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Articles
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Who Killed Washington? Ten leading suspects By: Malamute, 13 October 2003
Last Saturday was called separation Saturday in college football because the contenders were separated from the pretenders. Verdict: Washington is a pretender. So, who killed Udub football? I’ve conducted my investigation, listed the suspects and have turned my case over to the jury: myself. 1. Suspect: Keith Gilbertson: The evidence:
Count 2. The Huskies have concentrated too much effort on run blocking while neglecting pass blocking, so say the eight sacks against QB Cody Pickett on Saturday. Count 3. Not being prepared for Nevada’s highly regarded DE Jorge Cordova was inexcusable in light of what happened against UCLA the week before, when DE Dave Ball and DT Rodney Leisle turned the game around, combining on a touchdown of their own making to start the second half. Against the Dawgs, Cordova posted 16 tackles (11 solo, 5 assisted) and was credited with 5 sacks (4 solo, 1 assisted) for 26 yards. Count 4. The Huskies scouted Nevada poorly, as evidenced by poor execution on defense in their 28-17 loss. Witness: Sportswriter Glenn Dickey. “Keith Gilbertson is not head coaching material.” Defense: Mr. Gilbertson says the Huskies have turned the ball over during the month of October for three years in a row now. So, by implication, turnovers happened under Coach Neuheisel's watch, as well. Mr. Gilbertson blames the UW's poor redzone offense, in part, on too many starts from the 10-yard line. Verdict: Mr. Gilbertson is guilty of counts of 3 and 4, to wit: poor game-day preparation and poor scouting. I, the jury, find him innocent of counts 1 and 2. The players respect Gilby, while his focus on run blocking was sorely needed. Sentence: He is hereby sentenced to three years of listening to The Husky Honk Show and to reading Glenn Dickey’s and Art Thiel's next columns. 2. Suspect: the fans Evidence: On internet message boards, Husky fans routinely bash certain players, the comments of which get back to the players. One player’s girlfriend prints out posts concerning the player--the good, along with the bad--and the player reads all of them. Curiously, certain Husky dinosaurs, left over from the Don James era, bash other Husky fans for not yelling continuously during each home game, especially when the team is on defense. Verdict: The fans are innocent; they’re only a symptom of the problem. Those internet posters who write disparaging remarks are guilty of hurting player morale. Sentence: Derogating posters are sentenced to a singing of the Oregon fight song. Opinion: Husky fans are sophisticated. They recognize a bad team when they see one. Half naked, purple-painted clods making horses’ petards out of themselves won’t get the job done as they cheer on older, sophisticated fans—so Husky Stadium remains eerily quiet on Saturday afternoons, quieter than it would be otherwise. 3. Suspects: Don Coryell, Sid Gillman and Bill Walsh (The West Coast Offense) Evidence: Because of its short-passing game, which features run after catch, the UW has a hard time coming from behind. Six yards and a cloud of rubber make it difficult to play catch up football, especially when you’re catching and not running or dropping and not catching. The WCO might mask a lot of deficiencies left over from poor recruiting years, but it quickly crumbles when facing a dominating defense. Verdict: All three men are guilty as charged; Mr. Walsh is sentenced to a reading of his book, “Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ers.” Mr. Coryell will lecture the Tyee club, discussing his glory playing days at Washington--with an emphasis on glory--while Mr. Gillman will lecture the higher authority, the one in the sky, about throwing a football. 4. Suspect: Art Thiel: Evidence: At the local level, one internet website (MADDD) provides links to over 100 articles that are inimical to the University of Washington football program, all of the articles written by local sportswriters over the last two years. By my count, many more stories are missing from the database. Art Thiel—the ESPN Playmakers scriptwriter incarnate—barks out marching orders to fellow hit men who follow dutifully in lockstep. Verdict: Mr. Thiel is guilty as charged and will be given a run-on sentence with no period to rest, a sentence that requires a kick in the split infinitive, a knee to the dangling participle, a chop to the passive-voice box, a boiling in a mixed metaphor, a poke in the squinters, and someone to wipe the simile off his face. J
5. Suspect: Barbara Hedges
Defense: Because of Neuheisel's participation in a bidding pool, Ms. Hedges says everyone in the country knows her age and her hair color. Verdict: Innocent, by reason of insanity. Hair color and age have nothing to do with the Huskies' plight. Opinion: Bashing Hedges and Neuheisel make for an easy copout. The buck stops with the current head coach, his staff and no one else. Otherwise, there is no accountability, nor will there be any accountability for the next three years. 6. Suspect: Rick Neuheisel Evidence: Count 1. Nueheisel left the cupboard bare for Keith Gilbertson. Count 2. Neuheisel's never-ending problems with the NCAA, which restricted his recruiting efforts because of sanctions levied against him and his coaching staff, hampered his recruiting at Washington. Defense: All of Neuheisel's recruiting classes were rated among the top 20, during his four years at Washington. One of his classes (2001) was ranked number 4 by Allen Wallace of Superprep Magazine. This season, the Huskies were one of the favorites to win the conference championship. Verdict: Count 1. Innocent because of Mr. Wallace's deposition. Count 2. Guilty as charged. Who knows how well Neuheisel would have recruited if he'd been playing with an un-stacked deck? Sentence: Mr. Neuheisel is to apply for a job with the San Francisco 49ers. Opinion: However, the buck stops with Keith Gilbertson, who also had his hand in the recruitment of players. First and foremost, Mr. Gilbertson must make the best of the hand he has been dealt.
The Huskies are desperately short of offensive linemen because of player attrition and injuries. 7. Suspect: Cody Pickett Evidence: Witness: Sportswriter Ted Miller. Although Pickett is completing 60 percent of his passes, like last season, he's tossed seven interceptions, including six in the past two games, and has fumbled five times. Verdict: Innocent, by reason of an old cliché: A quarterback is given too much credit for winning and too much blame for losing. Opinion: The accumulation of eight sacks during Saturday’s game gradually destroyed Mr. Pickett’s rhythm, the loss of which could have been affected by previous injuries and the cold, damp day. Because of the heat he took, the wet ground sizzled each time he hit the deck. 9. Suspect: Tank Johnson.
Defense: At the Olympia training camp, Mr. Johnson complimented my sports shoes, which were designed for Ken Griffey, Jr. Verdict: Innocent. His taste in sports shoes is impeccable. 10. Suspect: Parity Evidence: Washington’s football program appears moribund, but in the age of parity in college football anything can happen. Verdict: Guilty. Of all the suspects, parity in college football is the most likely culprit. Opinion: It’s possible, but unlikely, for the Huskies to turn the season around because of an offense that appears prone to turnovers (106th in NCAA turnover margin). Lack of depth on the offensive line contributes to this ongoing problem, along with the fact the Dawgs must rely too much on WRs Reggie Williams and Charles Frederick. Blocked field-goal tries, four so far this season, will continue to haunt the Dawgs. Pickett's understandable reluctance to run the ball weakens Washington's offense even more.
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Although
I have no persuasive idea of what’s wrong with the Washington
Huskies, I do know they were one of the pre-season favorites in the hunt for the
Roses--but after six games, roses are withering on the Husky vine and fans are
jumping off the bandwagon. 
Count
1. Husky coaches yell vociferously at players during practices.
This tactic might work for a while, but it becomes old hat, turning paradoxical
over time. Finally, the players just quit after falling behind, believing they
are a bunch of blundering dunderheads. UW players apparently quit in the second
halves in both of the UCLA and Nevada games. 
Opinion: Former coach Rick Neuheisel never had a chance to
display his recruiting skills at the UW. Periodic sanctions restricted his
recruiting effort, and a hostile local media, smitten with the idea that
big-time college football is corrupt, chased prospects away from a program that
was paying Neuheisel a big-time-college football wage.
Evidence:
Some say that athletic director Barbara Hedges has destroyed the football
program by focusing too much attention on Title IX sports. She hired Rick Neuheisel,
knowing fully well he wore the appellation Slick Rick,
carried over
from his days as head coach at Colorado. 
The
loss of four wide receivers from last season’s team (Paul Arnold, Pat Reddick,
Will Hooks, Jr., and Eddie Jackson) has turned last season’s one-dimensional
offense into a half-dimensional offense. In its last two losses, the UW’s
running game has gone south in the last half, while its passing game has
sputtered. 
“Pickett
is the biggest reason why the Huskies rank last in the Pac-10 in turnover margin
(minus-7) and red-zone offense. He deserves a lion's share of the blame, just
like he received so much credit for his spectacular numbers a year ago, while
his team languished in mediocrity.”