As we reported earlier today, Jim Mora has just released a statement through the Seahawks saying he will not be a candidate for UW"s head coaching position.

"I am not a candidate for the University of Washington coaching vacancy,'' Mora said in a statement released by the Seattle Seahawks. "I wish the university well with their search and the program nothing but sustained success in the future.''

That's the entire statement and while I figure some will parse this looking for holes, I think it should now put to bed any question of Mora being a candidate for this job at any time.

As we reported earlier, there was an informal inquiry from UW to Mora about potentially being a candidate for the job. It was relayed back that Mora will not be a candidate for the job, which he made public with today's statement.

We'll take a brief respite from the Jim Mora talk for my weekly Pac-10 picks.

And so much for balance in the Pac-10 this year.

Here we are, with four games in the first week of November, and only one is judged to be closer 15 points by the oddsmarkers with two at 30 points or more, and one --- the UW-USC game --- offering what is thought to be the largest spread in Pac-10 history, as much as 46-and-a-half depending on what line you read.

Speaking of which, I'm eschewing my usual policy of breaking down the UW game in a separate post since there's really little to say about this game except that the Trojans are simply better than the Huskies at every position.

So I'll present all four picks here, with spreads from USA Today, and hoping I can do a little better against the points this week. I was 4-0 straight up last week to improve to 38-12 for the season, but I was 2-2 against the spread to leave me at 28-22, one of my misses coming on the Huskies (not sure why, but I thought they'd score some points on Notre Dame and keep it close).

On with the picks:

WASHINGTON AT USC (Trojans by 46-and-a-half): It'll be interesting to see what kind of effort UW puts forth given the events of the week. But there's nothing to suggest this game should be close. USC gets big check marks in every position. The question is whether the Huskies can score --- UW's only shutout since 1981 came when it lost here 38-0 in 2004. Also of note --- a loss will tie the school record for most consecutive losses, which was 10 during the 1968-69 seasons. USC 55, UW 6.

ARIZONA STATE AT OREGON STATE (Beavers by 15): Return of Dennis Erickson to Corvallis isn't a big story anymore. And with his struggles and OSU's continuing ability to surprise, not many in Corvallis are pining for the old days. ASU has lost five in a row and another will be the longest losing streak of Erickson's career. Part of me thinks Erickson will find a way to keep this one closer than expected. But the more rational side looks at the stats and the locale of the game and figures OSU should win going away. OSU 35, ASU 17.

WASHINGTON STATE AT STANFORD (Cardinal by 30): Interesting that a team scoring just 23.8 points a game is favored to win a conference game by 30. But that speaks to the weakness of the Cougars. A bye week to get healthy and regroup might mean a better effort for WSU. Certainly, the Cougars need one to provide some evidence that these last five games won't just be more of the same. WSU's QB situation, however, doesn't inspire much hope that the Cougars will keep it too close. STANFORD 34, WSU 3.

OREGON AT CAL (Bears by 3): A touchdown spread makes this the game of the week in the Pac-10. Winner stays in the Rose Bowl race for another week, loser begins pondering El Paso, which should be enough motivation for both. Ducks have scored an astounding 44 TDs in eight games this year --- UW has 15 in seven. The whole key to this one figures to be Oregon's running game --- Bears are second in the Pac-10 against the run at 95.7 per game while Oregon leads the conference in rushing at 278.8. Winner of that battle should win the game. One commenter raised a good point to me this week about Oregon's wins --- they've come against the bottom four teams in the Pac-10, plus Utah State and Purdue. But Cal's Pac-10 wins aren't any better (ASU, WSU and UCLA). Ducks will get revenge for the killer loss last season in Eugene. OREGON 34, CAL 27.

You can scratch Jim Mora off the wish list of future UW coaches.

He won't be a candidate for the UW job, it has been confirmed to the Times this morning, and an announcement to that effect could be coming soon from the Seahawks.

A written announcement should end all the speculation about Mora and the Huskies.

As for UW's search, the school is expected at some point to assemble a search committee that will likely be mostly advisory in nature with the the final decision being made by UW president Mark Emmert and AD Scott Woodward.

UPDATE --- Here's our full story on Mora not being a candidate for the UW job.

The is-the-spread-really-up-to-46-and-a-half edition?

--- Indeed, that's what it says in USA Today this morning, that USC is favored by 46-and-a-half. So a 45-0 loss for UW tomorrow would be beating expectations. The next-highest spread of the weekend is Oklahoma State by 30-and-a-half over Iowa State. WSU is a 30-point underdog at Stanford, which raises the question of whether the two in-state Pac-10 schools have ever been a bigger combined underdog on the same weekend. I can't imagine it.

--- Bud Withers of our staff wrote today about Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who is said to be intersted in the job.

--- For our Husky story today, Percy Allen talked to some of UW's committed players for the Class of 2009 and found most are waiting to see what will happen with the coaching situation before fully committing again. QB Keith Price notes in the story that he hasn't talked to anyone at UW in two weeks. UW coaches were planning to take in Price's game down here this weekend while in town for the USC contest, but as it says in the story, they are no longer planning to attend high school games this weekend.

--- The New York Times' Pac-10 notebook ponders the role of UW president Mark Emmert in Washington's coaching decisions. Also a reference to some talks the UW brass has had with Nick Saban in the past looking for advice on the coaching situation here.

--- Here's a look at Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, who is among those rumored on the list for the job here.

--- John Henderson of the Denver Post looks at UW"s coaching situation.

--- Ken Goe of the Oregonian writes that it could take a new coach four years to fix the Huskies. (And that's a cheery thought for Husky fans, isn't it?).

--- ESPN's Ted Miller ponders if the Huskies will play hard for Tyrone Willingham. I wonder if it will be possible to know. The Huskies could play great and probably lose this one by 40.

--- The Trojans won't be at full strength tomorrow, however, as safety Kevin Ellison suffered a knee injury in practice Thursday and will sit out the game.

All for now.

So here are a couple more names from the rumor mill to add to the list of potential candidates, both former NFL coaches --- Brian Billick and Marty Mornhinweg.

Billick is the former Baltimore Ravens coach who led the team to a win in Super Bowl XXXV. But he's currently out of a job after being fired following last season.

Billick was a college coach for 12 seasons before joining the NFL, interestingly working alongside Tyrone Willingham at Stanford and with the Minnesota Vikings. He's been working in broadcasting this season.

Mornhinweg was the head coach of the Lions in 2001-02 and since then has been the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, who are in town this weekend to play the Seahawks.He was also interested in the UW job in 1998 when Rick Neuheisel got the call instead. He was a QB at Montana in college but as you can see here, doesn't have a lot of college coaching experience, seven years total and three at a BCS school, having been in the NFL since 1995.

Cornerback Mesphin Forrester did not practice this afternoon. He walked with a slight limp and appeared to wear a knee brace beneath gray sweatpants. He wore a jersey, but did not dress in shoulder pads and a helmet, which usually indicates he won't be available Saturday.

Coach Tyrone Willingham did not mention Forrester's injury during Thursday's news conference when asked about an injury update.

If Forrester, a 6-foot-2, 202-pound senior, is unable to play, then that's a big blow for the winless Huskies, who face No. 7 USC. The two-year starter started every game this season and had been the UW's most dependable defensive back.

Sophomore cornerback Matt Mosley took the reps at left cornerback and will likely start if Forrester isn't ready. Mosley played well in last week's loss against Notre Dame and appeared to be pushing starting cornerback Quinton Richardson for minutes.

In other news, Willingham said injured quarterback Jake Locker will not travel to Los Angeles for the USC game. Locker was on the 64-man travel list to Arizona four weeks ago because the coach felt Locker could help redshirt freshman Ronnie Fouch in his first start.

Willingham said he'll give the spot on the roster to someone who could help the team in a pinch. The Huskies are thin in so many positions, particularly the defensive backfield.

Tripper Johnson will likely start at safety in place of injured Victor Aiyewa while true freshman Johri Fogerson returns to playing shape after missing the past three games.

Willingham said he's received support and phone calls from friends in the coaching fraternity across the country.

"They just are very much behind the man. They understand the circumstances, as we all do. I do. They are very much behind the quality of the man and the things I bring to our position."

Finally, Willingham admitted that it's been very difficult to prepare this week.

"You're talking about being able to focus 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds, which is always difficult," he said. "That's difficult in itself. And then they have to deal with the circumstances that were presented in front of them. There are a lot of things they think about. There are a lot of things they wonder about. There are answers that they don't have that nobody can really provide them at this time. So that's always difficult trying to corral all of that so they can work as a football team."

Willingham said Tuesday's practice was subdued and Wednesday's workout was upbeat.

Thursday was a mix of both during the first 25 minutes, which is viewed by the media. The mood was noticeably somber at the start before LB Donald Butler tried to lighten the moment with a silly, spontaneous bout of jumping jacks during stretching. Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano's voice rose above everyone else's quite often. There wasn't much excitement on the defensive end, however.

In case you missed it, our Seahawks blog had the report on Jim Mora's brief meeting with the media today in which he said he didn't want to talk about the UW vacancy.

Here are a few other interesting stories out there:

--- USC coach Pete Carroll told the LA Times that the the Huskies have "the magnitude and the potential to be a really tough program.''

--- Yet another column from St. Louis on why Gary Pinkel should stay put.

--- Phil Steele picks USC to win 48-6 while holding the Huskies to 120 yards.

--- The Huskies are No. 2 in this week's Bottom 10.

--- The Sporting News debates which is the better job --- UW or Clemson?

All for now.

That's the question Danny O'Neil of the Times asked in this column today.

As O'Neil points out, Jim Mora could easily end the speculation over his future with just a few simple words, but so far hasn't done so. And until he does, the speculation will persist.

I also wrote today about Taylor Mays and how his recruitment maybe could have changed things a little for Tyrone Willingham at UW.

I also wrote today about how the members of UW's Class of 2004 have been through this before.

Also today is this story on Ronnie Fouch from the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

Rivals.com reports that UW commit Kenneth Pinkard still considers himself a commit to the Huskies but is wavering just a little with the news that Willingham is gone.

Here is everything else you might want to know about the Pac-10 from Ken Goe.

All for now.

At least it's easy at the top and the bottom. ...

1, USC --- Defense more restrictive than airport security at Sea-Tac.

2, Oregon --- Masoli proving that QBs can be groomed quickly.

3, Oregon State --- UW could have gotten Mike Riley in 1998, but not now.

4, Arizona --- I have just one word for those who plan to visit Tucson --- Dirtbag's.

5, Cal --- Although I still say, don't sleep on Jeff Tedford.

6, Stanford --- It may not need to be said, but don't count on Jim Harbaugh being courted at UW.

7, UCLA --- Neuheisel's return feels like a sidebar now.

8, Arizona State --- Most disappointing team in country this side of Michigan?

9, Washington --- A stat that just looks wrong on all levels --- 2-16 in last 18 games. Sorry to ask, but is that really defensible by anyone?

10, Washington State --- So who'd be favored in Apple Cup right now? I'm thinking UW by 10-12 points.

A few after-dinner links. ...

--- Here's one of the best things I've read about the coaching career of Tyrone Willingham though that should be no surprise as it's from Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times. Dufresne ponders why Willingham worked at Stanford, and to an extent at Notre Dame, but not UW, and says his UW failure doesn't excuse his early firing in South Bend.

--- There's some good stuff on the Gary Pinkel and the UW job in the second item of this blog post.

--- Lane Kiffin, a prospective UW candidate, is embroiled in a greivance with the Raiders which would seem to be another strike against him getting the job up here.

--- Here's a good primer on the coaching search on Clemson, the other major school with a coaching opening at the moment.

All for now.

As promised, UW coach Tyrone Willingham is continuing with his normal routine, which means a daily meeting with the press before practice.

Willingham said that Tuesday's practice, the first since the news of his ouster, was "kind of subdued. A solid practice but far from someone just jumping up and down. But that was to be expected. Probably a lot of emotions going through our young men, a lot of different thoughts. But I think for the most part we got done what we needed to get done.''

Willingham said now the trick is to get better in the final two days of the week.

"The goal now is to be much more aggressive and assertive in who we have to be to be the team we have to play,'' he said. "This (USC) is not a football team you can play or defeat being passive. You've got to be ultra aggressve against this team. That means coaches, players, even our equipment guys have got to be ready to be aggressive in this ball game and if you don't, then you don't have a prayer.''

In other notes:

--- Willingham said that for now, recruiting will go on with a few tweaks. Willingham said the coaches had not yet received a directive from the UW administration on how to approach recruiting "so it's kind of been as we normally do it, for the most part, with the exception of the head coach because there's not a lot he can say to them right now.'' Willingham, however, said he didn't yet know if assistant coaches will travel to high schools in southern California this week as was originally planned.

--- Willingham said RB David Freeman, S Victor Aiyewa and LB T.J. Poe are out this week but that everyone else (other than those with long-term injuries, obviously) should be ready to go.

--- Willingham reiterated the earlier positive report on Senio Kelemete, though he said the absence could be closer to a month.

--- Asked how USC compares to Oklahoma he said "I think they are close, if not better.''

Wednesday means our regular weekly meeting with defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, and this week was no exception.

Donatell is in a different position than the other eight assistants as he has a contract that is guaranteed for the 2009 season --- the other contracts all run out June 30.

Donatell, who is in his first year as DC, said he did not regret coming to UW, knowing then a change could be made depending on how the season went.

"No, absolutely not,'' he said. "I came here for two reasons and that was Tyrone Willingham and this university.''

Donatell also said it was too early to talk about what his future might be at UW despite his two-year contract.

"I look at it as unknown,'' he said. "Because in any of these situations it always is dictated by who comes in here and what direction they are going to do and what our knowledge would be of each other, so I don't think there is anything of any substance we can say at this time.''

Donatell said the coaches have to continue to progress as if nothing has changed.

"We have to do everyting we can to make these players get better,'' he said. "We want to help Husky football, that's important to us, so that's what our intentions are. And we know that in times like this there are guys that are hurting, guys that are down a little bit, and it' our job to be strong and pick them up so that's what we are looking to do.''

Donatell said Tuesday's practice couldn't be considered as normal, but that he also didn't think it was a bad one, just a little different.

"I think these guys really feel for Ty, so there is a little sadness,'' he said. "But he explained to them we are getting to work and they see that championship attitude in their leader so they are getting to work.''

Donatell, however, admitted that "this is agreat task we have ahead of us and we talked about what we need to do to get it done.''

On a few other topics:

--- Donatell noted that playing teams like USC with size everywhere is part of the reason UW made the move in the spring to add size at cornerback by shifting some safeties there.

--- He noted he coached with Pete Carroll for six years. "Any time you get to go up against a teacher or a friend, it's great. He's been good to me over the years." He said they talk often but won't this week.

--- He said he thinks the defense is getting better and that "the arrow is going up.'' But he also said there is still a lot of improvement that is needed.

--- Donatell said the coaches are still waiting word on exactly how to proceed in recuiting but that for now, that work will continue.

--- Asked if the rest of the year serves as something of an audition for him, he said, "The focus is on the kids."

Defensive tackle Senio Kelemete may be out only a couple of weeks after having arthroscopic surgery on his knee Tuesday to repair an injury suffered in pre-game drills on Saturday.

Defensive line coach Randy Hart said Kelemete suffered some cartilage damage to his knee and that a loose piece was taken out during the surgery.

"For a change, it was exactly what they thought it was,'' he said.

Hart said Kelemete would be out "a week probably, maybe two.''

Hart said the injury happened as Kelemete did a routine pass-rushing drill before the game.

"It was absolutely fluky,'' he said. "Mind-boggling. He was pass-rushing a guy and he went right past me and I went to the next guy and he was still laying there. ... There was no contact. He was just pass rushing and it twisted, something locked up.''

With Kelemete out this week, senior Johnie Kirton will get another start at DT. De'Shon Matthews will move up in the rotation as a backup, Hart said. Hart also said that Tyrone Duncan is getting close to being able to play after missing much of the season with a broken wrist/thumb.

And for what it's worth, Hart, who has been an assistant at UW since 1988, surviving four coaching changes, said he didn't want to talk about the news this week concerning Tyrone Willingham other than to say that he would love to stay on but noted the obvious, that it won't be his decision to make.

One thing I overlooked yesterday with all the other stuff going on was passing on some notes from OC Tim Lappano, who held his regular weekly briefing with us.

Lappano didn't want to talk about the coaching news, but addressed a lot of other issues.

Most notably, he said criticism of the team's snap count procedure in the shotgun is off base.

Some have wondered if the Huskies aren't giving it away with Ronnie Fouch giving a motion with his foot right before the ball is to be snapped. Lappano said no.

Lappano said that "Oregon gives a hand signal, then it's on the center and one bobs, two bobs, and everyone in the NFL does the same thing. You give a hand signal, that doesn't tell the center to snap the ball, that tells the center that motion is clear and everything is okay to snap the ball because you don't want the center shapping the ball when the quarterback and the motion isn't ready. So you do it with a hand or a foot andn then the center, it's on his call. It's a silent count. It's the center making the cadence, not Ronnie. They can't hear Ronnie and they aren't going to hear Ronnie in the (LA) Coliseum.''

Lappano attributed much of the offensive struggles last week to sloppiness.

He echoed some rumblings that last Thursday's practice wasn't a real good way to end the week.

"We were a little bit slppy on Thursday,'' he said. "I didn't like Thursday's practice. It wasn't as sharp as it needed to be and there were signs of that on Saturday and we've got to get that cleaned up.''

Lappano said he doesn't expect RB David Freeman to play this week but said otherwise, health shouldn't be a real issue. Juan Garcia continues to struggle with an ankle injury but is playing through it, and Kavario Middleton is apparently 100 percent, his playing time limited mostly because of the return of Michael Gottlieb.

As for the task this week, he said the obvious --- it will be gargantuan. But he said that any college football player should be fired up to test themselves against a team as good as USC.

Off we go. ...

--- Bud Withers of our staff with a good column on why Tyrone Willingham's recruiting methods might have worked at Stanford but didn't at UW.

--- Here's our main Husky story of the day, focusing on how the assistants are handling the week's events.

--- USC assistant Steve Sarkisian told reporters in LA he'd be interested in the UW job. I still think they're not really going to look the assistant route other than for a couple of obvious guys (Muschamp, Christensen).

--- The Arizona Republic looks at the recent trend of coaching changes in the Pac-10.

--- A St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist says there's no reason for Gary Pinkel to come to UW now, adding that the Huskies had their chance at him in 1998 and blew it.

--- Another St. Louis columnist makes a case for why Pinkel will stay put.

--- Lots of good Pac-10 links from Ken Goe.

--- Jason Whitlock writes that Tyrone Willingham's failures don't make Charlie Weis look any better.

All for now.

The first practice ATR --- after the resignation --- began just like every other one before it.

At exactly 4 p.m., Tyrone Willingham blew his whistle and the players moved into position.

All seemed the same. Michael Jackson music blared over loudspeakers and there were the usual sights and sounds of a practice.

In terms of personnel, RB David Freeman was in pads but sat out as he is apparently not going to play this week. Also out was S Victor Aiyewa, battling with a groin issue. True frosh LB Kurt Mangum was also sidelined with an unknown injury (nothing to legs or anything, apparently).

DT Senio Kelemete was not visible at practice but had been seen earlier in the day on crutches, indicating his knee injury may be long-term. We should know more tomorrow.

On the first full day of a vacancy at UW, the rumor mill continues to fill with news. Here are some updates:

--- This story in the Columbia Tribune is headlined "Pinkel quashes any talk of UW.'' But nothing in the story actually quashes talk of UW, it's just a reference to Pinkel not wanting to say anything about the job at all. More enlightening is this blog entry in that paper in which the author notes that until Gary Pinkel says he's not interested in the job, he's worth keeping an eye on.

--- I can't find a link to the actual story, but I was sent this snippet of a story from Boise today about BSU coach Chris Petersen, who also didn't exactly deny interest in the job.

Here's the story:

"Petersen's name already is in the rumor mill at Washington, which announced Monday that coach Ty Willingham will step down at the end of the season. Washington plans to begin its search immediately, ESPN.com reported.

"Like we tell our guys, if we're doing the things we want to do here, that's a good thing that our names are being thrown out,'' Petersen said. “We love Boise State University and we've got a good thing going here. There's always going to be rumors we can't control.''

He declined to answer questions about whether he would be interested in the job.''

--- There are indications that Air Force coach Troy Calhoun may be interested in the job. Here is some information on him.

--- ESPN's Pat Forde has this take on the Willingham resignation.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller shares some thoughts on the UW coaching situation.

--- ESPN's readers seem to think Lane Kiffin would be the best fit for the job.

All for now.

Today was the first opportunity for media to talk with UW's assistants, whose jobs are now in limbo with the forced resignation of Tyrone Willingham.

The assistants have contracts taking them through June 30, and they will likely all stay in place until the next coach is hired. That coach could then retain one or two of them if he wishes, as has usually been the case here. Randy Hart and Chris Tormey each survived the Keith Gilbertson firing, for instance, and Hart also survived the Jim Lambright firing.

One of the most interesting cases is that of running backs coach Steve Gervais, who left the staggeringly successful Skyline High program to become running backs coach here last winter. With Skyline apparently headed to another state title, the obvious question is whether Gervais regrets his decision.

"Absolutely not,'' he said. "As I said last spring, it was a time of my life I was looking for something different in the area of football and coaching and I still look back on it as a great decision.''

Gervais said he understood all along the chance he was taking in coming to UW and said the announcement Monday wasn't a surprise.

Gervais said the coaching staff knew that "if we weren't sucessful to a certain point there was that potential for change. And at 0-7, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand there is a good potential for that.''

There has been speculation that Gervais could stay on due to his ties to coaches in the state as well as to Skyline QB Jake Heaps, who will be the top recruit in the state in 2010.

Asked if he hoped to stay on, Gervais said "I'm not really going to even go there right now with that because I want to finish out this and we'll see what happens down the road.''

Gervais also said that he was unsure how recruiting would now progress for the assistants. He said many were headed to L.A. a little early this week to do some recruiting but he was now unsure if they will be allowed to go. He said the coaching staff should get "a directive'' on how to proceed with recruiting now.

Offensive line coach Mike Denbrock also talked with the media and said he expected the coaching staff to handle the next five weeks as well as they can. Denbrock has been through this before, staying on to help coach Notre Dame after Willingham was fired in 2004 --- Kent Baer was named as interim coach for the team's bowl game that year.

"It was difficult situation we were in before and this is a difficult situation too,'' he said. "But you know there are professional people in that office over there and I know they are going to make sure they keep things in the proper perspective which right now is that Washington fields a competitive football team and we do our jobs the way we are supposed to be doing them and give our kids a chance.''

Denbrock said he would love to stay on with a new coach but that "I don't know that I will even have the opportunity to do that. We'll see what happens down the road.''

Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano also met the media today but said he wanted questions limited to this week's game against USC.

UW coach Tyrone Willingham got a little more attention than usual on the Pac-10 coaches conference call today. Here's some of what he said:

On whether there is a weight off his shoulders now that his future is settled: "Not necessarily for me but more for the overall program than for myself that hopefully it can eliminate some of the outside negativity that has been surrounding the program and hopefully our guys can now have some idea, even though it does raise some questions, have some idea of what is going to happen, what's going to take place, so they can focus on what is important, which is a very, very good opponent that we have in front of us.''

Are there things he would do differently at UW: "At the right time I will kind of sit down and catalog those things in my mind, what I will do in the future and how things work. Right now is not the time for me to be looking back. We've got five football games to go and obviously we are playing the best team in the country in our opinion, so we better being looking face forward. If not, we'll have real problems.''

On how the team will respond now: "There's so much we don't know. It would be wonderful if I could tell you exactly how all of our players, even the majority, are feeling. Right now, gosh, those guys have probably done a couple of flip-flops flips in their minds in the last 24 hours. Hopefully when it's all said and done (the team will follow) the example I have set from day one, that we embrace challenges, we go out and give our best and we move forward, that has been my approach and hopefully they can follow my example and they will be even more intense than they have been in the past. Is that difficult? Without question it's difficult. But that's the thing that makes competition so much fun that you have to rise above human nature. Right now we can get some real drains from human nature, but hopefully our guys will be able to look at coach Willingham and say 'you know what? Coach didn't give up on us, coach is staying with us, coach is going forward, and we are going to do the same.'''

On talking to the team and assistants: "We have to quickly turn our attention to USC. I did have a chance to speak with the staff and coaches before the press conference so they were aware of what is taking place. I sent an e-mail to much of our football team, unfortunately it was not the best of timing or the best way to communicate with them, but we did try to give them a head's up of what was taking place. Today I will meet with the team and I told them in the e-mail I will speak briefly on the subject and then we will put our attention to USC and the four remaining games that we have on the season.''

On the reaction of assistants: "You cannot in any stretch of the imagination think that this is business as usual. These are unusual circumstances that happen and you have to deal with them. You are not sure of all of the emotiois of all the players and I don't know all of the reactions of all of our coaches. Some will see it differently. Some will respond to is as another challenge, some will not. But hopefully again they will follow my lead and get after this thing.''

Willingham said that an MRI on Senio Kelemete had taken place in the morning and depending on the results, he may be having knee surgery today.

Willingham also said that he is unsure where recruiting goes now. He said he will have to meet with the administration here to see how it wants this coaching staff to deal with recruiting.

"These are unusual circumstances and now we have to carry a different voice because it's not Tyrone Willingham's voice of this current program but we've also got to look out for the program of the future and make sure we are doing the right things for them, also.''

Asked if he has any voice left in recruiting he said, "right now I don't have a voice. It's unfortunate, but I don't.''

Tuesday is the Pac-10's weekly coaches conference call, and the forced resignation of Tyrone Willingham is a predictably hot topic.

The coaches pretty much have been reacting as you might expect --- they like Willingham and are sad to see it happen but also understand it's part of the business.

Here's a sampling:

RICK NEUHEISEL, UCLA

"Any time we in this business have a peer go through what Tyrone is going through right now it's difficult because we all understand the stakes when we got into this racket. But we hate to see that happen to good people.''

On whether his mand wanders to the way his tenure ended at UW: "My mind can't wander very far from the task we have here, so no, we haven't. I wish him well, but I know he will land on his feet. He's a proven entity as a football coach.''

PETE CARROLL, USC

On whether it will impact the game this weekend against UW: ":It doens't affect us at all. I think it's going to affect them considerably. I think the players who have been recruited by coach Willingham and all that will give everything they've got and probably a very emotional expression, concerned about his feelings. We will probably get a heck of an effort from these guys.''

MIKE BELLOTTI, OREGON

General reaction: "I have great respect and admiration for Tyrone Willingham, both as a friend and professionally because he and I have coached togher for many years and he's been in and out of this conference and done a tremendous job representing football coaches around the nation. ...

"He is a guy I respect as a coach and like and admire as a person so it's always difficult to see when things don't go right.''

"I thought they handled it in a manner that allowed him to finish the season and coach his players and I think that's really important, and he certainly had a choice not to do that and knowing Tyrone, there's no way he would go out other than coaching his guys and doing it the right way.''

"I always thought Washington is a scary situation. They've had great recruiting years, each of the last two years in my opinion gotten a lot of people we would have liked to have had stayed in the state. Can't say anything more than that he's done a good job in that regard. But as he said himself, if you don't win enough it's not going to matter.''

OREGON STATE COACH MIKE RILEY

Riley wasn't asked specifically if he'd be interested in the UW job, but gave a general answer that he's not interested in leaving Corvallis.

"I'm really thankful for my second chance. You don't get very many of those in our business and I appreciated Oregon State's and I'm going to hold on for dear life.''

Here they are. ...

--- Here's a link to all of our coverage.

--- Steve Kelley says the move came a year too late.

--- Jerry Brewer looks at how the Huskies now go forward.

--- I looked at the coaching search ahead.

--- The LA Times has some reaction from UW's opponent this week, USC.

--- The Sporting News debates whether it was better for Willingham to leave now or stay on the rest of the year.

--- Ken Goe of the Oregonian wonders if the Huskies might be interested in Mike Riley or Chip Kelly and also provides lots of links.

--- Goe also writes that Willingham has no one top blame but himself.

All for now.

A couple of late-night links as we wrap up the day:

--- Lane Kiffin told the Associated Press tonight that he would be interested in the UW job. I think Kiffin has said this before, and he's an out-of-work coach looking for a job, so I would have been more surprised if he said he wasn't interested. I'm sure he's on the list, but I'm not sure how high.

--- Pete Carroll says he expects UW to be extra emotional for Saturday's game at USC.

--- The AP also filed this report on Willingham's radio show tonight which he dutifully attended on the day he was forced out. For what it's worth, Keith Gilbertson did the same thing four years ago when he was relieved of his duties, as well.

Here's some additional player reaction to today's removal of Tyrone Willingham as UW's coach:

RONNIE FOUCH:

General reaction: "It's tough for me beauase he's the reason I came here.''

How he found out: "I had a meeting with him this morning.''

On going on the next five games: "It won't he hard because we will be playing for him.He's the reason I came here and it's going to be tough seeing him go after this year.''

On the players not hearing about it as a team: "It came at a not opportune time for him to address the team having the day off today and yesterday, but he met with me and I was infomed before this.''

On Willingham staying on: "I think that's best for our team to have him stay because he has built this program to where it is right now and we are going to rally around him and try to win some games to try to finish out the season right for him.''

More reaction to the move: "It was tough because he's the reason I came here and he recruited me from day one and having him look me in the eye and say he won't be back next year is tough for me.''

What went wrong: "If you look at the obvious point, wins and losses. But I don't think that's his fault. A lot of it is the team. He can only do so much and we've got to be able to put wins and losses out there ourselves. ... We believe that we are as big a reason we are 0-7 as he is.''

NATE WILLIAMS

Reaction: "I found out about 1:30. With all the speculation, I think, I guess we could see it coming .... the reality hasn't hit me yet that he won't be the coach next season. ... It's unfortunate that it happens but that's part of sports, I guess. ... I had mixed emotions. It takes a while for the reality to hit you what's happened. It's tough to hear the coach you came to play for won't be here next year.

On where the team goes now: "We really need to rally around ourselves. When things get tough you have to lean on your brother..''

JOHRI FOGERSON

Reaction: "He's the one that brought me here so it's sad. Now we're going to be starting over from ground zero. It's just unfortunate we are not winning games this year because he's a great coach. The difference in how we practice and how we play just doesn't add up. We have the talent. We're not an 0-7 team at all. ... for me, I'll just keep playing. It's a business right now and we are here to play football.''

Wrapping up a day that seemed inevitable from the minute Oregon scored the first time it touched the ball against the Huskies this year. ...

--- The fact that Tyrone Willingham will coach five more games means we'll have plenty of time for post-mortems on what went wrong during the Willingham era later. I'll dole out some more thoughts on that as the days unfold. For now, some quickie comments and answers to some questions.

--- One commenter wondered why there was no comment today from Jim Mora and took the Seattle media to task for not getting anything from him. I will defend us by saying you can't make someone talk who doesn't want to --- or whose employers aren't letting him. That was the case today as Mora was not made available to the media by the Seahawks today, so media did not have a chance to talk with him. He has already been declining most interview requests, not wanting to do or say anything that might make it seem like he was intruding on Mike Holmgren --- basically, letting Holmgren do all the talking in his last year with the team. Until now, asking him about the UW job wouldn't have really been something anyone would have done anyway as almost no coach is going to publicly comment on a job that isn't officially open. But now that the job is open, it does seem that at some point, Mora will have to say something.Obviously, the easiest way for the speculation to stop is with Mora saying publicly he's not interested. Until then, it will continue.

--- I got a lot of comments on the coaching thread asking "why didn't you list (insert coach name here)?'' Obviously, such lists could be 30-40 names long. I tried to pare it down to those I think are most realistic at the moment based on an educated guess of who would most likely have interest in the job that the school might also have interest in, as well. But I'm sure there are more guys on the real list than the one I presented. That will be the task in the coming days and weeks, seeing which coaches emerge as legitimate candidates and I'll revise the list as I plow through this more.

--- A few of you mentioned Bobby Hauck of Montana. I don't really see that one happening as Hauck's sole connection to UW is as one of Rick Neuheisel's assistant, generally referred to as Neuheisel's right-hand-man during that era. Not sure they will want to go that route right now.

--- They aren't ruling out coordinators in part because it would be stupid to publicly rule out anything right now. But I think they'd really like to hit a home run with this so I'm not sure throwing out the name of every coordinator whose had a little success makes a lot of sense. I think there are a few who may be on it, and I listed the two who seem the most realistic, but I think it's mostly going to be proven guys they want to go after it.

--- As I wrote earlier, UW sounds prepared to offer more than $2 million, which by itself will make this a pretty attractive job. I really don't think attracting candidates is going to be a problem, it's just being able to seal the deal with the right one. Timing is as much of an issue in these things as money or anything else.

--- Speaking of which, if UW does offer someone $2 million per, that person would be the second-highest paid coach in the Pac-10 based on this list of salaries from last summer.

--- Jon Wilner has this on the Willingham "resignation'' today and throws out the name of Les Miles as a possible candidate. That seems like a real longshot but one thing I only recently learned is that Miles was apparently a candidate for the UW job in 2004, something that never really leaked at the time. He ended up taking the LSU job, instead, a few weeks later. Guess it seems unlikely that the UW powers-that-be would steal a coach from their old school but crazier things have happened.

All for now.

A few notes to pass along:

--- UW is likely to assemble a search committee to aid in the process, but it will be for helping with overall philosophy and things of that sort with Mark Emmert and Scott Woodward making the final decision.

--- The school may also hired a search firm, which can aid in keeping things secret.

--- Sources have indicated that UW may be willing to pay upwards of $2 million, which they would have to do to get Gary Pinkel, who is already at that level. Willingham was making about $1.6 million with incentives.

--- Speaking of Pinkel, he had no real comment on the job when asked about it today, which can probably be taken as an indication that he's interested.

--- The Sporting News has this on the search. But I'm not sure how big a factor Lane Kiffin is going to be in this. I just think there are others of more interest.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller, a former beat writer and columnist here, says Willingham was never a good fit at UW. No question UW will be looking for someone who may better understand what he is getting into from the get-go.

--- Miller also has this on where the search goes from here.

--- Rivals.com says Mora and Pinkel are the top two.

All for now.

Here's a look at some possible candidates to succeed Tyrone Willingham.

I'd be interested to know whom you favor and if you think there's anyone else should be on this list.

Jim Mora/Asst. coach, Seahawks/In line to be the next head coach of the Seahawks but the Huskies at least have to find out if he's interested.

Gary Pinkel/Head coach, Missouri/Former Husky assistant (1979-1990) has contract at Missouri through 2012. But another whom the Huskies probably at least have to hear tell them no.

Pat Hill/Head coach, Fresno State/Has long been thought to covet the job and knows the West Coast. Also is well-respected by Nick Saban, whom Mark Emmert and Scott Woodward hired at LSU.

Lane Kiffin/former head coach, Oakland Raiders/Another thought to be interested in the job and has ties to the Pac-10 because of a six-year stint at USC.

Chris Petersen/Head coach, Boise State/Thought to prefer a lower spotlight in Boise, but UW could pay him a lot more than he's making in Boise.

Will Muschamp/defensive coordinator, Texas/Was defensive coordinator at LSU when Tigers won national title in 2003 and Emmert and Woodward in charge in Baton Rouge. But may be more interested in Clemson job.

Dave Christensen/offensive coordinator, Missouri/A native of Everett and was a walk-on at UW from 1980-82. Knows well the spread option offense that would fit Jake Locker and was interested in the WSU opening last year.

Jeff Tedford/Head coach, Cal/It's thought UW tried to make a big run at him in 2004 but he wasn't interested. Might be more interested now, though contract, which runs through 2013, may make it hard for him to leave.

Mike Leach/Head coach, Texas Tech/Was thought interested last time and may be again. But has a quirky personality that may not fit well in a big market.

UW president Mark Emmert just concluded a conference call with reporters. Here are some highlights:

--- Emmert said the decision was essentially made following the Oregon State game last week and was finalized after what happened this weekend. "To state the obvious, the season has not developed the way anyone hoped or wanted or anticipated,'' he said.

--- Emmert said there was no truth to a rumor that coach Tyrone Willingham tried to resign after the Hawaii game last year and it was not accepted.

--- He said the school wanted to keep Willingham on board "to keep the student-athlete focused on all that they have to do, their athletic commitment, their academic commitment, keeping them focused through the remainer of the year. It struck both Scott [Woodward] and I and coach Willingham as clearly in the best interest of the team to keep them in place rather than make a change right now that would be yet another disruption to an already struggling program.''

--- Emmert said the search for a new coach has already begun and now can pick up steam with Willingham's fate decided. "One of the advantages of making this official today is that it gives us the liberty to begin those conversations with potential candidates and their representatives. Scott and I are really committed to not doing things behind people's backs. If we were going to explore coaches, we sure didn't want to do that without Tyrone knowing his situation.''

--- Emmert said the school has "already begun some discrete inquiries [about candidates] through other individuals and we'll be very aggressive in the coming weeks trying to find the best coaches possible to be candidates.''

--- He said the final decision will be his and Woodward's, though it appears Woodward will make the ultimate call.

--- Asked what he would like to see in a new coach, Emmert said: "It's not a 'who' so much as a 'what.' I want to make sure that we have a coach who continues what coach Willingham did very well and that is to restore the integrity to our program and bring the kind of positive character and quality that we have seen. ... But [there's been] a lack of competitiveness on the field, so we need someone who is going to do both of those things for us.''

--- Emmert would not comment on Jim Mora and said the school would not comment on specific candidates.

--- He said it "is obviously easier'' to know what a sitting head coach will bring, but that he won't rule out assistants or coordinators. "Every head coach was a coordinator at some point and then they made that transition,'' he said. "We shouldn't be closing off those kinds of [candidates].''

--- Emmert said he didn't regret bringing Willingham back after last season: "Given the information we had available and what I saw in front of me last year, we made the right choice.''

--- He said he thought the team would do much better this year and is surprised it turned out the way it did, though he said he wouldn't speculate what has gone wrong.

--- Emmert said the school will pay competitively, and "I'm fairly optimistic about the attractiveness of this job,'' pointing to the city, the large fan base and the history of success here.

--- He said he thinks the team could regain respectability fairly quickly. "But will he [the next coach] have some rebuilding to do? You bet he will. Obviously the program is at its lowest ebb in its history right now this season and that doesn't turn around instantly.''

Quarterback Jake Locker just concluded his meeting with the media here and said "it's tough'' seeing Tyrone Willingham being forced to resign today.

"It's obviously tough being that he was the coach that brought me in and I kind of had close relationships through the whole process, so it will be difficult to see them go,'' he said.

But Locker said he understood why the decision was made.

"We all understand it's a business as well, and they understand that as well as any of us and when we are not able to win games and produce what we all wanted, there are going to be consequences for that,'' Locker said. "It's unfortunate that it has to happen this way, but we didn't take care of what we needed to do.''

Locker said that "change can be good'' but that it also can turn out bad, as well.

"Only time will tell,'' he said. "I think, at some point, us as players need to make a decision that we need to make the difference for this football team. I think the coaches are able to give you a game plan and put you in the best position to have success and then it's up to the players to execute that. No matter who is in there, it's going to fall on our shoulders so it's an important time for us as a team to come together and rally around each other and realize we are what's going to be left and that we need to get through this together.''

The Tyrone Willingham era at Washington will continue for five more games.

But the school announced today that Willingham has resigned as coach beyond this season, agreeing to coach the final five games of this year before moving on.

"It is my desire to complete and finish the football season and do that in the manner that I have done it, unwavering in my approach and commitment to my young men," he said.

Willingham is 11-32 as UW's coach and 0-7 this season, suffering a 33-7 loss to Notre Dame Saturday.

UW athletic director Scott Woodward said the move was made now to get a head start on finding a replacement and remove all the speculation swirling around the program.

"Now we can focus on the five games in front of us,'' Woodward said.

He said he wanted Willingham to remain in the job the rest of the year to keep continuity in the program.

"I thought it would be in the best interest of the student-athlete to have coach Willingham continue to lead us,'' he said. "We are as concerned about the student-athlete, what they do off the field, as well as what they do on the field, and we felt coach Willingham was best suited to deal with the team off the field as well as on the field.''

Willingham said he agreed to the decision to lift the uncertainty he admitted was hovering over the program.

"It just kinds of clears some of the minds and doubts," he said. "It eliminates some of that and we should hopefully be able to move forward a little bit better."

The Huskies play Saturday at USC, where they have been listed as 43-point underdogs.
UW's season ends Dec. 6 at Cal.

The Huskies are in the midst of a nine-game losing streak dating to last season that is the longest in 39 years.

Asked what went wrong at UW, Willingham said simply, "We didn't win enough games. That's it. But I do believe we put the program in a position where it will be able to win football games [in the future]."

Woodward said the reason for the move was simple -- the team's record on the field.

"It became quite obvious with the performance on the football field that it wasn't what we talked about at the beginning of the season and previous to the season, and it became more obvious as time wore on this season," he said.

Woodward said discussions on a resignation began last Sunday after a 33-14 loss to Oregon State.
He said they concluded last night, after Willingham held his usual Sunday meeting with the team.

The school made the announcement at Willingham's regular Monday press conference, and he said he had not had the chance to speak with players. A few were in the offices Monday and found out shortly before the announcement, including quarterback Ronnie Fouch, who said he was disappointed at the news. "I came here to play for coach Willingham,'' he said.

Woodward said Willingham will receive his contractual obligations, which apparently means he will get a $1 million buyout that is called for in his contract.

Attention will now shift to who will be the next coach.

Woodward said the search will begin immediately and he would not rule out a hiring at any point from here on out.

Speculation will initially center on the likes of former Husky player Jim Mora, who is in line to be the next coach of the Seahawks but who has also previously expressed interest in the UW job; Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel, an assistant at UW from 1979-90; Fresno State coach Pat Hill; and former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin.

Tyrone Willingham has announced his resignation as coach of the Huskies but will coach out the season.

"It is my desire to complete and finish the football season and do that in the manner that I have done it unwavering in my approach and commitment to my young men," Willingham said.

UW AD Scott Woodward said he wanted Willingham to finish out the season to keep continuity in the program.

He said he wanted to make the decision now so that the Huskies can get "a head start'' on the process of finding another coach.

He said the search will start immediately.

Woodward said the discussions began last Sunday about making a change.

He said Willingham will receive what his contractual obligations -- he is due a $1 million buyout according to his contract.

Willingham is 11-32 as UW's coach.

Asked what went wrong at UW, Willingham said: "We didn't win enough games. That's it. We didn't win football games. But I do believe we put the program in a position where it will be able to win football games.''

Willingham took over following the 2004 season when Keith Gilbertson resigned after going 1-10.

The depth chart and notes for this week are out. Here are a few highlights:

--- Kickoff for the ASU game has been set for 4 p.m. so it can be televised on FSN-NW.

--- DT Senio Kelemete is not on the depth chart, indicating his knee injury may be somewhat serious. Johnie Kirton is listed as the starter at his spot this week.

--- David Freeman is listed as the backup RB, so maybe his injury wasn't serious.

The rest of it looks fairly unchanged.

Here's a link to the depth chart.

So far, no sign of anything out of the ordinary on Montlake today.

The school just sent out a note saying that the depth chart is being delayed simply because they haven't been able to get it updated, but it did send out the rest of its usual Monday notes, including the Players of the Week.

However, only four players were honored as UW coaches did not name any players of the week for offense or special teams.

LB Mason Foster was honored for defense and FB Austin Sylvester, DT Jovon O'Connor and S Greg Walker for service or scout team work.

Just wanted to pass along a quick post for those who have been wondering if anything is going on at Montlake with the coaching situation.

There may be a lot happening behind-the-scenes. But officially it was business as usual today, the team apparently tending to its regular day-after-game routine -- film sessions, rehab work, etc. --- same as any other week.

If something were to happen this week, however, it would likely come tomorrow (Monday), the day Tyrone Willingham holds his weekly press conference and the coaches begin in earnest to prepare for the week ahead.

When Keith Gilbertson was let go in 2004, for instance, it was announced at his regular Monday press briefing.

Gilbertson, if you recall, officially resigned but agreed to coach out the rest of the season, which that year meant three more games. There have been rumblings that a similar scenario could take place this year. And indications are that the administration at UW would be fine with it. Mark Emmert and Scott Woodward, if you recall, were here in 2004 when Gilbertson resigned but coached out the year, so if they were agreeable to doing that once, they likely would be again.

One advantage to that is keeping the day-to-day routine of the players intact. When Woodward said he wasn't in favor of an in-season change, he said one of the biggest reasons is concern over the program going astray during an interim period -- players not attending classes or missing conditioning sessions, etc.

One difference between 2004 and now, however, is that the fan base didn't seem as angry with Gilbertson -- who had previously coached at UW and is generally considered part of the Husky family -- as they are with Willingham. I don't remember anyone really questioning that Gilbertson coached out the last three games, and it seemed as if a lot of people rallied behind him. Not sure how the reaction would be to Willingham.

But the Huskies now have only two home games left and one -- against Rick Neuheisel and UCLA -- is sure to draw well no matter what UW's situation at the time.

None of this is to say that anything is necessarily going to happen tomorrow -- there may be only three people who really know what's going on -- just to detail one scenario that could occur.

The Trojans have been installed as a 43-point favorite over the Huskies for Saturday's game in Los Angeles.

As far as I know, this is the largest spread ever against UW, at least in the era of the Pac-10. The largest spread I have been able to find against UW came in 2004 in the same venue, when the Huskies were 35-point underdogs at USC.

The Trojans were ranked No. 1 at the time while the Huskies were giving Isaiah Stanback his first start at QB. USC won that game 38-0, the only shutout for UW since 1981.

EDIT --- This post has been updated since I first wrote it as the official line we publish in the Times shows USC as a 43-point favorite. The Trojans were also a 43-point favorite at WSU two weeks ago, which at the time was regarded as the biggest spread for a game between two Pac-10 teams.

A Sunday morning brimming with rumors left and right. Frankly, nothing that might happen in the next few days will be a surprise, and if something is to happen this week it will be in the next day or two as the team would need to spend the rest of the week getting ready for Saturday's game at USC.

Times columnist Jerry Brewer wrote today that it was simply another Grounddawg day at Husky Stadium, with the game that may have ended the Tyrone Willingham regime also exposing his greatest flaw --- an inability to build a team properly around Jake Locker.

Bud Withers wrote about what Notre Dame's fake punt and UW's unwillingness to be aggressive at the end of the first half said about the directions of the two programs.

Percy Allen wrote about the horrid offensive performance and the notebook looked at how even interceptions are turning bad for UW right now.

You can find all kinds of Notre Dame coverage here.

The updated NCAA stats are out and the two that may best tell the tale are these --- UW is 108th in total offense, 116th in total defense.

The Huskies simply aren't good at anything right now, and I would submit that this team may be worse now than the 2004 team, an angle that probably deserves its own blog post at some point.

But as a quick comparison, that team gained 311 yards per game while allowing 369.5. This year's team is gaining 291 per game while allowing 479.6.

That's not to say the program is necessarily worse off now than then --- there is more young talent on the roster now --- but the current on-field product is no better in every way, and Willingham is likely to soon meet the same fate as the coach of that team, Keith Gilbertson, who was fired after the eighth game of the season.

My final version game story hasn't been posted yet, so here it is in its unedited version:

The school that fired Tyrone Willingham four years ago might have gotten him fired again Saturday.

Or, at least, delivered the final blow to a UW coaching tenure that has been teetering on the ropes for some time.

Saturday's 33-7 loss to Notre Dame, the team Willingham coached for three seasons before being fired and coming to UW, not only bordered on offensive ineptitude of historic proportions for much of the night but also made official what has long seemed inevitable.

There will be no bowl game this year for the Huskies, now 0-7 with five games left. No winning season. No sign of any kind of progress. And no doubt about where things are now headed.

UW athletic director Scott Woodward has said several times he did not "foresee" making a coaching change during the season.

But he hasn't completely ruled it out, and that also doesn't eliminate the possibility of a resignation of some sort, either immediate or announced but with Willingham coaching the rest of the season.

Either way, it's only the details that now seem in question.

Afterward, however, Willingham again held a stiff upper lip.

"Right now, the thing we have to do is just (talk about) basic pride,'' he said. "We've got to step up as coaches and players, all of us step up and do a better job, because this was not a good performance.''

It was UW's ninth in a row dating to last season, the longest streak since the Huskies lost the first nine of the 1969 season.

And Saturday, they fittingly managed one first down for every one of those defeats, with only a scoring drive in the final minutes keeping the game from going down as the worst in UW offensive history.

The Huskies had only 55 yards and four first downs and didn't get past their own 44-yard line until a 21-yard completion with 6:03 left from Ronnie Fouch to Cody Bruns finally got them past midfield.

Fouch ended the drive by hitting D'Andre Goowin with a 6-yard TD pass that averted UW's first home shutout since 1976.

"There was nothing that we really did well tonight (offensively),'' Willingham said.

UW finished with just 124 yards, the fewest since getting 113 in a 38-0 loss at USC in 2004.

The Huskies struggled to move the ball against an aggressive Notre Dame team that used the bye week to implement a number of new blitzes that caught the Huskies and redshirt freshman QB Fouch off-guard.

"It's not that we didn't try or anything,'' said offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. "We got beat physically at times up front and in the backfield on all the pressures, and there were other times that we dropped balls that took us out off drives. It was disappointing because I thought we were growing a little bit in the passing game.''

The Huskies punted the first nine times they had the ball --- or every possession until the last one.
Notre Dame scored TDs after the first two, all but salting the game away before the first quarter was halfway gone.

A 51-yard inside screen pass from Jimmy Clausen to Michael Floyd made it 7-0 with 12:35 left in the first quarter, and a 21-yard run on a reverse by Golden Tate made it 14-0 with 7:48 left. The Husky defense stiffened a bit from there, but with the offense struggling the way it was it hardly mattered.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who saw his team improve to 5-2, thought the early scores were the key to the game.

"When you have a team that's wounded, if you let them hang around you can put yourself in a very vulnerable position,'' he said. "We felt today it was important in the first quarter to get on top of them.''

UW safety Nate Williams said the team might have been a little too excited in the early going, each of the first two Notre Dame TDs basically taking advantage of Washington's aggression.

"I think everyone just came out a little too pumped,'' Williams said. "We are on ESPN2 and it's Notre Dame and everyone was making a huge deal about it all week. After the first two possessions we calmed down and showed everybody what we are capable of doing.''

Still, it was a rout in every way imaginable. Notre Dame gained 459 yards despite basically taking the pedal off the gas midway through the third quarter, and outrushed the Huskies 252-26.

Most of the 70,437 in attendance had filed out by the time UW had scored, by which time the angle of Willingham facing his former team had completely faded into irrelevance.

"Being 0-7 is about as low as it could possibly be,'' said fifth-year senior tight end Michael Gottlieb. "It's definitely frustrating. It's hard. These losses pile up on you and it's a weight on you and it's not easy to keep your head up. But it's a chance for us to really show our character in tough times.''

Times that may only get tougher as the Huskies now prepare to face USC next Saturday in Los Angeles.

Do any of you really even want to rehash these games anymore?

I get the sense the only questions anyone has now concern Jim Mora and Gary Pinkel and Lane Kiffin and everybody else on the wish list.

But the breakdown of this one, for those who still care, seems pretty simple --- the Huskies couldn't handle Notre Dame's defensive pressure by making any big plays in the passing game or mounting any kind of a running attack; and defensively, let the Irish take over the game in the first seven minutes and while the Huskies played better from there, it hardly mattered since the game was never again in doubt.

"It was a game that we seemed to be able to do very few things right,'' said UW coach Tyrone Willingham, a statement that also pretty much describes the last four years, which now sees his record at 11-32.

Willingham seemed a little more down than usual, and it was easy to read into it that he realizes now that the end is near. I caught a brief segment of his radio interview afterward and he admitted that "it's a concern'' trying to keep the players together now.

Otherwise, there wasn't a lot said after this one --- other than a little putting on a brave face about getting back up for next week --- everyone seeming resigned to their collective fates. Nobody seemed too upset, having apparently grown numb now to defeat.

In terms of news, sounds as if the injury to Senio Kelemete could be serious and he might be out for a while but we won't know for sure until Monday or so. RB David Freeman also left with a re-injury to an ankle, an ominous sign given he hadn't played since Sept., 27 with the same injury.

But right now, how much does it even matter who is available next week at USC?

I'm anticipating that the Huskies will go into that game as big an underdog as they have been in 30 years or so --- maybe since the infamous trip to Alabama in 1975 when Don James suffered his worst defeat, 52-0, at the hands of one of Bear Bryant's powerhouse teams.

As for grades, the whole offense deserves an F. Individually, D'Andre Goodwin would be the one player who deserves a little special recognition for hanging in there and making seven catches, including the TD at the end that saved this one from being even more embarrassing.

Defensively, we'll just give the whole unit a C-minus. UW played in a nickel defense much of the game and that gave the defense a different look. Notre Dame seemed to take advantage of that early by running more than they had been. Despite the lopsided score, this was a better effort in a lot of areas --- a little more pressure on the QB, a little better playing of the ball in the secondary. It seemed like they played pretty hard the whole game.

But when Notre Dame scored on those first two possessions, the outcome was pretty much sealed. And while there may have been some bright spots, worth nothing that ND ran for 252 yards, or about 150 more than their average. The Huskies simply can't stop anyone from running the ball.

Other than the punting team and the kickoff return team, the special teams barely saw the field. The punting was subpar but the coverage was fine I guess. But then there was the fake punt by Notre Dame, which the Irish were able to pull off despite needing 13 yards. So that should get an F, as well (Edited from original post).

The coaching grade is also an F. An 0-7 record and nine straight losses and almost getting shut out at home for the first time since 1976 --- averting it only with a drive against a lot of deep reserves --- says it all.

A harsher judgment on the coaching figures to be coming soon.

FOUCH COMMENT --- Ronnie Fouch met the media here real quickly after the game and said that while the Huskies knew the blitz was coming it was just hard to stop. "They did a good job of disguising their blitz,'' he said. "They did a good job of figuring out our slide protection and then going the opposite way.''

FEWEST YARDS FOR UW SINCE 2004 --- Huskies gained 113 in a 38-0 loss to USC in 2004.

IT'S OVER --- And that could apply to more things than one, though in this case, we're reffering to a beating that is thankfully over with UND winning 33-7. More later.

INTERESTING STAT ---- The radio guys just passed along a stat that UW is the only team in the country that has been outgained in every game this season.

BRUNS MAKES FIRST CATCH --- There's your UW highlight of the day as Cody Bruns makes his first catch of his career to get UW past midfield for the first time all night with 6:03 left. Bruns' catch was good for 21 yards.

NINE POSSESSIONS, NINE PUNTS FOR THE HUSKIES ---- The shutout is really in reach now as the Huskies are again punting.

IT'S NOW 34-0 --- And all that's left is to see if the Huskies can get past midfield, let alone score.

ATTENDANCE IS 70,437 --- That's officially a little shy of a sellout, a rare time when a Notre Dame game hasn't been sold out.

THIRD QUARTER ENDS WITH ND UP 27-0 --- The Irish have 373 yards to just 51 for the Huskies. The Husky record for fewest yards in a game is 61 against Cal in 1948.

EIGHT POSSESSIONS EIGHT PUNTS FOR UW --- And really nothing else to say.

IT'S NOW 27-0 --- The fake punt turned into just three points but the Irish now have a 27-0 lead. UW is in danger of its first home shutout since a 7-0 loss to Cal in 1976, the second year of the Don James regime.

IRISH TURN TO TRICKERY --- Notre Dame got 33 yards on a fake punt on a rush by upback Harrison Smith to keep its most recent drive alive. The Irish has 365 yards with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.

SEVEN POSSESSIONS, SEVEN PUNTS FOR HUSKIES --- The offensive woes continue for UW as the Huskies punt after their first series of the third quarter.

FREEMAN HURT --- Freeman is down and again injured after taking a hard hit on his first carry of the third quarter.

GARCIA BACK IN GAME --- Center Juan Garcia is back in the game on UW's first possession of the second half.

NOTRE DAME TAKES 24-0 LEAD --- The only question about this game now is whether the Huskies can find a way to score as the Irish drive 61 yards in five plays to start the second half to take a 24-0 lead.

SOME UGLY HALFTIME NUMBERS --- Ronnie Fouch was 1-9 passing for five yards in the first half. UW has had five games where it had zero passing yards, so that is not thought to be a record of any kind, though it could be the fewest in quite a few years.

UW has 33 yards rushing on 17 attempts with no run longer than eight yards.

UW also has six punts, though none longer than 43 and with an average of 34, one reason the Irish has had a field position edge the whole game.

Clausen is 9-21 for 134 yards for the Irish and ND has 104 yards rushing on 21 attempts.

WILLINGHAM HALFTIME COMMENTS --- Here are some of Tyrone Willingham's halftime radio comments:

On why he didn't call timeout at the end of the half: "We knew they would try to come up with something as soon as they stopped it, we anticipated they would not punt the football and they would take a chance to go for it .... I preferred to take my chances that way.''

On the passing offense: '''It's unbelievable and we've had opportunities to make plays but we've not cacught passes and our run game until the last series didn't show much promise. .... we've just got to struggled and get out of this fix we are in and get the run game going and catch the passes and we've got a chance.''

On the nickel defense: "We anticipated they might be in a no-huddle and five-receiver (sets) and we wanted to go with a nickle look, that's why we wanted to go with Chris Stevens. ... We've put too much pressure on our defense because we didn't get much going offensively.''

NOTRE DAME LEADS 17-0 AT HALFTIME --- The Irish have a 238-38 edge in yards at the half and 13 first downs to three for UW.

FREEMAN BACK, GARCIA OUT --- RB David Freeman saw his first action since the Stanford game on the last drive while Juan Garcia left for the final play with some sort of foot injury. He has been battling an ankle injury as well as recovering from the Lisfranc injury of last spring.

WILLINGHAM BOOED ON BIG SCREEN --- An advertisement on the Husky Stadium big screen featuring UW coach Tyrone Willingham was just greeted with some hefty boos during a time out as ND prepares for a field goal.

BRUNS SEEING ACTION --- Cody Bruns has seen a little action today and was just in the game in the slot on a second-down play on the last drive. UW is forced to punt again, however.

NOTRE DAME TAKES 17-0 LEAD --- The Husky defense is tightening just a bit, holding ND to a field goal on its last drive, though a couple bad passes by Jimmy Clausen also helped kill the drive. Still, a 28-yard field goal has ND ahead 17-0 with 11:10 left. UW has just 22 yards of offense.

UW HAS THREE DROPS --- A wide-open Devin Aguilar dropped a pass that would have gotten UW a first down and out of a hole near its own goal line on third down. Instead, Notre Dame now has the ball at UW's 25 after another short punt. Aguilar's drop was UW's third of the game. Terrance Dailey and Michael Gottlieb turning in the others.

HUSKIES GET THIRD PICK OF YEAR --- IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN A GOOD THING --- Notre Dame went for it on 4-18 at the UW 32 and the Huskies stopped it when Nate Williams caught a tipped pass in the air. Unfortunately, he was immediately knocked down by teammate Mesphin Forrester and UW now has the ball at its own one. That is just UW's third interception of the year and first since the first half of the BYU game.

FIRST QUARTER ENDS, DOMINATED BY NOTRE DAME --- It's 14-0 as the first quarter ends and Notre Dame is again driving. The Irish dominated every aspect of the quarter, outgaining UW 154-16, including 88-5 on the ground, and 65-11 through the air. Tripper Johnson appears to be the nickel safety with Aiyewa playing when the Huskies are in a 4-3.

MOSLEY IN FOR RICHARDSON --- ND has the ball after another failed drive by UW. Matt Mosley is now in at one CB spot on this drive taking the place of Quinton Richardson, who was beaten on a long completion on the last drive.

NOTRE DAME TAKES 14-0 LEAD --- The Irish took advantage of the interference penalty on Vonzell McDowell to continue their drive, scoring on a 21-yard reverse by Golden Tate to take a 14-0 lead with 7:48 left in the first quarter. Notre Dame has 128 yards to seven for UW. Tate showed more speed than any of the Huskies as he burst through a big hole into the end zone.

HUSKIES SHOWING MORE DIFFERENT LOOKS --- Looked like a close call on the pass interference that wiped out an interception by Nate Williams and the crowd has been booing heartily ever since. Of note on the play is that UW went with a zone blitz on the play, lining up Everrette Thompson on the center and then dropping him into coverage and bringing pressure from the outside. It seemed to confuse Clausen.

HUSKIES START IN NICKEL, IT DOES NO GOOD --- Notre Dame has an early 7-0 lead scoring on a 51-yard inside screen pass to Michael Floyd. UW blitzed on the play but ND had the perfect call and Floyd was gone after stepping through a tackle attempt by Nate Williams.

UW began the game in the nickel defense, anticipatinig a lot of one-back sets from Notre Dame. New starters to the defense as a result of that change were Chris Stevens as a rush end and Vonzell McDowell as an extra DB with Trenton Tuiasosopo and Kelemete out.

In another change, Tripper Johnson started at one safety spot in place of Victor Aiyewa, who had appeared to earn the starting spot last week. Uncertain if there was an injury to Aiyewa, who has struggled with a groin injury all season and said this week he isn't yet 100 percent, or simply a change for performance reasons.

If you didn't see the play, it looked exactly like TDs scored against UW this year by Oregon, Oklahoma and Oregon State.

CAPTAINS SET --- UW’s game captains were Juan Garcia, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, Chris Stevens and Paul Homer.

KELEMETE QUESTIONABLE --- We'll start the game thread with a quick note that DT Senio Kelemete was injured during pre-game warmups and is questionable to play today. Kelemete suffered an specified injury to his left knee. That likely means another start for Johnie Kirton, who started in place of Kelemete last week when Kelemete was ill.

It's 90 minutes to kickoff, and what will likely be an announced crowd of 72,000 or so is beginning to file in.

It remains a gorgeous fall day here in Seattle, and UW officials are breathing a little sigh of relief over that.

Not only does it make it better for the football game, but this was also a day picked by many of the UW's sports to bring in recruits, and a nice, sunny day only helps with that effort.

As mentioned above, a sellout crowd is expected. At the moment, there are said to be some scattered singles available, but otherwise the seats are sold and this will be UW's largest crowd of the season --- the best to date is 67,716 for Oklahoma.

A few links to pass the time until kickoff on what is another marvelous fall day here in Seattle. The weather certainly hasn't been the problem this year. ...

--- Here's my game preview, noting that for all that this team hasn't done, it could still go down in UW lore as the first Husky team to ever beat Notre Dame. Here's the preview box and a breakdown of UW and WSU against the spread this year.

--- The Chicago Tribune looks at a lost season for Jake Locker with some telling comments from former Huskies Ed Cunningham and Hugh Millen about how they don't think Tyrone Willingham has been able to get the most out of Locker's talents. The Tribune also has this on how Notre Dame is gaining in confidence.

--- Tribune reporter Brian Hamilton also has a lot of entertaining stuff in his ND blog.

--- The Chicago Sun Times says Notre Dame needs to be wary of the Huskies and not worry about Willingham.

--- BlackAthlete.net chips in with another comparison of Charlie Weis and Willingham.

--- Ken Goe has every possible story you would need to know about the Pac-10 today.

--- UW recruit Keith Price's team finally lost its first game of the season last night to Orange Lutheran (mention if brief about midway through the story). Here's a lot more on that game. While Price says he is still committed to UW, he also told SuperPrep.com this week he intends to visit a few other schools, including potentially Boise State.

--- Another UW commit, Nathan Fellner, also got a loss last night as Clovis West was defeated by Buchanan.

--- Weis spent last night looking at Skyline QB Jake Heaps, whose team got another big win.

Talk to you later from the stadium.

UW has obviously done nothing to inspire any faith from anybody.

Still, I've been a little surprised this week to see virtually everyone pick Notre Dame to win this game pretty comfortably (I say virtually only because I might have missed something somewhere, but I haven't seen anyone pick the Huskies).

Heck, even Dick Baird is picking Notre Dame to win this one (and I realize he's doing it for the reverse psychology of it, or some such nonsense, but I figured I'd see Lindsay Lohan win an Oscar before I saw that).

Ultimately, I'm going to join the crowd in result, submitting a prediction of 35-27 Notre Dame.

But it wouldn't surprise me at all if this isn't a closer game than a lot of people think.

You have to figure that if UW has any pride left it will sell-out to win this one, not so much just for Tyrone Willingham (hard to tell how much that angle will play a role in this game) but moreso just because it's Notre Dame and national TV and a lot of attention. For all that's gone wrong for these players the last few years, beating Notre Dame would give them something of a legacy to leave behind --- UW is 0-6 all-time against the Irish.

And Notre Dame has some flaws --- the Irish are 108th nationally in rushing offense, 75th in total defense, and 87th in passing defense.

The latter stat seems especially hopeful for UW fans as the Huskies showed an ability to throw the ball against a pretty good defense last week against Oregon State, so they should be able to move it through the air a little this week.

The big problem, obviously, is on the other side of the ball. Notre Dame ranks 17th in passing offense at 271.8 per game, but has been really tossing it around of late, throwing for 730 yards in the last two games.

Given UW's pass defense issues --- the Huskies are last in the nation in pass defense efficiency, which maybe makes it more than just an issue, maybe a year-long subscription --- that's a real problem for the Huskies.

The only way you figure UW can win is by forcing some turnovers --- Notre Dame had five last week --- or prevailing in a shootout.

Notre Dame, however, scored 24 points against North Carolina despite all those turnovers, and doesn't seem likely to be as sloppy with the ball again.

So it's hard to imagine UW holding Notre Dame's offense down much at all, which will be the ultimate difference in the game.

In my breakdown by position for the paper, I had it like this:

QB --- Notre Dame. Clausen has been on fire of late.

RB --- Split. On paper, ND looks a lot better than UW in this category. But it hasn't really translated on the field as the Irish are averaging even less rushing yards per game than the Huskies at 101.1 (I realize some of that is the shift in offensive emphasis). Still, ND's longest run of the year is 24 yards and only one back is averaging more than 4 yards per carry.

WR --- ND. Huskies group is improving but Notre Dame's is better right now.

OL --- Split. Not that UW's line has done much this year, but while ND's group is getting better, they had a lot of improving to do and the rushing totals indicate there is still work to do.

DL --- Notre Dame. ND plays a 3-4 and two are returning starters and seasoned players.

LB --- Notre Dame. UW's revamped linebacking corps looks promising but this may be the best area of UND's defense.

DB --- Notre Dame. Another area where the recent personnel shifts (Victor Aiyewa in at safety) should make it better. But impossible to give them a check right now.

Special teams--- Split. Notre Dame's a little better in most of the coverage stats, but actually worse than the Huskies in field goals at 2-8 and might be switching to a walk-on who just joined the team recently.

Add it up, and hard to see anything but another UW loss, even if I'm thinking it will be a fairly competitive one. And then the real intrigue could begin, though we'll save all of that discussion for later.

Back to take another whack at hopefully having a better-than-.500 week.

Winning two (called taking the easy way out by going against the Cougars and Huskies) and losing two (missing on Arizona's win over Cal and UCLA's win over Stanford) had us again treading water for the week.

That leaves us at 34-12 straight-up and 26-20 against the spread.

As always, point spreads from the Seattle Times.

USC AT ARIZONA (Trojans by 16): The Wildcats have played the Trojans tough the last three years, losing all three games but beating the spread each time, including a 20-13 loss as a three-touchdown underdog in LA last year. Now Arizona has USC in Tucson, and with the momentum of the Cal win last week. But all of that also surely has the Trojans' attention, as does the memory of its loss at Oregon State a few weeks ago. Arizona doesn't have the running game to take pressure off its passing game against the Trojans, and Mark Sanchez should have a big day against UA's secondary. USC 45, ARIZONA 21.

OREGON AT ARIZONA STATE (Ducks by 3): Sun Devils coming off a much-needed bye week to heal some wounds and try to find a running game. RB Keegan Herring may be back to full health, and if so, the Devils may be able to mount a little bit of a running attack. Even so, the matchup of Oregon's front seven against ASU's O-line just doesn't look good. Weird to see a Dennis Erickson offense this inept. Oregon may go with two QBs, but assuming the running attack does what it usually does, Ducks should prevail. OREGON 31, ASU 20.

UCLA AT CAL (Bears by 17): The home team has won eight straight in this series, and there's little reason to think that will change given that UCLA is 3-12 on the road in its last 15 and that few road teams are winning in the conference this year --- and I'm already picking the road team to win the other two conference games this year. Cal's in another dangerous position coming off a tough loss, a scenario the team hasn't handled all that well the last few years. But if you simply look at this game on its own, no reason to think the Bears won't roll. CAL 35, UCLA 17.

As always, the UW-Notre Dame pick will come a little later.

Tyrone Willingham said at the beginning of the week that at some point, the media would tire of the angle of his Notre Dame coaching days and move on to something else.

Or maybe not.

This isn't a game with a lot of other compelling story lines, inevitably turning the focus back to Willingham.

So I'll throw out a few more things.

The Notre Dame fan site NDNation.com asked a few of us Seattle media types for our thoughts on Willingham, and presented them here.

For my story on all of this on Wednesday, I talked with Mike Coffey of NDNation.

As our last word on all of this, here's that exchange, some of which was included in Wednesday's story:

Q: Did people close to Notre Dame feel there was as much controversy over the firing of Willingham at ND as was portrayed nationally?

A: The controversy over Coach Willingham's dismissal was a small part of a larger transition. Father Malloy, in his time as president of ND, instituted a number of changes that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and installed some people in offices that weren't necessarily the right choices for their respective job. We've seen some of the cleanup there in the years since Father Jenkins was elevated to the President's office. So talking about Coach Willingham specifically, I think there was less controversy than portrayed because other internal issues were at the forefront on campus. It was certainly the most public aspect of the change, which is why it may seem magnified.

Q: Do people at UND feel vindicated by what is happening at UW?

A: I can't speak for people at the University as a whole, only for the fans and the people at ND with whom I've interacted.

I don't know if "vindicated" is the right word, because no matter how Tyrone Willingham performed as Washington's coach, his performance as Notre Dame's coach both on the field and in recruiting was unacceptable. We're seeing right now what Year Four of a Tyrone Willingham program is like, and had Notre Dame kept him for that fourth year as some people demanded, the damage would have been even greater.

Besides, no one is holding their breath waiting for all the pundits who vilified Notre Dame at the time he was fired to make any kind of admission of error or apology. Most of those people were serving another agenda. John Saunders isn't about to admit his error because I doubt you could get him to say Coach Willingham should be dismissed from Washington. Jay Mariotti and Dennis Dodd and their ilk were simply banging a drum loudly to get attention, as usual. That they made horrible accusations about a school that has given more than lip service to the advancements of African-Americans, as evidenced by important statistics like graduation rates and assistant coach hirings, only compounds their error, but again, it's not good copy to say you're sorry. As usual, Notre Dame just has to suck it up and move ahead.

Having said that, I can't deny there is a certain schadenfreude to the whole thing.

Q: Do people see any parallels in what happened to him there and what is happening here?

A: There are definitely parallels. At Notre Dame, Coach Willingham had the reputation of being a lackluster recruiter who didn't work very hard at it and expected the kids to come to him (as they had at Stanford). He also seemed to be the kind of coach wholly dependent on his assistants and could only go as far as they'd take him. Finally, he has this nasty habit of blaming anyone but himself for the problems of the team. The same things seem to be holding true at UW, especially the last.

Q: What was the overall impression of Willingham, dealings with boosters, the media, etc.?

A: The people who liked Coach Willingham at ND liked him for non-football reasons. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but that can't factor in when evaluating the performance of the man in his job. The football people with whom he came in contact, including more than a few then-current and former players, didn't have much use for him. They tried to help him and were rebuffed. He didn't make any effort to get to know the alumni, and got the reputation for blowing off or giving half-hearted speeches at alumni
events.

But that factors in to why he failed. I believe the reason Coach Willingham failed at Notre Dame is the same two reasons Bob Davie failed there. Neither man had the proper coaching foundation, and neither was there for the right reasons or ever even tried to embrace the place. Davie replaced all the ND memorabilia in his office with A&M stuff and tried to make Notre Dame into Texas A&M North. Willingham was there to use the spotlight of the position to advance himself, and perhaps because people around him told him he owed it to other African-Americans, both coaches and otherwise.

Charlie Weis is learning on the job as well, and is no doubt finding that ND isn't the place to do that. The difference between him and his two predecessors, however, is his understanding and espousing of what makes Notre Dame special to its students, alumni and fans. It may sound trite, but that and an undeniable work ethic is what brings you goodwill and insulates you from something like a 3-9 season. If Tyrone Willingham had done those things, he might still be at Notre Dame. Then again, as evidenced by the fact his reps were talking to UW long before his final ND season was over, he didn't want to be.

AND FOR A PLAYER'S VIEW OF ALL OF THIS, Rivals.com presented this interview with ND senior Terrail Lambert, one of three Irish players left who played for Willingham at Notre Dame.

Just back from the roast for former Husky coach Don James where the barbs tossed almost outnumbered the wine bottles downed.

In other words, a good time was had by all as a panel of four former Husky players, a few local media personalities, and some video tributes from former players and rival coaches paid good-natured tribute to the Dawgfather in front of a packed ballroom at a hotel in downtown Bellevue.

James took the podium at the end of the two-hour program and asked for a solemn moment of silence.

"We'd like to pray for all the previous speakers and all the jokes that have died here tonight,'' James said as he began to get the last word.

A good number of the jokes hit, however, during what is officially called The Rod Long All-Star Good Sport Awards. Last year's honoree was former Seahawk QB Dave Krieg, and if tonight's show is any indication, this event could become a Seattle sports institution.

There were a number of former Husky players in the audience, as well, and one -- defensive lineman Mike Ewaliko -- highlighted an auction to start off the night by bidding $2,200 to put together a foursome to golf with James.

Long, a Seattle-area comedian, began the roast by joking that he knew James was done coaching "when I saw him pimping RV's on TV'' -- a reference to James' ubiquitous ads for a local RV company.

Kicker Chuck Nelson was the first speaker and said, "It's just nice not to be introduced as Jeff Jaeger.'' Nelson told a few tales about James' notorious attention to detail, saying that every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:17 p.m., he still gets ready to attempt eight kicks -- four from the right hashmark, four from the left -- as was the practice custom during his playing days.

Nelson also noted that James' office on the second floor of the Graves Building was known to players as "the gates of hell'' -- players knew when they were summoned for an audience that the outcome might not be good.

"Players would go in and they wouldn't come out,'' he said. "That's what really happened to Willis Ray Mackey," a running back who notoriously transferred in 1979.

Nelson also made reference to James' college career as a quarterback at Miami, saying, "He had a good chance to win the Heisman. The only problem was John Heisman hadn't been born yet.''

Nick Saban, who played for James at Kent State and then began his coaching career there under James, appeared via video and said that he couldn't bring himself to make any jokes about James. "If it wasn't for coach James, I would never have been in this profession,'' he said, adding he has tailored much of his coaching philosophy from what he learned from James.

Former QB Hugh Millen followed and said a perfect game for the notoriously conservative James was a 20-0 win -- "six field goals and a safety.''

When one joke didn't go so well, Millen said that "no matter how bad it gets, Chris Chandler is not walking up to this podium,'' a reference to how James replaced Millen with Chandler late in the 1985 season.

Millen said players were so afraid of going to James' office that despite what the coach said was an open-door policy, he once saw a cautionary wet paint sign outside the stairway leading to the office and thought, "Why bother?''

Former RB Greg Lewis then took the podium and mostly took shots at his fellow players.

"I saw every play of Hugh Millen's Husky career,'' he said. "That was a long game.''

Of Nelson, he said, "He's most famous for the one he missed,'' a reference to a late field in the 1982 Apple Cup that went awry in a 24-20 loss that cost UW the Pac-10 title.

Lewis noted that announcer Bob Rondeau, also a roaster, gets paid mostly for saying "touchdown Washington." Lewis said, "As few times as he's said that this year, he owes KJR money.''

Lewis then noted the James still holds power over him. "If you thought I was going to talk about him, you're crazy,'' he said.

Former Oregon coach Rich Brooks paid video tribute and retold the memorable story about James firing a bus driver on a trip to Eugene. Seems James wanted all the buses to stay in order and didn't like it when the driver of bus No. 2 passed bus No. 1 -- which James was on -- on the way to a rest stop. "That was the end of bus trips,'' Brooks said with a laugh. "I heard a lot of stories about what he said to the bus driver, but I shouldn't say that in a mixed crowd.''

Rondeau followed, and, noting how Brooks said he rarely beat James, asked, "Remember what it was like to beat Oregon?''

Jim Mora followed with a video tribute and noted that he couldn't be there because he was at the Seahawks office, "at work trying to win a game.''

Cornerback Nesby Glasgow was next and mostly paid tribute to James, saying that "hopefully UW will find another man like coach James to turn this program around.''

KJR's Mike Gastineau, Seattle's most fervent Indiana Hoosier fan, noted that James lost twice to Indiana in the 1970s and asked loudly, "How could you go 0-2 against Lee Corso?'' Corso was the coach of the Hoosiers at the time.

Gastineau then looked at the panel and said, "There are so many great players that Don coached. Apparently they were all busy tonight.''

He then ended his stint by asking Long, whether "we should let the folks enjoy themselves or let you talk again.''

The most entertaining video tribute came from former WSU coach Jim Walden, who noted that he and his wife, and James and his wife, Carol, often took off-season vacations together, once going to Scotland. Walden noted that James was famous for his frugality and once asked a caddy if he was good at finding balls. When the caddy said yes, James said great and asked the caddy to go find two so James and Walden could begin their round.

Walden, who noted again that James once said he was "a 2,000-word underdog'' against Walden, told a couple of other stories that I can't do justice to here and concluded by saying, "I hope I didn't offend anyone, which I usually can do with the best of them.''

Dick Baird, who was recruiting coordinator for most of James' tenure, was the last roaster, and I really can't do justice to his 15 or so minutes on the podium.

But I'll pass along a couple.

Baird, noting how different his personality is from that of James, said that one of the questions James gets the most is, "How did hell did Baird ever get hired by Don James? It is a good question.''

Baird also recalled how in 1988, when the Huskies didn't make it to a bowl for the first time in nine years, James bought watches as Christmas gifts for his assistants. The team usually got a watch for going to a bowl game and the watches James bought were meant to remind the coaches every time they wanted to know what time it was that they hadn't made it to a bowl game that year.

James took the stage last and, after introducing his family, noted that he and Carol had been married for 56 years. They wed when they were 19. "Everyone said it would never last,'' he said. "Most of them are dead.''

Of Baird, he said: "Of all the guys I hired in 18 years, he's one of them.''

Of Millen, he said: "We wanted to get a great Husky quarterback [to be a roaster] but we couldn't get Chandler or [Warren] Moon.'' (Moon was one of the video presenters.)

Of Nelson, James recalled the 1982 Apple Cup and said "it's his fault,'' though he quickly noted that the Cougars won the game by four.

He concluded by talking about his famous tower, from which he would watch practice.

"I just wanted to see what was going on on both sides of the field,'' he said.

He got the idea, he said, from a coach he thought had had a little success: Bear Bryant.

Not much excitement today on the field. We updated the injury situation earlier and there were no further additions to the injured list as far as I could tell. When the media entered the stadium, QB Jake Locker watched warmups from the first row of the stands. He's still wearing a cast around his broken right hand.

As for the other Dawgs, it was obvious they miss Locker. During a two-minute drill that pitted the No. 1 offense against the No. 2 defense, backup cornerback Matt Mosley intercepted quarterback Ronnie Fouch's pass and returned it for a touchdown.

There was plenty of hoopla from the UW defense in the end zone, which is to be expected from a group that has just two interceptions this season. In case you're wondering the last time the UW returned an interception for a touchdown, it was Sept. 29, 2007, against USC when Mesphin Forrester returned a pick 54 yards.

More startling is the amount of time that's lapsed since the last UW player returned a fumble for a score. The last to do so was Terry Johnson on Sept. 20, 2003, against Idaho. That's five years and counting. Wow. After looking up that little factoid, it probably makes sense why the defensive linemen were practicing strip drills today.

Back to Fouch's pick. It was difficult to determine what went wrong, but there wasn't a receiver in the general vicinity, so I'm guessing there was a communication error.

Backup quarterback Taylor Bean continued the interception theme when he directed the No. 2 offense against a collection of backups. This time, Marquis Presley came down with the ball in a crowd.

Our 25-minute allotment ended as the team split for offensive and defensive drills.

Washington coach Tyrone Willingham met with the media for the last time before the Notre Dame game. Here are a few highlights:

-- The Huskies are about as healthy as they've been all season. Obviously that statement doesn't take into account the guys who are lost for the season. Redshirt DE Kalani Aldrich is the only other player who will likely not be available for Saturday's game.

-- FS Johri Fogerson, who missed last week because of an illness, might return for the game against Notre Dame. Joshua Gage (foot) also missed last week. Willingham said Gage will be available. Donald Butler will continue to start at OLB alongside Mason Foster, with Trenton Tuiasosopo in the middle.

-- TB David Freeman will also return, though Terrance Dailey will remain the starter. Willingham declined to specify how he'll divide the plays between them. "You never know how the numbers are going to go. If one is hot, then you stay with them and you spell the other one. We'll see about it from there."

-- When asked how he knows if his players are "down in the dumps," Willingham said: "You just watch practice. Practice tells you. And good teams can be rolling well and have poor days of practice. You just look at your team and see where they are. Our guys are still working very hard."

-- Willingham said the Huskies need to give QB Ronnie Fouch more protection so he doesn't take so many hits or have to move around as much as he did against Oregon State. On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said Fouch took 13 hits, which is three times the normal amount. Said Willingham: "That is a lot. You don't want your quarterback those many hits. ... You'd like him to have zero, ideally."

-- When asked if Fouch was holding the ball too long, Willingham said: "That was too much pressure."

-- Willingham said Fouch "will do a fine job" of handling the blitz-happy Notre Dame defense. He said Fouch is adept at calling audibles, which is somewhat rare for a redshirt freshman with just two starts.

For my notebook today, I checked in on Chris Polk to see how he is doing in his recovery from season-ending shoulder surgery.

As you can read, Polk said the damage was more extensive than first thought, but that he thinks he'll still be ready to go for spring ball.

Polk also said he has no plans to look elsewhere and sees his future at UW, though he admitted he's not looking too far ahead.

In a quote that didn't make the story, Polk said this when I asked about what he thinks about the possibility that Tyrone Willingham won't be back: "It doesn't worry me because I'm just trying to focus on now, really, and just trying to get right. I don't know what's going to happen and I really don't pay no mind to that right now. After the season is over I'll start to think about that and observe that more.''

But Polk said he fully intends to be back at UW.

"This is where I want to be,'' he said. "I won't regret my decision because it was mine and my mother's and I know my mother wouldn't steer me wrong. I have 100 percent trust in her.''

Polk also said he thinks there might be some good in in his injury, particularly when it happened.

"It's kind of hard,'' he said. "But as you think about it, everything happens for a reason. That's the way I see it. I'm kind of glad I got hurt when I got hurt. If I would have played one more game I would have lost the year, so I got hurt at the exact right time.''

Polk said the rehab process is more difficult than he imagined but that he intends to get ready as quickly as he can.

"Somedays it's like I'm kind of busy and I don't have time for rehab,'' he said. "But I just fit it in, give up my free time to come here for therapy, so I can get it done and get healthy and come back as soon as possible.

IN OTHER NEWS...

--- In the other item in the notebook, I talked with former UW center Tom Turnure to get his take on the controversy over the honoring of the 1978 team Saturday and whether any of the players should have spoken to the current team. As you can read, Turnure said the thought of talking with the current team was never brought up by any of the '78 guys and he said he's not sure any of them would have wanted to if asked. He said this was a pretty informal get-together -- about 50 players showed up after about 25 had said they were going to -- and Turnure said he thought everyone had a good time and had no complaints about anything. "We barely went to the game, we had so much fun at the pre-game [reception],'' he said.

--- ESPN.com's Ted Miller picks Notre Dame to win 44-24.

--- CollegeFootballNews.com picks UND 35-17.

--- Matt Hayes of The Sporting News says again that he thinks Lane Kiffin is headed to UW.

--- Some good UND info in this notebook.

--- The AP has this look at the game and the Willingham angle.

--- Phil Steele presents his mid-year All-Pac-10 team with a few Huskies on the list --- Daniel Te'o-Nesheim on the first team, D'Andre Goodwin on the second team and Mason Foster and Juan Garcia on the third team.

--- Finally, a reminder that the roast for Don James is tonight in Bellevue.

All for now.

For my main story today, I looked back a little at the first-half of the season, reviewing the good and the bad, with unfortunately a little more of the latter included, given the 0-6 record.

That also makes it the perfect time to unveil some grades for the first half. So here goes:

QUARTERBACK --- C-plus. If the ultimate goal of a QB is to win games, then obviously these guys haven't gotten it done. But there are obviously extenuating circumstances here with the injury Jake Locker suffered early in camp, and then again against Stanford. Also remember he was knocked out of the Oklahoma game for a series. I don't think we saw enough of Locker to really say whether he had improved from last season. But I continue to maintain that he is the least of this team's problems going forward. I expect him to thrive in the future. Ronnie Fouch has had some good and bad in his two full games, to be expected of a redshirt freshman. It's also too early, I think, to make any grand declarations about him other than the obvious that the offense really has a different look with him in there, more throwing, less (basically none) of the QB run game. With this team, this year, I'm not sure that's a positive.

RUNNING BACKS --- B-minus. A spot where you have to grade on the curve quite a bit, as, other than Brandon Johnson, no one had any experience heading into the year. Four players have started at tailback and two -- David Freeman and Terrance Dailey -- have shown a lot of potential. Both have shown more quickness and a better ability to hit the hole hard than some of their teammates. The future looks bright here. One disappointment is that the fullback spot hasn't been as much of a factor as was thought heading into the year (just a combined nine carries and one catch) with some nagging injuries hindering each player.

WIDE RECEIVERS --- B. Maybe the position that has progressed the most since the start of the year as the trio of D'Andre Goodwin, Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar has given the Huskies a pretty dangerous corps, one that is improving each week. Goodwin is on track for the most single-season catches (he has 32) since Reggie Williams in 2003, Aguilar has become a consistent possession-type receiver, and Kearse has shown big-play ability. It hasn't been perfect by any means -- there have been an assortment of dropped passes and missed routes, and UW has just four TD catches. But again, given the inexperience heading into the season, it's hard to have realistically expected a whole lot more. One disappointment has been the dropoff in production from Kavario Middleton after he made eight catches the first two games -- he has zero since (though Michael Gottlieb has done a nice job picking up the slack). But overall, this is another spot where the future is bright.

OFFENSIVE LINE --- D. Maybe the most underachieving group on the team based on pre-season potential. The hope was the Huskies would dominate up front, as they did at times last season. But it has yet to happen and now some injuries are beginning to hit -- Casey Bulyca out for the year, Juan Garcia ailing with an ankle injury as well as the foot injury of last spring. And there hasn't been much depth developed as it's basically been the same six guys playing all season, which is now down to five. Did this group get too big in the off-season? Was it maybe never quite as good as it looked last season? (Remember, the Huskies were pretty inconsistent running the ball last season, feasting on bad run defending teams but struggling against good ones.) Whatever the case, this area has to take the most responsibility for the offensive struggles.

DEFENSIVE LINE --- D. I'm a little torn on a grade here. Obviously, it's been really bad up front defensively, maybe as bad as anyone can remember in the last 30 years or so of Husky football. On the other hand, it's hard to fault the individual players a lot, most of whom have been rushed into playing way before they are ready. That's a failing of the management of the team by the coaches, not the players themselves. Daniel Te'o-Nesheim has performed admirably in a tough situation, and most of the younger players have shown some promise. This was simply a group not ready for prime time and somehow, someone should have figured that out a year or so ago, maybe bringing in a JC player or two to help out. Or as I suggested today, why couldn't they have redshirted Caesar Rayford at some point the last three years? Maybe Keith Gilbertson shouldn't have played Rayford in 2004. But Tyrone Willingham had three years after that to rectify the error if he wanted.

LINEBACKERS --- C-minus. Might be more accurate to begin judging this group now that it appears to have its best lineup on the field with Donald Butler on the strong side, Trenton Tuiasosopo in the middle and Mason Foster on the weak side. Foster has put up the best numbers, but remember that he plays the spot where he's supposed to make the most tackles -- not a knock on Foster, just making a point that there'd be something wrong if he wasn't leading the team in tackles. But while there have been some glimmers, the bigger picture is that the defense is right now the worst in school history in a number of statistical categories, so this group can't rate very high.

SECONDARY --- D. UW is allowing an astounding 72.5 percent completion rate by opponents, by far the highest in college football. The Huskies also have just two interceptions while allowing 18 touchdown passes in just 160 attempts. I haven't checked, but hard to imagine there is any team with a higher percentage of TD passes allowed per attempt. It's not all on the secondary, obviously. Ed Donatell said Wednesday the biggest issue in pass defense is pressure, and UW hasn't been bringing any, with just three sacks for the season. But receivers also just seem to be wide open all over the place a lot of the times, and there have been way too many small gains turned into big plays, with angles of pursuit and tackling a constant problem. Another area that could improve now, however, as the safety spots will be more solidified with Victor Aiyewa healthy and playing alongside Nate Williams.

SPECIAL TEAMS --- D. A bright spot is that Jordan Polk looks like a promising kickoff returner. But everything else has been below standard to date. UW is allowing substantially more yards in both kickoffs and punt returns than it is getting, and the field goal kicking has obviously been a problem (3-8). And the play of the year was a botched extra point against BYU. One thing to watch is improved punt returning in the second half of the season. No reason to think Aguilar and Goodwin shouldn't eventually be good in that role.

COACHING --- F. The record -- 0-6 -- says it all. Sure, the schedule has been tough. Still, it's not as if every team on the slate was the '72 Dolphins. And the youth excuse only goes so far in the fourth year of a program. It's not as if everyone couldn't see there might be holes in the roster down the road. A better plan early on might have solved some of those issues. That may be the biggest failing of all.

They just don't stop. ...

--- Here's the transcript for the interview session today with Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen and WR David Grimes. Of most interest may be a couple of quotes near the bottom from Clausen saying he took an unofficial visit to UW for the spring game a few years ago -- probably in 2006 though he didn't clarify. He said he met with UW coach Tyrone Willingham and considered UW but it wasn't one of his final schools, apparently. Grimes also has some comments about Willingham as he initially committed to UND while Willingham was still coach.

--- Scout.com has this wrapup of the interview session.

--- The CollegeFootballGuys present a timeline of the Charlie Weis and Willingham years at their respective schools.

--- The Sports Network predicts a 31-13 UND win Saturday.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller says the matchup has lost its luster.

--- Coaches, led by Willingham and other members of the coaches association, are wearing armbands this weekend to bring awareness to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

--- Jon Wilner presents his Pac-10 awards at mid-season and says Mike Riley is the Coach of the Year, Jacquizz Rodgers the Offensive Player of the Year and Nick Reed the Defensive Player of the Year. I'm figuring UW fans think that's way too much representation from the state of Oregon.

All for now.

Back from practice, and I'll also pass along a few things I couldn't get to earlier due to the technical issues:

--- Nothing much from practice. No new apparent injuries other than true freshman LB Bradly Roussel, who was not in pads but was running stairs. Not sure what his injury is. Otherwise, all the expected players were in pads, other than those who have been injured and are out.

--- Practice began with some two-minute drill work, and there were no surprises in the offensive lineup. We had to leave before the first drive ended but Ronnie Fouch was leading the team down the field against the No. 2 defense as we left.

--- Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell also spoke to us today. Donatell said the ND offense is similar to what Charlie Weis ran at New England. "He's imaginative and does a good job. They are a pro-style attack and has the quarterback doing a lot of things with cadence and empties -- he does a lot to develop the quarterback [Jimmy Clausen]. They have excellent knowledge and command of their systems.'' He said the two faced off a few times in the NFL though he didn't recall any specifics of any games.

--- Donatell said ND likes to change its offense quite a bit based on the opponent it is playing that week: "They aren't as much no-huddle and they are opponent-specific. You don't just look at a tape. You have to look at somebody and say, 'Do they see us like them?' You have to pick a like opponent, because they will change, and that's their philosophy. And they've had a bye. They could be looking at a lot of things. They could be looking at their club, as well as how they match up with us.''

--- Donatell said it's obvious Weis has a lot of confidence in Clausen now. "He's got him pretty grooved. He just keeps getting better and more experienced. He went to [North[ Carolina [the last game ND played two weeks ago] and played pretty good. He spread the field and put a lot of it on [Clausen]."

--- Donatell said he's excited about having somne continuity at safety: "I'm excited. You said that word continuity. Continuity is a good thing, it just is. More weeks, more likeness, more sameness. That helps, no matter what. These offenses changing in college, that's the way it is -- but keeping the same continuity in guys no matter what helps us.''

--- Donatell said he thought the defense played better against the run against OSU despite the final score: "We fit their runs better. You can do the math and it's not good if you look at the reverses and the screens. Those are the things that got us.''

--- He said he is increasingly impressed by Victor Aiyewa: "He has a great desire to be good. He's constantly working and he is more mature in the way he handles himself. But he's still playing in [just] his third football game.''

--- UW is allowing teams to complete 72.5 percent of passes and Donatell was asked his thoughts on why that is: "I think it's a combination. There are some good players. That kid from Oklahoma [Sam Bradford], he completes the ball and he has some really good blockers. And until he got up against Texas and some guys that could cause a difference, he got all day. He's got to be up there. And the guy from BYU [Max Hall] has an experienced line and he's thrown pretty good against everybody.''

--- Asked the best way to improve that, Donatell said: "Pressure. It's always the first place to start. Pass rush and making him speed up when there is some coverage.''

--- Finally, if you want to hear UW coach Tyrone Willingham's news conference today yourself, here it is.

We're back on-line after being down for a while there, and we'll try to quickly catch up on a few things.

UW coach Tyrone Willngham just concluded his briefing with the media and said that the team appears relatively healthy.

RB David Freeman made it through all of Tuesday's practice without incident, he said, even taking a few hits along the way. "He worked well,'' Willingham said.

Also back to practice were S Johri Fogerson, who said he is over his illness that held him out last week and also recovered from a sprained ankle that limited him previously, and LB Josh Gage, who suffered a sprained arch against Arizona that held him out last week.

Willingham said that the competition at the tailback spot should now be spirited with Freeman back and Terrance Dailey listed as the starter, with Willie Griffin and Brandon Johnson also in the mix. Willingham said ideally he would have a two-tailback rotation allowing each to get comfortable but also allowing each to get some rest.

He said Dailey is the fastest of that group, one reason he has now emerged as the starter. He said Dailey has the kind of speed needed to break one, as evidenced against OSU, and which the team needs to get its running attack going.

Willingham also said he likes the fact that the two safety spots figure to be the same this week with Nate Williams and Victor Aiyewa listed as the starters, a continuity often lacking this season. He said that gives them a chance to start getting comfortable with each other on the field which should give them a chance to improve.

But Willingham said that overall "we are still just missing a few too many things'' in the secondary, such as taking bad angles or not playing the ball as well as needed.

Willingham was also asked to respond to a quote from former Stanford AD Ted Leland in this story in the Chicago Sun-Times today that while he's a good recruiter, he's not an aggressive recruiter and doesn't make promises with a wink. Leland hired Willingham as coach at Stanford.

Said Willingham: "My take on that is first of all I thank Dr. Leland for that because I think that is genuine. It is a quality I hope that has integrity and great character to it, that you always want to surround yourself with young people that are goal-oriented and hopefully focused on their football and all the other aspects of their life also. So that would be my take on it that he is saying I am someone who goes into the home and will not say or do something or commit to a kid someting that is out of the realm of us providing.''

Former Husky coach Don James was a guest on KJR-AM this morning to promote a fundraising roast in his name tomorrow night in Bellevue.

James touched on a lot of topics, including whether he was bothered that the members of the 1978 Rose Bowl team were not asked to speak to the team before Saturday's game.

"I wasn't offended,'' he said. "I had guest speakers in in fall camp, had local police or campus police or FBI. I just had people come in and try to enlighten the players on things that would be a value to them. I didn't allow speakers in once the season starter, so I wasn't offended. I think the players had a good time that were there.''

James went on to say further that "I would not have allowed the disruption of my players in preparation for the game. Tthere was a coach that called me to speak a few years back in season and I said out of respect for you I will but if I was in your shoes I wouldn't have me. You are responsible for the external makeup of the game that week and if it was me, I woulnd't have a speaker in season.''

James also noted that "some players didn't even get there for the reception so what could they have done?'' ....I don't know how it could have made any contribution to the success of the team. They had other things on their mind.''

James also again said that he doesn't think it makes sense to make a coaching change in-season.

"It's best left alone to evaluate at the end of the season when the season is over,'' he said. "I don't see that a lot is gained right now. The people they are going to interview, they've got jobs, and you are not going to make any inroads in recruiting. So just wait.''

James said he wouldn't comment on whether UW should have hired Jim Mora when it had chances the last few times. "I can't get into that. I like them all. I like the guys we got. I like Jim Mora. I can't get into those decisions.''

However, he did say that he would have preferred UW hire Gary Pinkel instead of Rick Neuheisel in 1998.

"I liked him (Neuheisel) but I liked Gary Pinkel better,'' he said.

James reiterated that he helped in the coaching search at that time but that he was caught off-guard by the hire of Neuheisel, that he wasn't on the list of coaches he was given to do some background checks on.

"I ran down some coaches for (Barbara Hedges) but I was never asked to go background work on Rick,'' he said. "So when they hired the guy, what am I going to say --- I don't like that? ... I didn't know it was going to happen.''

Asked what he thinks has gone wrong, James pointed to the disruption in coaches through the years and said "I just think there is a break in the continuity in th staff and recruiting.''

Asked whether he thinks it stared with the Neuheisel firing, James said that "I know one thing, when I have a boss you have to recognize who is the boss and you can't be sneaking around applying for other jobs. If there was something I wanted to do or felt I should do, the firs guy I talked to was (then-AD) Mike Lude --- he was the guy that was my boss. I didn't want a reporter to call and say 'hey, did you hear Don was off interviewing for this job or that job?' I think that might have been a little bit of the thing that upset Barbara, but I really don't know.''

Finally, asked if he thought Pinkel would be interested in returning to UW, he said "there might be (interest). I talk to Gary and I don't talk to him about that. But I tell you one thing, he's got the best facilities I've ever seen in college football, a 101,000-square foot facility with everything in one building. ...

"I don't know why he'd leave there to go any place. But he loves it here. He loves the Northwest. His other dilemma is he's from Ohio and he's a lot closer to his family in Ohio than he would be out here. He has kids now located in the state of Missouri, so you'd have to ask him. But I wouldn't ask him now --- there's not a job.''

Even though this is a game against the most storied program in the history of the sport, the UW-Notre Dame game feels largely devoid of storylines, other than the most obvious --- Tyrone Willingham. So that's what a lot of us are writing about this week:

--- Here's my attempt to settle the Willingham-Notre Dame issue once and for all, wondering if ND fans feel vindicated by the coach's lack of success here. Turns out they do. I also had this notebook today leading off with an update on Cody Bruns.

--- The Chicago Sun-Times, meanwhile, wrote this piece about Willingham's struggles at UW. Two things I'd take slight issue with --- one, I think it's hard to blame Keith Gilbertson for leaving the cupboard bare when he was coach for 15 months and only brought in one class. If the cupboard was indeed bare, which is open for increasing debate, then Rick Neuheisel has to get more of the blame for that, it can't just be Gilby. To me, he's too convenient a scapegoat for all of this; two, maybe Willingham hasn't been helped by a couple of years in-state that didn't yield as much talent as others (though 2008 surely did) but that might look a little different if he'd gotten Taylor Mays and Steve Schilling.

--- The South Bend Tribune looks at the fact that the last three Notre Dame coaches will all be at Husky Stadium Saturday in one capacity or another.

--- A columnist for the WSU student newspaper says that at least the Cougars aren't as bad as the Huskies, an easily debatable assumption on all levels.

--- The AP has a wrapup of Charle Weis' comments from Tuesday.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller opens his mailbag, including a question about the Cougars and Huskies. Miller writes that all of this would have been avoided had the school not fired Neuheisel and UW would have kept going to Las Vegas and Sun bowls. But would that have been enough? I've always wondered, as well, how the QB situation would have been different in 2004 had Neuheisel stayed, the biggest reason that team fell all the way to the bottom? Miller also opines on some potential UW coaching candidates.

--- Miller also says it will be interesting to see how UW's players stick up for Willingham with their play this weekend. He says there's no reason this isn't a close game.

--- The Chicago Tribune has a notebook on the Irish.

AND TO ANSWER A QUESTION from the previous comment thread, even if a player is on scholarship in one sport, he counts as a walk-on if he tries to play another, as would be the case with Devin Aguilar in basketball. So no worries there about him impacting the basketball team's 13-player scholarship limit. However, there is a limit to the number of walk-ons all teams can have based on their own Title IX numbers (which I don't want to explain here but just to make clear there is a reason why teams don't have dozens of walk-ons).

I don't mean this to sound as smart-alecky as it does, but if you want to be assured of watching a Husky win this year, turn on FSN in just a few minutes.

The network is showing, tonight at 8 p.m., the "Whammy in Miami,'' when the Huskies beat the Hurricanes 38-20 in 1994 at the Orange Bowl.

Guard tackle Bob Sapp's many colorful contributions to the Huskies is that he generally gets credit for being the first to utter the words "Whammy in Miami'' in the happy locker room afterward.

Here's a story from the Times in 2001 looking back at that game.

This is actually one of two UW Classics that will be on FSN this week. The network will also show the 2001 Michigan game on Thursday at 8 p.m. That's a game UW won 23-18 when Omare Lowe blocked a field goal that was returned for a TD to give UW the lead, then picked off a pass and ran it in for a TD to give the Huskies a little cushion, both in the fourth quarter. Here's a Steve Kelley column from that game detailing Lowe's heorics.

ALSO, on the question on Warren Moon on the previous thread, he was with the Seahawks heading to Tampa Bay as part of the radio crew, so that's why he wasn't there Saturday.

As we walked out to watch practice, the sounds of Thunderstruck by AC/DC filled the air. A cynic might say that's what the college football world would be right now if the Huskies won on Saturday.

And while it's easy to wonder about the resolve of the Huskies in the wake of the 0-6 start, what we get to see of practice doesn't look a whole lot different now than at any other time in the last few years (granted, not as if any of the last few years have been all that great, either).

Anyway, not much to report from practice.

Most notable, RB David Freeman was in full pads and taking part in early drills, though we saw him come off to get his ankles re-taped as we were leaving.

WR Cody Bruns was also in full pads and going through early drills, appearing to work with the No. 2 offense. LB Josh Gage and S Johri Fogerson were also back.

The only susprise absentee was WR Jordan Polk, who wasn't taking part in the portion of practice that we saw --- could be a class conflict or who knows what.

Tuesday meant our regular weekly meeting with UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano.

And say what you want about what is happening on the field, but those of us who deal with these guys every day are gaining an added respect for Lappano, who isn't ducking any of our questions in these unquestionably tough times.

Lappano even brought up one controversy --- the delay of game penalty on the first snap Saturday --- before any of us had a chance to ask him.

His whole meeting with us today lasted about 16 minutes. For now, I'm just going to give you the most pertinent info as Lappano discussed, among other things, the use of Cody Bruns, the infamous goal-line stand at the end of Saturday's game, and that delay penalty:

ON BRUNS: Lappano said they intended to give him major playing time last week until he hurt his hamstring on Wednesday. The plan remains the same this week, Lappano saying he met with Bruns and the receiver told him he wants to play.

Here's the full quote:

"He's going to go. Hopefully that thing will hold up. He will go this week. I've talked to him and he wants to give it a go and whatever happens, happens. If he pulls that thing, then he pulls it and he's going to miss more time. But hopefully that thing can hold together. That's kind of why we didn't want to play him Saturday. Because he had just pulled that thing on Wednesday and he didn't feel good about going in on Friday and if we put him in there and he pulls it again, now we are going to lose him for 4-5 weeks and it's too bad for the kid. Trust me, he's a great kid and the last thing we want to do is mess with that kid. That's not the idea. The idea is to put it on ice (last) weekend and get the rest of the season out of him. That's (the idea). Hopefully he has a good day today and that thing doesn't blow up.''

ON THE DELAY OF GAME PENALTY: "I'll take full responsibility for it. That's Ronnie's (quarterback Ronnie Fouch) and my job. Number one, we script the first 15 plays of every game. We rehearse them on Friday night. We have everybody on the sideline. And as soon as they kick the ball off we gave the play on the sideline and went out. It's my job and all the coaches job if they are not getting up to the line fast enough, we've got to see that, yell at them. And Ronnie has to see the clock.''

Asked if Fouch lost track of the clock, Lappano said: "Well something, something. But I'll take full responsibility on that. It was a penalty.''

Lappano said there was not a mixup of personnel as he said all the right players were on the field.

"We had the right people there. ... we've never had that problem here. You can second guess any call you want --- we haven't had a lot of delay of game penalties here in three years.''

ON THE GOAL LINE STAND: Lappano said it was still "unacceptable'' that UW couldn't get the ball in from a yard away late in the game.

But he said watching the film gave a clearer view of what happened.

"The worst call I made there was quarterback sneak (on first down) because Ronnie wanted to go over the top and he needs to bull down in there, get his shoulder down in there and run his feet. On (the second-down play, a run by Luke Kravitz) we missed a block. On the naked (bootleg on third down), Kavario (Middleton) was wide open like I told you (after the game). That showed up big time.

"What happened there is Ronnie got away with pulling the ball down in practice against our show team. In practice, the same thing presented itself, there was a crease from here to the mic (on a table about seven feet away) and against the show team it stayed open. Against Oregon State it just, zip, went like that and shut down fast and he got shocked. On the last play, that was a stretch play we needed to keep outside because we had the edge sealed. Paul (Homer) had the corner four yards knocked off there into the middle of the end zone. We had the stretech play there and that ball has got to stay outside.''

MORE NOTES:

--- Lappano said he anticipated David Freeman returning to practice today and was excited to see him compete with Terrance Dailey for the TB job. But he said for now, Dailey is the starter. Lappano said Dailey "gives us that home run threat like Louis Rankin did last year. He made something happen. ... He did give us that spark.''

--- He said Notre Dame will bring pressure at least 50 percent of the time which will call for a different game plan than last week, when Fouch did a lot of throwing deep. That obviously means a few more quick-hitters, slants and things like that, will likely be in the offing.

--- Lappano said Fouch was hit 13 times against OSU and praised his guts hanging in the pocked. He said any throwing off the back foot Fouch appeared to be doing was simply from trying to wait until the last minute to let receivers get open. He said ideally a QB gets hit only 3-4 times a game on average.

--- He said there were two missed protections in the first half but none in the second half.

--- Lappano said he thought the O-line continued to play a little better against OSU, though it still has a lot of room for improvement. He said the big problem last week was pressure off the edge.

If you want to read every last word of Charlie Weis' interview today, here it is.

As you can see, it begins with what was about a 5-7-minute dissertation on the UW football team, showing that Weis has been doing his homework.

UW freshman receiver Devin Aguilar said today that he is hoping to walk-on and play for the Husky basketball team once the football season has concluded.

The native of Denver was the Class 5A State Tournament MVP in 2006 as a guard at Mullen High and received some significant basketball recruiting interest before deciding to concentrate on football.

But he said his plan was always to try to walk-on to the Huskies. And he said with the football team's season likely ending after the Cal game on Dec. 6, he will have the time to make it work to play both sports this year.

"I think as far as now I will walk-on to basketball,'' he said today. "Because I was making that decision based on how our season went in fotball and right now, since it's real shaky, I might as well go out and do it.''

Aguilar said if there was a bowl game to play in and prepare for, it would make it difficult to try to do both. He said he won't walk-on to the basketball team until after the football season ends.

Aguilar said he has talked with basketball coach Lorenzo Romar to keep him up to date.

"He knows I'm trying to come out and want to play,'' he said. "I told him the same thing, that I was just basing it on the (football) season and how things go.''

Aguilar, listed at 6-0, 195 on the football roster, describes himself as "just a guard'' and not specifically a point or shooting guard.

He said one of his best friends at UW is Husky guard Venoy Overton, who has been trying to convince him to play basketball.

"Last winter when I came in, he was one of the first persons I met and we just communicated,'' Aguilar said. "We're real good friends and he gives me the scoop (on the basketball team) sometimes.''

The Huskies currently do not have any walk-ons on the roster.

UW coach Tyrone Willingham has concluded his portion of the Pac-10 coaches conference call, and it didn't elicit a whole lot.

Willingham was asked again about the coaching sidelight of the Notre Dame game, though this time from a slightly different angle --- is there any difference between this game and the 2005 matchup here?

"No, because I've always tried to move away from those things,'' he said. "I went through that (at Notre Dame when he played Stanford) so I have experience with that same kind of encounter, that same kind of press buildup, so I've tried to learn to put those things back and really focus on the game and get your guys to focus on the game.

"it does build up some excitement and the guys on your team get a feeling of energy that is different there, so I think that is always a plus and think there will be some of that in this game.''

Willingham was also asked about a statement Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis made in his press conference earlier, that the biggest jump players make is from the first year they play to the second year (not necessarily in the program, but actually playing on the field).

Willingham said he would agree with that statement but that "I'm really hoping that the breakthrough comes this year.''

Willingham said the two biggest reasons guys improve from year one to year two are becoming physically stronger and having more focus.

In case you haven't looked at the standings lately --- and there's good reason you may not have --- it actually looks like an exciting race to the finish with USC, Oregon, Arizona and Oregon State all tied at the top with 3-1 records.

At the moment, the only two of those teams that control their own destiny are, believe it or not, Arizona and Oregon State. Still not thinking either of those teams ends up in Pasadena, however.

On to the rankings:

1, USC --- Outscoring opponents 41.5-7.8.

2, Oregon --- Next two --- at ASU and at Cal --- will likely tell the tale of this being either a good or a great season for the Ducks.

3, Oregon State --- Seemed like barely had to try to beat the Huskies easily. Now have a bye week to prepare for the November push to Pasadena. And look at OSU's schedule --- home to ASU, at UCLA, home to Cal, at Arizona and home to Oregon. No reason it can't be done.

4, Arizona --- Stoops may conquer Tucson after all, especially if he can beat USC this week. Even if that doesn't happen, UA looks headed to a bowl with a game at WSU and a home game against ASU still on tap.

5, Cal --- None of this, however, should make anyone question Jeff Tedford's coaching ability. Just more proof of how hard it is to really do it consistently at Cal.

6, UCLA --- Still no running game, but Neuheisel has always been good at figuring out a way around that.

7, Stanford --- Was probably due to lose a tight one after winning a lot of those the last two years. May have to win at Cal to get to a bowl.

8, Arizona State --- Has to hope there was massive improvement during the bye week with Oregon coming to town.

9, Washington --- Longest-running death watch since Francisco Franco.

10, Washington State --- Officially taking a bye this week after unofficially doing so the rest of the season.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis just concluded his weekly press conference, and like his UW counterpart Tyrone Willingham, he downplayed as much as he could the coaching matchup in this week's game.

"I think the only time that really in my case came to play was when we were playing them back in 2005 because it was so soon after the changover,'' Weis said of whether there is any special meaning to facing Willingham, who was his predecessor at Notre Dame. "But I think once we got past that game that both he and I were happy to be past that game. As far as ourselves, we have gone our separate ways from there. That was probably the one hurdle we had to get through, but he's gone his way and I've gone my way as have the programs as well. That was the bigger hurdle to get through.''

Weis admitted that in 2005, there was some extra meaning to the game because of the proximity to the coaching change --- Notre Dame won that game 36-17.

"In 2005 it was definitely there,'' he said. "You could act like it wasn't there, act like it's this dog and pony show and act like you don't feel that way (but it was there). But now it's the second half of the season, we've had a nice, long weekend off to get off to a good start and Washington happens to be the team we are playing.''

Weis said he and Willingham are not close and don't regularly talk, though they did see each other at the coach's convention in January.

Asked if he would ever consider talking with Willingham about his past ND experience (or Bob Davie, who is part of the broadcast team for this week's game), Weis said he prefers to talk with former ND coaches who had success at the school.

"When I call people up, I usually like to call the guys who left here with a good taste in their mouths than the guys who leave here before they are ready to leave here,'' he said. "They are not the people that would be the best people for me to talk to. Not that we are not cordial, just that it's not the best situations. I don't want them to feel like they have to say something and I don't really want to ask them. So when I want to talk to someone who was in this boat, I call Ara (Parseghian) or Lou (Holtz). I feel like they can guide me the best. Bottom line is when people leave before they want to leave, it's never a good conversation.''

Off and running. ....

--- Our story today, like all the rest, I imagine, focused on Tyrone Willingham's thoughts on facing his old school, Notre Dame.

--- Here's another version from the Chicago Tribune.

--- Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times says Willingham's failure at UW doesn't justify his firing at Notre Dame.

--- The South Bend Tribune says bad luck hasn't helped Willingham at UW.

--- ESPN.com's Ted Miller says the Pac-10 needs to rethink its ambitious scheduling and uses UW as a prime example.

--- The Oregonian's Ken Goe rips the BCS and also provides every link you could possibly imagine on Pac-10 football.

All for now.

A quick note for those of you who may be trying to post in the comments section --- it is currently inoperable while SeattleTimes.com gets a bit of an overhaul.

You can read more about the pending changes here.

Exactly how this will impact the blog, I'm not even sure I can tell you at the moment. So for now, just bear with the momentary inconvenience and we'll see how it all turns out together.

Happened to be near a computer for of Tyrone Willingham's radio show tonight and took a few notes, so I'll pass them on:

--- Willingham was asked about the budding controversy over the fact that the 1978 Rose Bowl team did not speak to his players prior to Saturday's game. Willingham had been asked about it after the game Saturday and said there wasn't enough time to make it work. He said the same again tonight though with a little more detail. First, Willingham said organizing such events are "something that you talk about years in advance ... that one just didn't quite get all the places that it needed to.'' Pressed on that, Willingham said that "I felt like there was not enough time to get properly involved,'' saying that more time would have been needed for the players from the 78 team to get their schedules altered to be able to speak to the team. Asked how much time would be needed, he said "if you knew about that three months, four months in advance, you could have guys plan their schedules.''

--- Willingham also said he does embrace the history of the program, noting the spring reunion he has organized. "We want them (ex-players) around,'' he said. "I continually say that the strength of Husky football is the strength of its past coming forward, not just what we do today.''

--- Asked if he is concerned about this year's recruiting class given all the talk of his future, he said "I'm very concerned about that class and the reason I am concerned is because there's still so much doubt hanging over our heads. Unless you can give them (recruits) something they feel comfortable with it makes it very difficult. All those kids are watching and waiting and slowly making their decisions about their schools. ... They want to know what their future is and as long as that is in question it makes it that much more difficult.''

--- Asked to name the biggest on-field accomplishments of his career, he cited the win at WSU in 2006 and the win over Boise State last year, admitting that there haven't been enough of them.

--- Asked a question that included the statement that he has set the program back five years, Willingham defended his program by saying that he thinks the current team still has a chance to turn things around.

--- Jake Locker was also a guest on the show, and asked when he might return, said "I really can't tell you.'' He said he would be in a cast for another three-and-a-half weeks, then go back in for a surgery to have a plate in the thumb removed. He said there is a plate, 14 pins and a couple of screws in the thumb. He said after that surgery, he would then begin rehab. Three-and-a-half weeks would be the week of the UCLA game Nov. 15 and if that is correct, then his first full week of practice wouldn't be until the Apple Cup.

A few more items to pass along as I clean out my notebook from today's press luncheon:

--- There were 1,000 tickets left this morning, on sale at GoHuskies.com and through the ticket office. UW officials anticipate a sellout, and it will be rare if it's not. Of Notre Dame's last 74 road games, 67 have been sellouts. One that wasn't was the team's visit here in 2005, which I'd forgotten officially drew 71,473, just a little shy of a sellout.

--- In an unintentionally humorous moment today, UW coach Tyrone Willingham started to refer to D'Andre Goodwin and instead called him "Coleman,'' a reference to the Garfield High recruit who had committed to UW and now is open. "Caught myself,'' Willingham said before proceeding.

--- Willingham's basic take on the focus on his ND past this week: "That's something that everyone else will dwell on. After we finish up (the press conference) this morning I will simply be focused on our football game and trying to move our football team in that direction. And at some point some of you will tire of that so you will move on to something else.''

--- Willingham on the Oregon State game: "There are some positives how our guys are fighting and if you can continue to do that you can put yourself in position to win if we can find a way to eliminiate those major big plays that they had, and in the majority of the cases we were in potential position to eliminate those so that maybe it would have been a big gain but not been a touchdown. So line up and play again and who knows what could happen when you put yourself in that position. So we are going to work to do th things to put ourselves in the right position so we can make plays.''

--- Ronnie Fouch said he liked the game plan against OSU saying that the deep throws "have always been my favorite.'' But he said this week's game plan figures to be different because "they like to blitz a lot more and play zone, so it will be different.''

--- OL coach Mike Denbrock is the only assistant remaining on the staff who worked with Willingham at Notre Dame. He said that "I consider myself a Husky and I'm very happy to be part of this program. But obviously it adds a little bit to it having been there.''

--- Denbrock said all three of Notre Dame's captains were players Willingham and his staff had a hand in recruiting. LB Maurice Crum Jr., is a fifth-year senior who was part of Willingham's last full class in 2004 while WR David Grimes and FS David Bruton were each players Denbrock said he helped recruit in 2005 before the staff was let go. "They are great kids and you try to keep an eye on (them) and follow their progress and hope they do well,'' Denbrock said.

--- Denbrock said C Juan Garcia injured his ankle a few times Saturday but that the injury is unrelated to his foot injury of last spring. Still, he said Garcia also continues to feel the pain of that injury, as well. "He's a warrior and he's playing through a very sore foot, his ankle is sore now on top of it,'' Denbrock said. "But he won't come out unless I shoot him with an arrow or drag him off the field, so he really is fighting through some soreness. But he's healthy enough to play and he wants to play and be out there battling with his teammates.''

--- Denbrock also said he thought there were "some bright spots'' in the game Saturday. "We were a little more consistent in the run game. Pass-protection wise, we only gave up one sack, but I thought we gave up way too many hits on the quarterback, which was a concern for me. We've got to find a way to keep Ronnie healthy. So I'd like to see us play better in that area. But overall we did a really nice job physically getting after Oregon State's front. I thought they got after us sometimes, we got after them sometimes, good give and take, and that hasn't always been the case out there.''

While KJR-AM's Dave "Softy'' Mahler used his radio show this morning to ask for Tyrone Willingham to immediately resign as coach, it was business as usual up at UW today.

Willingham met with the media at noon for his regular Monday press luncheon, and much of the focus was on his past as the coach of Notre Dame, which rolls into town this Saturday to play the Huskies.

Willingham tried to deflect as much of that attention as possible, even seeming to laugh about the frequency of the questions on that topic at times --- though in the defense of the media, not a lot of other obvious story lines about this one right now.

Asked at one point if he's moved on from his ND years, Willingham merely said "I have,'' and then, uh, moved on to the next question.

He said the game holds no more meaning to him than any other and that he didn't want the focus of the game to be about him, but simply the two teams on the field. "It comes down to one simple fact --- let's win the football game,'' he said.

I think UW fans would be more than happy with that outcome, having waited 11 months now for that to happen.

On a few other topics:

--- Willingham said there were no new injuries Saturday that would keep anyone out of this week's game.

--- He said the hope is that David Freeman and Johri Fogerson will return to the lineup this week --- Fogerson missed the OSU game with a virus while Freeman is battling ankle injuries (so for those of you wondering if the coaches might still try to redshirt them, there is your answer --- no).

--- Willingham said he liked the new linebacker alignment and will likely keep that as the starting unit, though it might not get a lot of use this weekend as Notre Dame tends to go with a lot of empty-back looks that will require UW to use more nickel defenses.

--- Willingham said the PK job remains open after each kicker missed a makeable FG Saturday, and that for now Jared Ballman is the plus-40 kicker, Ryan Perkins handling the shorter ones.

--- Willingham said the offense Saturday of throwing deep often was more a function of the OSU defense and not something the Huskies will necessarily do every week.

--- Asked by a Notre Dame area reporter what hasn't gone right at UW, Willingham said "we've not outscored our opponent'' and then went into a little longer answer that didn't really detail anything other than that "we just haven't made happen the things we have to have happen.''

--- Willingham said the prognosis for Jake Locker is more on the eight-week part of the original 6-8-week recovery time, which likely means the only games left he might play in are the Apple Cup and Cal games, at the most.

--- He praised the play of Terrance Dailey and noted that he will again be the starting TB this week. Dailey met the media briefly and said he has some sore ribs and a cut mouth from the big hit he took but otherwise is fine.

All for now.

UW has announced today that the Nov. 1 game at USC will kick off at 3:30 p.m. so that it can be televised nationally on FSN.

Washington's depth chart for the Notre Dame game Saturday is out and reveals no real surprises. The LB alignment from Saturday's OSU game remains the same as does Victor Aiyewa at safety --- UW is no longer officially designating a free or strong safety, just listing both players as safeties. Senio Kelemete is still listed as a starting DT ahead of Johnie Kirton and Terrance Dailey is again the starting RB.

Also, UW named the following as players of the game this week: D'Andre Goodwin and Dailey for offense; Mason Foster for defense; Devin Aguilar for special teams; and Tobias Togi, Bradly Roussel and Taylor Lappano for the scout teams.

Not much, but here's what we've got:

--- Our story today looked a little at the coming week's game with Notre Dame, which doesn't have quite the same flavor at all that it figured to have a year or two ago.

--- Crosscut.com looks at UW's plight and includes the nifty stat that UW has been outscored at home 152-82.

-- FightingIrishInsider has this overview of the game along with a prediction --- UND 42, UW 14.

--- Chris Dufresne of the LA Times includes the UW-UND game among his five to watch this weekend, though he says it's not an intriguing matchup, writing "there won't be much controversy in Seattle after Willingham gets fired this year.''

--- Willingham is No. 2 in the Coaches Hot Seat rankings this week.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller has UW in the familiar No. 9 spot in his weekly Pac-10 rankings.

--- Here's a good overview of Notre Dame's situation after six games from the South Bend Tribune.

All for now.

The first line of the week is out and it shows Notre Dame as a 12-point favorite over UW.

That's obviously two points fewer than Oregon State opened last week, apparently indicating Vegas considers the Beavers a better team than the Irish.

The line on the OSU game ended as high as 17 --- meaning everyone bet OSU --- and all those people won as the Beavers beat UW by 21 points. That made the Huskies 1-5 against the spread this year, covering only against BYU.

Even though some of the numbers were better yesterday, the overall stats for the Huskies this year are still pretty gruesome.

And considering we are now halfway through the season, and have played four Pac-10 games and three against Stanford, Oregon State and Arizona, the numbers are also now pretty indicative of what's going on and no longer just a function of the much-touted brutal schedule.

You can flip through the numbers here yourselves, but here are some of the more telling:

--- UW is dead last in the nation in pass defense efficiency, allowing teams to complete 72.5 percent of their passes with 18 TDs and just two interceptions. UW had never allowed opponents to complete 60 percent or more of their passes for a season until 2004, but since then have allowed 60 percent or better every year, topped by the 66.7 percent of the 2005 team. Last year's team allowed foes to complete 64.4 percent of their passes. And just two interceptions to date is obviously on pace for four for the season --- UW' season-low is four in 1963.

--- UW actually moved up to 117 in the nation in total defense, allowing 483 yards per game. That amazingly still ranks last behind WSU, which is allowing 459.7, though that is largely due to the fact that the Cougars played Portland State and have had a few games where things got out of hand so quickly due to turnovers and short fields that opponents didn't need to gain a lot of yards to put up huge point totals. Still, hard to spin it as a positive that UW is allowing more yards per game than a WSU defense that some are calling the worst in Pac-10 history.

--- UW has forced just four turnovers this year, with just three sacks and only 18 tackles-for-a-loss, all evidence of a severe lack of playmaking on defense.

--- For all the understandable focus on this team's obvious defensive struggles, the Huskies are averaging just 318 yards per game on offense. The only lower total in the last 27 years was the 311 of the 1-10 2004 team. The 1981 Rose Bowl champs averaged only 286.8 per game, but that was obviously a little bit different era in college football.

Not that you may really want to read any of these. ...

--- My game story focused on what I thought were a couple of telling moments --- the early delay penalty and the late inability to get it in from the 1-yard-line.

--- The notebook had items on the defensive changes, Terrance Dailey, and D'Andre Goodwin.

--- Percy Allen wrote about Ronnie Fouch's day.

--- Finally from our paper, Steve Kelley wondered again why the Huskies burned the redshirt of Cody Bruns. The fact that he got hurt and missed Saturday's game makes the decision look even more curious, he says.

--- The Oregonian's main story focuses on the Beavers' Rose Bowl chances.OSU now has its destiny in its hands --- win out, and the Beavers win the conference.

--- The Oregonian's Ken Goe writes that OSU didn't really play that well and still won easily. He also wonders how the OSU coaches have made Lyle Moevao such a better QB than Jake Locker.

--- George Schroeder of the Eugene Register-Guard also ponders OSU's Rose Bowl hopes.

--- The one flaw for OSU was how its defensive backs played the deep ball, according to the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

--- The GT also has this notebook with an item on what proved to be the biggest non-story of the weekend --- any hard feelings left over from the 2007 game in Corvallis. Safety Al Afalava, the center of the controversy in 2007, said yesterday's contest "was a clean game.''

--- The Chicago Tribune tried to get a head start on the Tyrone Willingham-Notre Dame hype by sending a reporter to Seattle for the weekend, and Brian Hamilton filed this interesting story. Most noteworthy --- Juan Garcia apologizing for UW's season at Friday's homecoming rally, and Hugh Millen calling the Willingham regime here "an abject failure.''

All for now.

This one just felt really perfunctory when it was over.

Was there ever a moment, after OSU's first touchdown, when the outcome ever really seemed in doubt. Not really from this corner.

And we come to find later that a lot of what seemed like some new changes to the defense were mostly illness and injury related. Josh Gage is hurt, so that's why the linebacking corps is different, and Senio Kelemete was sick all week, so that's why Johnie Kirton started at defensive tackle.

The Huskies actually did some good things at times --- they punted just once, and they didn't really get completely run over by Jacquizz Rodgers, who had 94 yards on 20 carries.

But OSU made a couple of big plays to get a comfortable edge --- James Rodgers scoring three TDs on two long runs and one screen pass --- then just seemed to do what was necessary from there to make sure it never got dangerous.

UW coach Tyrone Willingham said that "we knew the Rodgers brothers would be difficult to handle. I think for a period of time we handled one, and then, all of a sudden, let the other one add to their yardage. It was a difficult game and a difficult time.''

The loss will undoubtedly add to the speculation about Willingham, and seems to make it even more of a foregone conclusion that he will be gone eventually, when and how being the only questions remaining.

Willingham, though, kept a stiff upper lip afterward.

"We have another game to play,'' he said. "There are still games on the schedule. If you're a competitor, you find a way to rise up and play your next ball game and meet your next challenge. If you're not a competitor, then you wither. It becomes too heavy for you and you don't find a way to fight.''

Willingham seemed to let the frustration through at one point, however, when he was asked if this was getting old. "Yes,'' he said somewhat icily before pausing and then going on to the next question.

In terms of rehashing it, this is another one where the ultimate answer is that OSU was simply better.

UW's offensive strategy was to try a lot of deep throws because OSU plays so aggressively in the secondary. It worked at times for some yards, but the Huskies couldn't do anything consistently well enough to turn those yards into a lot of points.

Defensively, the Huskies wanted to keep the Beavers contained in the middle. They did that, but couldn't stop a few big plays from James Rodgers on the perimeter.

So now it's 0-6 and eight straight losses dating to last season, tying the end of 2004 and beginning of 2005 season for the longest losing streak since the 1969 team went 0-9 to start the year.

The players mostly said what you'd expect afterward --- that they won't quit and will find a way to keep coming back. And at least the opponent next week, Notre Dame, will get their attention.

On to the grades:

QUARTERBACK --- Ronnie Fouch was under pressure all night and let it get to him at times, with three interceptions and a fumble, the kind of performance that shouldn't be unexpected of a redshirt freshman making his second start. The plan called for him to take a lot of shots deep and he threw a few, though ultimately not enough. But you're seeing how his lack of mobility compared to Jake Locker is impacting things --- OSU would never have consistently teed off on Locker like that. GRADE: C.

RUNNING BACK --- Terrance Dailey showed why the coaches have been raving about him, and if he can stay healthy, he may be the starting TB the rest of the season. His 102 yards make him the first 100-yard rusher of the season. And his 59-yard run showed that he had learned a lesson from earlier in the game,n when he seemed to juke a little too much at times --- something he said later coaches told him he had to fix. But the Huskies also need a complement to get the tough yards, as that fourth-quarter goalline stand indicated. GRADE: B.

RECEIVERS --- It was nice to have D'Andre Goodwin back as he did a good job of making plays on a few high and deep throws. Devin Aguilar also had a nice day and Jordan Polk and Jermaine Kearse a few good catches. Overall, another day where the future looks bright at this spot. But for now, this group still isn't experienced enough yet to win a game by itself against a team as good as the Beavers. GRADE: B.

OFFENSIVE LINE --- The Huskies were hoping for an improved effort from this group, but once again it seemed underwhelming. Fouch was sacked just once but got hit and hurried a lot. And the lack of a consistent running game seemed due more to a lack of blocking up front than the backs. And with no real depth now, any more injuries will be a killer. GRADE: C-minus.

DEFENSIVE LINE --- The effort seemed there, and as mentioned, the Huskies didn't really get gashed inside all day, as seemed possible heading into it. But again there were no sacks and not a lot of pressure on Lyle Moevao, and the Beavers ran well enough when they had to. GRADE: C-minus.

LINEBACKERS --- We'll have to wait to see what the coaches thought of the new-look. But while there was some solid play here --- Mason Foster had two-and-half tackles for a loss --- it obviously wasn't good enough. Trenton Tuiasosopo took blame for being out of position on the screen pass that turned into a TD, and even when the LBs blitzed they couldn't seem to get to the QB. GRADE: C.

DEFENSIVE BACKS --- Didn't seem like a great effort in this area as Moevao was 18-22, with one pass dropped and another simply thrown past a wide-open receiver. And there were a few not great angles taken on a couple of the long runs. Opponents are now an astonishing 116-160 passing against UW this year with just two interceptions. GRADE: D.

SPECIAL TEAMS --- Two missed field goals were the main culprit in this area, with nothing else really outstanding good or bad. Most notably, UW did have its first two positive punt returns today with Aguilar getting 23 yards on two attempts. GRADE: C.

COACHING --- The offensive game plan made some sense given the way OSU plays defense, And the effort actually seemed to be there most of the time. But delay of game on the first play tipped off a day when the Huskies were simply outclassed and outmanned in just about every area. After four years, that's simply not good enough. And ultimately, that's where the major responsibility for this rests. GRADE: D.

A couple notes of interest to pass along:

--- Cody Bruns apparently pulled his hamstring in practice Wednesday, which is why he didn't play. That wasn't mentioned by Willingham when he met the press Thursday. In fact, he said on Thursday that Bruns would be part of the WR rotation today.

--- Terrance Dailey got the wind knocked out of him on that one big hit in the first half but said he otherwise is fine.

--- There were apparently no other serious injuries in the game, but the RB situation is getting thin enough that Taylor Lappano, a walk-on and the son of OC Tim Lappano, was moved to the backfield this week. He played RB at Eastlake.

--- Willingham's overview of the game was that "we didn't make enough big plays and gave up too many big plays. ... I thought our football team fought and fought to the end but we didn't do enough of the right things to put ourselves in position to win the football game.''

MORE AFTER THE GAME --- This will end the live game portion of the blog but check back later for post-game notes and quotes and grades.

TOTAL FRUSTRATION THERE --- Four runs from the 1 and UW couldn't get it in --- nothing more may sum up UW's season much better.

OSU NOW UP 34-13 --- Not only is this OSU's fifth straight win over UW but sixth since the 2001 season.

A KEY STAT? --- The Huskies have now allowed 400 or more yards in every game this season, and in their last eight games dating to last year. All have resulted in losses.

DAILEY TURNS IN LONGEST UW RUN OF THE YEAR --- Dailey has scored on a 59-yard run with 11:59 left that is the longest play of the year for the Huskies to make it 31-13.

TURN OUT THE LIGHTS --- This one is over as James Rodgers runs for his third TD of the day (he has two running and one on a screen, but I meant that he has three TDs on the day), a 55-yard scamper to make it 31-6 early in the fourth quarter. UW will fall to 0-6 and will lose its eighth in a row dating to last season, This is means UW has had a six-game losing streak in all four of Willingham's seasons as a coach.

TODAY'S ATTENDANCE IS --- Listed at 63,996.

AFALAVA STAYING ALIVE --- There was some talk before the game whether UW might try to get some retribution on OSU safety Al Afalava for his hit last year on Locker. But so far, Afalava is getting the last laugh as he just picked off a pass in the end zone to stop another UW drive, It's 24-6 entering the fourth quarter.

MORE SPECIAL TEAMS PROBLEMS -- Ryan Perkins missed a 36-yard FG on UW's last drive and the Huskies are now 2-4 on FGs today, continuing season-long issues on special teams. Two made field goals would make this game a lot more interesting right now than it is.

BACKBREAKING DRIVE? --- OSU may have just ended this one by taking the second half kickoff and driving 65 yards on 10 plays, capped by a 2-yard run by Jacquizz Rodgers, to take a 24-6 lead with 8:29 left in the third quarter. OSU ran on the last seven plays of the drive, to gain the final 37 yards needed.

SOME HALFTIME STATS --- Fouch is 10-18 for 156 yards, hitting Goodwin four times for 122 as UW's strategy is obviously to try to make OSU pay for all of its press coverage and man coverage in the secondary. The tradeoff is that UW can't stop OSU's pressure, a big reason the Huskies have just 29 yards rushing on 17 carries. Lyle Moevao is 12-13 passing for 118 yards, with the one incompletion coming on a dropped pass on a third down that forced OSU into a field goal instead.

NO BRUNS? --- So far, there has been no sight of WR Cody Bruns, whose redshirt was memorably burned in the game two weeks ago at Arizona. It was thought he would see major playing time the rest of the way, but he has yet to see the field while walk-ons Charles Hawkins and Tony Chidiac have each been out there.

WILLINGHAM AT THE HALF --- In his halftime comments, Willingham said UW has to figure out a way to stop OSU's pressure from the edge and get some of their own.

He said one way to do that is to "get some screens in to relieve some of that.''

Of Fouch, he said that "he has thrown quite a few balls up to give our guys an opportunity to catch them.''

He said the main issue is that "we've had two big turnovers and they've had two big plays. But we have put ourselves in position to be playing one heck of a football game.''

OSU LEADS 17-6 AT HALFTIME ---- It's a fairly tight game statistically with OSU having 194 yards to UW's 178.

UW CLOSES TO 17-6 --- A 44-yard Ballman FG makes it 17-6 with :25 left. The key play of the drive was a 46-yard pass from Fouch to Goodwin, who is now over 100 yards receiving. Fouch to Goodwin is most of UW's offense as the Huskies have just 20 yards rushing.

BALLMAN MISSES FROM 40 --- Interesting that Jared Ballman tried a 40-yard field goal, which missed to the right. Ballman has been UW's long-distance kicker, so the fact that he tried the first one made some sense. That he tried the second one may just be the coaches goiing with the hot foot, so to speak, or maybe indicating a change at that spot.

PRETTY GOOD CROWD --- For all the talk of what a small crowd would be here today, this seems like a pretty good crowd. Obviously the weather has to be helping that. Still, when one talks about where this program is, the fact that it still gets such support in the wake of such a bad season has to say something.

DAILEY OUT --- Terrance Dailey is out of the game right now after taking a big hit from Al Afalava on the previous drive. Looked like a wind thing. Afalava is the guy who knocked Jake Locker out of the game last year. However, just as I write this, Dailey is back in, so he must be okay.

BEAVERS STARTING TO BREAK IT OPEN --- OSU now leads 17-3 after a 33-yard middle screen to James Rodgers results in another touchdown. Aiyewa, getting the first start of his career, had a chance to prevent the TD but couldn't corral Rodgers at about the 20 or so. The TD followed a fumble by Fouch that gave OSU the ball at the 49. Fouch now has two turnovers in this game after just one previously.

OSU TAKES 10-3 LEAD--- Looks like one thing hasn't changed in this series --- the ability of OSU to hit field goals. Justin Kahut made a 37-yard field goal to put OSU up 10-3 with 14:09 left in the first half. Alexis Serna made 18-18 the last four years in killing the Huskies, including six in a win here in 2005.

FIRST QUARTER ENDS WITH OSU AHEAD 7-3 --- A Fouch interception has OSU again on the doorstep, with a 2-8 at the 22-yard line, as the first quarter ends. OSU has 110 yards to UW's 67 at the end of the first quarter, including a 56-17 edge on the ground, though 52 came on one play.

QUICK ANSWER FOR BEAVERS --- Didn't take long for OSU to answer UW's score as James Rodgers takes a fly sweep 52 yards for a TD to make it 7-0 with 2:23 left in the first quarter.

THAT'S UW'S FIRST LEAD EARLY AGAINST STANFORD --- UW led 7-0 in the first quarter against Stanford, making this the first time in eight quarters UW has been in the lead.

HUSKIES TAKE 3-0 LEAD --- UW uses a 48-yard completion from Ronnie Fouch to D'Andre Goodwin to drive into position for a 45-yard field goal by Jared Ballman to take a 3-9 lead with 4:54 left in the first quarter.

THREE NEW DEFENSIVE STARTERS --- A new look for the Huskies on defense with Butler in the SLB spot as mentioned earlier. Also starting are Victor Aiyewa at strong safety and Johnie Kirton at DT.

DAILEY GETS THE START AT RB --- And he goes backward on his first run, losing two yards.

UW CAPTAINS --- Homer, Kirton, Gottlieb and Te'o-Nesheim are the captains today.

PRE-GAME --- We'll start the game thread here, with 15 minutes left to kickoff. It's a beautiful day here, which may help pump up the crowd a bit beyond what might have been otherwise. Seems like a lot of festive tailgating from my brief run around the parking lot.

As for the game, I think the first quarter is critical. As my story today indicated, the players are admitting that getting up for these games isn't as easy as it used to be. If OSU takes control early, this could get ugly. But if the Huskies get some momentum early, who knows?

I like the move discussed on here earlier changing Donald Butler to strongside LB . I thnk most would agree this team's three best LBs are Butler. Foster and Tuiasosopo, so finding a way to get them all on the field at once makes a lot of sense.

We'll see how it goes.

The Huskies will apparently have a new look at linebacker today.

According to Dick Baird, who gets to watch practice in his status as a former coach and recruiting coordinator, said on the pre-game show on KJR-AM that Donald Butler will be moved from MLB to strongside linebacker, taking over the spot that has been held most of the year by Josh Gage. That will move Trenton Tuiasosopo into a starter's role at MLB, making UW's three LBs Butler, Tuiasosopo and Mason Foster.

The Huskies have pretty much settled on a 4-3 look for their defense now.

I'm at the stadium and it is a beautiful day for a football game. But it was also a pretty unimpeded drive from the south end to Montlake today, so it will be interesting to see what kind of crowd is here.

For my main story today, I wrote about the challenge facing the Huskies in staying motivated. The players are mostly still saying the right things, but only their performance will really tell where their heads are at right now.

--- Here's our usual gameday breakdown.

--- Every possible other link you could need on this game, or any of the other Pac-10 games, can be found her in Ken Goe's essential Pac-10 blog. Goe also opines that he sees no way that Tyrone Willingham will be back next season. I don't think anyone really does now, do they?

--- I went to the Skyline-Issaquah game last night and wasn't expecting to see a 38-0 blowout. But it was a fun atmosphere anyway, and a great chance to see some of the top prospects in the state. As the story indicates, Jake Heaps had a phenomenal game, and anyone who saw it would agree that he is one of the best QB prospects in the nation. His 87-yard TD pass in the second quarter was one of the best plays I can imagine a high school QB making as he stepped away from pressure near his own end zone, then fired a pass maybe 50 yards in the air down the sideline, hitting his receiver right in stride. Talking to some people there, the general feeling is that it's either UW or BYU for Heaps, depending obviously on the coaching situation at Washington. Coaches from BYU, Oregon State and Washington State were all there and there may have been some from other schools but I just didn't see them. WR Kasen Williams, another UW recruit for the class of 2011, didn't have a huge game but did make a TD catch in the second half, and merely looking at him on the field makes it clear why he is so highly-regarded. Looks a lot like Reggie Williams did as a high school just in the way he towers over everyone.

--- UW commit Andru Pulu suffered a leg injury of some sort in the first half of Federal Way's loss to Kentwood last night.

--- UW commit Zach Fogerson missed the O-Dea-Eastside Catholic game last night due to injury, as well.

--- UW commit Keith Price threw for three TDs and ran for three more in a big win for St. John Bosco last night.

More later from the stadium.

A quick note to pass along a link to our story on the Huskies making a new hire in the athletic department today.

As the story notes, Stephanie Rempe in essence replaces Marie Tuite, who was fired a couple of weeks ago. But new AD Scott Woodward is changing some of the job descriptions in the department, so Rempe will also have oversight of the men's basketball program as well as women's basketball program and some of the Olympic sports for which Tuite had responsibility. Woodward has one more major hire to make before his staff is essentially filled, needing to find a replacement for Jeff Compher, whose duties included oversight of the football program.

Okay, no suspense needed for this one. Given the way UW has played of late, and its injury situation at quarterback and running back, there isn't much realistic reason right now to pick the Huskies to beat much of anybody.

Not to say it can't happen --- one of the biggest upsets in college football history happened in this stadium and in this series in 1985 when UW lost to OSU 21-20 as 37-point favorites. Those Beavers teams had lost a combined 97-0 the previous two weeks, the reason the spread grew so large by gameday.

And the home field has to be factored in, even if the atmosphere may be as chilly as a Mike Riley-Paul Wulff handshake.

OSU is 0-3 on the road this year, while the Huskies had chances to win both the BYU and Stanford games at home, teams that are comparable to the Beavers. But the former was with Jake Locker, and the latter could have probably been a little worse than the final score indicated.

What's impossible to know right now is what kind of effort the Huskies will bring. If it's similar to the intensity the team had at Arizona, then this one will go straight into the ugly file quickly. But being at home, coming off a bye, one would think that the Huskies might have a little more fight in them for this one.

Strategically, the key to this one seems pretty simple --- either UW at least slows down Jacquizz Rodgers a little, or this one gets out of hand early. On paper, there's no real reason to think the Huskies will do that. But again, it is a home game, and Rodgers is also a true freshman who might be prone to an off day. If Rodgers gets going early, that will loosen up the UW defense for some deep passes from OSU QB Lyle Moevao, the strategy the Beavers used here two years ago when Yvenson Bernard got going in the first half and then Sammie Stroughter took over in the second half. Realistically, OSU's going to score a bunch of points no matter what. UW at least has to make them hard points to make this a game.

Offensively, UW faces a further challenge now with Casey Bulyca sidelined alongside Locker --- some might have pegged those as two of the three or four most key players on the whole team in August. UW has to get a running game going or an aggressive OSU defense will tee off on Ronnie Fouch. Fouch has thrown just one interception so far this year, but if he gets a lot of pressure tomorrow, that stat could rise in a hurry. At least he'll have D'Andre Goodwin back to serve as a go-to receiver, which it was obvious he lacked at Arizona.

But OSU's secondary is said to be a lot healthier this week, with the dreaded Al Afalava among those returning.

Ultimately, I gave every edge to OSU --- QB, RB, WR, OL, DL, LB, DB and special teams. And ultimately, I'm calling for a 42-24 OSU win. Giving the Beavers every edge might seem to indicate a wider gap than 18 points. But I think the home field and the fact that if UW has any fight left, it has to show it tomorrow, will keep the Huskies in it for a while.

A little late, but I really had to take a lot of time breaking down the USC-WSU matchup this week.

And I need to make sure I get that one right as I had another off week, against the spread, anyway, going just 1-3, USC getting an annoying cover as a 27-and-a-half point favorite and winning 28-0 (couldn't ASU have gotten a rouge or whatever that thing is in Canadian Football to get one point to at least backend the spread?)

So while I'm now a glittering 32-10 straight-up, I'm a more pedestrian 24-18 against the spread.

Anyway, on with the picks, with spreads as always from the Daily Line of the Seattle Times:

USC AT WASHINGTON STATE (Trojans by 42-and-a-half): so the seriously tricky part of this one is the spread, thought to be the largest in any game between two Pac-10 conference teams. USC, as has already been proven in its loss at OSU this year, tends to sometimes come out a little flat, especially on the road, so while there is no conceivable way they could lose this game, it seems possible they could maybe get sloppy and either give away some points offensively or give some up defensively. But if USC comes to play, the big question in this one will be whether WSU can keep alive its streak of scoring in 280 straight games, which dates to a 1984 game at Ohio State. That's the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Michigan's 294 and the fourth-longest in history. For some reason, I think the streak lives, though the Cougars will go down, and go down hard. USC 58, WSU 6.

CAL AT ARIZONA (Bears by two-and-a-half:) Mike Stoops, who seemed off the hot seat after that 4-1 start, is right back on it after a tough loss at Stanford, and with USC coming to town next, this feels like something of a must-win for the Wildcats. Cal, meanwhile, is the only Pac-10 team without a conference loss and other than the lay-down at Maryland, has looked like the second-best team in the conference. Bears also apparently have a lot of motivation, feeling the Wildcats over-celebrated a win over Cal in Tucson in 2006. Biggest difference I see is Cal's rushing attack (180 yards per game) against an Arizona run defense that isn't really all that good. If that trend holds up, Bears should escape. CAL 31, ARIZONA 27.

STANFORD AT UCLA (Cardinal by one-and-a-half): This line has dropped from three points at the beginning of the week, and following the money is never a bad strategy in gambling or Watergate investigations, only one of which is applicable here. Another good strategy is following which team has the better running attack, which in this case is Stanford --- the Cardinal is averaging 184 yards per game while UCLA is allowing 171.3. So I'm going to go with the better running game as opposed to the smart money this time. STANFORD 24, UCLA 14.

And as always, the UW-Oregon State pick will come a little later.

At least one of you asked for details on the upcoming roast for Don James, as good an excuse as any to pass along the press release with all the relevant information.

So here it is:

2nd ANNUAL ROD LONG ALL-STAR GOOD SPORT AWARDS BANQUET
Fundraiser honors former Husky coach Don James in classic ''roast.''

(Seattle, WA) Husky football coaching legend Don "The Dawgfather" James is the designated victim - oops, "honoree" - at the 2nd annual Rod Long All-Star Good Sport Awards Banquet to raise money to support local cancer victims. The star-studded festivities take place Thursday, October 23 at the Bellevue Hyatt Hotel, and feature a 6 pm cocktail hour, followed by a three-course dinner, a highly entertaining roast, and silent/live auctions. All event proceeds benefit the non-profit Jennifer L. Collins Memorial Foundation. Last year's Banquet, honoring former Seahawks QB Dave Krieg, was a huge success and this year's roast promises to be the can't-miss event of the year.

Outrageous emcee/comedian Rod Long "referees" a stellar lineup of friends, colleagues, and celebrities who are ready to turn up the heat and gently rake the Dawgfather over the coals. Sharing the dais are Dick Baird, Mike Gastineau, Nesby Glasgow, Dave Grosby, Greg Lewis, Hugh Millan, Chuck Nelson, Bob Rondeau, and a few surprise guests.

Adding their comments via video tributes are Nick Saban, Alabama Crimson Tide coach; Rich Brooks, former Duck coach, now University of Kentucky coach; Warren Moon, Husky legend and NLF-alum; Jim Mora, former Husky and NFL coach; and Jim Walden, former WSU coach

Guest auctioneer and funnyman John Curley of Evening Magazine presides over a spectacular live auction with one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia, art, travel packages, and more.

Tickets to the 2nd annual Rod Long All-Star Good Sport Awards Banquet are $200 per person and may be purchased on line at http://jensfriends.com, or by contacting 206-723-0315, email: tickets@jensfriends.com. Tax-deductible corporate and table sponsorship opportunities are also available.

About honoree Don James
From 1975-1992, Don James compiled an outstanding 153-57-2 record at the University of Washington, making him the winningest football coach in Husky history. He led the team to 14 Bowl appearances, including six Rose Bowls, and a national championship in 1991, when the Huskies finished 12-0. Under his tenure, Washington won 22 consecutive games from 1990-92. He was named national college coach of the year in 1984 and 1991 and, in 1997, was inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame.

About the Jennifer L. Collins Memorial Foundation
Jennifer L. Collins was an energetic and exceptional woman who battled lung cancer for several years before succumbing in 2006. The foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, was established to continue her dream of directly helping cancer patients and their families. The foundation provides assistance which may include travel expenses to and from medical appointments, childcare during treatments, groceries, insurance co-pay assistance, prescriptions, educational materials and holiday gifts. The foundation currently supports and works with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and the Swedish Cancer Institute through their patient assistance programs.

The -did-the-Red-Sox-really-do-that? edition:

--- My main contribution to the paper today was this look back at the 1977 Huskies, who will be honored at tomorrow's game. As I point out in the story, this is one of the more important teams in school history. Coming off a long stretch without a bowl, and with the Seahawks having just begun and threatening to take away a lot of their attention, UW needed to start winning. This was the team that started it all here for Don James. (Speaking of that time, Ryan White of the Oregonian wonders if maybe the players who show up should be given uniforms and asked to step in for the current Huskies).

--- Percy Allen compares the plights of UW and North Texas, the only two winless teams in the Bowl Subdivision.

--- Who says we're all negative all the time? Bud Withers picks UW to beat the spread Saturday.

--- Here's a King 5 report on the news concerning Husky Stadium.

--- The Oregonian looks at OSU's improving defense and also says OSU's run defense "could crush the Huskies.'' The Oregonian also has this look at the Huskies (where do they find the time to write all these stories?) Finally, the Oregonian provides this handy weather forecast for tomorrow.

--- The Corvallis Gazette-Times offers this story on Oregon native Jordan Polk.

--- Brian Hendrickson of The Columbian says UW is making the right move in keeping Tyrone Willingham all season.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller wonders if the Huskies will bring it for all 60 minutes as one of his Pac-10 questions of the week. I'm wondering the same thing.

--- The Bleacher Report gets a head start on what will be theme of next week --- comparing Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis four years later (and remember, Notre Dame has a bye this weekend to rest up and prepare for the trip to Seattle next Saturday).

--- Matt Hayes of The Sporting News predicts the end will come for Willingham the Monday after the Notre Dame game and is sticking with his view that Lane Kiffin will be the next UW coach.

--- UW recruit Keith Price is profiled by the Long Beach Press-Telegram while the LA Times rates him as the best QB in the LA Southland area.

All for now.

A minor but necessary step in the process of renovating Husky Stadium was taken today when the Board of Regents approved $3 million to spend on a pre-development plan.

You can read a little story I wrote about it for the paper here.

In essence, the athletic department has been okayed to give $3 million to whichever of two development firms it is negotiating with to draw up some schematics for a renovation of the stadium as well as a football operations support building.

You can read the actual document detailing what was approved today here.

Any actual renovation of the stadium is contingent on getting $150 million in state money (and you'll see that's exactly how UW refers to the money in page two of this document --- if it has to be approved by the state, it's state money). But the action today was made to make sure UW was ready to go once/if/when that approval comes.

The $3 million approved to be spent today will come from the general athletic department budget and was actually set aside during while Todd Turner was still AD, as it was known that this would be a necessary step in the process.

As you can read in the document, UW will need $300 million to complete the project. It plans to raise the other $150 million itself.

--- Tyrone Willingham described Jake Locker's hand injury as "complex" and said the timetable for his return has not changed. When the Huskies quarterback broke his right thumb Sept. 27, doctors believed he would need 6-8 weeks to recover. If Locker returns in six weeks, he could face Arizona State on Nov. 8. An eight-week recovery means he'd be available for the Nov. 15 Apple Cup. Washington ends the season Dec. 6 against California. Willingham said Locker will re-visit the hand specialist in two weeks.

--- Still no word on who will start at strong safety. The candidates include Victor Aiyewa and Tripper Johnson. The noticeable absentee is freshman Johri Fogerson who missed the past couple of days because of a virus. It's uncertain if he'll be available Saturday.

---- DT Senio Kelemete has also missed a few days of practice because of illness.

--- Willingham said he expects Cody Bruns "to rotate in with the five receivers." When asked how many plays the freshman would play, the coach said the game will dictate that. Willingham stressed this is a big game for the receiving corps. He said: "We got to count on our receivers to be a major part of our game plan this week. Anytime we anticipate that we're going to have some of the coverage that they have given us in the past year and what they do in the normal package, our receivers have to play big."

--- Willingham declined to differentiate between running backs Willie Griffin, Brandon Johnson and Terrance Dailey when asked who would receive more carries.

--- Senior Casey Bulyca underwent knee surgery Tuesday. Willingham said the procedure was more evasive than expected. Bulyca is likely out for the season and will be replaced by sophomore Ryan Tolar.

A few of you wanted to know how many tickets have been sold for Saturday, and we always aim to please here.

The answer, straight from the UW sports info department, is 61,700 sold and distributed. Is that how many will actually be there Saturday? Probably not, and depending on the weather (showers and a high of 56 in the forecast) Husky Stadium could be as empty as Clay Bennett's soul (no, I'm not still bitter or anything).

Should be a better crowd the following week against Notre Dame. Official word is that the game is expected to sell out, however there are some single-game tickets not purchased by season-ticket holders that will come available. Those will go on sale Monday morning at 8:30 at the Husky Ticket Office or online at www.GoHuskies.com.

Also MIA on Saturday will be Spirit, the Husky mascot. Official word is that Spirit is expected to be out the rest of the season with a shoulder injury suffered while throwing a block (or chasing a rabbit, whichever it was) but that the hope is he will be able to attend the UCLA game for a proper sendoff
and a recognition of the Cross family for their years of service to the mascot program.

Finally, a couple of links to pass along:

--- ESPN's well-dressed Ted Miller offers up this mid-season review of the Huskies, while also splashing cold water on the thought that UW may be able to lure Gary Pinkel or Jeff Tedford. Ted also had this chat with fans today, and one of the first questions was whether the Huskies might be able to get Jim Mora.

--- Miller also picks OSU to win 41-17 Saturday.

--- Paul Buker updates the news from Corvallis, where even Joe the Plumber was apparently upset that there was no Beavers news in the Oregonian today. Will Joe be happier to know that OSU safety Al Afalava is apparently ready to return for the UW game Saturday? How about UW fans? Would you rather Afalava, who knocked Jake Locker out of the game last year, be on the field Saturday available for retribution, or sitting it out? Anyway, sounds like he and all the other injured Beavers will be ready for the Huskies. Buker also points out that OSU has a pretty realistic shot at the Rose Bowl, having already beaten USC and with a favorable schedule the rest of the way.

All for now, or until Ted Miller writes again, which could be a few minutes.

That was the question I raised in my main story for today's paper, whether history might ultimately judge the 2006 Oregon State game as a turning point for the Tyrone Willingham era at Washington.

That's the day Isaiah Stanback suffered a Lisfranc injury and was lost for the season, with UW then losing four of its last five games without him after going 4-2 to start the year --- the Huskies were losing 27-17 with just over 10 minutes left at the time he was hurt, so that was probably going to be a defeat that day, as well. Still, that team went from 4-3 with Stanback to 5-7 without him.

Obviously, it's a completely hypothetical question, and who really knows for sure what would have happened had Stanback stayed healthy. UW came close to winning the next two weeks, OT losses to Cal and Arizona State. Would Stanback have made the difference in those games? Maybe, especially considering replacement Carl Bonnell had to leave the ASU game with an injury, starting a merry-go-round of QB instability the remainder of the season.

Fans can argue the point, and those who have soured on Willingham I'm sure will say no, the collapse that has followed would likely have happened anyway. Obviously, last year's team started 2-0 with Jake Locker and seemed to have all the momentum in the world and couldn't sustain it, falling prey to greater weaknesses in the program. The six losses that followed may be just as relevant a turning point.

But I can tell you a lot of people close to the team at the time will say otherwise, and that's what I was trying to get at today --- that there are a lot of people who do think Stanback's injury was the difference between the 2006 team going to a bowl, and it instead finishing 5-7.

"Not to take anything away from Carl because he was good, too, but it definitely took away from the uprising and the fire we had as a team to see your starting QB go down,'' said Johnie Kirton.

And if that team goes to a bowl, a whole lot might be different right now. Maybe the players would have bought into Willingham's system a little more eagerly. Maybe going to a bowl, and getting those 15 extra practices, would have served as a tipping point to later success. Maybe the ugly Suddenly Senior controversy, which a lot of other people point to as a turning point in the public perception of Willingham, wouldn't have seemed like as big a deal if the team was 6-4 at that point and heading to a bowl, instead of 4-6.

What some will say is a flaw in the argument is that UW was on its way to losing that game that day even before Stanback got hurt, as I noted above. Indeed, Stanback was 3 yards shy of picking up a first down on the play he was hurt, so UW had to punt, making a comeback that much less likely. Also, he hadn't played his best game that day, though Tim Lappano told me this week Stanback was banged up a lot more than people realized during the close loss the previous week at USC.

But I thought it a worthy premise to at least explore with OSU again in town almost two years to the date of that game, which was played on Oct. 14, 2006.

And again, I realize completely it's all hypothetical. I didn't write it as a way to try to find another apology for Willingham --- I've already gotten some complaints along those lines --- just something I thought was interesting to consider in a season when storylines aren't exactly popping out all over the place.

The story also includes a chart with five other games when things seemed to swing downward for the Willingham Huskies, including the 2006 Stanford game.

I talked with Stanback last week, and as is always the case, there was a lot that I didn't have room for in the paper.

For one thing, Stanback remains a staunch supporter of Willingham.

"The last thing we need is another change at head coach,'' he said. "That's what got us into the position we are in. When I was there, there was so much change and not enough stability. Not that they listen to me. They listen to the guys who hand out the money.''

When I asked Stanback how he thinks instability hurts a program, he pointed to the uneven distribution of players at certain positions and said, "That's what happens when you have three different coaches with three different philosophies.'' An example of that would be all the WRs in the class of 2003, one reason the team is so young at that spot now.

I also talked with Roy Lewis, who is now on the practice squad with the Pittsburgh Steelers, to get his views, and he's quoted in the story saying he also thinks things would have turned out a lot different if Stanback had remained upright. Lewis, however, said he didn't want to comment on the status of Willingham, which you can maybe read into whatever you want, saying only that "what is going on in the program at this point, it definitely has to change. It has to right now. We are not where we need to be and UW has always been, through history, known as a pretty dominant program. Everyone remembers UW as a dominant program. Things can always get better with time. Right now we are just a little down.''

It was either link these stories, or watch the debate again. ...

--- Kevin Hampton of the Corvallis Gazette-Times wonders what's happened to the Huskies of old. He also wonders if it might be bad news for the rest of the Pac-10 that the Huskies may make a coaching change.

--- Also from the GT is the Beavers Blog with some news of a few assistants on each side with ties to the other. OSU assistant Reggie Davis is a former UW tight end best known for being on the receiving end of the Brock Huard pass to beat ASU in 1998. UW assistant Steve Gervais is a former QB at OSU.

--- Terry Mosher of the Kitsap Sun writes about a couple UW fans trying to keep the faith in trying times.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller has this mid-season report on Oregon State, which serves as a good primer for those who want their Beaver news in small doses. Miller should have a UW mid-season look up soon (I've been waiting for next week, when UW meets the actual halfway point of its schedule, to post something similar).

--- Matt Hayes of The Sporting News breaks down the candidates to take over at Clemson, a few of whom are also rumored as potential candidates at UW if/when. And he also points out the potential risk in hiring an assistant.

--- The line has stayed at 14, favoring OSU.

--- The WizofOdds breaks down the grad rates by conference, with the Pac-10 not faring all that well.

--- Here's an update on the health of former UW WR Dane Looker. Sounds as if he has an abnormal artery on the right side of his brain but should be able to return to play.

Guess it's back to the debate.

The Huskies hit the field today to the sounds of "Sharp Dressed Man'' blaring from the speakers.

One man not as dressed as the rest, however, was RB David Freeman, who was not in pads, apparently not playing this weekend against Oregon State, leaving UW with Willie Griffin, Terrance Dailey and Brandon Johnson in the backfield.

Otherwise, the injury situation appeared as advertised. Kavario Middleton was back in full pads, shy a wisdom tooth that held him out of practice on Tuesday.

The organized portion of practice began with some field goal kicking, which was still under way when our available viewing time passed.

Wednesday means our weekly meeting with UW defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. Here are a few highlights:

--- Donatell said DT Craig Noble is almost certain to redshirt this season, pointing to the lateness of his arrival and the fact that so many true freshmen are already playing. "We probably wouldn't be looking to throw another guy into that this late,'' he said.

--- When asked for a young player who is raising some eyebrows, he mentioned DE Everrette Thompson, saying "his arrow is going up pretty nicely.'' Donatell said Thompson is a "pretty squared-away kid'' who has spent a lot of time in the film room and "picks things up pretty well.'' He also said he weighs 262 pounds and has the ability to hold that weight and maybe get a little bigger. "He'll be a very good defensive end here for a long time,'' he said.

--- He said the biggest challenge in facing OSU is that they've "got good speed and quickness out at the skill positions'' a "nice running game'' and a "nice a group of receivers that are probably up there with most anybody's.''

--- He said screen plays will be something the Huskies have to watch for this week and that bringing pressure can be dicey against them because "with all their weapons, you've got to make sure you've got them all taken care of.''

--- He praised the way Nate Williams has handled playing with a lot of other safeties at the other spot all season and said that all the rest of the guys remain in the mix for time based on whether they are healthy or not. Said Williams has shown a maturity that shows that "he's not a normal sophomore.''

--- Also praised the recent play of Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and said he has brought a lot of leadership to that group. "We're just not seeing the fruits of that work yet, but someday it will be there,'' he said.

--- Said of UW's struggles on third down that it's "a combination of pressure and coverage and how it works together.'' Said he thought it was better against Arizona thanks in part to some of the sacks by Te'o-Nesheim. But said that "like some other parts, that's a concern that we want to improve and fix.''

--- As for the overall defense, said "the results speak for themselves. We haven't gotten the job done. There's no other way to look at it.''

Due to basketball media day a little later, Tyrone Willingham moved up his daily Wednesday meeting with the media to just a few minutes ago.

And when he met with us, he said he had received no word yet on how Jake Locker's meeting went today with a hand specialist.

Willingham, however, said that despite whatever comes out of that exam that "the best guess'' is that Locker will be out the 6-8 weeks estimated originally. That seems to differ a little with what Tim Lappano told us Tuesday, that he doesn't expect Locker to play again this season. But it's also in keeping with Willingham's general tone on these kinds of things to keep options open. As has been noted, eight weeks does essentially take the Huskies to close to the end of the season, so there's not a real difference there one way or the other.

But Willingham said any definitive decisions won't be made until tests are in and the it's clearer how Locker's thumb is progressing. UW ends the regular season Dec. 6 at Cal, with a bye after the Apple Cup.

Willingham was a bit more definitive on guard Casey Bulyca, however, saying it "looks like his might be season-ending right now.'' Bulyca had arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday though Willingham said he didn't have the specifics of what was found.

There was better news on the Kavario Middleton front as Willingham said he sat out practice Tuesday after having a wisdom tooth pulled. He apparently will return to practice today with coaches saying his knee/leg injury is getting better.

Willingham also defended the use of Middleton lately, saying that "I think he's still doing very well'' and that he's simply lost some of the role he had the first two games after senior Michael Gottlieb returned.

In other notes:

--- Willingham said he likes having Tripper Johnson as the second up back on kickoffs because he not only has good "ball skills'' but also the ability to block, which he said is important for an up back. Some have questioned why there isn't a second returner back there who might be more of a threat to make a big return.

--- He said the defensive line has "still not played well enough'' and that it is obviously an area where experience is vital and that is something UW has not had enough of in that spot this year. Asked about the progress there, he termed it "steady but slow growth.''

--- Said that "gap integrity'' will be critical this week in defending OSU running back Jacquizz Rodgers. He said film has shown Rodgers to "bounce from one side all the way to the other side'' in eluding tacklers at the line of scrimmage. He said it will "be a test of strength and discipline'' for the entire defense to contain Rodgers, saying it falls on the linebackers and secondary as much as the defensive line.

--- Said that the Huskies are "right now, leaning more on a four-man front'' on defense after also trying out the 3-4 look earlier in the season. Said it simply seems to fit the personnel better right now.

--- Asked about the play of the cornerbacks, said he is "excited'' about the future of Quinton Richardson and thinks Mesphin Forrester has also played well at times this year. But also said "that's an area we still need a great step from.''

The team will practice this afternoon at Husky Stadium.

Here they are. ....

--- Among our stories today was this update on Jake Locker's injury and the possibility that he is done for the season. To answer again a question that has been out there a lot, Locker can't get a medical redshirt for this season because he has already redshirted once, in 2006 as a true freshman. Players get five years to play four from the minute they enroll, and can redshirt once, be it for medical reasons or otherwise. To redshirt a second time requires applying for a sixth year. But I've only seen those given in cases of players who miss two ENTIRE seasons, and the only two I've seen awarded at UW were for players who missed two entire seasons consecutively --- center Juan Garcia and WR Patrick Reddick. WR Gerald Harris was denied a sixth year in 2000 after he redshirted the 1995 season, then missed all of 1997 with an injury, as an example of how difficult it can be to get sixth years.

---- I also wrote this story today on OSU's Rodgers' brothers and their road to Corvallis.

--- We also had this today on the graduation rates at UW and WSU. When I posted some of this info yesterday, a few of you asked if there is a way to know how the grad rates are for Tyrone Willingham. There really isn't, as none of his classes have yet gone through four years. The grad rates released yesterday are for the incoming classes of 1998-2001, and at UW, that means it's been pretty much a collaborative effort of all the coaches for the success of the grad rates. The 2001 class, for instance, was brought in by Rick Neuheisel but also played for Keith Gilbertson and Willingham.

--- Also in our paper today, Bud Withers hands out his mid-year Pac-10 awards. Suffice to say UW needn't worry clearing out any room in its trophy case.

--- Here's the latest from Paul Buker's Beavers blog.

--- Buker also has this on OSU safety Al Afalava, whose hit sent Locker to the hospital in Corvallis last year.

--- The Corvallis Gazette-Times has this mid-season look at the Beavers.

--- The Eugene Register-Guard weighs in with these Pac-10 notes, including a couple of UW-related items.

--- Oh how Boeing must be proud of that Apple Cup sponsorship this year with the Cougars and Huskies residing 1-2 in ESPN's Bottom 10.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller says an upset this week isn't out of the question.

--- Ken Goe's links yesterday included his look at what has happened to UW.

All for now.

This week's game is Homecoming for the Huskies, which means the usual assortment of extracurricular activities.

You can find out more here.

Among other events, the school says that Gov. Christine Gregoire has declared Friday as "Purple and Gold Day" in celebration of the UW's Homecoming festivities.

Friday is also the day of the UW Alumni Association's annual Homecoming Rally in Red Square. The event begins at 8 p.m. and, according to a school press release, brings students and alumni together for free food, live performances by the Husky Marching Band and Cheer Squad, and special appearances by UW student athletes and coaches. KJR sports radio host Dave "Softy" Mahler and Husky Hall-of-Famer Greg Lewis will co-emcee.

The Huskies were back at it as they begin what is now their longest sustained stretch of football this season --- six games in six weeks.

The injury report was mostly as advertised earlier. The biggest surprise was the sight of TE Kavario Middleton sitting out practice. Tim Lappano had indicated in his briefing with us earlier in the day that Middleton was getting back to full health. But he watched practice from the sidelines without pads.

In one apparent new injury, DT Tyrone Duncan had a big wrap on his hand.

Willie Griffin appeared to be running with the first offense at tailback when the team went through early drills.

UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano, in his regular weekly briefing with the media today, said that Husky quarterback Jake Locker is scheduled to see a hand specialist on Wednesday to get an update on the broken thumb on his throwing hand.

Lappano says that the team will know more after that examination whether Locker will be able to return this season.

But Lappano held out the possibility that Locker is done for the year.

"Is he going to play this year before the season is over? Who knows,'' Lappano said. "It's highly unlikely I would guess. But tomorrow we'll know more when they find out a little bit more about it.''

UW coach Tyrone Willingham said Monday that the timetable on Locker remained 6-8 weeks from the time of the surgery, which was the week after the Stanford game Sept. 27.

But Lappano said that not only will Locker need time to recover, but he will also then need some rehab time to get back into playing form.

"I do think it's going to take some time to rehab it a little bit where you can squeeze and grab and feel the ball and get the strength back and all of that,'' Lappano said. "So I think it would be a tough call (that he could return this year). I pray I'm wrong, but I don't know.''

Lappano, however, said there is no worry that the injury will affect Locker long-term.

"He's not going to miss spring ball or anything like that,'' Lappano said.

Lappano said Locker now has the injury in a hard cast and that as of last week, still felt throbbing at times in the thumb, particularly at night.

In other notes:

--- Lappano said he doesn't expect RB David Freeman to play this week, leaving UW with three players at tailback --- Willie Griffin, Terrance Dailey and Brandon Johnson.

--- He said fullback Luke Kravitz was bothered by a foot injury against Arizona but should be back to full status this week.

--- He said G Casey Bulyca could be out 2-7 weeks depending on what is learned in his arthroscopic surgery today, again leaving open the chance that he could return this season.

--- Walk-on Taylor Bean remains the No. 2 QB behind Ronnie Fouch as the team will redshirt true freshman Luther Leonard.

--- TE Kavario Middleton is just about fully recovered from the knee injury suffered against BYU and could see more of a role this week against the Beavers.

--- Lappano assessed OSU's defense as rapidly improving and said "they do a great job of evaluating talent. They've got a good scheme and they do a good job of getting the kids that they have fit into their scheme. ... They recruit well to their system.''

--- Lappano said the Beavers remain an aggressive defense that likes to bump-and-run on the corners. "They've been able to bump you and not give up too many deep balls,'' he said.

--- Lappano said the Huskies are working to curb Griffin's fumbling issues. He fumbled twice against Arizona, losing one for a turnover, something the coach said has been an issue since last spring. Lappano said Griffin "was not a fumbler in high school.''

--- Lappano was one of the two assistants who did not go on the road recruiting last week, staying in town along with defensive coordinator Ed Donatell and Willingham to run practices and help formulate the game plan for this week. Lappano admitted recruiting is tough right now, saying other schools are using UW's current struggles to scare kids off of Washington. "It's a tough struggle right now,'' he said. "I'm not going to lie to you about that.''

UW guard Casey Bulyca was scheduled for surgery on his knee today, and offensive line coach Mike Denbrock said that depending on what is found, there is a chance Bulyca could return this season.

Denbrock said the knee has been bothering Bulyca the last two or three games saying "he had trouble with his knees locking up on him.''

He said the surgery today is designed in part to determine what exactly is wrong with the knee. If it's serious, it will likely mean the end of the season, and career, for Bulyca. But if not, he could return this year, especially with UW not playing its final game until Dec. 6 at Cal.

"Hopefully it's just something that they can go in and clean up and we can get him back,'' Denbrock said.

Ryan Tolar will start in place of Bulyca this week with Jordan White-Frisbee at the other guard spot. Denbrock said Matt Sedillo, Morgan Rosborough and Scott Shugert will get a lot of reps in practice this week to determine a No. 3 guard. Tolar, Bulyca and White-Frisbee have been rotating at the guard spots all year with no one else seeing action other than in garbage time.

Denbrock said he was confident Tolar and JWF could play an entire game if needed.

Asked if the chemistry of the line will be disrupted by the loss of Bulyca, Denbrock pointed out that Tolar has seen a lot of playing time so "I think they all trust him and know him'' and that it shouldn't have "that big an impact in that'' area.

Asked about whether any of the linemen will carry hard feelings from last year's game into this one, Denbrock said "we've got a lot of things to be angry about. That just adds to the list.''

Among those things is the inability to mount a consistent running game this year. Denbrock said he has seen signs of it coming together at times but said "we just have seemed out of sync more than anything else.'' He said when the backs are running well, it seems as if the line isn't blocking as well, and vice versa. He also said the youth in the backfield, and now a change at QB, has also impacted the running game.

The NCAA is releasing new graduation success rates today based on the incoming classes of 1998-2001.

And UW fares well when compared to other Pac-10 football programs, graduating 65 percent of its players in the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate and 56 percent when measured by the federal rate --- the GSR doesn't penalize schools for transfers who leave in good academic standing.

Here's a story from the NCAA with more details.

And here are the numbers for football graduation rates for the Pac-10 based on the incoming classes of 1998-2001.

First, the GSR:

Stanford 93
Washington State 68
Washington 65
Oregon State 64
UCLA 62
ASU 60
USC 54
Oregon 53
Cal 53
Arizona 41

And here are the federal rates:

Stanford 89
WSU 65
Washington 56
UCLA 53
ASU 52
USC 51
Oregon 49
Cal 45
OSU 44
Arizona 38

As you can see, the federal rates are lower for every school as they simply count players who transfer as players who didn't graduate as opposed to the GSR, which rewards schools if those players were in good academic standing when they left.

And as you can see from reading the NCAA story, the national GSR rate for football bowl subdivision schools is 67 percent, while the federal rate is 56. UW is right on par with both, though many other Pac-10 schools lag a bit.

The 98-2001 period encompasses the final year of the Jim Lambright regime and the first three years of the Rick Neuheisel era.

If you go to the front page of ESPN.com this morning, you'll find a picture of UW coach Tyrone Willingham along with several other coaches.

It's all part of Pat Forde's column ruminating on coaches whose futures may best be measured in days and weeks. Forde speculates that Missouri's Gary Pinkel is the most logical candidate to take over for Willingham.

Here they are. ...

--- I wrote today about the physical nature of last year's game and whether any hard feelings might linger into this year.

--- Jerry Brewer includes some thoughts on the Huskies in this column on the uncertainty facing Seattle sports teams.

--- Here's a good update on the game from the Oregonian's Beavers blog.

--- The Corvallis Gazette-Times says the Beavers need to stay focused this week.

--- Sounds like good news for former Husky Dane Looker, who has passed tests involving his head and is set to return to practice this week for the Rams.

--- BeaverFootball.com breaks down all the TV/Radio info for this game from an OSU standpoint but which may be relevant for UW fans, as well, depending on where you live.

--- The first prediction of the week is out and it calls for the Beavers to win easily.

All for now.