The Huskies are doing some soul- searching
Are they too un-dimensional for Pac-10 play?
By: Malamute, 7 October 2002

Of the four games played in this pass-happy conference on Saturday, the teams with the best running attacks won. Look at Tyler Ebell's (203 yards rushing) and Onterrio Smiths' (145 yards rushing) numbers. Oregon's Smith ran for his fifth consecutive 100-yard game, while UCLA's Ebell made his first start. Today, the four conference losers are licking their wounds and most likely doing some soul searching.

Coach Neuheisel may be ruminating about this: The Huskies could have beaten Cal if Derrick Johnson hadn’t bit on the flea flicker that gave the Bears their first touchdown, if Evan Benjamin hadn’t fallen down on another TD pass play, and if true freshman Nate Robinson hadn’t been badly out of position on another.

Or this: This Huskies turned the ball over twice inside their ten-yard line, which Cal cashed into touchdowns. Subtract those two gifts and the Huskies win 27 to 20.

So was the Huskies’ loss due to bad luck, freshman mistakes and turnovers?

That’s partly true, however, the heart of the problem lies deeper. The Huskies desperately need a running game, and their defense needs to come to the fore and take some pressure off their one-dimensional offense. At the very least, the Huskies' defense needs to rescue the offense after it coughs up the ball and gives the other team a short field. It is expecting too much of Cody Pickett to make the right decision, each and every time he is under the throes of a strong pass rush.

To compound the problem, apparently the coaches have discarded the option play, which was so successful two years ago. For one, most of their fumbles have come off the option this season and, for another, the Huskies need to protect Cody Pickett’s throwing shoulder, which was repaired during the off-season.

Throwing 59 times in the game, Pickett seemed to lose some accuracy in the late going, and one wonders if his shoulder didn't tighten up and affect his rhythm down the stretch. Or maybe, like a pitcher in baseball, he just threw too many pitches. 

In the Pac-10, the Huskies are next to last in rushing offense, averaging an anemic 103.4 yards per game. Conversely, they are second in rushing defense, holding the opposition to 98.2 yards per game. The Dawgs are second in red zone defense and sixth in red zone offense, primarily because the do not have a running attack.

Do desperate circumstances call for desperate measures?

Should Coach Rick Neuheisel burn Isaiah Stanback’s redshirt year and see if the speedster can effectively run the option in the red zone to give opposing defenses another dimension? He’s the number four quarterback on the depth chart, and this experiment would work to the displeasure of the twos and threes, Taylor Barton and Casey Paus. So forget that one.

On Saturday, Cal’s Joe Igber was effective at finding cutback lanes to run through, making me wonder if Kenny James couldn’t have done the same? Without question, the departed Willie Hurst would have challenged Igber (92 yards rushing) in the rushing stats for the game. However, the James' experiment would cough up his redshirt year, another dicey scenario.

Is there any hope for the Dawgs?

Of the Bears' two-deeps, there are a lot of seniors listed. That's the same formula UCLA used to overpower a young, Washington football team last season, and in these days of parity in college football, little things do mean a lot, like having a senior quarterback who is supported by a veteran cast. Washington is still a very young football team. 

Washington's receivers complained about the officiating, saying that they were being manhandled on their routes. Now that Pac-10 play is underway, expect the Dawgs' opponents to use that formula against the single-minded Huskies. You can't call a penalty on every play.

So did first-year head coach Jeff Tedord out-coach Rick Neuheisel?

According to the Fox Northwest telecast he did. Their replay of the game may give Coach Neuheisel some consternation regarding his self-image. It repeatedly showed Tedford, who designed the Bears' effective game plan, referring to a notebook of diagrams, annotations and other miscellany as he stood on the sidelines. Like General Patton, he appeared to be in total control and in command of the game, which contrasted sharply to Rick Neuheisel's discouraged and puzzled look at times.

But that's just TV imaging. Or is it?