Gridiron Goddess

Arrogant Game Recap: Washington

by Zack Jerome of Lost Angeles Blog

I have to admit something to everyone.  I didn’t actually watch the game on Saturday.  I did, however, hire a local group of homeless men to re-enact the game in the lobby of the Four Seasons on Doheny.  You should have seen the guy doing the Jake Locker impersonation.  He even kissed a cocktail waitress and said “I love you, mom”.  I rented him the penthouse suite as a thank you.  Then I left without paying the tab.  I was feeling pretty arrogant and not super stoked the Fighting Kiffins couldn’t pull out the “win”.

That said, I got the sense a lot of my arrogant brethren did not know how to act following a “loss” to the Washington Huskies.  I am here to talk you off the ledge and for those of you who, like me, are in a perfectly arrogant mood on this cloudy Monday, I’ll give you a recommendation on reasonably pricing personal private jets.  (Go with MarquisJet, they have the most attractive saleswomen and their Egyptian cotton sheet upgrade is a scale-tipper).

First, let it be restated that our goal was never to be undefeated, but rather to be arrogant, and in doing so, be relevant.  While our record falls to 4-1, our record for being totally arrogant remains at 5-0, starting first with my 41 point win prediction last week.  If we keep it up, if Kiffin continues to manage timeouts arrogantly, if we continue to miss field goals and lose by 1 point, I want to say it:  I believe we can go undefeated in arrogance.  It is not out of reach.  We control our own arrogant destiny.

I have had a handful of Husky fans (who are most likely pale) attempt to give me grief about my arrogant prediction with emails like “wow, that really blew up in your face” and “keeping talking asshole”.  My response has been uniform.  I just send them a picture of a fat person in a raincoat and go back to shredding hundred dollar bills which I plan to mix with temperpedic foam to create the most arrogant hybrid mattress of all time.

Let’s move on.  The most arrogant part about this loss was that it was an in-house deal.  Frankly, I expected a lot more shit talking from the Husky faithful, but I feel like they know their coach and d-coordinator are Trojans.  Their NFL coach is a Trojan.  Their entire model for rebuilding their dumpster fire of a program into a winner was to hire a ton of Trojans and set them to work.  For that, the Huskies are our little brothers and we can arrogantly take credit for giving them the knowledge to be winners (not unlike in Red Dawn when Patrick Swayze teaches everyone to hunt and makes that dude drink deer blood.  That shit was arrogant). In a way, the Huskies may be too proud to thank us for our coaching staff, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t too arrogant to say “you’re welcome” (not unlike in our university commercial, which is kind of arrogant, but nowhere near as arrogant as the one back in the day where Tommy Trojan just rides around in the mist and we proclaim that Neil Armstrong was a Trojan.  Fuck you Pac-10.  The moon is our endzone.  Also, you’re welcome for Star Wars).

The Hurt Locker actually got hurt for a while, so that was hilarious.  He also had a ton of his mother’s lipstick on his jersey.  What the hell were they doing in the tunnels of the Coliseum?  Enough.  One nice thing about the game being over is I can stop talking about The Hurt Locker and all his hooking up with his mother.  I need a shower already.  They should just rename their offensive package “The Oedipius”.  Okay, now I’m done.

Arrogantly, we have precious little time to waste thinking about our “loss” to Washington.  We are playing the one true threat to our undefeated season in arrogance next weekend, the Stanford Indians (I do not recognize their name change to the ambiguous and clearly asexual Cardinal).  Coming off a big loss, Coach Harbaugh is looking to get arrogant again in what is truly the arrogant head coaching matchup of the season, and quite possibly ever.  Bolsheviks vs Menesheviks was not this arrogant.  This is more arrogant than Megatron vs Optimus Prime.  Literally, this is more arrogant than the time I went to Yellowstone with a molotov cocktail and provoked a black bear to fight me by torching his 1997 Nissan Maxima.  I have never been more excited to write an Arrogant Game Preview than I am for this one on Thursday.  You’re welcome in advance.

Real quick, we scored a HUGE ARROGANT VICTORY over the University of South Carolina, who despite being bad at everything and located in a hurricane’s public restroom, still wanted to claim usage of the abbreviation “SC”.  The Supreme Court (who are super arrogant) ruled in our favor and thus prevented all further use of the term “SC” by South Carolina, who now must limit themselves to their super intimidating current logo and nickname:

After we won, the LA Times quoted USC lawyer Michael Adler as saying:

“We have always been ‘SC,’ ” Adler said, “and we were there first.”

Scoreboard, Cocks.

So, we’re 4-1 on the field, we’re 5-0 in arrogance.  I like where we are at and I know you all do too.  Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday and thank you to everyone who stood with me in arrogance.  The joy is in being a Trojan.  If you didn’t go there, you don’t get it and you never will.  That is super depressing, but if your wife is hot enough, your kids might be able to go there.  So in honor of my birthday, I am breaking my rule of waiting until bowl eligibility to release our newest t-shirt.  It is the right move in terms of arrogance, and in light of our recent setback, I think it is time to remind ourselves of the point of this season.

Really good looking ladies and gentlemen, we give you the Bowls Are For Salad t-shirt, available in V-Neck and Crew.  Quitting is arrogant.  Buy your shirt if you have not already.  There were hundreds of our shirts at the game on Saturday and thank you to everyone who sent arrogant pictures.  Even more arrogant, we had a huge day of sales AFTER the Washington game.  That means it’s working.

I can’t wait to party with you all individually when we beat Cal by 75 points in 2 weeks.  They are the Golden Bears.  And if you are a loyal Lost Angeles reader, you know what I do with bears.  Get a shirt, email me your info if you want me to come by your tailgate, but I mean, you need to really bring it.  *I know a ton of you already sent me info, but I am arrogant and don’t write it down.  Send again before Cal and I’ll bring the camera.*

CLICK HERE TO BUY SHIRTS.

CLICK HERE TO FAN LOST ANGELES ON FACEBOOK
(so I know I am bringing the lumber)

CLICK HERE TO GET DOWN WITH ME ON TWITTER

Zack Jerome, a graduate of the University of Southern California, writes the popular Lost Angeles Blog and is the leader of the Lane Fucking Kiffin Trojan Arrogance Movement. Remember, you can’t sanction the end zone.

Football Fiends,

It was the worst sort of Saturday. USC lost and both the hated bRuins of fUCLA and the damned Irish of Notre Lame won. And we face Jim Harbaugh, Andrew Luck and the rest of the Stanford Cardinal next week. <headdesk>

It really couldn’t be much worse. I turned to my friend and fellow season ticket holder Oakley sometime in the early 3rd quarter and said “Fuck us, its going to come down to the kicking game and we will lose.”

I wish, for once, that I had been wrong.

WTH is going on with the Trojans? Has Monte, the pre-eminent defensive guru, lost his touch?(Yes, I realize Monte is the asst. head coach and Ed Orgeron is the defensive coordinator. Still, with Monte on staff, I look to him for fricking answers. He is, after all, a noted defensive guru.)  Has Steve Sarkisian reaveled himself to be the master play-caller of the co-offensive SarkKiff years under Pete Carroll? Are the Trojans just not hungry? Not disciplined? And how the hell did kicker Joe Houston miss that FG attempt from 40 yards out?!

And what the fuck with lining up in the Wildcat and using Matt Barkley as a receiver? WHAT THE F LANE? Really? Dillon Baxter played QB in high school, wouldn’t it have made sense to use him in the Wildcat instead of Marc Tyler & Allen Bradford? Is Kiffin a play calling buffoon or a mastermind? So far we have no clue.

There is no way Lane Fucking Kiffin is a worse play caller than that bozo Jeremy Bates was last year. And Matt Barkley had a good game, unlike Aaron Corp last year in Seattle. Allen Bradford ran for over 200 yards. As much as I would like to blame the kicker, as easy as it is to blame the kicker, the onus here is on the whole team. The offense did not put up points when they had to. Barkley overthrew David Ausberry in the endzone on the last drive that set up that failed FG. The Trojans simply should never have been in that position.

“We’ve got to do a better job.  We’ve got to finish people off when we’ve got a chance to, time and time again in that game,” USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin said after the game.

Where was the defense? The highly regarded Monte Kiffin D could not stop Locker and the Huskies all night, let alone in those last three seconds when it really mattered. Locker reignited his Heisman campaign last night in the Coliseum with 420 yards –310 in passing and 110 rushing. The Huskies racked up 536 yards on the pitiful Trojan defense.

Yes, I said pitiful. Do you know what else the Trojan defense is? SLOW. Where is the trademark speed and power and sheer indomitably that USC is known for? Has Monte Kiffin lost his touch? The USC D this year reminds me so very much of the USC offense last year under Jeremy Bates. That is a comparison that should never have to be made.

These are different days, Trojan fans. A new era. And, if you’re like me, you are worrying that we could return to a Paul Hackett like level of dismal.  I personally don’t think we will. Sanctions and lack of will and lack of depth aside this team and this coaching staff have too much talent to fall all that far for all that long.  That said, this team really needs to find its heart and find something to play for or we will end up with five or six losses.

Can you honestly say after looking at that pathetic display last night that Stanford and Cal and Arizona and Arizona State and Oregon and Oregon State and Notre Dame and UCLA don’t scare you to death? We could easily lose most of those games. I did not think we would prior to last night. Washington is not a great team by any stretch of the imagination. Sark has done wonderful things to rebuild a glorious program that fell by the wayside. That said, Washington IS the best team the Trojans have faced all season.

We didn’t lay down and hand it to them, we only lost by one point; but there is concern. And angst.

Angst football fiends, angst, and I have it.  So much angst. You realize Washington won in the exactly the same manner, by a field goal last year 16-13.

When was the last time a team beat USC two years in a row? For real? Can you remember? I can’t. Oregon won in 2009, but USC hammered Oregon in 2008. Stanford won in 2007, but USC won in 2008 and 2009. Cal beat USC  in 2003 and hasn’t since.  Oregon State beat USC in 2008, but USC beat the Beavers in 2009. Sure UCLA had their run of eight against SC in the 90s and Notre Dame had their 13 year run in the 80s-early 90s, but recently? I can’t think of any team that has beat us two times in a row. Except for former USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and his Washington Huskies.

Next week the Trojans travel to Palo Alto to take on Jim Harbaugh and the 16th ranked Stanford Cardinal who fell to #4 Oregon 52-31 Saturday night.  I fully expect USC to go into that game the underdog – another rarity for a program that has enjoyed unprecedented success in the past decade.

It’s a new era Trojan fans. And I am proud to be a Trojan. This whole cardiac-kids type of team is just going to take some getting used to.

Fight On!

-Your Gridiron Goddess

Football Fiends!!!

This past Saturday of FOOTBALL GOODNESS encompassed so many examples of why College Football is vastly preferable to the No Fun League. (And you all know how much I love ALL football!) You just don’t get the passion, the spirit, the excitement, in the NFL that you get on a weekly basis in College Football.

For every Alabama battering Duke (62-13) and Oregon dismantling Portland State (69-0), there was Auburn kicking an OT FG to best Clemson 27-24 or ASU nearly pulling off the big upset in Madison (Wisconsin 20- ASU 19).  No matter what part of the country you live in, or which BCS conference you root for, there was a heart-stopping (quite literally in the case of Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio) game to tune into.

Michigan State’s controversial last second fake field goal lifted them above Notre Dame 34-31. Notre Dame had to be feeling shades of 2005 USC @ ND with that clock ticking down trickery.

Auburn and Clemson dueled it out the entire game and it took a field goal in overtime for the Tigers to beat the Tigers 27-24. (What is it with all the Tigers in that part of the country, anyway?)

Everyone had Arizona State as the big underdog going into their game at Wisconsin. The Sundevils surprised everyone by nearly pulling off the upset 20-19.  Even UCLA, who started their season 0-2,  pulled off the upset of #23 Houston 31-13.  Speaking of the Pac-10; USC beat Minnesota in highly unimpressive fashion 32-21, Stanford clobbered Wake Forest 68-24 and Oregon State beat Louisville 35-28.

But the biggest game of all of the marquee games in the Pac-10 and, in fact, the country  was Iowa at Arizona. Iowa went into Tucson ranked #9 to Arizona’s #24. People expected it to be a game, but not many thought Arizona would pull off the upset. (Am sure all of AZ’s Pac-10 competitors could have predicted it, though. Let us not forget, The Pac-10 OWNS the Big Ten)

Arizona was up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. At the end of the 2nd quarter the Wildcats were up 27-7.  In the 3rd quarter Iowa rendered the AZ offense inoffensive and scored 7 to the home team’s 0. 27-14 Arizona heading into the 4th. The Hawkeyes were not going to make this easy as they went on to score 13 in the 4th quarter to even things up.  With 3:57 remaining in the game QB Nick Foles threw a 4 yard pass to William Wright for a touchdown and the Arizona D held the Hawkeyes off for the rest of the game to win it 34-27 in one of the most exciting games of the weekend.

Arkansas-Georgia was another great one. Arkansas ran away with the first 3 quarters. The Razorbacks were up on the Bulldogs 24-10 at the end of the third quarter with QB Ryan Mallet firmly inserting himself into the Heisman race. In the 4th quarter UGA came back to tie the game with under 4 minutes to play. Then, when it looked like this game was heading into overtime, Ryan Mallet lobbed a 40 yard pass to Greg Childs for a touchdown with :15 seconds on the clock.

Back in the Pac-10 for all the big and near wins we had, we also had some big losers. Washington State continued its disappointing record against FBS opponents with a 35-21 loss to SMU. California lost a stunner of a game to mid-major Nevada 52-31 and Washington’s 56-21 performance against Nebraska likely put an end to Jake Locker’s Heisman hopes since he went 4 for 20 on the day for an abysmal 71 yards.

My Trojans have the dubious distinction of being the only FBS team in the country to win each week so far and drop two points in the polls each week. We started at #14, beat Hawaii and moved down to #16. We beat UVA and moved to #18.  We beat Minnesota and moved down to #20.  Sure, they haven’t been overly impressive showings by the men of Troy. But we WON. And sure with the sanctions and everything, we’re bowl ineligible. But STILL it feels like a slap in the face and another way for the polls to punish the current USC team who had nothing to do with Reggie Bush’s shenanigans five years ago. But, I am biased and might have a small chip on my cardinal & gold sheathed shoulder.

College Football season truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

-Your Gridiron Goddess

Football Fiends,

It was an interesting weekend for the Pac-10.  With the exception of Stanford @ UCLA, the Pac-10 went undefeated against four different conferences, including future Pac-12 member Colorado.  Let’s take a look:

USC vs UVA : – 17-14 USC. Where did last week’s offense go? We sputtered offensively and GOD you know I love my Trojan football but when you’re heading into the 2nd quarter and the score is still 0-0,  AND you’re sitting up in Row 90 with fog rolling in… well its not all that exciting. The good news is our defense looked much better this week. The bad news is it was against a mediocre at best ACC team.  USC was up 14-7 at the half,  17-7 near the end of the 4th, and then the defense allowed a late TD from the Cavaliers.  Winning 17-7 is one thing. Winning 17-14 is another and it is very strange to win and feel like you lost. I am very worried for the start of Pac-10 play. With USC @ Minnesota next week and @ Washington State the following week we should head into the meat of our schedule 4-0 but have no real clear indicator of whether this team is good, out of shape, or just plain bad.  Our next home game is vs. Washington and GULP–Steve Sarkisian and Jake Locker scare me.

Oregon @ Tennessee – 48-13, Oregon. The Ducks are a force to be reckoned with. They went down to Rocky Top and hung 48 points on the Volunteers.  Oh and by the way, those 48 points are the most allowed @ Tennessee since Washington State scored 52 points in 1988. With Oregon now ranked #6 in the Coaches poll, they are within striking distance of being a national title contender.

Stanford @ UCLA – 35-0, Stanford. I said in my 2010 Pac-10 Preview (Part One) that I wasn’t sure Stanford would be able to match last season’s 8 wins. I have changed my mind. Stanford is the main challenger to Oregon for the Pac-10 title. The Cardinal went into Pasadena and shut out Coach Neuheisel’s Bruins. Stanford being so strong is not that much of a suprise. Andrew Luck is one hell of an efficient passer, runner and clock manager. What is shocking, even to this Trojan is how bad UCLA is. Stanford was 9-16 on 3rd down conversions to UCLA’s 1-9. UCLA turned the ball over 4 times, Stanford never did. Kevin Prince threw 2 interceptions to Luck’s zero. UCLA fumbled twice, Stanford never did. Jim Harbaugh went in and decimated the Bruins.   Oh, and by the way, Stanford pitched that shutout on the road without two of their best players – LB Shayne Skov and WR Chris Owusu.  It will be interesting to see how Stanford’s season plays out. UCLA – well, they might finish ahead of Washington State, but right now it’s hard to imagine them really competing in the top half of the conference.

Cal vs Colorado – 52-7 Cal.  Colorado is no powerhouse, but they may be nervous about their 2012 date to join the Pac-12 after being totally dominated by the Golden Bears in Berkeley. Cal’s new defense was remarkably efficient in dominating the line of scrimmage. Colorado turned over the ball five times, lost two fumbles and QB Tyler Hansen threw three interceptions.

Washington  vs Syracuse -41-20, Washington. It is clear that this Washington team is on the rise. Sure, they absolutely SHOULD have beaten Syracuse, but 2-3 years ago this game would not have been a gimme.  QB Jake Lockers connected with WR Jermaine Kearse for three teams en route to their convincing victory over the “Cuse.  After getting off to a slow first quarter start, the Huskies rolled with Locker completing 22 of 33 and hitting seven different receivers. Washington’s offense was expected to be one of the best in the conference with Locker under center. Last week against BYU, the Huskies faltered. By the second quarter Saturday night, they hit their stride.

Washington State vs Montana State -23-22 Wazzou. Well hey, lookie there the Cougars won a game. Never mind that it took a herculean 4th quarter effort to make it happen. The crowds were rejoicing in Pullman Saturday night.  Oh and that effort was required against an FCS opponent. I’m worried about my Trojans in Pac-10 play, but I am terrified for Wazzou. This program needs wins to gain the confidence to keep winning. And I am not sure they have quite the firepower for that yet.

Arizona State vs Northern Arizona -41-20 ASU. Looks impressive, right? It really isn’t. NAU is another FCS school that the perennial Pac-10  pre-season contender (until they implode) ASU should have beat without breaking a sweat.  The game was 17-10 at the half and 27-20 at the end of three. Only QB Steven Threet’s two 4th quarter passes put the game out of reach for the NAU Lumberjacks.

Arizona vs Citadel -52-6 Arizona. This was just a good old-fashioned rout of another outmatched FCS team down in Tucson.  I mean, do we really gain anything beating up on non-FBS conference teams. Sure Nic Grisby rushed for three touchdowns including one that was 62 yards. Sure QB Nick Foles completed 17 0f 22 passes in three quarters, but do we really know how this team will stack up against Oregon and Stanford? That is the problem I have with these cupcake out of conference schedules. Arizona is good, but Pac-10 play is brutal and it will determine just how good these Wildcats are.

-Your Gridiron Goddess

Getting it in just under the wire!!! FOOTBALL SEASON STARTS TOMORROW! OMG, Thank You gods of football for seeing us all safely through another long, long, long offseason.

The 2010 Pac-10 Preview: Conclusion

by Gridiron Goddess

WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS

Washington State. (What you can’t see is me shaking my head.) Well, I am not the first writer/blogger/fan to say this: They cannot get any worse. They really really can’t. There are 120 FBS football teams and last season the Cougars ranked 119^th in total offense and 120^th in total defense. Pitiful doesn’t even begin to describe the team they fielded last year in Pullman.

Last year’s Wazzou offensive line gave up 53 sacks.  I’m thinking sophomore QB Jeff Tuel has to be suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome from all the times he went down last year. They did win ONE game last season, so I suppose the Cougars COULD get worse this year, but that is just beside the point.  It has to get better for Alumnus and Coach Paul Wulff. He took over in December 2007 and this year’s team will FINALLY contain players he recruited.

All eyes will be on Washington State this year, will this be the year the pathetic program finally turns around and contends for at least the middle of the Pac-10 pack?

Not this year. Look for Wazzou to improve a bit on both sides of the ball, but still finish dead last in the Pac-10.

Washington State opens its season at Oklahoma State on Saturday, September 4^th.

ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS

Dennis Erickson would appear to be on the hot seat, wouldn’t he? I mean he has all this talent, and each year the Sun Devils are SUPPOSED to contend for the Pac-10 crown and then… they fall apart. They implode. They self-destruct. (Shall I twist the knife in a little further Pat? Remember 1987? USC 55 – ASU 0. But I digress …)  Surely Erickson’s Sun Devils will have to improve on last year’s 4-8 record for his job to be secure.

This offseason, one of ASU’s issues was at quarterback. As in, who would the Sun Devil starting QB be. They waited until August 31^st to name Michigan transfer Steven Threet the 2010 starting QB. Threet started eight games at Michigan in 2008 before transferring. Coach Erickson has not ruled out sophomore Brock Oseweiler seeing playing time at QB. Now doesn’t that just make you want to strangle him ASU Fans? Stop being so wishy-washy, pick a QB, pick a game plan and fricking STICK WITH IT. Erickson doesn’t seem able to just stick with a plan at ASU and that lack of consistency has been apparent in the on field results.

But hey- Threet also seems to suffer from this disease of indecision. ASU is his third school. He spent the Spring of 2007 at Georgia Tech before transferring to Michigan in 2008. At Michigan he was the leading passer in 2008, but he was not a good match for RichRod’s offense. So maybe this will be a match  made in heaven. A union of commitment-phobes.

My prediction is that only Wazzou will finish lower in the Pac-10 than Arizona State. And next season the Sun Devils will have a new coach.

Arizona State opens their season at home against Portland State on Saturday, September 4^th.

UCLA BRUINS

Rick Neuheisel (and his big giant forehead) enters his third season as head coach of that team in Westwood. Their 2009 offense was ranked 88^th in the nation. But let’s not forget this is a team that has been beset by QB injuries so severe it is almost comical. (OK, Let’s be honest, it IS comical for Trojan fans.) Even this season is not without injury, as QB Kevin Prince has a torn back muscle from camp that is still on the mend. Neuheisel and former SC assistant coach Norm Chow are installing their version of the Pistol offense in Westwood this season, which should prove to be a good move for the Bruins.  Prince will be backed up by sophomore Richard Brehaut with junior college transfer Darius Bell sitting on the third string. Bell is a more athletic QB who seems to be what UCLA needs for their new offense. Anyway, the point is, remember when UCLA lost two QBs in one pre-season practice? They’ve learned from that, and it shouldn’t happen again this year.

UCLA’s version of the Pistol offense is the Revolver, which looks to make use of a revolving QB plan – at least in the opener against Kansas State. Depth on the O-Line will be an issue for the Bruins with some academic ineligibility and injury issues hitting their bench. Oh and don’t forget the player (Xavier Su-a-Filo) who is on a LDS Mission. The starting five must stay healthy or Prince is in trouble.

On another note, UCLA has new road jerseys this year. Gone is the effeminate powder blue, replaced with navy blue (the stripes and numbers).

I’m thinking its a 7 win season for the Bruins.

UCLA opens its season at Kansas State on Saturday, September 4^th.

CAL GOLDEN BEARS

Well Cal opens their season against powerhouse UC Davis, so that tells us a lot. I’m sorry, but I have no patience for big teams that schedule cupcakes. And plenty FBS teams do. (SEC I am looking at you. Try scheduling Ohio State instead of Louisiana-Monroe for f’s sake. But I digress… again…) Anyway, back to Cal.  Cal’s QB is Kevin Riley and he is the key to their success. When Riley is on, Cal wins. When Riley is off, Cal falls apart. And consistency has never been Kevin Riley’s strong suit.  Wide receiver was one of the weak spots on last year’s team and was a big factor in Riley’s lack of consistency.  True freshman wideout Keenan Allen could go a long way towards bringing some much needed consistency to Riley’s offense. Allen is the most highly-rated recruit Coach Tedford has ever had.

Of course, Cal’s running game has a huge hole where first round draft pick Javid Best used to run his plays. Shane Vereen is another running back out of Berkeley who looks to fill Best’s shoes for the Golden Bears.

Cal also has some mental weak spots. They were blown out five times last season and when they get too far down, the mistakes grow even greater and build upon each other until they have a near disaster on their hands. This also speaks to some offensive consistency. That WILL go a long way to healing what ails Tedford’s Golden Bears.

Defensively, Cal was decent against the run in 2009, but struggled against the pass. Cal has one of the best linebackers in the Pac-10 in Mike Mohamed, but the other three LB spots in the Bears’ 3-4 D are green. Time will tell, I suppose.

Cal opens the season at home against UC Davis on Saturday, September 4^th.

WASHINGTON HUSKIES

Make no mistake, USC will be out for revenge on October 2^nd at the Coliseum. Last season’s shocking loss to the Huskies at the hands of former USC Assistant Coach Steve Sarkisian HURT, y’all.  But that aside, let’s give Coach Sark a big round of applause. In 2008, UDub went 0-12 and last season they went 5-7, which by any other standard would not be a good season but after the slide into the depths of suckitude the Huskies had been on for a number of years, 5-7 was something to celebrate.

We will know soon if the 2010 Huskies will be an even better team as they open their season at BYU. Talk about trial by fire. But then, Washington is not one to schedule patsies even in their down years.

QB Jake Locker is making a run for the Heisman and the hype alone should do a lot to elevate this Husky team and make them hungry for wins. The team returns all five starters on the offensive line – led by all-conference candidate Jermaine Karse. Sophomore Chris Polk started last year at tailback, wide receiver and defensive back and was the first freshman in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards.  All reports on the Husky defense are that they were a pleasant surprise in training camp.

2008 was rough and had Coach Sark not gotten in there and turned it significantly around, things could have been bleak for years for the Huskies. After last season, they know how to win. And last season many of their seven losses came by just a few points. This year, they will know how to close the gap and the Huskies should be bowl eligible for the first time since 2002 at season’s end.

Washington opens its season at BYU on Saturday, September 4^th.