washington huskies - 4 wins?

[rivercitybirdie]

i see the win totals have been released.... don't think there's a thread on them yet.... i will start one later if i don't see one.

i see washington's 4 win total is getting alot of press in seattle....

the number seems shocking but probably makes sense. losing 4 players that nfl valued highly from the defense. lost 5 seniors from oline and the 3 returning players with much playing time all had "getting on field" issues during spring camp

not sure of washington's QB situation. just know the offense hasn't been too good with denver or narbonne guy at QB. sorry for no names... also john ross out for season. big on-field and probably psychologically.

washington plays @ boise, hosts sac state and utah state. does sac state count as win? i think so..... perusing pac-12 schedule. no ucla nor colorado..... highly winnable at home - utah, cal, washington state. fairly winnable on road: oregon state.

so 6 quite winnables. and bunch of other games where they should have a shot......

did petersen not do his homework coming to washington? would think this was highly predictable.

 

[cloverleaf]

CBS Sports has a list of all 128 teams win totals recently released by 5Dimes.

Might be good to post the entire list here for the forum.

 

[Wanger]

UW is going thru a big transition much like Texas is right now, you have two head strong coaches trying to turn things around with players they didn't recruit and possibly don't want.

They didn't beat a top 20 team last year, they were life and death to beat Hawaii & E Washington and their performance in the Cactus Bowl was horrendous. You look at what they lost on defense and what they have lost on offense during the off season and things look bleak.

Utah St won't be a gimme for them and starting the year out at Boise St looks like a loss.

They might have the toughest schedule in the Pac 12 this year, they play eight straight conference games starting with USC without a bye.

vs Cal
@ USC
vs Oregon
@ Stanford
vs Arizona
vs Utah
@ Arizona State
@ Oregon St
vs Washington St

They will need 5 wins to win that bet and it will take a miracle with that schedule you have to think.

 

[WinOne]

I've got CAL as my surprise team of the year for 2015. I think UW gets smoked by them. Also, I was a huge critic of the hire or coach Pete as this guy can't relate to big time players and I think their recruiting is going to suffer because of him running off CB Peters last year. I could see them regressing big time this year. I'd go under if I played the wager.

 

[Conan]

In my opinion, Cal may move up a notch or two mostly because of the presence of Jared Goff who may be one part of a pair of bookends with Cody Kessler of USC in a mano a mano competition for top QB in the Pac. There are a few good ones out there to share the limelight. It will be their defense that limits their success in conference play.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Sonny Dykes career at Berkeley playing itself out in a manner that is similar to Jeff Tedford once upon a time. The Cal bears came within one ill advised scramble by QB Joe Ayoob on the last play of a game vs. Oregon St. to mess with Tedford's head to the point of no return to finish off his tenure -- eventually. Ayoob coul;d have dumped a pass into the dirt and let his place kicker with the game with a chip shot FG instead of wasting 18 seconds running out the clock. Cal was perfectly positioned to become the following week's 1 team in the country. I can still picture Tedford slamming his clipboard down on the grass at Strawberry Fields. Just FYI, here's a pretty good trivia question to pose as you are downing a beer one evening after work. Who succeeded Aaron Rogers as Cal's next starting QB? Why of course, it was Joe Ayoob. ("booya" spelled backwards)

Winone you might be interested to know that I rate Sun Devil QB Mike Bercovici in the top 4 or 5 QB's in the Pac, FWIW. The kid's got sand. I also think that Todd Graham is a miracle worker for actually lifting them up from those dismal days of having a backbone like a squid with no discipline on the team whatsoever including screaming matches between Vontaze Burfict (all-American punk LB) and HC Dennis Erickson.

But getting back to Cal, to be honest, I'd be inclined to give Dykes another year or 2 to man up the Bears with the players he wants. Better now, and even moreso later. A good offense will take you far in a conference that has put a lot of emphasis on productive offenses for a long long time. Dykes coaching style fits that mold perfectly.

 

[cloverleaf]

Washington State projected to have a better season than Washington.

There's an unusual scoop.............

 

[rivercitybirdie]

thanks for the responses...

yes, i think the win # makes sense, just was shocking to see it. and people in seattle were pretty shocked too. i also noticed it's less than WSU win total.

i don't follow huskies really closely but it seems like they've had anemic offense and good defense. now they've lost tons of key guys on D. restocking oline too. and john ross who has at times provided some offense on special teams is gone

i will get another free form win total thread going..

 

[Conan]

In my opinion, Cal may move up a notch or two mostly because of the presence of Jared Goff who may be one part of a pair of bookends with Cody Kessler of USC in a mano a mano competition for top QB in the Pac. There are a few good ones out there to share the limelight. It will be their defense that limits their success in conference play.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Sonny Dykes career at Berkeley playing itself out in a manner that is similar to Jeff Tedford once upon a time. The Cal bears came within one ill advised scramble by QB Joe Ayoob on the last play of a game vs. Oregon St. to mess with Tedford's head to the point of no return to finish off his tenure -- eventually. Ayoob coul;d have dumped a pass into the dirt and let his place kicker with the game with a chip shot FG instead of wasting 18 seconds running out the clock. Cal was perfectly positioned to become the following week's 1 team in the country. I can still picture Tedford slamming his clipboard down on the grass at Strawberry Fields. Just FYI, here's a pretty good trivia question to pose as you are downing a beer one evening after work. Who succeeded Aaron Rogers as Cal's next starting QB? Why of course, it was Joe Ayoob. ("booya" spelled backwards)

Winone you might be interested to know that I rate Sun Devil QB Mike Bercovici in the top 4 or 5 QB's in the Pac, FWIW. The kid's got sand. I also think that Todd Graham is a miracle worker for actually lifting them up from those dismal days of having a backbone like a squid with no discipline on the team whatsoever including screaming matches between Vontaze Burfict (all-American punk LB) and HC Dennis Erickson.

But getting back to Cal, to be honest, I am inclined to give Dykes another year or 2 to man up the Bears with the players he wants. Better now, and even more better later. A good offense will take you far in a conference that has put a lot of emphasis on productive offenses for a long long time. Dykes coaching style fits that mold perfectly.

Typical for me to get carried away and the next thing you know, the flood-gates are flung wide open and the yarn is spun and piled high. That is how all of this "stuff" is made and then poured out over the internet. But this time... ooops... drat... my pointer landed on a different team. Now it appears that I should have left this thread alone and put all of this Sonny Dykes and Cal info and opinion in my Pac-12 "who's who" thread. Too late for that I suppose but I'm doing it anyway because I think some of this information is priceless and I hope insightful enough to spot a trend or 2 in the making from the start. (to be continued in the other thread if you click here.) Go to the last page for the most recent posts.

I also have a few thing to say about Chris Petersen who seems to have a knack for pulling a rabbit out of his hat. I can recall with crystal clarity Boise St.'s 2 consecutive wins in a home/home pair of OOC games back in '08 & '09 vs Oregon, the first of which was played at Autzen Stadium featuring Brian Haute, a Bronco LB (pretty sure) getting righteously clocked by LeGarrette Blount which put HC Chip Kelly to task as he suspended Blount for most of the year. While that incident put a noticeable dent in Blount's college career, it probably helped his NFL negotiations with an unspoken 7 figure "signing bonus."

Meanwhile in Boise, Chris Petersen just went about his business after delivering a sizable shock to the gambling world with a 1-point win over Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.

The specific business of Petersen's to which I am referring came in the form or trotting out Boise's new RS freshman QB (after going undefeated the previous season) a kid who goes by the name "Kellen Moore." I just watched with some amazement as Boise's offense continued to mature until he graduated in 2011 with a 50-3 W/L record. (.943 winning pct.) You can argue that Moore spent most of his time playing cupcakes, and you would be right. But what would any top tier football program do differently? Win by 60 points instead of just 50? Today Moore sits comfortably on the bench as the Detroit Lions back up QB, ready to jump in on a moments notice.

These are a couple of the things I know about Chris Petersen. Aside from pulling a rabbit out of his hat, he does "abracadabra" too. Aside from a few dismal predictions, not of Petersern's own doing but mostly because of an SOS from hell, I would say from my own experience that it might be wise to give him the beneft of the doubt with a litle extra elbow room the way few have done before. They paid dearly for making a mistake. One "elite" program after the next, after the next... etc. ...and at the helm was......

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Washington has the toughest schedule in the Pac 12, but have a much better chance of winning 5 games than they do of losing three. They should be able to handle non-con foe Sacramento State. Utah State will be more of a challenge, but that game is also winnable. They get CAl at home, and finish the year with games at Oregon State, and home against Wazzu, the two worst teams in the Pac 12 North. i would take the over if pressed to wager on this, but it is a pass for me.

IMO, Cal is over-rated. The Pac 12 North "IT" team surprises no one this season. They have a very good chance of losing all six away games and must host USC and Arizona State. Cal's defense is just terrible, and HC Sonny Dykes could care less. Cal has a brutal 4 game run @Utah, @UCLA, USC and @Oregon. I do not see two wins in that stretch, and 0-4 is certainly a possibility. Cal's win total is 5 and that is probably right. Cal under 5 +170 is what 5Domes is offering. If the books I use offer that, it is very tempting.

 

[GoSooners]

Washington has the toughest schedule in the Pac 12, but have a much better chance of winning 5 games than they do of losing three. They should be able to handle non-con foe Sacramento State. Utah State will be more of a challenge, but that game is also winnable. They get CAl at home, and finish the year with games at Oregon State, and home against Wazzu, the two worst teams in the Pac 12 North. i would take the over if pressed to wager on this, but it is a pass for me.

IMO, Cal is over-rated. The Pac 12 North "IT" team surprises no one this season. They have a very good chance of losing all six away games and must host USC and Arizona State. Cal's defense is just terrible, and HC Sonny Dykes could care less. Cal has a brutal 4 game run @Utah, @UCLA, USC and @Oregon. I do not see two wins in that stretch, and 0-4 is certainly a possibility. Cal's win total is 5 and that is probably right. Cal under 5 +170 is what 5Domes is offering. If the books I use offer that, it is very tempting.

I honestly haven't heard that many people talking about Cal. So I'm not sure about the overrated label. They won't be anything to write home about, but I bet you they win a couple of their road games and make a bowl. It wouldn't surprise me if they pull off a big upset somewhere. Stanford better watch out when they come to town. Bad defense or not, you have to be on your toes when you play these kinds of teams...

 

[BigdaddyQH]

My problem with Cal is that they are such a terrible road team. They are 1-7 at UCLA since 2000. They are also 1-7 at Oregon, and 0-6 in their last 6 games against Oregon. They are 0-5 in their last 5 against Stanford. They lost their only away game at Utah. They are 1-4 in their last 5 games at Washington. They also go to Texas, a game that could really hurt Strong if the Bevo Boys lose. I do not see two winners in that schedule. At home, Cal has one win against USC since 2000, and that was an OT win at home. 1-13 is not the type of record to be proud of. Arizona State comes visiting to end the season. Maybe 6-6, but doubtful.

 

[GoSooners]

My problem with Cal is that they are such a terrible road team. They are 1-7 at UCLA since 2000. They are also 1-7 at Oregon, and 0-6 in their last 6 games against Oregon. They are 0-5 in their last 5 against Stanford. They lost their only away game at Utah. They are 1-4 in their last 5 games at Washington. They also go to Texas, a game that could really hurt Strong if the Bevo Boys lose. I do not see two winners in that schedule. At home, Cal has one win against USC since 2000, and that was an OT win at home. 1-13 is not the type of record to be proud of. Arizona State comes visiting to end the season. Maybe 6-6, but doubtful.

You really have to be careful going too far back with road records when a team no longer has that former coaching staff. ASU used to have a terrible record when they went to California, but they were able to knock off USC at home last year. That killed a lot of Pac-12 fan bets. If I recall, Arizona never had a very good road record either. And they had one of the worst defenses in the Pac-12 last year giving up over 450 ypg. Yet they were 4-1 on the road including a win over Oregon. What I'm saying is if your not on offensively like Oregon was that day, these types of really good offensive teams will beat you. Somewhere down the line one of these opponents won't have their offensive stuff against Cal and they'll get beat. Stanford is a conservative team, and they could get beat if they have to play catch up against Cal. Texas will be vulnerable early in the season. And UW just isn't very good this year. Just take a look at this Cal team last year and how competitive they were in their road games. They lose 49-44 at Arizona, they beat Northwestern, they beat Oregon State and they lost just 38-30 to USC. And they'll be even better on offense this year. If the Pac-12 was a more defensive oriented conference I would think different about it. But I see too many crazy things happen in this conference that don't make a lick of sense. I've always admired Conan for being able to handicap this conference as well as he does.

 

[Conan]

I honestly haven't heard that many people talking about Cal. So I'm not sure about the overrated label. They won't be anything to write home about, but I bet you they win a couple of their road games and make a bowl. It wouldn't surprise me if they pull off a big upset somewhere. Stanford better watch out when they come to town. Bad defense or not, you have to be on your toes when you play these kinds of teams...

I was just thinking of "The Big Game" too. (Stanford/Cal) An upset might be a bit premature as of yet, but make
no mistake about it, at some point Sonny Dykes will have the Bear's explosive offense tuned to hit their opponent's
defenses from every imaginable direction. Stanford's days of dominance over Cal will soon become a thing of the past.

I wouldn't go as far as to suggest that the farm is headed for the dust bowl and will begin looking dilapidated anytime
soon, but add the impact of Dykes plus a little more time and there will be bigger opportunities for more confrontations
on the field of play as talent levels out and promising fresh blood arrives. (Dykes has performed unexpectedly well
recently on the recruiting trail.) Now we are talking about not only an upset in the works but also a host of competitive
crosstown rivalry games.

Just one last "plus" to account for where the Cal Bears are involved... this list is pretty self-explanatory.
Chuck Muncie, Craig Morton, Aaron Rogers, Marshawn Lynch, Keenan Allen, Steve Bartkowski, Jahvid Best, DeSean Jackson...

The Cal Bears have garnered more than an average share of superstar talent and I can't help think about what lies just around the corner.

 

[Conan]

My problem with Cal is that they are such a terrible road team. They are 1-7 at UCLA since 2000. They are also 1-7 at Oregon, and 0-6 in their last 6 games against Oregon. They are 0-5 in their last 5 against Stanford. They lost their only away game at Utah. They are 1-4 in their last 5 games at Washington. They also go to Texas, a game that could really hurt Strong if the Bevo Boys lose. I do not see two winners in that schedule. At home, Cal has one win against USC since 2000, and that was an OT win at home. 1-13 is not the type of record to be proud of. Arizona State comes visiting to end the season. Maybe 6-6, but doubtful.

So true... for sure in the pre-Dykes era at least. I'll never forget the whuppin' I received when the Bears had their asses handed to them by the Wolf Pack several years ago... On the other hand, the way they come together and play an early season OOC home game vs almost anyone is easy money. Knowing little things like this make winners out of losers.

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Unless Cal springs an upset or two, they are looking at 4-8. Everyone knows what to expect now. Who can Cal upset? Not may. The will certainly lose to Oregon, both L.A. schools, and Stanford. They probably will lose to Utah and Arizona State. Washington is a tough game because it is in Seattle the week after their trip to Austin. Can they beat Texas? I'll defer to Sooner for that answer, but the fact is that if Texas loses that game, Strong's tail is in a major sling. I think that Cal has just as good a chance losing to San Diego State as they have defeating UDub. I have to see the lines, but Cal is one of the "it" teams and "it" teams are always a good fade.

 

[GoSooners]

Unless Cal springs an upset or two, they are looking at 4-8. Everyone knows what to expect now. Who can Cal upset? Not may. The will certainly lose to Oregon, both L.A. schools, and Stanford. They probably will lose to Utah and Arizona State. Washington is a tough game because it is in Seattle the week after their trip to Austin. Can they beat Texas? I'll defer to Sooner for that answer, but the fact is that if Texas loses that game, Strong's tail is in a major sling. I think that Cal has just as good a chance losing to San Diego State as they have defeating UDub. I have to see the lines, but Cal is one of the "it" teams and "it" teams are always a good fade.

You could be right, but I'm banking on Cal continuing their climb like they have every year under Dykes and at least making a bowl. The third year is usually the year things start to come together for a coaching staff and team. As for Texas, Vegas set their win total at just 6.5. So not much is expected of the Horns this season. I think Strong's make or break season will be next year.

 

[sendacash]

Intriguing match-up in week 1 with Chris Peterson's return to Boise St, looks like early line has been set at around Boise -10.5. Seems somewhat pricey, but maybe they are anticipating heavy Boise action from those who play the returning starters angle early in the season?

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Intriguing match-up in week 1 with Chris Peterson's return to Boise St, looks like early line has been set at around Boise -10.5. Seems somewhat pricey, but maybe they are anticipating heavy Boise action from those who play the returning starters angle early in the season?

I think the line may be a bit low, considering all of the angles. You have Boise State playing at home against their former HC who jumped to Washington. You have Boise State who is picked by many to be the "Group of 5"'s representative in a major bowl game against a team that has an over/under number at 4. Hard to say at this point.

 

[WinOne]

My problem with Cal is that they are such a terrible road team. They are 1-7 at UCLA since 2000. They are also 1-7 at Oregon, and 0-6 in their last 6 games against Oregon. They are 0-5 in their last 5 against Stanford. They lost their only away game at Utah. They are 1-4 in their last 5 games at Washington. They also go to Texas, a game that could really hurt Strong if the Bevo Boys lose. I do not see two winners in that schedule. At home, Cal has one win against USC since 2000, and that was an OT win at home. 1-13 is not the type of record to be proud of. Arizona State comes visiting to end the season. Maybe 6-6, but doubtful.

BigDaddy, every PAC12 team is horrible on the road unless you are Oregon, Stanford, or USC. Face it, home teams in this conference win/cover their games. There used to be a trend with PAC12 home dogs that was over 80% late 90s thru mid 2000's.

 

[WinOne]

Talking about CAL on the road, last year they were actually very good considering their horrible defense:

Won at Northwestern 31-24
Lost at Zona 49-45 on a HAIL MARY. Note, Zona scored 28 4th qtr points to grab the win
Won at Wazzu 60-59
Won at Oregon St 45-31
Lost at USC 38-30 (they were not in this game and SC went to sleep at HT up by 3TD's)

They covered every ROAD game last year winning 3 SU. Not bad for a sucky defense and and a true sophomore QB