Picking The Cougs And Dawgs To Cover

Posted in Football, Outside the Lines | 1 comment

I thought about driving down to Eugene this morning for the Cougar-Duck game but decided it against it for three reasons:

• My 7-year-olds have a basketball game at 1:15, and the Cougar-Duck game starts at noon. I didn’t want to miss their game, so I’ll watch the first quarter of the Cougs and the Ducks, then go to the Go 2 Twins’ game and watch the rest of the football game on tape when I get home.

• I’m free-lancing for the Cincinnati Enquirer at tomorrow’s Bengals-Seahawks’ game, which means I’d have to drive back from Eugene tonight or early tomorrow morning, neither of which sounded like very good options.

• There’s a good chance we’re gonna get killed by the Ducks, and I can picture myself walking out of Autzen Stadium after we lose 68-7 wondering why I drove five hours to watch that. I’ve had that feeling before after Cougar games, as we all have I’m sure.

Actually, I don’t think we’re going to get completely blown out, just kind of blown out. The Ducks are favored by 35. They have faster, bigger and better athletes than we do. They are playing at home.

But I just have a feeling that we’re going to muster up a halfway decent effort today? Why? Honestly, I don’t know, maybe it’s just wishful thinking. But from hearing Paul Wulff this week, it sounds like the players are sick of hearing this talk about their coach’s shaky job status. What I took away from Wulff’s comments is that his team should play hard for him today.

Everyone knows we’re going to lose. But how we lose will be important for Wulff. If we’re in the game and fight back and make it respectable, Bill Moos will take notes and put them in the positive column for retaining Wulff. If we give up and give in and get our doors blown off, well, that will be one step closer to the pink slip.

We played Oregon tough last year at Martin Stadium. I’m hoping that will be the case again today in Eugene. The combination of us getting up for them, and them not really getting up for us and looking ahead to games against Washington and Stanford should produce a 28-point defeat instead of a 49-point defeat.

Brother, to think that a 28-point defeat would be some kind of minor victory that you can hang your hat on is pretty pathetic, but that’s where we are with the Cougs this week, especially after that disappointment to the Beavs last week in Seattle.

DUCKS 48, COUGS 20

ARIZONA at WASHINGTON (-4 ½): Nick Holt and his sorry Husky defense have been criticized all week long. Holt is everyone’s favorite punching bag. I’ve enjoyed all of the stories questioning his leadership and whether he’s worth $650,000 a year.

The other story line has focused on the Wildcats and how rejuvenated they are now that Mike Stoops is gone. Their new coach, Tim Kish, wants them to have fun again, and boy did they have a lot of fun against UCLA last week.

Many people think that the re-energized Wildcats will come to Seattle and that Nick Foles will have his way with the Dawgs tonight. Foles threw for 384 yards at Husky Stadium two years ago. Since the Huskies have one of the worst pass defenses in the country, he should throw for more than 400 tonight.

I hope that’s what happens. I hope Foles has a field day and that Arizona rolls to an easy win. But I don’t see that happening. I see Keith Price having a bigger night for Washington. Arizona’s defense is worse than the Huskies’, and Price has more weapons than Foles does.

Plus I just think the Husky defense will somewhat silence their critics with a better effort this evening, enough of one anyway to allow Price and Co. to outscore the Wildcats.

U DUB 44, ARIZONA 24