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The Monday Morning QB, Week 2 Some random thoughts, IU and UW By: Richard Linde, Posted 8 September 2003
The good. -- Running game returns to Montlake. Washington assembled a semblance of a rushing attack on the game. Shelton Sampson's run to the outside for a score was one the highlights of a running game that, up until now, has been moribund for over a year. His fumble, however, was a lowlight that the coach's noticed, and Sampson has got to hang on to the football as Coach Gilbertson said. Kenny James rushed 14 times for 38 yards and, impressively, hung onto the ball. -- Another Tui FB Zach Tuiasosopo is the real deal, as evidenced by his performance against the Hoosiers, a performance that carbon-copied his outing at Olympia. He can block, and he's a steam roller to bring down when he has the ball. As a redshirt Junior, Tui has finally come into his own, and will be another Tui for fans to remember. (Zach Tuiasosopo and his father, Manu, appear in the photo above). -- Stanback versus Smith As he runs the option, QB Isaiah Stanback's cat-like quickness reminds me of Willie Wood, the running quarterback from USC. Willie Wood was the first black to play QB in the conference, and went on to be an all-pro defensive back for Green Bay. Of course, Stanback is a much better passer than Wood was when he quarterbacked the Trojans. He's also about 6 inches taller. I can't wait until Stanback and QB Troy Smith of Ohio State match-up in the Rose Bowl several years from now. -- The kicking game. Washington has the potential of having the best group of punters and kickers that it has had in years. Coach Gilbertson owes former coach Neuheisel a debt of gratitude. Gilbertson let Michael Braunstein handle one of the kickoffs against IU, which means that Gilby, a Silas-Marner-like coach, dearly covets the nuggets he's found in the stash of kickers Neu left behind.. Some of the bad. -- Support Group Reggie Williams and Charles Frederick need some support from the freshmen wide receivers. In two games now, only two of the freshmen have caught a pass, that being Sonny Shackelford (Indiana), who caught one pass for nine yards and Quintin Daniels (Ohio State), who caught a pass for 11 yards. -- Turnovers. The Huskies committed three turnovers, two fumbles (Sampson and Seery) and an interception by Pickett. -- Bashers. A pox on those internet gurus (a few message-board posters) that bashed CB Chris Massey after the Ohio State game. In my opinion, the Dawgs are fortunate to have Chris on the team. -- Sideline demeanors and quips from around the Pac Pulling a Bo-Woody, IU Coach Gary DiNardo vehemently protested a third-quarter penalty, pushing one of his assistant coaches on the sidelines out of his way, this after stalking and yapping at a zebra on the field of play. Coach Gilbertson spent most of the game with his hands on his knees, hunched over on the sidelines. If he ever coaches at Notre Dame...well, you know what they'll call him. At Boulder, UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell was hardly visible on the sidelines, buried behind his assistant coaches for most of the game. One LA sportswriter wrote that the Bruins have gone from Holy Toledo to the Holy Ghost. T.J. Simmers (LA Times) says those Trojan fans who raise two fingers are saying that they have two spoiled children. You know, the University of Spoiled Children. Some of the Obvious. --Parity The fact that parity dominates college football nowadays is well illustrated by San Diego State's strong showing against the number two Buckeyes at Columbus. Unranked WSU took number 19 Notre Dame into overtime at South Bend. BYU threw Conquest off-key at the Coliseum; finally, in the fourth quarter, the incontinent Trojan band became consonant along with the team. And the helpless Hoosiers hobnobbed with the Huskies for the better part of two quarters before Reggie and Cody did the ostracizing.
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Because Washington won
last Saturday, beating Indiana 38-13, the highlights of the game we label as
"good" outnumber the lowlights of the game that we label as "bad." There is an obvious thing in college football, ironically, that needs noting,
lest we all get carried away with the media hype that obfuscates the reality of
the game. Hmm, what a mouseful that was.