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Articles
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Hope springs eternal Spring practice begins today By: Malamute, 3 April 2003
For this fan, however, hope springs eternal. The past two seasons Washington coaches could point to youth and inexperience as the reason for some disappointing losses. With sixteen position players returning, that excuse won’t cut it for the 2003 version of the Washington Huskies, especially since the Dawgs will be led by a senior quarterback, Cody Pickett. Furthermore, UW coach Rick Nueheisel, who has the seventh best win percentage among active college coaches, starts his fifth season at Washington. Over the past three years, the conference has replaced eight of its head coaches and, in a conference with so little coaching tenure, Neuheisel is the heir apparent to the dean of Pac-10 coaches, Mike Bellotti of Oregon. According to The Seattle Times, Nueheisel is the guy at a party who is always looking over his shoulder for somebody to schmooze next. An interesting irony, as the coach steps into his fifth season at the UW. In 2003, Washington will be led by a veteran coach and a quarterback who has erased many of the school’s passing records. Pickett is averaging 264.3 passing yards per game and has amassed 6,873 career yards passing, with 4,458 yards of that coming last year. All three stats are the best in Husky history. Although the Huskies want to erase all memory of last year's 7-6 finish, the 2002 team improved on most of their stats from the season before, a season in which they finished 8-4. In other words, the Huskies lost some games they should have won last year. Rushing the football was the only major stat that was off from the 2001 season. With fourth-fifths of the offensive line returning, I expect to see a marked improvement in run blocking because of the experience and depth of the unit. In the main, this line has played as a unit for two years now. Seven of the 11 returning offensive linemen have won two or more letters, and two returning backups were starters in some of the games last season--that is, Dan Dicks in six games and Robin Meadow in two games. Also, new offensive-line coach Dan Cozzetto, who brings extensive coaching experience to Washington, should add some grit, tenacity and push to the offensive line, while adding more emphasis to the running game. Due to an injury to starting tailback Rich Alexis, the Huskies will test Kenny James this spring. James who will wear number 8 on his jersey--the same number that Willie Hurst and Nip Kaufman wore--has the moves and power to pay homage to that redoubtable number and to put his hometown, Dos Palos, on the map. With eight returning players on defense, the Huskies should dominate in a conference beset by graduation losses; also, three new coaches are undergoing a baptism of fire. Only 7 of the 24 first-team All-Pac-10 players are back, according to Husky beat writer, Ted Miller (Seattle P-I). According to Miller, "Washington and Arizona State are expected to be the preseason Pac-10 favorites by virtue of solid groups of returning starters and, most important, accomplished, veteran quarterbacks -- almost an annual requirement for conference success." In 10 of the last 11 years, a senior quarterback has taken his team to the Rose Bowl or to another bowl where the conference champion was invited. Senior quarterback Joey Harrington led conference champion Oregon to a Fiesta Bowl win over Colorado two years ago when Miami and an undeserving Nebraska team battled for the national championship at the Rose Bowl. Last season, USC arguably was the best team in college football, as Oregon may have been the year before. Unless either Washington or ASU win all of their games, it is unlikely that either will be invited to the national championship game this year. The dynamics of the BCS work against the Pac-10 because of eastern bias built into the AP/Coaches polls, just as that bias has worked against the conference in the Heisman Trophy balloting for so many years--at least up until last year when QB Carson Palmer was impossible to ignore. For most of the teams in the pass-crazed Pac-10, their air forces have suffered some notable causalities. Five gifted quarterbacks exit the conference: Jason Johnson (Arizona), Kyle Boller (Cal), Cory Paus (UCLA), Carson Palmer (USC), and Jason Gesser (WSU). Washington and ASU have the only established quarterbacks returning. In addition, three new coaches must test their wings: Bill Doba (WSU), Mike Riley (OSU), and Karl Dorrell (UCLA). California loses 24 seniors, USC loses its starting backfield, and Arizona must ameliorate the effects of a player revolt. Stanford is coming off a 2-9 season, with just three starters returning on offense. UCLA and Oregon have quarterback controversies to resolve. The Huskies get a break in their Pac-10 schedule, replacing rising ASU with struggling Stanford. The Dawgs get USC, Oregon and WSU at home. USC will be coming off a tough road game with Notre Dame when it faces Washington on October 25. The UW's toughest road games in the Pac-10 are against UCLA and OSU. Indeed, with a veteran team returning and a relatively weak Pac-10 schedule in place, hope springs eternal for the 2003 version of the Washington Huskies. Table 1. UW Spring Practice Schedule
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As
spring practice begins for the Washington Huskies today, optimism about next
season’s chances should be flourishing among fans. However, because of last
season’s disappointing loss to Purdue in the Sun Bowl, fans are ambivalent about the 2003 season’s prospects.