Terry Mosher
Some random thoughts from the Boneyard on a day that feels like a mix of summer and fall – sunshine, calm, and temperatures that struggle to nuzzle up against 60. It wasn’t as warm – or didn’t feel like it – Saturday when four of us paid a visit to the new Husky Stadium to watch Oregon quack the Dawgs up.
I was impressed like many of you how beautiful the Dawg Pound looks. When light rail is installed there won’t be a sane reason for not filling that place on game Saturdays. And I can see why it was redone. I’m being cynical here when I say I could see the luxury boxes, and what they mean for the Big Cigars that helped fun the Dawg Pound redo.
If I felt like a small dawg before, I’m really a small dawg now.
The old Dawg Pound needed to be fixed. It was real outdated, from the restrooms to the access to seats to the press box, which was a thrill a minute when the wind was howling in from Lake Washington on game days.
Although, for sentimental reasons, I enjoyed my nearly 30 years in the old press box. There was something about looking down on the field from the moon, or so it seemed, and be able to see the action clearly from one end to the other end of the field.
And the old press box elevator, which was manned by Cale Campbell’s daughter (Cale was a South Kitsaper) in the years I closed my eyes, held my breath, and prayed that it would deliver me and others safely to the press box level.
There was some doubts, believe me.
And it seemed to take days for the cranky lift to lift us up there.
But, looking back, that was part of the charm of the old Dawg Pound. It was old, but it reeked of memories, most of them good during the Don James years.
And there was always the Bill Douglas hotdogs. Douglas was a Husky quarterback from 1964-65 and I came on board to cover the Huskies in the fall of 1970. I loved the hot hotdogs that were served to the media in the press box, but at some point in the 1980s I began to observed the ‘dogs had pale gray splotches on them and I quickly started calling them leftovers from the 1960s.
There were in effect, at least in my mind, hotdogs from the Bill Douglas era. So I started calling them Bill Douglas hotdogs.
But I continued to eat them, no matter how old they looked.
I’m pretty sure the Bill Douglas hotdogs are probably no longer on the media menu.
Which is a darn shame.
From our seats in the West end zone, right next to the student section, I could glance up at the new press box and feel some pangs of jealousy that I will likely never get up there. I guess I could if I had a good reason to be there, but to be honest I don’t feel it would be right for me to ask for a press pass to cover a game. My time has come and gone. Let the younger guys have seats there – and maybe grab a Bill Douglas hotdog or two.
It wasn’t a good day to be at the Dawg Pound. Oh, it was fun to see all the beauty of the place, but as one who saw around 160 Husky football games there, I wanted to see the Dawgs pull off the upset over the visiting Ducks.
But it was clear to me late in the second quarter the Huskies were just no match for the Ducks. Sure, they got within a touchdown in the second half, but the Huskies just could not stop the efficient Phil Knight Machine. The Ducks waddled up and down the field as they pleased, and pulled back in the last few minutes or it could have been 52-24.
Two things that really stuck out for me is Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota looked like the best signal-caller in the nation, and, two, the quickness of the Ducks is unbelievable. And I’m talking about offense and defense. The defensive backs just put a blanket over the Dawg receivers and there was little they could do. And the Oregon running backs were not only quick and shifty, but hard to bring down.
Mariota looked like a U.S. Navy Seal sharpshooter. He gets rid of the ball quickly and his throws are right on the money. He made it look so easy that it almost took my breath away. And if there were no receivers to throw to, he took off running like he was a healthy Percy Harvin.
I sat in our end zone seats trying to figure out how you stop the Ducks. I’ve been watching football since I was five and I enjoy analyzing a game while it is in progress to see if I can figure out what teams are doing, and what they need to do.
But, man, I could not figure out how to stop the Ducks. They are just too fast and quick. And the Oregon offensive line looked great.
Which leads me to conclude the Ducks are the best college team in America. Forget Alabama and the SEC, the Ducks are for real. I pity Washington State Saturday when it plays the Ducks in Eugene.
The following week the Ducks have UCLA in Eugene, and the following Thursday they play a big one at Stanford. But I can’t see UCLA or Stanford beating them. The Oregon State game on Nov. 28 in Eugene might be interesting. Might, but that is as close as you will get me to think they will be beat.
As for the Seahawks, they are not as good as we all thought going into the season. Yeah, they are still playing without a couple starters on the offensive line, and Harvin has yet to make an appearance, so they could look better soon, but after six games and five wins, the ‘Hawks don’t look like the automatic Super Bowl contenders they once did.
The fact is that their defense has allowed them to get to five wins. The offense is not bad, but it’s not great. Russell Wilson is an intelligent, heady kind of guy you would always want on your side in any pickup game, but someday I’m afraid he’s going to scamper out of trouble, head down field and get blasted in a blindsided tackle and we will all hold our breaths to see if he gets up.
The key for me, if I was going up against the Seahawks, would be to stop Marshawn Lynch. Or at least slow down the Beast Mode and force Wilson to beat you with his arm. Play a little zone and some man in the secondary, mixing it up just enough to keep him guessing. Then we’ll see just how good he really is.
I don’t think I have to say you have to put pressure on Wilson. I get a big kick out of talking heads on radio and TV who always say that. That is pretty obvious, even in a pickup game in a vacant lot or in a peewee football game. The quarterback handles the ball in nearly all snaps from center, so the key is to attack him and put some fear in him.
When I was a young kid playing quarterback I was on a team that was awful. I would get the snap, turn around and four or five defenders would be breathing down my neck. Believe me, I didn’t have time to think much less do anything damaging.
I can remember going back to the huddle many times and yelling, ‘can’t anybody block here?” Nobody answered, but they didn’t have to: nobody could.
My mind is reeling from local high school football. If you look at scores from around the state you will see that our gridiron forces on this side of the water are not at the same level as most of the state.
I was fooled by Bremerton’s opening-season win 51-6 over Foster. I covered that game and I thought then Foster was not very good. But I thought Bremerton was pretty good, even if it was relatively young.
But, boy, was I wrong.
Here’s the way I would rank in order the class 2A Olympic League as of today: Kingston, North Kitsap, Olympic, North Mason, Klahowya, Sequim, Port Angeles and Bremerton. The big OL game certainly would appear to be the one Oct. 25 when North Kitsap and Kingston collide for North Kitsap School District bragging rights, and maybe for the OL title.
However, just to give you a little perspective on the strength of our teams in the OL, Bishop Blanchet beat North Kitsap 58-0 (Blanchet also beat Bainbridge, 75-0), but lost Friday night to O’Dea, 35-0.
Kingston’s only defeat was in its first game when it fell to Squalicum, 48-28. Squalicum, which is a Bellingham high school, lost a week later to Sedro Woolley, 63-3, and is 3-3 on the reason.
I can’t figure out Central Kitsap and South Kitsap. Central came back from a 21-7 third-quarter deficit against Olympia Friday night to win 28-21. Coach Mark Keel almost always seems to have a Cougar team that starts slow, gains momentum and is tough at the end. So we’ll see.
Eric Canton is having a rough first-year as headman at SK, but his Wolves did dismantle Yelm, 40-7, Friday. Olympic had beaten Yelm, 7-0, earlier this season. But the Wolves were beaten up pretty bad by Newport, 35-10, and Newport on Sept. 27 was taken apart by Issaquah, 48-28. for it’s only loss.
Issaquah, by the way, fell to O’Dea, 51-26.
That would make O’Dea, a 3A school, a 70-poiint favorite over 4A SK.
Of course, scores don’t tell the whole story. Although, you can get a good gauge of relative strength by them.
So, again, I don’t know about SK or CK. South is the biggest school in the state, and if having three junior highs feeding your program means anything, the Wolves should be a perennial power.
But, again, we’ll see.
As for Bainbridge, the Spartans are in a real down year. The Spartans are 0-6 and have been outscored 306-60 (ouch!).
That’s enough from the Boneyard for today.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.
.