Upset Weekend

It was a weekend of upsets. Unfortunately, the University of Washington Huskies were no exception.

It started Friday when #2 Clemson was beat by Syracuse. And #8 Washington State was demolished by California (the same team the Huskies beat last week). I was getting excited thinking that after the Huskies beat Arizona State, they might move up to #4 in the AP top 25 poll.

(There were other upsets in the AP top 25 but those were the important ones.)

Alas, it was not to be. Maybe it was the second late game in a row (starting at 7:45 PM). Maybe it was curse of Tempe (the Huskies haven't won there since the early 2000s). Maybe it was the 80 degree weather. Maybe it was the kicking game. That didn't help. Had those two FGs been made, the game would have been tied and gone into overtime and we might have still won.

The Huskies went three and out on their first drive, then the Sun Devils scored on their first drive. The Huskies. The Huskies were moving slow and Quarterback Jake Browning was having an off night (his first of this season). Going into the half the score was 13-0 with ASU in the lead.

Three big problems didn't help. A touchdown on a trick play was called back for a holding call. And the Huskies' place kicker missed two (two!) field goals. The defense finally woke up and held ASU scoreless in the second half. But the offense just couldn't connect.

The final score was 13-7. The Huskies go to 6-1 and that probably ends their hopes to return to the CFP playoffs. Maybe if they win every game from now on. But likely not.

Next week the Dawgs have a bye. Then on October 28th they play UCLA at home. That gives them two weeks to fix what went wrong last night. I'm wondering if it's too late to get a new kicker.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12:

USC had a come-from-behind win against Utah last night. That puts USC solidly in control of the Pac-12 South.

In the Pac-12 North, Stanford is technically on top because their in-conference record is 4-1 even though they are 5-2 overall. The Huskies and the Cougars are tied for second at 3-1 in conference and 6-1 overall. No one else is competitive in the North, especially after Stanford demolished Oregon last night. So it's going to come down to who beats Stanford (if anybody) and who wins the Apple Cup. (Stanford plays Notre Dame on the last weekend of the regular season. Go Fighting Irish!)

The Polls:

I suppose it could have been worse. In the AP top 25 poll, Clemson, after their loss, went from #2 to #7. Washington went from #5 to #12. WSU went from #8 to #15. USC went from #13 to #11. And Stanford went from #23 to #22.