TERRY MOSHER
There have been huge expectations for Washington football during the off-season and I have not disagreed that the Huskies were primed for not just a good year, but a great year.
I have to tell you right here that I covered the Washington football program for almost 30 years and the 1991 team that featured defensive tackle Steve Emtman, who was a one-man wrecking ball and was the No. 1 draft pick in the 1992 NFL draft (by the Indianapolis Colts), but also had talented players like offensive linemen like Ed Cunningham, Pete Kaligis, Lincoln Kennedy, running backs Napoleon Kaufman, Beno Bryant, receivers Mario Bailey and Orlando McKay and defensive backs Tommy Smith, Dana Hall and Shane Pahukoa was the best college football team I ever saw. It went 12-0 and claimed co-national championship with Miami, which I think would have lost to the Huskies if they had played.
After the current Husky team lost 21-16 to Auburn Saturday in Atlanta, most of the talk show hosts on a Seattle radio station and most callers all used the word great to describe the Huskies, and many of them predicted that coach Chris Petersen’s team would rebound to go 12-1, which is presuming that the team would win all the rest of its scheduled games and win the Pac-12 championship game and make the Final Four that determines the overall National Championship.
I disagree.
Be careful how you throw around the word “Great.” Greatness is reserved for the truly best no matter what you are talking about, whether it’s a singer, actor, politician, athlete or a person who mows lawns. The word great should not be used in casual conversation. Muhammad Ali may have been great, running back Jim Brown may be called that, and LeBron James could be classified as such if he decides to play defense more often.
And the 1991 Husky football team fits greatness.
But the 2018 Husky team does not.
A great Washington football team would have responded to Auburn’s last score, a touchdown with 6:15 left, pounded the ball right at the Tigers and gone in to score the winning touchdown. They would have dominated the line of scrimmage, would have smacked the Tigers right in the face and showed the nation that a team from the disrespected Pac-12 on the Left Coast could dominate a SEC team when it counted the most.
The Huskies did not do that.
They are good. Not great. And in two weeks they have to go to Utah to play a Utes team that is tough to beat at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Washington won there in 2016 31-24 and beat the Utes at Husky Stadium last year 33-30. But it was not very easy, and maybe even a little lucky that they got those two wins.
I would not be surprised if the Huskies were 1-2 after three games. The Utes aren’t Auburn, but their coach Kyle Whittingham is a good one. Not great. But good.
The Huskies played Auburn without their star left tackle, Trey Adams, and they may be without him for a while. Adams has a back injury that flared up just before the Huskies left for Atlanta. He’s valuable, no question about that, but that should be no excuse. Football is a violent sport and coaches have to deal with them all the time.
To be great, as many continued to feel the Huskies are, the Huskies have to overcome injuries and prove it on the field. I can’t get too excited about a team that has potential to be great. So let’s not cheer so soon. Let’s see what they Huskies do when the play in Utah.
And, yes, I’m disrespecting the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota, a D-1 Sub-Division team that will play the Huskies Saturday at Husky Stadium. The Fighting Hawks are 1-0, having defeated The Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils 35-7 on Saturday.
If you are going to be great, this game should be a serious mismatch.
Okay, that is enough for today. Miami plays LSU in a few hours and I want to see that.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.