SEATTLE – Did the Dawgs lie down?
Did Washington, as head coach Keith Gilbertson said afterward, take the day off in its 54-7 defeat Nov. 15, 2003 against Cal at Memorial Stadium?
Did the Huskies, as was widely believed at the time, quit?
Certainly for the Huskies, the game started badly and got progressively worse. Aaron Rodgers threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to wideout Geoff McArthur on the first play from scrimmage.
When the day concluded, the Golden Bears had rolled up 729 yards of offense. Rodgers had completed 20 passes for 348 yards. J.J. Arrington, taking the place of injured tailback Adimchinobe Echemandu, ran for 185 yards on just 14 carries. In all, the Bears had 381 rushing yards and averaged better than 10 yards a carry.
An outraged public accused the team of quitting, the most severe indictment in sports this side of recruiting violations.
“Some people just didn’t care as much when we played some of the other teams last year,” UW offensive tackle Ryan Brooks said. “When we played Oregon, Oregon State and Wazoo, people cared. We had a sense of urgency to prepare and to play well. When it came to play some of those other teams, even though they were in the Pac-10 as well, teams you have to beat to get to the Rose Bowl, we didn’t seem to get the same emotion or motivation.”
When many team members said at the beginning of this season that, because they were so much tighter and closer than last season’s team, thus they were less susceptible to blowouts, the Cal game was primarily the one they pointed to.
The claims were that some players were more worried about padding their own stats, rather than winning.
And when things went bad, as they did in Berkeley that November day, the accusation was that the Huskies tanked it.
“I’ll never admit to lying down for anybody,” safety Jimmy Newell said. “It just seemed like we couldn’t do anything right. Every play that they ran worked. I remember just looking around and thinking, ‘Why can’t we stop them?’ Everyone was looking around without an answer.
“When you give up 729, it’s pretty obvious you don’t have answers for what they’re doing.”
And here’s the punchline: Rated No. 4 in the BCS standings, Cal is even better than it was last year.
Rodgers is widely considered the top quarterback in the Pac-10. Better than USC’s Matt Leinart. Better than Arizona State’s Andrew Walter. Better than Oregon’s Kellen Clemens.
Rodgers is completing 70.3 percent of his passes. Even in Cal’s lone loss this season, a 23-17 defeat at No. 1 USC, Rodgers was otherworldly. He completed 29 of 34 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown. In one stretch, he completed 23 straight passes, which tied an NCAA record.
Arrington brings a balance to the Bears as Reggie Bush and LenDale White bring to the Trojans. Fourth in the nation in rushing at 161.8 yards a game, Arrington is an amazing mix of power and speed, which the Huskies learned firsthand.
“It’s a better team than they were last year by a long way,” Gilbertson said. “Their quarterback is a year older and better. Their offensive line is a year older and better. They have good skill. There’s a really good player at every position.”
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