Continuing on with the Pac-10 roundtable discussions, today’s focus is Washington!

HydroTech: I would just like to start off this roundtable discussion with a sympathetic shoutout to the Huskies for playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation.  They play 13 regular season games!  Of which they are @ Syracuse, then playing Boise St., scared-of-Cal Ohio St., and @ Hawaii.  This tough scheduling really sucks for Ty Willingham though.  I think he’s slowly turning things around up there, but this next year will surely bring him a lot of criticism even though he had nothing to do with the schedule. 

YellowFever: If memory serves me correctly, they weren’t entirely horrible last year, which is a start.  But Tyrone Willingham is a tough coach to figure out.  He was the last coach to do anything at Stanford (unless you’re pining for Buddy Teevens in the wake of the Walt Harris era), and did a good job recruiting there even in the face of the rigorous academic standards that Jim Harbaugh has such a love/hate relationship with.  But then after a good start to his first year at Notre Dame mostly through smoke and mirrors, the team was exposed for it’s all defense/special teams and no offense constitution.  As a matter of fact, I recall talking to a high school friend of mine at Notre Dame on the eve of the first Stanford/Notre Dame game after Willingham’s move, and he was saying that there were plans for signs that said, "We stole your coach.  Next, we take your women."  Apparently they’ve never seen any Stanford women.

TwistNHook: Not only do they have a tough sked, but they apparently are starting a new QB.  A 19 year old redshirt freshman.  Tough schedule+brand new QB=rough year.

But then again, last year they were having a rough year and were starting their backup QB and almost defeated us last year in an instant classic.  So, who knows?

HydroTech: Cal actually recruited Washington’s starting quarterback, Jake Locker.  He’s supposedly an extremely mobile quarterback.  As in the Micheal Vick type (without all the legal troubles) as opposed to elusive quarterbacks that just move around within the pocket.  If he’s just as good of a passer as Vick, we shouldn’t be too concerned.  Vick was never that great of a passer. 

Mobile QBs just annoy me though.  I remember that Stanback would just run around back and forth behind the LOS like this was a video game.  None of our linemen could catch him, and our DBs were forced to cover the receivers for minutes at a time.  Ridiculous. 

YellowFever: The thing about being a mobile quarterback in college is that it really does open everything else up.  It’s hard to remember this now, but Vick set a record for passer rating as a redshirt freshman in 1999 in his first year starting at Virginia Tech.  It’s so much harder to account for mobile quarterbacks in college because teams just don’t have the athleticism across to board to deal with it, so having a mobile guy provides a tremendous advantage.  Of course, this isn’t to predict that Locker is going to have the same level of success that Vick did in his first year, but their team could be much better than people expect because of his presence.  Unfortunately, because of their schedule, it may not look that way at first glance.

TwistNHook: In speaking with a friend of mine yesterday about Locker, he said the hype for Locker reminded him of the hype for Kyle "Jesus In Cleats" Boller. Boller’s first year at Cal was also my first year at Cal.  So, I remember it quite clearly, too.  He was viewed as the saviour.  Was so good that Ken Dorsey, who went to my rival high school, had decided to go to Miami instead of try to beat out Boller.  Good call for Dorsey, there.  Won a national championship instead of enduring the Holmoecaust.

But I remember how Boller played that first year.  Even with the "Hit Squad" behind him (and I feel that by then the squad had lost much of its hit-ness), we were not very successful.  Wasn’t our only offense that year Deltha returning kicks?  A proto-DeSean, if you will.

So, again, I reiterate that a tough schedule with a brand new QB could lead to disaster for UDub.  Perhaps Locker will be EPICALLY better than Boller.  And Lord knows, it is scientific fact that Willingham is a better coach than Holmoe.  Nonetheless, could be a rough year for the Huskies.

HydroTech: Speaking of Boller, he originally wanted to go to UCLA but UCLA instead offered J.P. Losman.  Both Boller and Losman currently play in the NFL.  Boller was drafted 19th in 2003 and Losman was drafted 22nd in 2004.  I’m inclined to say that Boller got the better end of the deal but then again he’s been stuck on a pretty crappy Baltimore Ravens offense whereas Losman has had more of a chance with the Buffalo Bills offense. 

YellowFever: In other Tedford-alum news, I was happy to see Joey Harrington do well.  I don’t expect them to win their division, or even make the playoffs, but just like my Pac-10 pride, it’d be nice to see a few more Tedford quarterbacks do well in the NFL so Tedford doesn’t get a bad rap.  Of course, how his quarterbacks do in the NFL shouldn’t be held against him since it’s not like he’s the one coaching at that level, but I suppose it’s no different than Steve Spurrier getting dissed for his Gator wide receivers’ production at the next level.

Anyway, back to Washington.  I’ve got them surprising the Pac-10 this year, because hey, why not.  Tyrone Willingham does come through every few years or so, and if this Jake Locker is as good as advertised, the Huskies seem like as good a trendy upstart pick as any.

The Ballots

In the order of: HydroTech, Ragnarok, TwistNHook, Yellow Fever
1.
2.
3.  OSU, UCLA, OSU, UO
4.  UCLA, OSU, ___, UCLA
5.  OU,  ASU, UCLA, ASU
6.  __, OU, OU, UW
7.  ASU, UA, UA, OSU
8.  AU, ___, ASU, AU
9.  UW, UW, UW, ___
10.  SU, SU, SU, SU