions
In any given day, are there more Huskies who spend time at ATQ? Or more Ducks who spend time at UWDP?
UWDP: I don’t spend enough time at Addicted to Quack to know. I know Ragu does, maybe he can tell us.
I personally don’t mind the duck fans that come to the ‘pound. Even duckitect, who lives with us. It’s boring if all we do is sit around and agree.
All for this week, Dawg fans. It’s huntin’ season, go bag yourself some greenheads!