The Huskies are 6-3

Maybe this is Wazzu's year.

And the Huskies will be lucky to still be ranked.

This was supposed to be the year that Jake Browning and Myles Gaskin got us back into the College Football Playoffs (CFP). We'll be lucky now to end up in a good bowl game.

Yesterday the University of Washington Huskies played the California Golden Bears. This was a game I was not worried about. I was worried about next week when we play Stanford.

I should have worried.

Myles Gaskin was still out with a shoulder injury. That probably didn't help. Salvon Ahmed and the other running backs did their best but it obviously wasn't enough. Jake Browning was having problems. In fact, late in the third quarter, Coach Chris Petersen pulled Browning and put in the back up quarterback Jake Heaner. This proved to be a mistake because Heaner threw an interception that turned into a touchdown for the Bears. He put Browning back in after that. I'm sure a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacks will be questioning that decision.

The Huskies got an early touchdown but never reached the end zone again, having to be satisfied with field goals. At least they all hit. But it wasn't enough. We lost 12-10. Okay, a close game, but a lose is still a loss. That brings us to 4-2 in conference and 6-3 over all. And also puts Washington State (who beat Stanford yesterday) on top of the Pac-12 North.

Oregon also lost to Arizona knocking them out of contention for the Pac-12 North.

If the Huskies win the rest of their three games, including Stanford next week (6:00 PM on the Pac-12 Network) and the Apple Cup against WSU in Pullman, then we might still be Pac-12 North Champions. But I doubt it. Washington State is 4-1 in conference, 7-1 overall, the best record in the Pac-12.

The Polls:

The CFP committee comes out with their rankings Tuesday at 7:00 PM EDT on ESPN. Probably a moot point for the Huskies.

And in the AP top 25 poll, WSU is #10. Utah moved up to #16. And that's it for the Pac-12. UW is out of the top 25 for the first time in about three years.

Like I said, might be Wazzu's year.

College Football Preview for this Weekend

Right now the Pac-12 North standings look like this:

Washington: 4-1 in conference (6-2 overall)
Washington State: 3-1 (6-1)
Stanford: 3-1 (5-2)
Oregon: 2-2 (5-2)
California: 1-3 (4-3)
Oregon State: 0-4 (1-6)

Washington is on top only because they have the most in-conference wins (because they haven't had a bye week, yet). Washington State has the best overall record at 6-1.

Now last week I was hoping for Washington State to beat Oregon. And they did, badly. That pretty much eliminates the evil Ducks from the Pac-12 North championship with the record noted above.

So the Pac-12 Championship comes down to Washington, Washington State, and Stanford (all teams with one in-conference loss).

This weekend the Washington Huskies play California in Berkeley. They had better win that game.

But the big game is Washington State playing Stanford in Palo Alto. The best outcome there (for the

Huskies) is that one of those teams loses. So pretty much, it's a win-win for Washington. It's slightly better if WSU wins, because that'll really push Stanford out of the running for the Pac-12 North Championship. But it's okay if Stanford wins.

But it'll all be moot if Washington doesn't beat Stanford on November 3rd and then beat Washington State in the Apple Cup, in Pullman, on November 23rd (5:30 PM on Fox). To have a shot at the Pac-12 North Championship, the Huskies have to win every game they have left. Two of those should be pretty easy (California and Oregon State), but Stanford and WSU will be tough. At least the Dawgs play Stanford at home.

So, as usual, Go Dawgs!

Stretch Yourself

Time once again for the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "Stretch Yourself."

A lot of people might think that means physically stretch yourself. Run farther, lift more, or other such physical achievements. But I stretch myself in writing.

I try to stretch myself in everything I write. I suppose I could just "phone it in," write the same ol' same ol'. But even if I'm writing in the same genres I usually do (science fiction and fantasy) I try to push myself to do things I haven't done before. For an anthology on libraries I wrote a literary story about an illiterate boy wanting to learn about stars. When I first changed careers, I tried to write a (so far unpublished) literary novel. I once tried to write a romance (it, too, is unpublished).

And my freelance work often causes me to stretch myself. The easiest stories to write are when I interview someone and then write about them. But sometimes I have to interview several people with different points of view. That's a challenge.

How do you stretch yourself. Let me know in the comments below.

Huskies are 6-2

The University of Washington Huskies are now 6-2 (and bowl eligible!) after defeating Colorado yesterday at Husky Stadium.

The Colorado Buffaloes were 5-1 going into this game and 2-1 in conference after a tough loss to USC last week. The Huskies were 5-2 overall and 3-1 in conference after losing to the Oregon Ducks last week.

At first the game looked as if it might be competitive. More so because Husky star running back Myles Gaskin was out with a shoulder injury.

Colorado scored first with a touchdown. The Huskies then got a touchdown. But Colorado intercepted Husky quarterback Jake Browning but only got a field goal off of it. The Huskies then made a field goal. Going into the halftime, the score was 13-14 with Washington head.

But in the second half, the Buffaloes didn't bother to show up. They never scored and allowed Washington to score 13 more points. The final score was 13-27.

Winning this game slightly keeps Washington's hopes of being the Pac-12 champs alive (more on that later). We are 6-2 over all but 4-1 in conference.

Next week, Washington travels to Berkeley to take on the California Bears. The Bears are 4-3 overall but just 1-3 in conference. The game will be at 3:30 PM on FS1.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12

The hated Oregon Ducks traveled to Pullman to play the Washington State University Cougars. And

they lost 20-34. This makes the Ducks 5-2 over all and 2-2 in conference, pretty much eliminating them from the Pac-12 North Championship, The reason why we care is that if the Huskies win the rest of their games (including the Apple Cup against the Cougars), they have a shot at being the Pac-12 North champions. The Cougars are now 6-1 over all and 3-1 in conference. That's the best record in the Pac-12 North. So we have to beat the Cougars on Black Friday.

The other team to worry about is Stanford. They are 5-2 over all and 3-1 in conference. We play Stanford on November 3rd at home. Another must-win game (as are all the Huskies' games from here on out).

Of all the teams in the Pac-12 (well, 12 of them), only the Huskies and the Cougars are now bowl eligible.

The AP Poll

Last week there were three Pac-12 teams in the AP poll: Washington, Oregon, and WSU.

This week there are five. Unfortunately, WSU is now #14 which the Huskies stay at #15. That means Cougar fans are going to be insufferable.

Also ranked are Oregon at #19, Utah at #23 (first time in the poll this year after demolishing USC yesterday), and Stanford is back in the poll at 24.

Ducks versus Cougars

This weekend the University of Oregon Ducks travel to Pullman to take on the Washington State University Cougars. Sunday I said "Go Cougs" about that game. Then I looked at the standings.  In the Pac-12 North the standings are:

Washington: 3-1 in conference (5-2 overall)
Oregon: 2-1 in conference (5-1 overall)
Stanford: 2-1 in conference (4-2 overall)
WSU: 2-1 in conference (5-1 overall)

With Washington and Stanford both with two losses, the Pac-12 North could come down to Oregon or WSU. Depends on who wins the game this Saturday.

So I've decided to stick by my "Go Cougs" original thought. Here's why:

1) If Oregon wins, they will likely be the Pac-12 North champion.
2) if WSU wins, we still have a chance to beat them in the Apple Cup on Black Friday. We've already lost to Oregon.
3) If Washington doesn't lose any more games, and Oregon loses to WSU, Washington still has a chance to be the Pac-12 North champion. A chance.

So, Go Cougs!

The Oregon-WSU game will be Saturday at 4:30 PM PDT on Fox.

And Washington plays Colorado at home at 12:30 PM PDT also on Fox.

Fear

Back to the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "Fear."

That could cover a lot of things, including a video game I once played regularly.

I don't do horror. I don't like horror movies or television shows or books. I call it the Lassie Effect. In the show Lassie, you always knew something bad was going to happen. And the anticipation of that just drives me nuts, especially the more they foreshadow it (which horror loves to do). Some people like that and that's fine. It's just not for me.

I also have no use for torture porn such as the Saw movies.

What am I afraid of? Big spiders, venomous snakes (and spiders), and EMPs.

EMP? Electromagnetic pulse. A rouge nation launches a nuclear weapon, but instead of exploding it a few thousand feet over Washington D.C., they explode it high in the atmosphere over middle America. This causes an electromagnetic pulse that burns out anything electronic, including the power grid. We'd be back in the stone age in a millisecond. And since my health problems require technology to keep me alive, I'd probably be one of the first to die. And if I managed to stay alive, the anarchy that follows such an event where people would be literally killing each other for food would probably kill me pretty quickly, too.

So what do you fear? Let me know in the comments below.

Huskies are 5-2

There goes any hope of being in a College Football Playoff (CFP) spot. And there likely goes any hope of being Pac-12 Champions.

The University of Washington Huskies lost, in overtime, to the reviled University of Oregon Ducks. That makes the Huskies 5-2 over all and 3-1 in Conference. The Ducks are 5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference which pretty much ties them with Washington. But since the beat Washington, they would be the champs.

It was a tight, hard-fought game from the beginning. The score was tied most of the game. The Ducks would pull ahead, then the Dawgs would tie it. The Dawgs would pull ahead, then the Ducks would tie it. It all came down to a field goal with the score tied 24-24 with three seconds left. Husky kicker Payton Henry tried to win the game for the Dawgs, but missed (on his third kick because the Ducks kept "icing" the kicker by calling time out). So the game went into overtime. The Dawgs got a field goal but the Ducks got a touchdown, winning the game 30-27.

The thing is, Coach Chris Petersen had a choice at the end. Trust Jake Browning to get the ball into the end zone of a 4th and goal, or trust his not-very-reliable kicker. He should have trusted Browning.

The Ducks had every advantage. They were coming off a bye week and were playing at home. The Dawgs played a lot of the game without star running back Myles Gaskin due to injury. When rising start Salvon Ahmed went out, too, our running game was in trouble.

Even if the Huskies win the rest of their games, unless the Duck lose again, the Ducks will be Pac-12 North Champions. So we have to root for whoever the Ducks are playing. Next week they play WSU in Pullman. Go Cougs!

Next week we face the Colorado Buffaloes at home. Colorado was undefeated until last night when USC defeated them. That's Homecoming, too, for the Dawgs.

UCLA got their first win of the season defeating Cal yesterday.

A lot of Pac-12 teams had byes this week (I think four teams), including WSU.

Elsewhere in College Football

Number-two ranked Georgia was defeated this weekend by #13 LSU. And #6 West Virginia lost to an unranked team. That'll move all of them down some. That would have been good news if Washington had won. Might have moved them up in the rankings.

And #8 Penn State lost to unranked Michigan State. That will ding them in the polls.

The AP Poll

Washington was at #7 and Oregon was at #17 before this game. Colorado was at #19 before they lost to unranked USC.

Now Washington is #15 (not as bad a drop as I thought it would be) and Oregon is #12. Colorado is no longer ranked. But look who, on a bye week, is suddenly in the top 25: Washington State at #25.