I missed posting last week, maybe it was depression settling in or something. But it gets hard to write about football when all i see every week is depressing.  However, I did get to watch the UW OSU game from the Don James Center, which I could watch the Huskies lose every game by 60 and the experience would still be enjoyable. Anyways, I thought the Huskies played their second best game of the year, behind only the BYU game. Against Arizona, they were asleep, Oklahoma destroyed them and Oregon redefined the term "men vs boys".  Aside from a couple of breakdowns containment-wise, the defense played relatively well. They did fairly well in gap control and you can certainly tell that the defensive line is improving, they held their own at the line of scrimmage until they wore down in the second half which, despite lots of substituting, they don't have a lot of depth on the line.  One thing this defense lacks, is speed, all of the guys in the back seven are good athletes, but take angles like they are still the fastest guys on the field, which they aren't.

   A couple thoughts on players:

 I doubt Nate Williams will play in the NFL, he seems a little small and doesn't have great speed, but he is a football player, he can hit, tackle well and read plays relatively well.

  Quintin Richardson was out and out abused, OSU picked on him much of the first half while they tried to loosen up the Huskies defense for the running game later. He's built like an SEC corner, but needs to improve moving his hips and reacting quicker. Like most  young players he gives too much of a cushion and gets beat underneath a lot. I don't really blame him, the corners do not get a lot of safety help on the outside.

  Everette Thompson, a true freshmen who once he gets in the weight room is going to be a force. He is one of those high motor guys who once he learns his craft will be a great pass rusher.

 Daniel Teo'Nesheim, I probably mispelled his name, by far the best defensive player on the team. Double teamed most of the game, never stops playing, never gets tired, he's a pretty good football player, which is ignored because he is on such a bad team.

                      The offense:

  The scheme is terrible, I hate it, there is no rhythm, no general philosophy, nothing. Sometimes they line up in the I and run it right at teams, sometimes they like to spread it out and pretend their texas tech. They want to be a jack of all trades, which means they are okay at everything but don't excel at anything in particular. With that offensive line, they need to go with a more traditional offense. The o linemen don't move well enough to pass protect the whole game, they are hulks of human beings, let them lean on people and drive block. If I broke down the game tape from Saturday, I'm willing to bet the Huskies averaged 8-10 yards A CARRY when they ran it up the middle. Yet in the second quarter they chose to run wide and heave ho it.  Furthermore, the wild heave up the deep ball scheme they utilized because they had their receivers in man coverage is sophomoric at best.  The offense didn't have any rhythm or timing. This offense does have any to begin with. How about slants, quick outs and other routes that are specifically designed for man coverage? They went to that briefly (A 15 yard out call that the qb was late on and it resulted in a pick) but they have to stick with it.  When you lack depth on defense, control the ball on offense, run it, use high percentage passing, they have the tools, this team has talent, boatloads of it, it is unpolished but its talent. Run the ball, use play action passing and timing routes to create an offensive rhythm. Its not that hard.