Huskies Destroy Idaho. Vandals Rape Dawgs D

It was a beautiful late summer day down at Montlake. A slight breeze rustled through the trees as fans walked through the perfect 80 degree day to take their seats to see UW play The University of Idaho. Though the crowd was noticeably smaller than the week prior at the rainy LSU game there was still a feeling of anticipation and nervous excitement in the air. And how could there not be? The Dawgs were favored by 21 over Idaho to end their losing streak that had spanned parts of 3 seasons. The Dawgs were gonna win big and everyone knew it. The crowd wanted blood. A Roman coliseum crowd faced more uncertainty than those in attendance at Montlake today.

After a quick first down and then 3 and out by the defense Jake and company took up residence at their own 3 yard line to start their first drive of the day. And what a drive it was as the Dawgs moved at ease through the over matched Vandals defense. Jake Locker used his legs to scramble for the 3 yard td to cap the 97 yard drive. I'm not sure the last time The Dawgs had a drive near that long but the crowd ate it up. That drive gave creedence to most fans' thoughts that this game would be a cake walk and that the starters shouldn't be back in after half. Sadly, that was not to be the case. Idaho would not go quietly into their locker room.

The Dawgs defense that displayed dominance in the opener against LSU played as passively as possible. The second Vandals drive started with decent field position thanks to terrible kick-offs by kicker Eric Folk and poor coverage on the returns. Those expecting to see a complete and total mauling of the Vandals offense were sorely disapointed. The Vandals drove 40 yards and kicked a field goal. This seemed to be the story all day. The Dawgs would have a solid drive for a score only to have another shitty kick-off combine with lack of pressure on defense to result in a Vandals' field goal.

Field goals are not much to worry about and by halftime the Dawgs were up 21-9. But the Vandals refused to give up and after two second half touchdowns(one was in garbage time, but still) they covered the spread and only lost by 19.

I want to be happy about this win. The Dawgs amassed 374 yards of offense and moved down the field almost at will on the Vandals. The running game led by Chris Polk again looked solid. Johri Fogerson toted the rock and caught some passes and looked impressive while doing so. Jake Locker again spread the ball around completing 17/25 passes. He showed touch and timing that had never existed prior to this year. Yeah, he stared a couple receivers down like Oprah at a buffet line but hopefully he'll be coached out of that. Like I said, the offense was amazing.

However great the offense was the defense was inversely mediocre. Most pundits thought that UW would dominate the line of scrimmage and live in the UI backfield disrupting the QB all day. Sadly, this was not at all the case. Amazingly the same defense that manged to get adequate pressure against a far superior line in LSU was having massive troubles making a ripple against Idaho. And when blitzes were called the middle of the field was often left susceptible to big gains. It made for a maddening combination. It also made me shit my pants in fear at the thought of hosting USC next Saturday.

If the Dawgs play anywhere near this poorly on defense/special teams against the Trojans they'll crumble like R.Kelly's will around young women. Nick Holt needs to find something and fast otherwise the Dawgs'll just be a smear on the road in the wake of the big red USC machine. And I really would rather not see that.

Dawgs Dominate LSU. Lose Game. New Era Brings Hope

Keep this man smiling by winning some games this season!

I'll admit, when the Dawgs chose to receive the opening kickoff of the 2009 season I was rather nervous. The sickly sour taste of fear in my mouth was overwhelming. 14 straight losses can make even the most optimistic Dawg fan a cowering pup. This is especially true when playing a national powerhouse like LSU. A team like that could dismantle a 0-12 UW team and leave more psyches shattered than a Catholic Priest at camp full of Boy Scouts. With a violent defeat all the talk about coaching the players up and causes for optimism would drain down the players' legs. I worried about the ramifications of a quick 3 and out before LSU took the ball and scored.

All fears of failure were erased when The Dawgs marched down the field like Sherman through Georgia, consistently picking up good yardage on the ground as well as through the air on the first two downs allowing them converting manageable third downs. Then Jake Locker hit true freshman James Johnson for a 17 yard catch and run touchdown. A statement was sent, "These are NOT your 2008, 0-12 Huskies!" The stadium erupted in cheers and a huge burden was removed from the backs of UW players.

The entire team was crazy with excitement after the crowd caused Ciron Black, he of the Outland Trophy watch list, to false start moving the Tigers from 3rd and goal from the 2 to 3rd and goal from the 7. The Tigers failed to get a td and had to settle for the field goal. Momentum seemed very much on the Dawgs' side. Then the first costly mistake happened.

Jake Locker had improved much in the offseason under new head coach Steve Sarkisian. That much was one display during the first drive. But the fact that Jake still has a lot of work to do to become the QB he can be was shown very clearly to start the second drive. First play of the drive Jake dropped back and fired a pass out to his right failing to see linebacker Jacob Cutrera who tipped the ball to himself and ran for the TD. The Dawgs were all of a sudden down 10-7.

After a brief stint on the sideline during the kick off Jake and the rest of the Husky offense took the field again looking to make up for the mistake on the last drive. And for the most part they did as they drove 63 yards and were much like an early 90's junky on Capitol Hill, they were looking to score. Then disaster struck this team again as Chris Polk, who had a great night running the ball and ripped off a 33 yard run earlier in the drive, fumbled on the LSU 5 yard line. The defense held and forced a punt but the chance to go up was lost. On the next drive UW had to settle for a field goal to tie it up.

Those two plays, in my mind were the most critical in determining the game's outcome. If UW puts together a second drive to match their first or their third, sans the fumble, there is a good chance they are up 14-3. At that point the defense had been shutting down the vaunted LSU run game and it is entirely possible that they could have gotten the ball back with another chance to score before half.

That's huge when facing a superior opponent, to get on them early and not let up. The relatively Young LSU team might have been rattled and probably would have had to alter their game plan. In that case the Huskies would have been in control and playing like the favorites. Sadly, that didn't happen. While the Dawg's managed to stay within barking distance the rest of the game, a slow 3rd quarter combined with the expected come aparts in the secondary made the chances of them pulling out a win rather slim.

Overall though, I was very impressed with this team. They out-gained the Tigers 478-321 and absolutely controlled the time of possession 36:52 to 23:08. Chris Polk, whom I thought look way over-matched last year was dynamite all night. He was quick to and through the hole. He managed to get to the edge well and he rarely went down after first contact. My favorite play of the night was his dishing out two terrible stiff-arms tow LSU defenders on his 33 yard run, damn impressive.

Jake Locker passed for 321 yards and 2 tds in the game. If not for the interception it would have been a near flawless performance as he went 25-45. His completion percentage might have been a few ticks higher if some of Jake's receivers held onto the passes. Jake's scrambling ability for big gains was limited by the fast secondary of LSU. Patrick Peterson, a 6'1" 211lb corner made sure that Jake was kept in check and no quick passes to receivers were going to go for anything after the catch. Peterson seemed to be everywhere for the Tigers. Even being relatively limited Jake still managed to run for 51 yards and pick up crucial first down with his legs.

The Wideouts looked solid, Aguilar and Johnson really impressed. Though Aguilar did have a crushing drop in the 4th quarter on a perfectly thrown ball by Jake. It hit his hands but he just could not reel it it. Johnson, however seems to be the prototype for the new UW WR. Big, fast, strong and great hands. In just his first game he had 6 catches for 60+ yards. If the WR's can hold onto the ball Jake might have some fine options in the passing game.

The tight end, a crux of the pro-style offense Sark ran at USC, as well as a traditional position of talent for UW, seems to be making a resurgence. Both Kavario Middleton and Chris Izbicki saw a lot of playing time and did well with their blocking. However, it was Middleton who flashed his much talked about athleticism and pass catching prowess by snagging 5 passes for 45 yards and the last TD of the game. If the kid keeps it up he could be something really special.

The D game up some big plays and struggled a bit with the option last night. But for the most part they played damn well. Daniel Teo Nesheim managed to occasionally get into the LSU back field and get pressure which is incredible considering the talent on LSU's line. Also impressive was Ta'amu Alimeda who was constantly commanding double and triple teams all night. He even got a sack and a pressure on consecutive plays when he twisted left into the backfield on one play and then mirrored the twist to the right on the next. LSU's running game was supposed to run us down like a dog in the street. That the Tigers had to run the option to get to the edge says a lot of out the d-line and linebackers.

Special Teams was remarkable in that they didn't let any of the Dahmer-dangerous LSU return break loose for a long gain or a TD. Folk, the kicker missed a 42 yard field goal and was kinda shaky on a few of his PAT's but still I'll take it.

The entire game the coaching staff could be see right in the ears of their players coaching them up. Regardless of whether it was a successful play or not the coaching staff was wanting to talk with their players and let them know what to do better next time while at the same time letting them know they did good work. Compared to the old Willingham regime's style of coaching this hands-on approach felt almost like bondage. And who doesn't like a little pain with their pleasure?

I was also impressed with how varied our offensive sets were. When Sark was hired I was worried about his pro-style leanings and what that would mean for Jake's legs. I should have known that a bright mind like Sarkisian's would not let such a tool go to waste. Aside from the normal single back pro-sets and various I-formations seen last night there were also glimpses of the spread shown. Jake even ran a read option keeper, something straight out of last year's playbook. To keep LSU honest UW ran and threw out of the spread and had much success. Jake also had some designed rollouts and bootlegs drawn up for him. As the season wears on and Sark gets more comfortable with his personnel and his personnel with him I think we will start to see that playbook really start to open up. When that happens watch out because who knows what wrinkles Coach Sark will add to maximize his talent.

The refs were terrible missing a few calls and a calling a few they shouldn't have. All in all another day for Pac-10 officiating.

The broadcast crew was terrible. There was a real homosexual overtone to everything they talking about and that is aside from voraciously fellating the Bayou Bengals the entire game. There were numerous mentions by one of the broadcasters about how good looking the LSU's football players were followed by b-roll footage of the Tigers walking into the stadium. The broadcaster went on to say that he felt many of the Tigers could win beauty competitions. I'm not sure what relevance that held on last night's game but that didn't matter to the announcer. After the gushing over the (se)x factor for LSU the conversation turned to how much Jake Locker reminded them of Brady Quinn. To prove this point they showed Jake at pre-game warm ups, wind blowing his purple workout shirt against his body, steely blue eyes looking out across the lake, not a shot of him doing anything football related just sexy shots of Jake. The whole thing was hilariously uncomfortable. .I wonder what the folks in the smaller towns of western Washington thought about such homoerotic antics being beamed into their house.

From the way the Dawgs played last night I think it's safe to say that 2009 will be nothing like the dismal years preceding it. If the coaches can get their players up to play at that level every game, something I think they are very capable of, then watch out! This team could shock some people and maybe pull out 6 wins. I'm keeping my expectations muted until we get our first win and see if this intensity is as lasting as I hope it is. I'm predicting 4 wins on the season. Believe me though, it would not shock me at all for the Dawgs to beat some Pac-10 teams and make a bowl game for the first time in 7 seasons. WOOF!!

Matt Millen on ABC

So, I'm sitting here basking in the glory of the opening Saturday of College football while watching Oklahoma State play Georgia on ABC. Life is good, I think, and then I recognize a voice. It's the same one I heard giving his professional opinion during the NFL draft. It's presence in the braodcast booth at this college football game is just as baffling as it's presence at the draft. I shake my head in disbelief, trying to tell myself that this voice I heard could not be the destroyer of Detroit dreams I believed it to be. Then I am greeted with terrible confirmation with a shot of both broadcasters in the booth. My ears hadn't deceived me. The voice I heard did belong to one Matt Millen. I punch myself in the face.

Last January I tuned into NBC to watch some playoff football. Normally I bypass the windbags on the pregame show and turn on the braodcast only right before kickoff. This day I was slightly off with my timing and what I saw shocked me. There was Matt Millen, recently fired GM of the winless Detroit Lions, sitting on the set going on about what this team needed to do to get their offense going and what that team needed to do to keep up on defense.

I didn't understand it. How could one so inept, who had failed so spectacularly on such a grand scale, be allowed to attempt to disseminate information on the exact thing he was so terrible at? How was anybody supposed to take Matt Millen seriously, let alone NBC for hiring this train wreck of a man? I know that sports are an old boys network that run more on who you know rather than how well you do your job but even given that knowledge Millen's hiring made no sense.

Then came the draft. I managed to miss most of it due to prior obligations(read: work crew) but what I did catch was Millen again going about why this player of that player will or won't be successful in the NFL. One of the most consistent failings of Millen's reign in Detroit was his failing to draft productive players and yet there he was telling America which college kids would or would not make in the NFL. The zombified corpse of Layne Staley giving out advice on how to kick heroin and stay clean could not have been more unqualified.

Now I'll be forced to listen to Millen every Saturday comment on the game I'm trying to watch on ABC. I can only hope that, somehow, Millen's stache grows over his mouth inhibiting him from talking. Either that or during a broadcast at Michigan or Michigan State a disgruntled Lions fan goes all Mark David Chapman on Millen. Otherwise it may a long college football season.

Another Reason To Drink Today: Seahawks Cut Brian Russell

It's the opening Saturday of college football today which means many of the readers of this site are out drinking somewhere in celebration. They now have another reason to beer bong another half rack of Pabst. Brian Russell, the ball cancer of suck, was cut today by the Seahawks.

BRuss has been much maligned not only here and Seahawks super-blog Field Gulls but his suck is so glaring that NFL humor site Kissing Suzy Kolber has a "Brian Fucking Russell" tag. That's right he's so bad and KSK mocked him so much he warranted his own tag. Fucking terrible!!

I'm not going to go into detail about the level of BRuss' suck or write a long mocking ode to a terribly incompetent player. The summation of the dark age of Brian Russel at free safety can be found here and here as written by intrepid 'Hawks blogger John Morgan. He details the depressing depths of suck that BRuss created far better than I ever could. Also, check out the gifs in the comments section here to relive the white terror that was Brian Russell. Then after you get done with that pound a couple drinks down in celebration over the fact that, as a Seahawk fan, you will no longer have to worry about Russel making nobodies like Domenik Hixon into stars.

Cheers!!

Neck Beard Out, 6th Round Rookie In

That 2010 first round pick the Seahawks acquired from Denver in return for Seattle's 2009 2nd and 3rd rounders is looking better and better. First, the Broncos got rid of Cutler. Then, they had a less than stellar draft. More recently, WR Brandon Marshall was suspended one game for conduct detrimental to the team after fucking around in practice and batting passes down and generally acting like an ass. Now, the Bronco's will be without their starting QB, Kyle Orton, for the final preseason game and possibly the first game of the season.

After slapping the hand of Bear's player Adewale Ogunleye Kyle Orton received what is known as an open dislocation. Apparently this is when the dislocated bone cuts through the flesh and pops out through the skin, fun. The Bronco's are trying to be coy about this whole thing and are reporting that Orton will only miss the last preseason game this Sunday and that he should be ready to go by the season opener.

Now, I'm no doctor and have no medical experience outside of occasionally smoking medical marijuana. That said, I have to believe that when a finger is dislocated to the point that the bone is sticking out the person with the dislocation won't be able to throw the pigskin around for awhile. Let alone throw the pig-skin with 300+lb men chasing after you. Plus with dislocations and especially dislocations involving lacerations there is always a chance at ligament damage which means rehab would be necesary and that would push the time table for Orton's return back even farther.

Should Orton not be able to go and back-up Chris Simms out for another 2-4 weeks with a high ankle sprain the Bronco's playcalling duties fall to 6th round rookie from Fresno State Tom Brandstater. In other words, the game would be a sure loss.

This is great news for Seahawk fans. A top 5 pick is looking more and more like a real possibility with the way things have shaken out in Denver this season. I still find it amazing that one man could destroy a team so throughoughly in his first few months on the job. But damn if Josh McDaniel's hasn't done exactly that. Oh well, I'm on a schadenfreude high right now and will be cheesed out of my mind until the placement of the pick from Denver is official.

Stay Classy University of Oregon

As a fan of the Pac-10 or of college football in general, for that matter, there are many reasons to hate the University of Oregon. They are a new money program in the Pac-10 whose fans think WAAAY too highly of themselves and their teams and are reputed for their assholish actions, Nike Founder Phil Knight bankrolls their athletic program and pays for cutesy uniform changes every few years like the addition of the silver wings on the shoulder pads this season, and the town of Eugene is a shithole from all accounts I have heard. Tonight UO gave fans a new reason to hate them, LeGarrette Blount and his über-classy sucker punch of a Boise State D-lineman.


Now, I'm sure the lineman said something rather unpleasant to Blount to elicit such a reaction, possibly having to do with the comments he made prior to the game about Oregon owing Boise State an ass-whoopin' after the embarrassing loss at home last season. And perhaps it was an even worse comment than that and he deserved to be punched. But for Blount to cold sucker punch the Boise State player as he turns away to talk to his coach is terribly low. Even for Oregon.

To cap off the altercation with a little more class Blount lost his damn mind on his way out of the stadium. A couple Boise State fans had a few choice words for Blount that did not sit well with the already steamed star. Blount shook his escort out of his shoes with a Barry Sanders like fake as he went to confront the fans. In the end it took almost 6 people to tear Blount away from the stands before he could decimate the offending asshole.

Again, the fans probably had some pretty fucked up things to say to Blount as he walked by. Blount's blow up probably stemmed from rather racist comments judging from Blount's reaction and the fact that the game was in Boise. Still, incredibly racist/fucked up comments or not there is no excuse for the player to attempt to get into the stands like that. No matter how much he may want to and no matter how much the fan(s) might deserve it.

Blount, who is arguably Oregon's best player, will more than likely be out the rest of the year if not kicked out of school and out of college football for good. I have a hard time seeing a different outcome.

As messed up as the sucker punch and following quasi-brawl were it's hard not to take enjoyment in this incident at Oregon's expense. I'll admit I got a nice little schadenfreude hard-on right now thinking about the ramification on the Oregon program. Thanks for the good times and stay classy fellas!

Dog Day Afternoon in Philly

After an Odyssean journey that led him from the back woods of Virginia, to the federal court house, to the county jail and house arrest Mike Vike (aka Ron Mexico) has found a new home, the City of Brotherly love, Philadelphia.

Apparently( and not surprisingly) Eagles' management doesn't have faith in former second round pick Kevin Kolb as the heir apparent Vick will start the season as the back-up to Donovan McNegro. Perhaps as the season progresses Vick will be incorporated into the Mad Dog formation with DeSean Jackson. It will be at that point the sporting world will finally find out how much of that once jaw-dropping, pants shitting, erection giving, atheleticism Mike still posseses.

Philly seems like a good fit for Vick both in terms of personel and scheme. More importantly though, the notoriously surly Philly Phans seem like the perfect fan base to boo root for the Felon. Philly doesn't strike me as the same type of city like Seattle, San Fransisco, or San Diego where extreme liberal leanings will cause protesters to congregate and mindlessly protest their teams signing of an animal abuser like zombies at the mall in "Dawn of the Dead".

I'm sure protesters will show up in Philly, as well. But I hope that some of the more rough Iggles fans threaten or just plain kick the shit out of the PETA style douchebags who will inevitably flock like vultures on a carcass, jockeying for best camera position to properly display their moral indignation. Much like the stupid hippy protesters at Grey's Harbor, I hope these self-righteous fucktards get the shit kicked out of them. The battle between Philly fans and protesters is now my reason for giving two shits about the Iggles.

With Vick's arrival in Philly routine camp battles lose their allure compared the incoming spectacle. All of a sudden the preseason got a lot more interesting.