The Huskies are 5-3

Is was a great game. I just didn't like the outcome.

Yesterday the University of Washington Huskies took on the University of Oregon Ducks. The Ducks were favored going into this game because they were undefeated in conference play and their only loss was to Auburn, a very good and highly-ranked team.

On their first possession after receiving the kickoff, the Ducks marched down the field and scored a touchdown. I thought that meant we were going to lose and lose badly. But then the Huskies pretty much did the same thing. It was a hard-fought game for almost all of its 60 minutes of play. At one point the Huskies led 31-21. But in the fourth quarter, the Huskies' young defense was bushed. You could tell they were moving at about 8/10ths speed. And the Ducks were able to pull into the lead. The Husky offense was also tired and couldn't score, giving up the ball on downs which ended the game. There were no turnovers by either team. A Husky scoop and score or pick six would have helped a lot.

There is an adage that the toughest team wins the game. In this case, it was the Ducks.  The final score was 35-31.

But, no one since Auburn had scored a touchdown against the Ducks this season.  The Huskies scored four. And that was without running back McGrew and Newton, leaving Ahmed to do all the ground carrying. Ahmed ran for 140 yards.

And, frankly, there should have been a pass interference call on the fourth down which would have given the Huskies a first down. But the officials apparently missed it or didn't care.

And the crowd of 70,867 was in the game the entire time, despite early rain.

Next week the Huskies have a bye so maybe their team can heal up a bit. Then on November 2nd, they play Utah at home. The time and network for that game has not been determined yet.

I still love my Huskies. They fought hard for most of the game.

This game put the Ducks firmly in first place in the Pac-12 North with a 4-0 conference record (6-1 overall). The Huskies drop to fourth place (behind the Oregon State Beavers!)(and Stanford) with a 2-3 conference record, 5-3 over all.

Maybe we can go to a nice bowl game and win it (I think Husky coach Chris Petersen has only won one bowl game at UW). But, of course, that means we have to win one more game to be "bowl eligible." Maybe we can beat the Beavers.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12

Speaking of the Beavers, they beat California. That is amazing.  Well, maybe not, California has been

doing pretty bad. The Beavers now have a 2-2 conference record, 3-4 overall.

California is in last place in the Pac-12 North with a 1-3 conference record (4-3 overall), their only win that game where they beat the Huskies late at night.

Washington State got their first in-conference win by beating Colorado.

UCLA beat Stanford. And Utah beat Arizona State. Utah is on top of the Pac-12 South but USC is right on their heels (USC beat Arizona yesterday).

The Polls

The College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings will first be announced on November 5th (which is a Tuesday). I'm sure Washington won't be ranked in the CFP, anyway.

The AP Top 25 College Football poll today has the Ducks moving to up one to #11

Utah also moves up one to #12

And Arizona State, after its loss to Utah, dropped to #24.

Finally, as I feared, Washington dropped off the top 25. If you want to get technical, we're #30. I suspect we won't be in the top 25 again this season.