College football in Washington

College football season kicks off in just a few weeks. And that means that the state of Washington will once again become divided. Huskies vs. Cougars. Cougars vs. Huskies. Either way, you have to pick just one.

In case you're not partial to either team, I figured it was a good time to get some facts about each school out there that have been bouncing around in the media as of late.

Washington has been singing the praises of Steve Sarkisian since, in his first year at UW, he lead the Dawgs from a dismal (to say the least) 0-12 season to a 5-7 record with a landmark win over powerhouse USC.

The future isn't looking as bright for Sarkisian's WSU counterpart Paul Wulff. In Wulff's two seasons at WSU he has a gruesome 3-22 record. The fact is that Wulff is on the hot seat. By hot seat I mean that the seat has been lite on fire and if he can't do things fast this year I don't see him coming back for a fourth year. (And could someone find him a larger hat!!!) The problem for Wulff is that the Cougars are predicted to be terrible. Their defense is awful. Just awful. Last season they gave up 6,144 yards in 12 games, which converts to 3½ miles. And along with all those yards, the Cougars also gave up a ton of points. They allowed 30 points or more in nine games. Perhaps these are a few of the reasons that Maxim dubbed the WSU Cougars THE WORST team in college football for the 2010 season. Sorry Coug fans.

On a brighter note for the state of Washington, UW has a Heisman candidate on their roster. And it's no surprise that candidate is none other than THE Jake Locker. ESPN has him slated at number two starting the season:

2. Jake Locker, Washington: The NFL loves the quarterback's skills. The Dawg fans just love him. The Heisman voters won't love this senior unless the Huskies return to the winning ways of yore.

Speaking of the Huskies winning this season they have a HUGE game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on September 18. Lincoln, Nebraska is already talking about the National Championship parade and even Brian Griese says that the nation will be all about the "Big Red". And won't have any problems in Seattle. Eventually going 11-1. A win over these "touted Huskers" would do wonders for Sarkisian and the Dawgs season. Not to mention cause the midwest to implode.

Let's not forget how the 1991 Washington Huskies went into Lincoln and blew-up the Huskers hopes for a National Championship. UW beat NU 36-21Husker Nation still hates UW because of that. Oh, and the fact that instead UW raised the National Champion banner.



With one team on the rebuild and one sinking further into the cellar, it's sure to be an interesting season. I'm just glad football is back!

Washington Huskies Weekly Update

The UW football team finally won a game. Well I guess they couldn't lose since they were playing themselves in coach Steve Sarkisian's first spring game as head coach for the purple and gold. It was a lopsided affair as the Purple team beat the White team 33-0.

I was at the game (a friend of mine took pictures and has promised to send them to me soon, so I will post them when I get them), and even though it was my first Husky spring game, I did walk away impressed with the turnout and how excited all the fans were. Jake Locker looked really good, especially after coming back from a broken thumb and playing in a new offense. Locker completed 16 of 18 passes and had his receivers held on to the other two passes he would have been perfect. Granted this was the spring game and they were going against the no. 2 defense but it was great to see how efficient Locker was.

Other than Locker, I was impressed with Jermaine Kearse (My friend Lisa gave him the evil eye after he dropped the first pass thrown to him) who ended up catching 5 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown at the end of the game. Chris Polk was also impressive in running for 95 yards on 12 carries and scoring a touchdown. Polk had a lot of room to run on sweeps and Off Tackle plays.

After the game fans had 30 minutes to go out on the field and get autographs and photos with players and coaches. We got in on some photos with Coach Sarkisian, Jake Locker and a giant of a man, Offensive Lineman Ben Ossai, who seemed happy to see us because he could stand up to get his photo taken instead of kneeling down to get shots with the kids.

All in all it was a great day (weather could have been better, but in Seattle when couldn't you say that) and the game gave me a football fix that should hold me until NFL camps start opening in July.

In other Washington Huskie news the Pac-10 Men's Golf Championships start today and continue until Wednesday here in Seattle. If you get a chance head over to the Seattle Golf Club to root on the 5th ranked Huskies.

Seven recruits already for 2010 UW freshman class

New University of Washington Head Football Coach Steve Sarkisian has already been busy getting commitments from players to join UW's 2010 freshman class.

He has already gotten seven recruits to verbally commit.

Of those recruits is Jamall Kearse out of Lakes High School. Kearse is a 6-foot-2-inch, 200 pound receiver and Scout.com has him listed as a four star recruit.

Husky fans might be familiar with the name Kearse as his older brother Jermaine is already on the team. Jermaine caught 20 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman last year for UW.

Jamall is the third player from Lakes to join the 2010 class. Might have to change the name to UW Lancers.

Another commit was Ben Riva of O'Dea High School. Riva is a 6-foot-6 285 offensive lineman.

UW Recruiting Recap

The Washington Huskies didn't make a huge splash on High School Football National Signing Day, but I didn't expect them to nor did most anybody else with Steve Sarkisian not being hired until December 7th, as well as the teams struggles last season. Most recruiting websites ranked the Huskies with the 9th or 10th rated class in the Pac-10. A great number of players the Huskies signed were from Junior Colleges .

The key player in this class was Wide Receiver James Johnson from Valley Center, California, according to coach Sarkisian. Sarkisian also stated that much of what UW did for this signing period was lay the groundwork for the 2010 class. To view Washington's entire class and read bios on each player click here.

It appears every recruit will have an immediate opportunity to play with how bad the Huskies were last year. I think that with an entire year of recruiting under his belt, a better crop of prospects from the state, and with Sarkisian's ties to the California and Utah areas, the Huskies will have a much better class next year. Go Dawgs!!