Anatomy Of A Team On The Rise - Washington Will Get Over Freshmanitis And Really Thrive

Posted on March 19, 2008 - Filed Under Recreation and Sports

Ohio State blew into Husky Stadium last Saturday (9-15-07) as the No. 10-ranked team in the AP Top 25 Poll, and after beating Washington 33-14 became the No. 8-ranked team.

In other words, the Buckeyes’ victory over Huskies was so impressive they moved up two spots in the AP poll.

Had Ohio State beaten the Tuba City Montana Bighorns (a factitious college in a factitious city in a real state) by the same score, the Buckeyes might well have dropped among the Top 25.

Whether you like it or not, University of Washington football is once again a big deal, in no small part because of Head Coach Ty Willingham and his avalanche of freshmen cascading down to the turf.

Let me give a big shout out to Husky fans: There is no need to jump into Lake Washington because the Huskies lost to Ohio State. They were expected to lose, and they did. No big deal.

There should be no cause for alarm just because Washington is suffering from a form of freshmanitis. There is a much brighter future ahead.

Did you notice that Washington led Ohio State 7-3 at the half and the Huskies had momentum on their side? Fans were dizzy with excitement at halftime, remembering Washington’s upset of No. 22 Boise State a week earlier.

The Huskies were inside Ohio State territory 6 times against the top-ranked Buckeye defense. They were ready to pad their lead on the opening drive of the second half, moving to Ohio State’s 19 before three consecutive plays lost yardage, the last a sack by linebacker Jim Laurinaitis.

Did I mention that Laurinaitis was last season’s Nagurski Award winner as THE nation’s best defensive player in college football? Laurinaitis has an “itis” too but his is like good HDL rather than bad LDL.

A blocked 46-yard field goal attempt led to Buckeye Brian Robiskie running past Husky freshman cornerback Vonzell McDowell for a 68-yard touchdown less than 6 minutes into the second half.

On the ensuing kickoff, Husky freshman Curtis Shaw fumbled trying to get more yardage after he was initially hit. Ohio State recovered and then Chris Wells ran through an arm tackle by freshman Vonzell McDowell for a 14-yard touchdown run.

In a scant 39 seconds the score changed from Washington ahead 7-3 to Washington behind 17-7 with 9 minutes left in the third quarter.

Did I mention that Ohio State has won 22 of its last 23 games? The Buckeyes only loss in 23 games was to Florida in the national championship game last January.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker rushed for 102 yards and passed for another 153, but Locker was also intercepted three times and threw some terrible passes.

Two of the interceptions were by Nagurski Award-winner Jim Laurinaitis, both of them coming deep in Buckeye territory. One was on a third-and-goal at Ohio State’s 5-yard line when he deflected a shovel pass to himself, and the other came at the Ohio State 13-yard line.

Did you notice that Buckeye Head Coach Jim Tressel got a bucket of ice water dumped on his head on the last play of the game? You would have thought that Ohio State had won the BCS national championship game.

Trust me when I say that Tressel and his Buckeyes were happy to get out of Seattle with a win against a very dangerous team that is about to become more dangerous.

There is no way I can be overly upset with freshman mistakes by Jake Locker, Vonzell McDowell and Curtis Shaw. If they were all 5th year seniors I would be cussing in three foreign languages, but they are all talented freshmen capable of great plays and costly mistakes.

They are all pups about to grow up and into great players who will leave a legacy behind when their Husky football days are over. They are going to be joined by other great freshmen next year and the year after.

There may be some Husky boosters who object to playing freshman that can ruin an upset attempt.

If you think Ty Willingham is stupid to play freshmen, let me introduce you to another stupid coach named Urban Meyer. Remember him? He only took Florida to a 13-1 record and the national championship last season in his second year at Florida.

Urban Meyer is so stupid he has already played 17 freshmen this year. A whopping 47 freshmen and sophomores have seen action in Florida’s first three games. Do you think that Meyer is waiting around for his juniors and seniors to get with it?

Before arriving at Florida, Meyer went 22-2 at Utah and won two consecutive Mountain West Conference championships. He has won all four bowl games his teams have competed in during this coaching career, and he has compiled a 64-12 career coaching record (that’s 84% for math majors).

Washington Coach Ty Willingham suddenly does not look so stupid. You can bet the freshmen he is playing think he is pretty smart and will likely prove so in the weeks to come.

Ed Bagley’s Blog Publishes Original Articles on Current and Past Events with Analysis and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate, delight and motivate you the reader. Find my Blog at:
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Tags: college, college football, football, Huskies, Jake Locker, McDowell, Ohio State, Shaw, Washington

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