It's going down this Friday at 7:30PM. Major Applewhite is back at the helm for his final game as #11 in a Longhorn uniform. Although it seems like an average game at best, the stakes are high for both teams eager to bounce back from disappointing losses. Washington is trying to rebound from a 65-7 ass whooping by Miami, while the Horns....ummmm...ya. Look for the Horns' secondary to play a big part in this game. Babers will be tested frequently, and Brooks and Vasher need to make plays. Blitz the Huskies early and often to keep their defense off balance. The Horns' defense may be the best UW's faced all year. On offense, Benson is a game time decision. Otherwise, Victor Ike and Ivan Williams are more than capable of handling the load at RB. Roy and BJ must show more composure and not drop the easy TD passes like last year against Oregon. Look for Major to put a stamp on his legacy at the University. Also, this is the final game for senior O-linemen Antwan Kirk-Hughes and Mike Williams. Quentin Jammer, DD Lewis, Tyrone Jones, Ervis Hill, Brooks, and Jermain Anderson are all gone on defense. Also, if anyone knows a good bar/restaurant for Horn fans in Houston please post it here. Hook Em.
Funny article from Austin360... http://www.austin360.com/aas/horns/football/holiday/1226eskenazi.html <I>SEATTLE — "Mighty are the men who wear the purple and the gold." That's a line from the fight song "Bow Down to Washington," the call to battle for the University of Washington Huskies football team. But don't worry, Longhorn fans. You won't hear our fight song during the Holiday Bowl with the frequency that you hear "Boomer Sooner" during the Texas-Oklahoma game. We Huskies have more class than that. In fact, the Huskies and the Longhorns have a lot in common. Both teams represent refined public universities located in trendy cities and boast a celebrated ex-coach who guided his team to a national championship (Don James, Darrell Royal). Both must deal with an obnoxious in-state rival school (Washington State, Texas A&M) and an irritating rival school from a bordering state with an inferiority complex (Oregon, Oklahoma). Huskies and Longhorns both are accused of arrogance by sniveling wannabes when the truth is they are just jealous of our vast superiority. If we have any failings — and at Washington, I'm not sure we do — it's that both the Huskies and the Longhorns have tendencies toward paranoia ("Everyone is conspiring for us to fail!") and delusion ("We are the best football program in the country!"). If our delusion were true, we wouldn't be playing in the 2001 Holiday Bowl, would we? A Husky primer Here are a couple of basic rules before we continue. The singular of Huskies is Husky, not Huskie. We are the University of Washington, not Washington University, which is in St. Louis. The university is in Washington state, but for the love of God, do NOT confuse us with Washington State University. We call our school U-Dub, UW or Washington. We sometimes call the Huskies the Dawgs. When our football team excels on the field, Husky fans are not booing. That's a "Woof! Woof! Woof!" you hear. Our home, Husky Stadium, is one of only two football stadiums accessible by boat. The first Husky fan to arrive to a game by boat was Noah, who tied up his Ark shortly after God made Husky Stadium. We Huskies do have our share of idiosyncrasies, however. For example, our live mascot, a handsome Alaskan malamute, does not have a cool name that carries across generations like, say, Bevo. (On the other hand, our mascot doesn't have a name that is a result of shameful face-saving after our arch-rival branded the score of a shutout loss into his hide.) The different mascot names wouldn't be a big deal except for times such as now, when the current one goes by Whitepaw's Arlut Spirit of Gold Dust. The coolest name ever for a Husky mascot was Sundodger, as anyone who has ever visited Seattle in October through May can attest. Mascot advantage: Texas. Although ours is more cuddly and certainly smells better. The Huskies adopted a new logo this year, designed by Oregon-based (!) Nike, that replaced a regal line-art husky that served us well since 1995. Critics — and there are plenty — have likened the new "husky" to anything from a blow-dried poodle to a weasel. The real weasel, however, may have been the official within the UW Athletic Department who let this travesty happen. Husky fans are spoiled and it takes something pretty special on the field to get us riled up. The Holiday Bowl is not our idea of special. Still, Longhorn fans going to San Diego are likely to see Husky fans get particularly fired up when our band fires up its rendition of "Tequila." At each kickoff, Husky fans remove our caps and wave them in unison. And yes, it's sad but true that the Wave started at Husky Stadium. But be assured that just as we had the power to create it, we have the power to kill it. We're trying. UW Glory days "Heaven help the foes of Washington." That's another line from "Bow Down." And any discussion of our helpless foes must begin by revisiting 1991. The Championship Season. 12-0. Purple Reign. The Huskies split the mythical national title that year with Miami, who we would have destroyed if given the chance. The 1991 season granted legendary status upon James, who is almost universally beloved despite a personality that charitably can be described as dour. James is dubbed the Dawgfather. (Warning: some would consider the following paragraph an example of a "Husky Delusion.") After Washington's domination of the Pac-10 from 1990-92, the conference's other nine envious schools deviously sought to level the playing field by handing down a severe and spiteful sentence for a few trumped-up charges against our chaste football program. The result was a two-year probation. Reduced scholarships. No bowl games. Reduced television exposure. In what forever will be known around UW as Black Sunday, the Pac-10 handed down our penalty two weeks before the beginning of the 1993 season. James, disgusted at the unfair way the Pac-10 treated one of its member schools, called it quits after 18 years. Some Husky fans will go to their graves believing probation was the conference's evil scheme to neuter the Dawgs. For this reason, we possess no Pac-10 pride. The most bitter among us still refer to the conference as the Pac-9, with the Huskies forever the rebels. It should be noted that the Pac-9 sent a procession of weak sisters such as Oregon and Washington State to the Rose Bowl in the mid- and late-1990s only to see them roll over for the Big 10. Washington stopped the bleeding last year with a victory over Purdue in Pasadena. Past meetings Remember the 1979 Sun Bowl? Well, neither do we. But our media guide says the Huskies beat the Longhorns that year in El Paso, 14-7, behind the running of first-year tailback Willis Ray Mackey, who hailed from Luling. This year's football team has another Texan on the roster. But Longhorn fans won't see tight end Kevin Ware play in the Holiday Bowl. He had a bit of a scuffle with a cop. Just a little scrape, but you know how overblown those things can get. Both the UW and UT are considered "football schools," but our basketball programs crossed paths a few years back when the Longhorns were searching for a new coach to replace Tom Penders. UT briefly considered UW Coach Bob Bender. And after consecutive 20-loss seasons the past two years, some Husky fans wish you would have. We feel much better about football coach Rick Neuheisel. Sure, there's the matter of his preppy sweater vests, but he has gone 26-9 overall and 19-5 in the conference since he's been here. And he's 3-0 vs. Washington State. Winning streak Winning is what matters at Washington, just like at Texas. We haven't had a losing season since 1976. Texas can't say that. We are proud of our football heritage, which includes a long, uninterrupted string of starting quarterbacks who have played in the NFL, some for the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers. Remember Warren Moon? He's one of ours. The next Husky quarterback to play on Sundays is going to be Cody Pickett, our current signal-caller. He's a stud, and just a sophomore. If Pickett has a good day, the Longhorns will be "Trembling at the feet of mighty Washington." That's another line from the fight song. Woof! Stuart Eskenazi is a former Austin American-Statesman reporter who returned to his hometown to write for the Seattle Times. When living in Austin, he watched every Husky football game he possibly could on satellite TV at the Texas Sports Bar on Braker Lane. </I>
Greg Davis needs to be fired. I don't care if we win this game 50-6, the way we've started this game is identical to the OU game, and it is absolutely ridiculous. Why the **** won't we throw the football? Cedric Benson is gone. Chris Simms, who made mistakes, is gone. What is holding us back? Our offense is so damn predictable it's a joke. Run and pick up 4 or 5 on first down. Run up the middle on second for no gain. Throw on third down, no one is open because they know we're going to throw, and pick up 3 yards. Punt. I called it the last possession before it even happened. We have the best receivers in the country, one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and our star running back is out. We still do nothing but run except when we absolutely have to throw, and then the defense is ready. The one time we looked downfield on 1st and 10 Major found BJ for a 23 yard pickup. Greg Davis has never even run a similar play since. I don't think it matters if Brett Favre is our quarterback, I don't know if we can win big games with Greg Davis calling **** like this.
I missed the start of the game. What happened to Benson? Also, I think Simms will be in shortly after that interception that major threw for a td.
Same injury from the CU game. Mack Brown didn't think he could hold onto the ball. and by the way... BJ!!! TOUCHDOWN!
I don't know. Major so far is playing at about the same level that Chris Simms did in the Big XII championship. If they made the change last time, I don't see how this time is different. Let's hope that last TD changed the momentum, so we don't have to worry about it.
I'll tell you why: First Downs: UT 8, UW 6 Time of Possession: UT 13:22, UW 9:33 Total Yards: UT 203, UW 116 Rushing Yards: UT 63, UW 32 Passing Yards: UT 140, UW 84 No need for a QB change. I have confidence in Major.
Do you see why this situation is different? Texas is dominating the game except on the scoreboard. Simms had 4 turnovers and we were getting killed on both sides of the ball vs. CU.
Remember we led almost every statistical category against Colorado as well, but the turnovers killed us. I think this possession right now sets the tone for the rest of the game and for the quarterback position. We have to take advantage of the turnover.
One of those turnovers was a fumble, which is more the responsibility of the offensive line. Imho, the only difference is Major has made one less bad throw than Chris. Like I said, this possession will set the tone. Let's hope we get a TD and soon.
I'm glad Mack didn't pull the Major I still think they are two different situations though. Our D needs to hold UW here. 1st and goal...ugh
Big thank you goes out to Greg Davis and Major... we're losing at the half to Washington. How pathetic is this.
