Saturday, October 10, 2015

Upset!

Going into Thursday nights game against the University of Southern California Trojans, the University of Washington Huskies were double-digit underdogs. The Trojans were ranked #17 and the Huskies were 2-2 on the season after a bad loss to California. The game was in prime time on ESPN so this was another game where they Huskies were expected to lose in front of a national radiance (like their season opening game against Boise State).

And to top if off, the game was being played on USC's home turf in front of their rabid fans and with their band doing all it can to intimidate opponents.

But there's something about USC. The Huskies have a habit of beating them when they aren't supposed to. The Husky defense forced turnovers including two interceptions. At first, the Washington offense had trouble capitalizing on those turnovers but eventually they made a touchdown after a fumble with a trick, two-pass play.

The USC offense couldn't catch a break and only converted on one third down the entire game. Their quarterback missed passes he shouldn't have including a 2-point conversion attempt. At one point the score was 17 - 6, UW on top.

A late rally by USC closed the gap to 5 points but USC couldn't get past the Huskies' very young defense. The game ended at 17 - 12, Washington on top. Washington is now 3-2 on the season and, gee, guess what, so is USC. I don't know if this loss will bump USC from the two 25 (where they were once ranked 6th), but it's not going to help them.

What made the game even a sweeter victory was it was against former UW coach Steve Sarkisian who Husky fans felt jilted when he left for USC at the end of 2013 regular season but before the Huskies bowl game that year. Already some in the media are saying Sarkisian was a bad choice for USC.

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