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Quack attack "quacks" Dawgs' "D"
With a defense that wouldn't quack and a rushing game that hardly waddled, the Web-feet beat the Dawgs, 34-14, at their madhouse, "Let me Autzen here." Oregon rushed for 318 yards behind Lacey's Jonathan Stewart, who posted 159 yards on the ground, averaging 6.4 yards per carry. Oregon (7-2, 4-2 Pac-10) has beaten Washington (4-6, 2-5 Pac-10) three times in a row, in three consecutive years at Autzen Stadium, the home of the Oregon Ducks. Not that playing this game in Seattle would have made a whit of difference to the final outcome of the game. The Huskies netted 138 total yards, with just 13 of them coming on the ground. When you can't run or stop the run, it makes for a long day on the gridiron. The Huskies' offense was anemic, gutless and boring. The UW defense played well at times but was on the field too long. The Huskies were woeful in time of possession, controlling the ball for just 24 minutes and 52 seconds. UW's last two recruiting classes, poor by most standards of measure, have left their mark on a team that is desperately short of reinforcements and playmakers. In the six games he's played this season, Carl Bonnell's pass efficiency rating is 90.95. Isaiah Stanback, who suffered a season ending injury against Oregon State, has a rating of 126.61 for the seven games he played. Stanback rushed for 350 net yards on 85 attempts, while Bonnell has rushed for 75 yards on 29 attempts. Stanback threw 3 picks in his seven games, while Bonnell has been picked 8 times in his last four games. Bonnell's rating is mindful of the 2004 season, when Washington's pass efficiency of 78.7 ranked 117th in the nation. Washington has averaged 96 yards on the ground in its last four games, all of them losses. The statistics above suggest that Stanback made a suspect offensive line look better than it was. Under Bonnell, the offensive line may have come home to roost, negatively answering Tyrone Willingham's question of concern that began the season. If true, should Stanback be given credit for UW's successful 4-1 start to the season rather than Willingham? Willingham (now 50-51-1 as a Pac-10 coach) must win his next two games against Stanford and Washington State to restore the luster of his 4-1 start and become bowl eligible. Although most fans are still patiently impatient, waiting for the revival of the patient, Willingham only has so much slack left with them until the noose is tightened and he is figuratively hung in effigy, joining losing UW coaches of the past, such as Keith Gilbertson (7-16), Howie Odell (23-25-2) and Cowboy Johnny Cherberg (10-18-2).Two years into his contract at Washington, Willingham (6-15) has three years remaining and will need a top twenty recruiting class to buttress a team that will be weakened by graduation. Losing to Stanford (0-9, 0-6 Pac-10) next week would be the biggest pratfall of the two seasons Willingham has coached at Washington. The Good: -- C. J. Wallace's pass interception of Dennis Dixon that led to a UW touchdown. Credit a pass interception by Chris Hemphill, who ran the ball back 34 yards. This also led to a touchdown. -- The defense prevented the big play. Brian Paysinger's 21-yard run, being the longest on its day. -- Only one turnover, an interception of Carl Bonnell that led to a field goal in the fourth quarter with the game in the bank. -- Credit Bonnell with playing as good a game as possible, considering the circumstances. -- Bonnell's touchdown pass to Sonny Shackelford in the far corner of the end zone, a thing of beauty. -- Kicker Michael Braunstein, who continues to improve. Credit him with a remarkable turnaround since his performance in the two Olympia training camps coached by Keith Gilbertson. -- The next game in this rivalry moves to Montlake next year. The Bad: -- Taking Coach Bellotti by surprise, Willingham started the game with a trick-play up the gut that made one yard. After going three and out, the punt team was penalized 15 yards for interfering with the punt returnee. -- Because of UW's gutless offense, its defense was on the field too long. Time of possession was woefully inadequate and an indicator of what transpired. -- Bonnell's pass efficiency rating of 88.5 is a another indicator of a sputtering and stalling offense that never got revved up. Homily for Willingham: No running game means no passing game, or vice versa. -- Losing WR Craig Chambers to Montana. His replacement, JC transfer Marcel Reece, didn't catch a pass. Speaking of Reece -- who size-wise looks more like a tight end than a wide receiver to me -- what happened to U-Dub's tight ends, with only one catch on the day? Reece needs to see more of the field. -- The special teams gave up a 59-yard punt return to Patrick Chung. -- Making Bellotti's spread offense look like the wave of the future and by not hoisting him by his own petard, in one way or another. -- Next season, which looks to be far worse than this season. -- Seventy-two yards in penalties. Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at
malamute@4malamute.com |
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