Loyal University of Washington fans should be heartened by the fact that the Huskies played No. 7-ranked Oregon to a 31-31 tie through three quarters Saturday (10-20-07) before being outscored 24-3 in the fourth quarter and losing 55-34.

Up until Saturday’s confrontation at home against the Ducks, the Huskies had pretty much lost it coming out of the locker room for the second half.

The media coverage following the loss concentrated mostly on the Huskies giving up 661 yards to Oregon’s high-scoring offense, 465 rushing yards and a career-high 251 rushing yards to Duck tailback Jonathan Stewart, a product of Timberline High School in Lacey, who should have been a Husky.

Instead of acknowledging the fact that Oregon gave up 34 points in their win, the media drew attention to the fact that the loose rushing defense caused the Huskies to drop to 118th in rushing defense among 119 major college teams, and rank 107th overall in defensive yards allowed.

Heck, at least half if not three quarters of the teams in America would be exactly where the Husky defense is ranked if they had played Washington’s schedule through the first seven games. Washington has played the toughest schedule for the last five weeks among 242 Division I teams.

The Husky defense is not as bad as the statistics would suggest. For one thing, Washington has no depth anywhere and by the 4th quarter, not only were too many players out of position, they were winded from being on the field with Oregon’s offense for more than 34 minutes.

For another, Washington has played 5 nationally-ranked teams straight up halfway through those games, leading in 3 of them against Ohio State (only the current No. 1 team in the country), USC (then ranked No. 2) and No. 12-ranked Arizona State.

Here is a news flash: Washington was supposed to lose to Oregon. I predicted it weeks ago.

Rather than focus on everything that was not happening against Oregon, let’s recognize what did happen:

1) Redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker threw an 83-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Anthony Russo, the 4th-longest TD pass in Husky history. Russo now has at least one reception in 31 consecutive games.

2) Jake Locker threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Marcel Reese.

3) Jake Locker threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to senior tailback Louis Rankin, the longest reception of his career.

4) Jake Locker threw another touchdown pass to Marcel Reese, this one for 38 yards.

5) Louis Rankin racked up 238 all purpose yards, 132 in kickoff returns, 73 in rushing (a 6.6 yard average per carry) and 43 receiving.

6) Jake Locker added 78 yards rushing at 6.0 yards per carry.

I fully expect Washington to lose to California for its 6th loss of the year, after all, California is not like playing against the scout team in practice.

On the plus side, I fully expect Washington to beat Arizona, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State and Hawaii to end the season with a 7-6 mark and play in a bowl game.

I do not care if the Huskies win in the last minute or if they win by a field goal, a safety or an extra point. If flat does not matter. I do not care if the Huskies finish dead last in rushing defense or overall defense.

Hawaii has won games by 45-44 in overtime against Louisiana Tech, 42-35 in overtime against San Jose State, 52-37 against Utah State, 63-6 against AA Northern California and 66-10 against AA Charleston Southern. Hawaii is 7-0 and currently ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

If Hawaii can pull off such wonder I think Washington can do the same against better competition.

The Huskies have been through hell and back and have survived. They are getting better and better offensively.

If you think things cannot get worse, check out Minnesota. The Gophers are 1-7 in the Big 10 and still have to play Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Their lone win came against a mediocre Miami of Ohio team 41-35 in overtime. My guess is they drink an awful lot after games at Minnesota.

Dennis Erickson and his Sun Devils are 7-0 and riding high, but they still have to play California, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Arizona. Have fun, and good luck Dennis.

Who would you rather be now, Arizona State or Washington?

The fun for fans in Huskyville is just beginning. Strap on your shoulder pads, paint your face and put on your helmet because things are going to get better.

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley