There are a lot of loyal Husky fans who don’t sleep in Seattle because their team hasn’t won in Seattle. They’re just itching to take another hit for the cause because Washington has become arguably the worst team in the nation.
The Huskies may be barking like an angry dog, but their opponents are no longer paying attention to them. They’re not even listening; they are laughing. The once proud and winning tradition built by the immortal Don James has become so unraveled by other hands that it may never be brought together again.
The positive proof came last Saturday (10-4-08) in Tucson (AZ) when Arizona led 48-7 after three quarters and coach Mike Stoops mercifully allowed his troops to post a 48-14 victory. The loss was Washington’s fifth straight this season and seventh straight since last season. Even a winless Army team picked up its first victory on Saturday by beating Tulane 44-13, leaving only North Texas (also 0-5) and Washington as the only Division IA teams without a win.
Even North Texas has only lost 6 in a row since their last game a year ago, meaning the Huskies have the longest losing streak in the nation. The Huskies have lost to bitter rivals Oregon (44-10), Brigham Young (28-27), Oklahoma (55-14), Stanford (35-28) and now Arizona (48-14). Their two season-ending losses came to bitter in-state rival Washington State (42-35) and Hawaii (35-28).
It’s true that through the sixth week of the season, Washington has played the second-toughest schedule among the 119 teams in Division 1-A. The problem is that we’re not talking about Tuba City, Montana Buffaloes; we’re talking about the once-proud, once-feared Washington Husky football program.
And, yes, the Tuba City, Montana Buffaloes are fictional; It’s just hard to compare the Huskies to any other team because there’s no team worse than Washington right now.
So how bad are the Huskies? Thought you’d never ask. The Huskies are that bad: Jeff Sagarin has rated them 108th out of 242 possible 1-A and 1-AA teams. There are 10 ranked 1-AA teams ahead of Washington. They run from Montana (on the 106) to James Madison (on the 70) and include Massachusetts, Jacksonville State, Appalachian State, Weber State, Richmond, New Hampshire, Villanova, and McNeese State. This isn’t exactly a powerful lineup.
There are 22 1-A schools rated worse than Washington, with the poorest being Idaho (ranked 183) and then North Texas (ranked 180). All 10 AA teams and 22 A teams except North Texas have done something Washington hasn’t: win at least one game this season.
Washington coach Ty Willingham has definitely joined a not-so-famous club that includes Clemson’s Tommy Bowden, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer, Virginia’s Al Groh and Syracuse’s Greg Robinson. All of them are about to be fired as head coaches.
Willingham will not survive this season. The only real question that remains is: will he even win a single game?
Washington has a goodbye this weekend. What the Huskies really need is not a bye week but a bye season.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
