Laboring through a weekend

By Brock Huard

Just where do you begin with what has transpired over the last 72 hours?

1. Huskies stub their toe. In a scene eerily similar to the Notre Dame, UCLA and Arizona State games from a season ago, the Huskies cannot finish. Game management, decision making, special teams, blown assignments, mental errors, poor tackling, and more. Mike Bellotti made an excellent point during our broadcast that in the first action of the season, “more games are lost than they are won.” That can be said about the Huskies, who were clearly a more talented team than BYU.

2. Seahawk shuffle their roster. It started with T.J. Houshmandzadeh and it still hasn’t ended. I said during the week that you could expect to see six or more veterans picked up over the weekend, and Stacy Andrews, Raheem Brock, Evan Dietrich-Smith, Nate Ness, Michael Robinson, Junior Siavii are now in the fold. There should be lots of NFL film between them, and they’re mostly role players who know how to play the game and can come in with four practices and contribute. As of midnight Monday, with the eight drafted rookies on the roster, the Seahawks have turned over 53 percent of their active roster. Twenty-eight of the 53 members of this team were not Seahawks a year ago. Wow!

3. Alex Gibbs retires. This was shocking news days before the first game, but in talking to guys who have played for him, it’s understandable. He will turn 70 in February, has battled health issues, and he can’t keep up with the lifestyle anymore. Enter Pat Ruel, who I don’t think is one of Ray Roberts’ favorite line coaches…

4. Felix is sick. In the King’s last six starts, he is now 4-1 with 45 innings pitched and one earned run. That equates to a 0.20 ERA and has lowered his season ERA to 2.30. Root for CC Sabathia to lose and give up some runs.

5. Kellen Moore is the Week One Heisman Winner. Clutch, accurate, a tremendous decision maker aware of everyone and every situation on the field. He played with NFL anticipation and ball placement. He is now 27-1 as a starter and over his last 15 games has thrown 42 touchdowns to three interceptions, including zero last night in a 33-30 win against Virginia Tech. The casual fan has no idea how much control Moore has of the game, and now Boise State faces Oregon State, at Idaho and at Nevada to determine their national championship run.

6. Brett Hundley Picks UCLA. Bummer. In a very average recruiting class for quarterbacks, one of the last upper tier quarterbacks decides to take his services to Pasadena and Steve Sarkisian is left disappointed. After watching UCLA’s offense Saturday, they have a long ways to go at wide receiver and offensive line, but Hundley liked the “med school.” Come on Man!

7. The Cougs are a mess. Another ugly loss, as WSU was physically overmatched and run over by Oklahoma State. The most patient Cougar fans have told me this year will be different, that players have been redshirted while strength and talent has been added and improved. I didn’t see it in Stillwater, Okla. and like the BYU team the Huskies faced, the OSU Cowboys are not nearly as good as their predecessors.

8. Sounders get pounded and the Storm move on to the WNBA Finals.

What else did I miss over the weekend?