Disbelief

I imagine that is the mood in Husky nation after today's game. Disbelief that the Huskies could allow Arizona to pass for over 500 yards, disbelief that they could lose a game in which they themselves had over 500 yards of total offense and of course total disbelief that they could blow another second half led. There are no excuses to be found this time, because no matter how you look at it Arizona is at the very best equal with UW talent wise. There is simply nothing that can justify blowing a 15 point lead in the 4th quarter at home to a 2-6 team. Although the offense did have some turnovers, including that key fumble in the fourth quarter, the blame for this one falls almost entirely on the defense. They allowed 500+ total yards and 20+ fourth quarter points for the second consecutive week and continue to be one of the worst in the country. No question it's time for a change and Ken Baer should be the first one to go. Clearly there are some issues with talent on that side of the ball, but a coaches job is to work with what he has and put his players in a position to succeed and make plays. Ken Baer simply isn't getting the job done. If Tyrone Willingham wants to help cool down that ever heating seat he's on it would be wise for him to make a change at that spot. I realize that Willingham has a history with Baer and coaches like having guys they know and trust with them on the sideline, but at some point on-field performance has to take precedence. The season looks even bleaker than it did last week now, as the Huskies may find it tough to even win a game from here on out. It's possible that this season will represent a step-back from last season, which is never a good thing for a coach who is supposedly rebuilding a program. At least not if he wants to keep his job.

Hasty Leaving UW

Thats the news out of UW today. Here is more info in Bob Condotta's blog on the Seattle Times website. Sounds like he simply wasn't happy with not getting playing time and felt like he wasn't getting a fair shot. Pretty similar to the Harvey Perry situation with the basketball team last season. Perry quit the team after just six games, because he wasn't getting enough playing time and ended up transferring to Idaho. Hasty leaving isn't really a big blow to the team football wise, because Hasty hadn't really contributed at all in his time here. But I'm sure coaches and of course fans were still hoping that Hasty could find the form that made him a star at Bellevue High. In his senior year Hasty scored a state record 50 touchdowns and led Bellevue to their fourth straight state championship. He was one of the players that just seemed like a sure thing. Big, strong and fast coming out of a winning program. It's never an encouraging sign when a player simply doesn't want to work harder to earn his spot and just quits the team. Maybe that's a little insight into why he never lived up to expectations. He's certainly not the first big talent to flop and he certainly will not be the last.

Weekend Picks

Huskies -3.5 over Arizona - A lot has been said nationally this week about the Huskies simply facing too tough a schedule so far this season to do much better than they have. They've already played four out of the top five teams in the Pac-10 plus the number one team in the country. No doubt the schedule gets easier from here on out, but nothing is guaranteed considering UW has one of the worst defenses in all of Division 1-A. Hopefully this game will show that the lack of D is at least partly a product of the brutal schedule. Look for the Dawgs to be able to move the ball very well against Arizona's defense and they should be able to snag a few turnovers against a pass happy offense.

Huskies can win if: They get a couple big plays like last week and don't give up 600+ total yards. UW 27, Arizona 20

Nathan Hale (my alma mater) +23.5 over O'Dea - Ok, so I made that spread up, but it would have to be somewhere near there, right? The Raiders will probably be over matched physically, but they can run the ball really well and are incredibly well coached. Look for Hale to keep it somewhat close and if O'Dea overlooks them and the Raiders can snag some breaks O'dea could be in for at least a scare. My bias is too strong on this one for a score prediction. Go Raiders!

Guillen Gone?

That's what it sounds like according to this article by John Hickey in the Seattle PI. This come as a little bit of a surprise as it seemed like the M's were close to signing Guillen to an extension near the end of August, but both sides wanted to wait until the end of the season to finalize the details. No doubt this has something to do with the Mariners needing to find a spot in the line-up for Adam Jones and Guillen's asking price being a little too high. Reports back in August had a possible deal at around $10 million per year for three years. Spending that kind of money to keep Guillen would handcuff the Mariners as far as trying to improve the starting rotation this off season. Plus it's possible the Adam Jones could provide similar production offensively, as well as an improvement defensively and his cost will be less than 1/10th of Guillen's. Also, Guillen turns 32 in May of next year and would have been 35 at the end of a three year contract. Tie that in with Guillen's long history of injuries and it seems like the decision to let him go may be for the best. It's still tough to see Guillen go, because he was one of our most productive hitters all season long and appeared to bring a fire to the Mariners that they seem to have always lacked.

Shaun or O-Line, Who's to Blame?

With the running game probably being the the most glaring weakness of the Hawks this year it has obviously been a hot topic. Danny O'Neil's blog on the Seattle Times' website had some interesting quotes from Mike Holmgren today about where the blame falls. It seems as though Coach Holmgren doesn't think that Shaun Alexander is the problem, citing breakdowns with the teams blocking as the reason behind the Hawks' struggles. Alexander has been under some heat from fans growing impatience with his lack of production. Last year he was banged up with injuries, but most people expected him to return to at least close to his MVP form this season. So where should the blame really lie? Football is without a doubt the ultimate team sport, so putting the blame on any one player seems unfair. At the same time though, if Alexander is going to get all the credit when he's running well, shouldn't he take at least some of the blame when the going gets tough? Was his MVP season really just a product of a great offensive line? I'm sure most would see that as an unfair assessment as well. Running the football successfully requires a lot of pieces to be working well together. Steve Hutchinson is not coming back and neither is Mack Strong. The bottom line is that everyone we do have needs to step up and be accountable, so that we can get back to running the ball the way we have the past few years.

Big Win for Hawks

Yeah, the Rams were 0-6 coming in, but anytime you can win on the same day all other members of your division lose it's a big win. This win may not be impressive to some due to how low the Rams have dipped at this point in the season (really really low), but just last week the Hawks weren't able to beat a winless Saints team at home and today they were able to right the ship at least for a week and dominate on both sides of the ball. However, their is still cause for concern about some aspects of this team. The run game in particular continues to be almost completely ineffective. Shaun Alexander gained less than three yards per carry and failed to score for the third consecutive game. The Hawks must be able to establish some kind of a run game if they are going to put together any sort of winning streak. A possible sign for future games was the fact that Mo Morris was given ten carries in the game (Shaun had 19) and Leonard Weaver continued to be featured in passing situations. Both seemed more effective than Shaun running the ball and both also have the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. It will be interesting to see how the touches get divided up in the next few weeks. Really it's tough to complain at all about a blowout win like today's. The offense moved the ball, the defense dominated the game and Nate Burleson had a huge special teams play returning the opening kick in the second half for a TD. Great way to go into a bye week and hopefully the Hawks are ready to get rolling and string some wins together.