Earlier this week, Pete Carroll raise a few eyebrows when he more or less said that Washington’s Jake Locker was a better QB than Terrelle Pryor. After all, Carroll’s Trojans just beat Terrelle’s Buckeyes, and #3 USC was expected to humiliate the Huskies up in Seattle today. I mean, come on - Washington was winless last year and needed to beat lowly Idaho last week to end a 15-game losing streak.
Turns out Pete was right all along - and we’re sure he wishes he wasn’t.
Locker led his Huskies down the field on a final drive, setting up Erik Folk to become U-Dub’s new folk hero with a 22-yard field goal to shock SC, 16-13. But the Trojans did their part, too, turning the ball over 3 times throughout the game. Such a win was extra sweet for Steve Sarkisian, whose first signature win as Washington coach came against his former boss.
And the East Coast media can breathe a sigh of relief, as the loss likely knocks USC out of any national championship talk and spares any accusations of snubbing in the AP polls.
Just down I-5, another team’s BCS dreams went bust. Utah came into Eugene riding a 16-game winning streak with their sights set on another BCS bowl appearance. But the Oregon Ducks (wearing uniform combo #256) put an end to any Utes BCS repeat with a 31-24 victory. Now Chip Kelly & crew finally have something to be proud about, especially after the whole LeGarrette Blount brouhaha.
A whole lotta eyes were on CBS to see how badly Florida would chomp on Tennessee. Gator Nation couldn’t wait to see Tim Tebow terrorize the Vols, especially hearing how much Lane Kiffin mouthed off in the offseason. As everyone expected, Florida emerged from The Swamp this afternoon victorious.
But what everyone didn’t expect was that the Gators only bested UT by 10 points. And the 23-13 win wasn’t fully secured until two minutes left to go, when Tennessee QB Jonathan Crompton was intercepted on a 4th-and-long. In a moral victory for the Vols, Tebow didn’t toss a TD pass, breaking his 30-game streak. Maybe the #1 Gators aren’t so invincible after all.
Charlie Weis lives to coach another day, as Notre Dame escapes with a 33-30 win over visiting Michigan State. In a back-and-forth battle, the Spartans had a chance to win in the final minutes. But after missing a wide open Larry Caper in the end zone on the previous play, QB Kirk Cousins was picked off at the ND 4 by Kyle McCarthy, and the Irish were able to run out the clock.
The win also ended Michigan State’s dominance at Notre Dame Stadium, where the Spartans had won six straight in South Bend before today. With Purdue’s earlier upset loss to Northern Illinois, Weis has to like his chances against the Boilermakers next week. If only the rest of ND’s opponents could lose to MAC teams the week before they face the Irish.
Elsewhere, Virginia Tech QB Tyrod Taylor scrambles & shoots a last-second TD pass to Dyrell Roberts as the Hokies beat the Huskers 16-15. Middle Tennessee State shocks Maryland for the second year in a row as the Blue Raiders top the Terps 32-31. Oklahoma tramples Tulsa 45-0. Colorado gets its first win of the year in a 24-0 whipping of Wyoming. Virginia loses yet again, this time to Southern Miss 37-34. And Iowa continues to nicely recover from the UNI near-disaster with a 27-17 victory over Arizona.
8:37 pm on September 19th, 2009
do people in the media or “bloggers” even watch sports anymore?
I bet $100 that UW would win today, everyone who knows college football saw it coming. So that was easy.
Then who the f*** is saying Locker could be first QB taken next year???
1. His passing needs alot of work, and if you actually follow sports he’s said this a million times.
2. He and the UW Coach both said it’s basically 100% that he’ll return for senior season, wants to develop more in college (which he needs, right now he’s just great athlete that can make college throws)…
I mean where the hell do people come up with this?
and who was saying that the crowd at UW isn’t a factor? They are ranked as one of the loudest stadiums in the country (when all things are even, of course for big games or when the program is winning, last year losing every game meant obviously the fans weren’t there). Just like the Seahawks have the loudest stadium in the NFL, and the Sounders have one of the only legit fanbases in MLS, the Huskies have a great fanbase and like all other Seattle based teams they have one of the loudest crowds in the country. Would rank Oregon as tougher to play at in the Pac-10, as for now, but when UW is competitive its no doubt one of the loudest places to play…
people who know nothing about sports piss me off….especially common knowledge stuff in American sports, jesus…
10:48 pm on September 19th, 2009
“But what everyone didn’t expect was that the Gators only bested UT by 10 points. ”
Only morons expected FL to beat TN by 70 points, but that’s FL fans and the sports media for you.
10:51 pm on September 19th, 2009
whoa, calm down beavis.
3:49 am on September 20th, 2009
I won my parlay with UW, Tennessee and Texas Tech (points)…
seemed like pretty easy games to call yet “experts” (aka talking heads and bloggers who just read about sports and don’t actually watch them) couldn’t figure it out…
3:24 pm on September 21st, 2009
Okay, I’m a UW fan who’s been eating humble pie since Saturday. Last week I posted about the sorry UW / WSU game last year, and how it would be a long time before the UW could get my hopes up enough to invest the time (much less the money) to attend another game. Then this - a second win in a row, against USC for heaven’s sake!
I keep feeling like I’m being set up, like the gambler who lets his mark win the first few hands so that the mark gets overconfident - right before he gets taken for everything he’s got.
12:30 am on September 22nd, 2009
Locker has been spectacular this year. He probably could be a first round pick by the time this year is done, but he would be crazy to go and not take the extra year to develop. Plus, UW will be really good next year. His passing has been very accurate this year and you can really see what a difference a good coach can make. As far as Terrelle Pryor Vs. Locker right now. There is no comparison. Even in a 38-0 win against Toledo Pryor made some terrible decisions. Locker drove his team to a victory in the final seconds against the number 3 team in the country.
6:52 pm on September 29th, 2009
Jake Locker is a good dancer