A few of you had asked whether UW's second-half problems this year were something that had also been a trademark of Tyrone Willingham's teams at his previous stops.

I was going to do some research on that, but now I don't have to since Seth Kolloen over at Enjoy the Enjoyment did it first.

Seth charted the first half and second half performances of all of Willingham's teams since 1996.

Seth's data shows that in seven of those 12 years that Willingham's teams have been worse in the second half than in the first, though a couple are close enough to barely matter.

As Seth points out, the data indicates that it has been a particular problem the last two years, with UW getting outscored by 105 points in the second half after having outscored the opponents by 31 in the first, the largest two-year disparity in Willingham's career.

Some ND fans have sent me e-mails saying it was a problem there, as well, but Seth's data actually indicates that Willingham's teams there were better in the second half than the first.

On the other hand, the data does show that only three times have Willingham's teams outscored their opponents in the second half, and those happened to be Willingham's three best teams --- the 1999 Stanford Rose Bowl team, the 2001 Stanford team that went 9-3 and the 2002 ND team that went 10-3.

But on seven occassions Willingham's teams have outscored the opponents in the first half, including the last two years.

I'll leave the rest of the conclusions to you guys.

Just back from practice, and the Huskies were in full pads today, which is the first Tuesday this year I can recall them being in full pads.

Usually they are in shells on Tuesday (helmets, shoulder pads, shorts) and then full pads on Wednesday. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to get an explanation from coach Tyrone Willingham, and to see if this means two days in full pads this week, or if they are just switching days, or what.

No question the Huskies are desperate for a win, however, and maybe this is something new the coaches are trying.

The gold jersey winners for the week were Greyson Gunheim, Wilson Afoa, Jared Ballman and Louis Rankin.

And there were no players in red, so the Huskies are about as healthy as can be this time of year other than the players already out (Quintin Daniels, Jason Wells).

MORE LAPPANO:

Here's a bit more from Tim Lappano today:

--- Asked about the future of the UW receiving corps, Lappano mentioned the recent apparent good news on Anthony Boyles and Devin Aguilar and said "that's really going to help. ... . Had those two guys not made it (academically), we're calling the junior colleges.''

--- He also said D'Andre Goodwin will play more now that Daniels is out. "I think what he really needs to do is make sure he understands what he's doing all the time... all the time because he's got the ability. He'll be on
the field a little bit more this week. ... He's going to see some more time and
that's good because we need to develop him and get him going. He's got some skill. Mentally still, he's still young. He's got the speed to get by these
guys.

--- Here's more of what he said about the second-half problems: "It's just the ability to finish, the ability to go out there another 30 minutes and
really focus and take one play at a time and do your job. Dropped balls, holding calls... why do we have holding calls, why do we drop balls, why do have false starts, put ourselves in situation we do? All that kind of stuff... I don't know. That's why I'm thinking, 'Are we playing not to lose? Are we being almost too
cautious?' And when you play like that bad things happen. That's what
happening. ... We've got to be a lot tougher mentally and fight through those peaks and valleys of a football game. There's always going to be a time in a game where your will is going to be tested. ... We have to be tough enough everywhere to strap it up and forget about it and keep going. You've got to fight through that --- you're still in the game.

--- Lappano said the team practiced deep passing more last week than it had previously and thought it paid off a bit with the Jake Locker to Marcel Reece touchdown. "That was a hell of a catch, I thought that was going deep. It was a great catch. We did practice that. It was something we felt we could do. We practiced the deep ball a lot in the last couple weeks. We had a couple deep balls, but there was just too much (on it.) I think he's throwing the deep ball better than he is the short ball. He's got more confidence throwing the deep ball than he did four or five weeks ago.

--- Asked how Locker is handling the season, he said: "He's not used to this.
It kills him. On the phone during the games, he's really good to me. He's good, but I know it's just killing him on the sidelines. I can't get a grip down there, I'm so far away, but on the headset I talk to him every time after the series and he seems to be really good. He's good today. I met with him before I came in here... he's tough mentally. We need to win a game.

--- On the two-back running game: "We're still trying to develop a tough attitude here and they do that by getting in two backs and pounding the ball. Our young guys enjoy that and the linemen liked that. You still have to do that and, when we're good enough to be able to do that then spread people out with the option stuff, you can't defend this. I know for a fact that what we do creates a lot of problems. I'm pretty close to the guys at Arizona State and I know it created for them a lot of nights -- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday -- because you have to have an answer for all that kind of stuff. But you just have to execute for a whole football game. I don't know why... I know why -- we made a lot of stupid mistakes. I've studied it. We've looked at it a thousand times and I think we play not to lose instead of playing to win.''

--- When asked to expand on playing not to lose, Lappano said: "They need to believe in themselves and what we're doing, and I think we'll be fine. Don't let people outside put things in your head that are going to make you start doubting yourself and what we're doing. That's really important because that's kind of what is going on. They can't second-guess themselves. I guess what I'm saying is, don't be afraid to make a mistake. Go out there in the second half, you're in the football game and we've been in every game, go play to win. I think sometimes we make (mistakes) because we're afraid to make them. If we can have that mentality, we can win those games.

--- Finally, Lappano said he knows the Huskies simply need to win a game, and soon: "We can still win. You can still win. There's people that win every Saturday. We got to do that. We got to win a game we're not supposed to. There's no better one than these guys. We've got to win a game we're not supposed to. Everybody understands that. I understand the deal.''

OREGON TO WEAR WHITE HELMETS?: Finally, there is speculation in Eugene that the Ducks might wear white helmets this week. Here's a look from the Eugene Register-Guard.

Today is our day to talk to offensive players and coaches which means our weekly meeting with offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. Here's some of what he said:

--- Maybe the most interesting thing he said was his theory for UW's third-quarter troubles. Lappano said he thinks the Huskies "are playing not to lose instead of playing to win'' and are afraid of making mistakes, which is then leading to mistakes due to that fear.

--- Lappano said he thinks the mood of the team is good, citing their attitude during Sunday's meeting. "Their heads right now are good, I can honestly say that. They still believe they can win.''

--- Lappano said the key problem has been inconsistency and that "we should be a lot more consistent right now because we haven't had to shuffle a lot of people'' in the offense, noting that the team has stayed pretty healthy.

--- On Oregon's defense: "They are athletic and run to the ball pretty well and they will challenge you with a lot of man. One thing I do see in this defense is everybody seems to get a big play in the run and the pass we've got to be able to do that.

--- On what happened against Arizona State: "In the second half we didn't handle their front four as good as we did. They were a little bit more physical in the second half than they were in the first half they got a lecture at halftime or whatever, but we have to be able to complete passes and keep their offense off the field.''

--- On Jake Locker's accuracy: "It's not where we need it and he'd be the first to tell you that. We had a couple of guys open and we can't miss throws if we want to throw the ball down the field give the guy an opportunity to make a play on the ball if overthrowing him 10 yards not giving him an opportunity to make a play. The other thing that can happen is a (pass interference). Also think we are not separating enough at times, so it's a combination. But it's not good enough.''

--- On the running backs against ASU: "If you take the one dance by Louis (Rankin) out of the picture thought it was pretty good. He ran a guy over on that 38-yard run which I just went crazy, I loved it. I thought he played really pretty good. I thought J.R. Hasty ran okay thought Brandon Johnson showed up pretty good. .... I think he gives us some downhill some pretty good power. He's not real big but he's physical, a downhill straight-line runner. Think you will see some more of him in there. Not saying J.R. won't play a little bit too, he'll get some touches, too.''

--- Lappano also said Jordan White-Frisbee will likely start playing more after having had some good practices during the bye week: "When he knows what he's doing because this is kind of new to him he's getting better and his technique is getting better he is what we need here, he can knock people back and when people come up the field he can stab them with his hands set a base and not get blown up and hold some ground and keep it firm. I like him a lot and think he's got a chance to be a really good player.''

--- On the team's game plans: "We just have to get better at what we do. The stuff we are doing is good enough to win with, but we've got to execute it and I think if we start changing a million things and doing a million different things all the time we are going to be a mess. We can't grab-bag right now and start doing a million different things. We've got to get better. We've got to coach better and teach better fundamentals and coach them to do the things we want to do better. Now is not the time to panic and start running a new offense. That's the worst thing that we can do and we are not going to do that no matter how many e-mails I get. We are not going to do that. We are going to get better at what we do and we'll be fine.''

As noted Monday, the Oregon Ducks will come into this game without three offensive starters, two of whom were injured in Saturday's win over Washington State.

Out are receivers Brian Paysinger and Cameron Colvin and backup running back Jeremiah Johnson. The latter two were hurt against WSU.

Here's a good breakdown of how the Ducks will handle those injuries from the Eugene Register-Guard.

There are also some additonal notes in Rob Moseley's blog.

Of maybe even more interest to longtime Husky fans is this story in the RG today on former UW coach Don James and his thoughts on the history of the UW-Oregon rivalry.

Included is the memorable anecdote that has long been a part of Husky lore about James firing the bus driver on the 1977 trip to Eugene.

Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach have included Washington in their bowl projections every week this season.

Until now.

Here are this week's projections with no mention of the Huskies.

What is also interesting is that between the two of them, they have four different Pac-10 teams in BCS games --- Maisel has ASU in the Rose and USC in the Fiesta and Schlabach has Oregon in the Fiesta and Cal in the Rose.

Also, if you get ESPN Insider, Bruce Feldman had some really interesting comments about Jake Locker on Monday from a scout for the Angels who watched Locker play against Arizona State.

"Locker is going to be awesome,'' said the scout, Eddie Bane, who is the farm director for the Angels. "He has incredible arm strength. He can escape. Competes and has poise. He does not have a lot of touch yet, but that did help him not to have a couple extra interceptions. He threw a couple 15-yard slants right through ASU's guys hands. Incredible velocity. It was just that the Sun Devils linebackers can run and he could not get the edge in the second half. He could be a Scott Rolen in baseball or a closer if he pitched, and he is more advanced as a baseball player, believe it or not.''

A number of you have already commented on my story today reporting the comments of UW athletic director Todd Turner, who remains fully in the corner of Husky coach Tyrone Willingham.

Just in case, you can find it here.

I won't simply repeat what was in the article, you can read it for yourselves and make your own conclusions.

But the essence is that Turner thinks the program is on the right track especially in terms of the culture change that is taking places; that this is a much tougher rebuilding job than many may realize; and that the progress this year has been hurt (in terms of the won-loss record) by a tough schedule and a tough Pac-10 conference.

He also said the most relevant comparison may be Kentucky, which began to show signs of life in the fourth year for coach Rich Brooks after he took over a program that had been saddled with some NCAA probation.

In a comment that didn't make the story, Turner also voiced full support of Willingham's staff.

"He hired a great staff,'' Turner said. "Two guys had been Division-I head coaches, he hired guys with NFL experience. They are not learning on the job. He hired some really capable football guys. But it takes time. It's just not a simple thing. It's not one play call that goes your way or a fumble or an interception that defines your program. It's what happens every single day.''

I also wrote this today on UW's trackling problems. Willingham said he thinks the team does more than enough tackling in practice and that there have simply been a few missed tackles at the worst possible of times.