TERRY MOSHER
NAHZIAH CARTER
TOP OF THE TOWN – Well, at least one of the questions I posed yesterday (Friday) about the Washington football and basketball programs has been answered in a positive manner. The Husky men’s basketball team went to Alaska and roared from behind with a 21-5 spurt to stun 16th-ranked Baylor, 67-64. This was highly unexpected as the Huskies are talented, but young and inexperienced and were facing an experienced Baylor squad that some have predicted would make the Final Four this season. Down 59-46 with just under nine minutes left, the Huskies showed they would not be intimidated and rallied behind Jaden McDaniels, Isaiah Stewart, both 6-9 freshmen, and 6-6 junior Nahziah Carter to pull off the upset. Carter tossed in a game-high 23 points, including the tying 3-pointer on a beautiful pass from McDaniels to make it 64-64 and three free throws in the final seconds secured the big victory, perhaps elevating the Huskies into the nation’s consciousness. The Huskies did show a weakness that was expected when they had 13 turnovers the first half and 20 for the game. They will have to clean that up to show they are a power in not just the Pac-12 but in the country. But it’s surprising that I’m even talking about them being a power because they are still young and inexperienced and that is likely to show up throughout the season as a negative. For now, though, the Huskies certainly look like they can compete with anybody, and we didn’t know that until they knocked off the Baylor Bears. … On the other side of this is that the Washington Husky football team also won its battle Friday night, taking down Oregon State 19-7 in Corvallis. The Husky defense smothered the Beavers in the second half, allowing just eight total yards and no first downs to a team that has been explosive offensively and put up 56 points on Arizona last week. However, I’m still not convinced that quarterback Jacob Eason is the real deal. He still throws a 100-mph fastball on short crossing routes when it would better if he could throw changeups. His receivers continue to drop those hot potatoes and it would seem to me that his coaches, his receivers, his mother or somebody would tell him to show it down some. He needs to have a soft touch on some of those throws, but he continues to throw them like he’s firing a rifle at a tin can 30 feet away. Back off, son. And his accuracy is of some concern. He had great protection against the Beavers, so that wasn’t the reason for his overthrowing open receivers. Eason was 16-32 for 175 yards and two interceptions, one that was returned for a pick-six. That makes two of them in the last two games. I don’t know how football smart Eason is. Yes, he’s got an NFL arm, but can he pick opponents apart at the next level? I think he’s at best right now a back-up in the league. Oregon State which has one of the worse defenses in the Pc-12 sure looked good against the Huskies, which leads me to still not be convinced they are a quality team when they can score just 19 points (Utah put 52 on the Beavers). Now they have a bye week before heading to Colorado and then hosting Washington State in the Apple Cup. If they can play defense like they did against Oregon State, Colorado can be beaten. But Washington State is a different breed with their Air Raid offense, although Husky coach Chris Petersen seems to have solved the mystery of it in past Apple Cups. He employs eight defenders back and because Cougar coach Mike Leach seldom deviates from his basic offensive game plan Petersen has figured him out. Maybe Leach this time will do some different things and adjust as the game goes on. If he does that, the game might be interesting because the Cougar defense is better than it has been in past games. So we’ll see. That’s it for today.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.