Washington / Stanford

[Conan]

Whoooooosh! What happened to the 10 point line, now it's at 12? The game opened at 11.5 so I guess it's not that bad. Well so much for value but this game will be far from just a convincing win.

There's no question in my mind about who has the better team this year. Washington is a mess. Stanford is coming up in the world. You may think that Stanford's near win vs. the Trojans could be a bit deflating, I'm sure it is but the business at hand is probably even more importat to the Cardinal than last week's heartbreaker. Stanford hasn't beaten the Huskies going back at least 10 years. So this game has grudge written all over it.

The Huskies seem to have a very one-dimensional team on both sides of the line... something that a pretty well balanced Stanford team can exploit. I believe this year they will do just that and I see an easy 17 point win or better for them just because they can get them this year. And being at home on top of all the rest... that they will do.

Lay the lumber. It's the side that makes sense.

 

[sphincter]

washington`s qb paus would be very good if all his receivers were 11 feet tall....he`s played poorly...to understate it...

stanford is young....but quite experienced...well balanced....

and edwards is the goods....

your right...it makes sense...

doesn`t mean it`s a lock or a guarantee.....

but it`s a reasonable assumption that stanford has a decent shot at covering 10...at home...

that washington "d" will look alot more inviting than that trojan defense....

g.l. on the play....

 

[panther]

conan


hope all is going well

thanks for the input

good luck

panther

 

[panther]

conan


what do you think about ucla this week. any take???

 

[gijoe]

i hope it goes up a few more points. they have to have a let down after the usc game. love wash in this spot. dont ever compare teams against one another. this is why they play the game. the bookies know what they are doing here.

 

[Conan]

Panther, UCLA has one of the best teams in the Pac-10 talentwise. They are probably as good as USC, but they also have the worst coach. For the most part, up to now, betting on them is a crapshoot. They have what it takes to take down the Aztecs easily but they can also give the game away and I'm suspicious that's what will happen.

 

[max1234]

Conan,

Good to see you posting again... if you need some more tequila give me a shout. GL on your games this weekend!:awesom:

 

[Conan]

Hi Max... Long time indeed. I may have a few issues with a few people but guys like yourself are why I'm here. Good to hear from you. We'll catch up sometime.

 

[WinOne]

Conan,

Are you sure UCLA has athletes as good as SC???? I think the talent at UCLA may be a notch above the talent at UW. I think the coaching at UCLA is better though. I think given time, with his track record, HC Dorrell will be solid.

I think you overrate the recruiting as Fmr HC Toledo. There was not much there when Dorrell took over, and the big bully on the other side of LA was stockpiling recruits. I think Dorrell is a pretty good coach, but until his players get tough, he's fighting an uphill battle.

Just a thought, no allegiance to the guy but have come across several here in Texas in the college recruiting business that preach his praises. He's held in pretty high esteem.

WinOne!!

 

[sphincter]

under 48.....don`t sleep on that s d st. defense...i know how good drew and the uclan backs are..but,they have a few injuries on offense.....s d st plays "d"...particularly the back 7...


g.l.

 

[oldmanTED]

Conan:

Completely agree with you on Stanford. Redshirt frosh Carl Bonnell gets his first career start at QB for the Huskies. He was mainly an option QB in high school. He's appeared in two of the three games for the Huskies, going 9 of 22 with no TD's and one interception, with 24 yards running. Plus the Huskies had some major injuries last week including WR Corey Williams out for the season and top WR Charles Frederick unlikely to play with a hamstring. Plus Huskie coach Gilbertson is under incredible pressure as the Huskies have shown little. The Huskies had 5 turnovers ( 3 returned for TD's) in losing their home opener to Fresno State, gave up 424 yards rushing in losing to UCLA and then gave up 4 touchdown passes to Notre Dame in the first half last week. A team in complete disarray. Might be a slight letdown for the Cardinal, but they still should win this one comfortably if they play to form.

 

[Conan]

Winone, perhaps time will tell. In my heart of hearts I hope your're right. I made many a friend in Westwood when I lived down in LA and the women are as good as they get. But when you get the time, check their roster. It's practically a carbon copy of USC insofar as recruitment goes from where they came etc. Lot's of So. Cal. speed and size. You may be right about the coach, but they are a couple years away from making a statement. Hard to say why that is but I usually look at the coaches albeit they havent' been around for long. Too much inconsistency and dumb-ass mistakes is a coaching problem and that's been the Bruins downfall for too long. There was also "what's his face" who was all Pac-10 rusher and bombed out for discipinary reasons a year or 2 back which is about when the Bruins folded up for the season. Remember that? No team cohesion or discipline. But I still hope you turn out to be right. Being a native from LA, I'm a Bruin at heart but for now the Crimson and gold will do just fine.

 

[Conan]

OK FWIW, I think I'll just stick to my pick of the week thread until this conference shakes out. That seems to be working.

My Pac-10 thoughts:

Just how good are ASU and Cal?

Speaking of ASU... aside from the so-so teams, who can they beat or does that 4-0 record really mean something?

Next week is THE showdown... USC vs. Cal. The Trojans off a bye week should be ready for dem Bears... but just how good are the Bears? I wouldn't hold that win vs. the Beavers against them even though every game the Beavers play hurts their every opponents' BCS rating.

Are the Beavers ever going to quit self-destructing? They sure have been looking like a desperate team since their opener vs. LSU.

Could we be witnessing the long awaited re-emergence of UCLA and Stanford as respectable teams?

Is Washington really as bad as they seem? Will they win a game?
Any takers on the Apple bowl this year. Will the Cougars finally get them?

I think it's time to look at some stats like TO's, penalties, sacks and hurries, special teams, long gainers allowed and the sort of things that prove how well these teams are coached and disciplined. But isn't that always true?

The Pac-10 is guaranteed 5-6 bowl births if the teams qualify with winning records. So far it's anyone's guess after the top 3 because at this point, nobody is performing as expected. Never a dull moment but that could also change. I sure hope so because parity sucks.