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MAL'S Mailbag
July 1, 2005

Malamute opens his mail bag and responds to some recent letters from Husky fans. He then takes a parting shot at Jim Moore of the P-I.

R. S. from California writes,

Great site. I liked especially your takes on the West Coast offense and notes on defense. How are the Huskies looking this year? I am a graduate of the School of Public Affairs up in Parrington Hall.

I think defense will be okay with everyone returning. It's the offense I'm worried about. Am I correct that the Huskies will be running a hybrid West Coast/ Spread type offense? If so, I hope it's not too complicated.

Offenses can get too complicated. I've noticed that the NFL West Coast offenses that follow the Walsh pattern have some hard times in college because of the complexity. Norm Chow's offenses at BYU and U$C (boy I hope they don't three peat) are simpler, I've heard. Chow's stuff was influenced by the same guys who influenced Walsh. I heard LaVell Edwards (BYU) state that Norm only had 15 plays (10 passes, 5 runs) they just ran it out of different formations, personnel groupings, motions, and with other minor variations. While Walsh had as many as 120 plays originally not counting the variations his disciples today come up with.

Sorry about the ramble, I just want to know that are the Huskies going to use the West Coast / spread hybrid? Also, how does the the school and fans think of Willingham? He was at Stanford when I was at UDUB.

Well, Go Huskies! Maybe I can get a ticket for a home game this fall if I ever get up to Seattle!

Reply to R.S. from Mal

Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano has talked about a multiple offense run out of multiple sets: running with a single back and with two backs, spreading the field at times, using the West Coast offense at others.

"Our identity on offense will come from our ability to run the football," Lappano said, early into the spring practices. "When we throw, we'll get the ball off quickly and throw what should be a high-percentage pass…I think we need to make a commitment to the run. The players have to believe in it. The coaching staff has to believe in it. We have other stuff and we will do some of that other stuff. But we are going to be a power-run football team first."

After the final spring scrimmage, Lappano said he was disappointed with the running game -- this, in contrast to Coach Willingham who was pleased with the overall scrimmage, in part, because the teams kept turnovers to a minimum, notwithstanding the two desperation passes thrown by Johnny DuRoucher that were intercepted. However, the coaches thought the team looked slow and sluggish.

There are no proven playmakers on offense, other than those who wait in the wings with playmaker potential. Other than Manase Hopoi, mustering some speed on the defensive line is questionable.

I look for the Huskies to run a conservative offense (short passing game; a lot of runs) against the Air Force, relying on an experienced defense and a solid kicking game to keep themselves in the game. If they can keep turnovers to a minimum, they should win the game, hopefully scoring more than the 14 points that was their per-game average last season and the worst in Division IA football.

QB Isaiah Stanback, who most think will start, has had trouble completing passes in the past and might see an early exit against the Academy in favor of DuRoucher. Personally, I would love to see Isaiah play wide receiver. Because of his quick release and mobility, Carl Bonnell is an ideal fit for a WCO in my estimation.

What bothers me most is not being able to stop the big play on defense. I keep thinking of Maurice Drew and that UCLA game, a game we should have won last year. Drew’s five touchdown runs came from 47, 62, 58, 15 and 37 yards out. Last season, the UW gave up big plays in other games as well. Cornerback is still an issue.

Staying relatively injury free is another issue for this upcoming season. UW recruiters have not asked the right questions in the past, settling for incoming student athletes who have had injuries either in high school or in the J.C's -- hence, for example, the rash of shoulder injuries over the past few years.

I believe that Tyrone Willingham was the best coach Washington could get under the circumstances. Notre Dame did the UW a big favor by letting Willingham go at a time when it looked like UW AD Todd Turner might have had to settle for an untried coach.

Alan from Oregon writes:

God, my father loved Leo Lassen!!! Me too, I believe. Back! Back! Thanks for doing what no one else cares to write about.. The Suds.. I smile.. Deep Regards. Alan.

Reply to Alan from Mal:

Alan, thanks for reminding me about the “back, back, back…and it’s over!” There will never be another Leo Lassen.

Alan knows what this means, so this explanation is for other fans. In my article, I mentioned, “the Twinks versus the Suds.” “Twinks,” of course, refers to the Hollywood Stars of the old Pacific Coast League. And the “Suds” refers to the Seattle Rainiers who were owned by Emil Sick, who, in turn, owned the Rainier Brewery.

D. J. writes:

Oh, no! Not you too! The option worked great in 2000 because -- as you point out -- we had a special, special player at quarterback that year. Tell me, what special players do you see from the bunch wearing yellow last weekend? Stanback is a great athlete, but his missteps last year were not limited to passing plays, and I saw nothing on Saturday (see Spring Scrimmage) to convince me that uncertainty and inconsistency had been corrected. That's it. We want LESS emphasis on the QB, not MORE.

Now, I'm not opposed to the option as a once in a while thing to keep the defense on its toes. Especially the simplified "speed" option we've run at times, which omits the fullback dive. But to pin our hopes on the option at this point is to reconcile ourselves to another season leading the world in turnovers, with no legitimate passing threat. Serious teams in 2005 do not operate that way.

I think your mention of "power running" is a non sequitur. Two running backs doesn't mean "power running." It just means running. Of course, it also means two running backs (our deepest, most talented offensive position) on the field. Who could be opposed to that?

As for Urban Meyer, let's see if his reputation for offensive genius survives a few seasons of Florida State, Georgia, and LSU before we send our coaches to worship at his feet.

Good article!

Reply to D. J. from Mal

Thanks for your comments, which are always appreciated.

I suppose that implementing Meyer's spread offense is a whimsical notion at best. A guy can dream, can't he? :)

I was thinking of Carl Bonnell as its engineer, and not Stanback. Stanback might even turn into a receiver in this scheme of things, although he would make a good backup should Bonnell get hurt.

I'm also thinking down the road. Why not try part of it this year? Nothing could be worse than last year -- and then, say, go with a full implementation in 2006.

The Huskies don't have the linemen on either side of the ball to post many wins this season, regardless of what offense they play. So, why not go down swinging?

It's certainly safer for the coaches to go with the current running game and rely on defense and kicking to keep the UW in its games. If I were the coach, I'd probably do that. :)

Reply to Mal from D.J.

Then we (mostly) agree. I've gotten so tired of the sportswriters' tic that Stanback is the presumptive starter and Paus is out of the mix. I don't know what that's based on -- I mean Paus did start for one team in the Spring game -- but it doesn't match what I've seen.

I think Bonnell is probably the guy, too. With somebody like him, you want to have the option as a weapon, but I'd hate to think we were going to sell our souls for it. I mean, there's a REASON most teams don't run it, and it isn't because they win too many games when they do.

Reply to D.J. from Mal

It's always painless to be creative on someone else's nickel. The option is a risky offense, and I'm sure the UW coaches might have a few qualms about risking their livelihoods on its unpredictable outcome.

However, if Meyer had gone to Washington, one wonders if he wouldn't have implemented the spread, considering Stanback and Bonnell.

Reply to Mal from D.J.

I kind of wonder whether Meyer will even install his same offense at Florida -- it'll be similar, obviously. Defenses in that part of the world just play a lot faster than they around Utah. And they don't grow quarterbacks like that last one he had on orange trees.

Maybe I'm wrong, we'll see.

Thanks for an interesting discussion.

Mal's reply to Jim Moore of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The P-I’s Jim Moore, a member of the local media’s UW hit squad, took a cheap shot at Husky fans recently, writing for Athlon Sports that, “Some of us (Cougs) are slobs, but none of us are snobs.”

Wow, that was imaginative.

Moore is a wingless vulture who flaps his virtual wings arrogantly as he pecks away at his Smith Corona, and upon reaching his "height of humor," falls flat on the ground in flightless wonderment.

Moore's name is a metaphor for Couging it, like "After the Coug Moored his boat, it began to sink like a Coug wearing water wings."

So what are Cougs' takes on "burning issues?"

On imagination: Cougs use lodestone compasses to get back to the barn after looking for new sheep in the north forty.

On our Students: Cougs think that UW students read poetry to each other over at the Hub. Yep, our students can all read -- gosh, even poetry!

On our Coach: Cougs call our coach, "Paint-dry Ty;" their coach, Bill Dope-a, is as comical as John Kerry would be as a replacement for Jay Leno.

On Birth Control: Cougs think Cold Fusion is a birth-control pill.

On hard work: Cougs brag about their work ethic because they live in "Pull, Man."

On conserving oil: Cougs tailgate in 18-wheelers to save gas.

On Coug hairstyling: Midst the methane gas produced from the cow dung in the Palouse, Coug barbers light matches to singe around the ears.

On their diplomas: Cougs Xerox their diplomas daily because each one is printed on acidified paper that eventually crumbles to dust.

Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com