Cody Pickett: The Sky Pilot
By: Steve Stageberg, 4 October 2002

The date was October 6, 2001. Seattle Washington.

While Halloween was still more than a week away--seemingly to the Monsters of Montlake--the scary event came early, when starting quarterback Cody Pickett went out with a separated shoulder, suffered in the first minutes of the second quarter against USC. It was on a scramble off the left side, to successfully gain yet another first down.

It may have been an option play. I think it was, but, yet, it was run to the strong side of the field. Dawgs don't run the option to the strong side of the field! And Cody had kept the ball! No pitch! Maybe now I know why the Dawgs keep away from the strong side! 

Separated shoulder or not, the Dawgs prevailed. Taylor Barton filled in admirably hitting 11 of 20 passes for a paltry 197 yards and two TD's.

197 yards in one half is starting to become some kind of Husky "measuring stick." 197 yards in one half, lately anyway, is starting to be just about average.

Depending on which half is being measured…

Hopefully this week against Cal, the coaches and players start keeping stats as if they intend to play both halves. Well, I know they do, but that's yet another topic…

It's not so much anymore for me the "Scoreboard Baby" attitude; it's the "Intensity Baby!" It's that kind of persona that I'd like to see, a killer instinct in these Dawgs.

Digression is tough habit to break, healthier than tobacco I suppose…sorry.

So Taylor Barton comes in for the injured Cody Pickett on that hotly contested battle against that strange, yet talented team from USC. He fights off the ugly Trojans and John Anderson comes in for a last second 32-yard game winning field goal…the bald- heads and the blue-hairs shed a sigh of relief…it wasn't a night game…

We've got an injured starting Husky quarterback, one with a separated shoulder, his back-up coming in to defeat USC, in just the very last game.

This could lead some to sense a quarterback controversy at Washington. 

Not since Brunell and Hobert!

Nope, Cody Pickett, the calf-roper, the young man from Chicken Dinner Road, Caldwell Idaho, after all had just only separated his shoulder.

Cody Pickett did relinquish his starting role the next week against the UCLA Bruins. Taylor Barton was said to have told Cody "You ain't so tough after all, you chicken-roper!" I never do trust these sources of mine, some come from matchbook covers. Well, maybe just a new urban legend.

Urban Legend or not, come the following week against the University of Arizona Wildcats, the young man from Chicken Dinner Road willed the team, on his arm and on his feet, as he scored the winning touchdown from the three yard line. It was a gutsy roll out run to the corner of the end zone, to give the Dawgs a 31-28 victory, in front of a Rolaids over dosed, but frenzied crowd of 71,108.

I think the crowd should relax just a bit, Cody scored the winning TD, but he still had 13 seconds on the clock…Mr. Pickett is one tough customer…

Cody Pickett had just set a new all-time single game passing record. He went 29 for 49 for 455 yards thru the air against the Arizona Wildcats. The "Desert Swarm" was swarmed. That evening the Dawgs added another 108 yards rushing, but netted only 83. Was this the beginning of some trend? Cody Pickett had just broken Cary Conklin's school record of 428 yards set against the Wildcats' cousin, the ASU Sun Devils. Conklin had completed 28 of 42 attempts in a losing cause, perhaps proving the old adage of "show me a team that has to throw 40 times a game, and I'll show you a loser…" I don't know who coined that phrase…

I do know it no longer holds true.

Last Saturday afternoon against the University of Idaho Vandals, Cody broke Cary Conklin's record yet again with 438 yards thru the air. Okay, he didn't quite get to the 40 attempts mark, but he got pulled early, some slack is due! So Mr. Pickett now has the top two passing marks of all time, along with the fourth and sixth all time yardage marks! Soon, the top ten passing yardage list could look like a Cody Pickett biography. Maybe A&E could do a show, to air just after the "Husky Experience" on Fox.

Cody has now thrown for over 300 yards in all four games this season, yet another passing record. The University of Washington has not lost to the California Bears since Nelson Rockefeller was Vice-President. Two very impressive streaks. One streak the Huskies would like to see get started is some rushing totals nearer to the 200 yard mark. To accomplish this, the Huskies have kept the option in their attack, much to the chagrin of some Husky fans. Coach Neuhiesel believes in the option, and as Cody Pickett has said…

"The option? It's my new favorite thing. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!"

Will the streaks continue for yet another game, and yet another year? Will the Dawgs get more production out of their rushing attack? We won't know until they play the game. What will the Cal Bear defense show us? Stack the box, or throw us a nickel? It's college football. It's why we pay the cost of admission. It's why we do the crazy things we do.

After the Idaho game Coach Neuheisel addressed the crowd at the Fifth Quarter event:

"For any of you who question our rushing stats, just remember this: when our opposing defenses stack up the line of scrimmage, and when they cheat up with the safety, they are just daring us to throw the ball. And I'll tell you this, Dawg fans…with Cody and this group of receivers…I'll just take that dare!"

So would I Coach, so would I.

How high can they fly?