Forgettable Saturday...

I’m sure you noticed like I did that the Cougars, Eagles and Huskies all went down to defeat last Saturday. But it was much worse than that because every college football team in the state of Washington lost that day. Which, of course means that Pacific Lutheran University, University of Puget Sound, Whitworth University, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Washington State University and the University of Washington all came up short against beatable opponents but failed to get the job done.

Add to the list nearby University of Idaho and it certainly was a day to forget for local football fans. If you factor in the Seattle Seahawks uninspired effort in Pittsburgh on Sunday it is hard to brag about being a fan of football in this state. I’m sure this may have happened before but not very often. If you ask any of the coaches of these teams I’m sure they could point to an incidence or a play that changed momentum and led to the demise of their squads. Football is a funny game where too many emotions can lead to inconsistent play and mistakes can mount up after trying to make up for that inconsistent play. Most of the problems that occurred during these games can be fixed with experience and a big win in these teams’ upcoming games. But the knowledge that victory escaped these teams last Saturday is hard to swallow.

Eastern Washington has started out 0-3 after winning last year’s NCAA FCS championship and rated NO. 1 to start out the season. The going has been difficult with that target on their back. It is obvious that the Eagles haven’t filled a couple of positions with players who are game breakers, maybe soon but not just yet. Turnovers have played a major part in these losses and will need to be cut down completely or else a return to the playoffs may be out of the picture when November rolls around.

The WSU Cougars seemed to be well on their way to another victory against San Diego State when on a fourth down punt a Cougar ran into the Aztec punter which kept the Cougars on defense when a well-deserved rest would have been quite beneficial.

Instead San Diego State marched down the field for another touchdown. The Cougars started to get in a panic mode to try to regain the momentum and the lead but interceptions ensued making the final score look more like a blowout instead of the close game it actually was. It looks like the Cougars could use a healthy Jeff Tuel at QB as soon as possible.

The University of Washington played a Nebraska team that didn’t forget what the Huskies did to the Huskers in San Diego last December in the Holiday Bowl. The Huskies still have a ways to go before they are seen as a national power. It will be interesting to see how their season plays out.

The Seattle Seahawks are a young team that will hopefully improve before too many more weeks or else I’m going to have to find a new team to get excited about. I guess when you compare what happened to the college teams on Saturday, the Seahawks drubbing is far worse. Let’s face the fact that the owner of the Seattle team is one of the richest men in the USA and you would think he would be able to buy a quality team that could compete for NFL championships year in and year out.

But the Seahawks have only been to the Super Bowl once and fell flat in that endeavor. They haven’t been close since and that hasn’t been much fun to watch.

It was a forgettable Saturday for the state of Washington last Saturday but I’m sure most of these college teams can turn it around and get back on track in their next few games. It was unusual but we can certainly see some progress in our favorite team which should keep us hopeful for a great year.

Okay, I’ve got my fingers crossed!