Desperate Dawgs

SEATTLE — With just under a half season left to play in their college football careers, Washington’s seniors are desperate to finally taste some success.

In their past three and a half seasons, the Huskies have won just 10 games while losing 31. It’s been since 2002, when Washington was 7-6 and went to the Sun Bowl, that the Huskies won more than they lost or played in a bowl game. Washington hasn’t been ranked since dropping out of the top 25 in October of 2003. Those Huskies who are in the home stretch of their careers say it’s about time all of that changed. They know it’s now or never time to leave behind a winning legacy.

“This is our last shot to leave some kind of winning behind for the younger guys,” fifth-year senior Anthony Russo said. “We’ve changed it. We’ve got the physicalness back here and things like that, but you know the main thing is finishing games. We’ve got to learn how to win and we’ve got six more games to try to do that and try to get to a bowl game.”

The brutal part of the schedule is over, and a winnable game Saturday against Arizona could be what the Huskies need to start a second-half turnaround. A loss, on the other hand, cuts the margin of error down to zero. As it stands now, Washington needs five wins in six games to finish 7-6 and become bowl eligible. The last time the Huskies had that much success in a six-game stretch was in 2001, when they started the season 7-1. To finish 7-6, the Huskies simply cannot afford a loss to a 2-6 team like Arizona.

“I feel a lot of pressure,” defensive tackle Jordan Reffett said. “I take a lot of this stuff personally and I take it on my back with this football team. It’s my last year here and I’m going to do everything in my power. I’m going to go down with a fight. I’m going to get after these guys the best that I can, and I’m going to get after myself and hold myself accountable to playing good football, and that’s what we want to do these last six games.”

A winning season would be a huge payoff for a group that’s struggled since arriving at Washington.

“If you’re an athlete, you always want to win,” Reffett said. “I don’t think you ever expect to lose. You don’t ever expect to have a bad season, especially with all the hard work we put in as a football team. This football team puts in tons of hard work in the offseason and during the season. You always want to see the fruits of your labor, and it’s very disappointing that we’ve only won two games in the last seven. But we’ve got six games left, that’s the good news, and the challenge is that we’ve got to win these six games.”

Reffett says losing isn’t contagious, that the team is still confident, but it has been frustrating at the very least. Defensive end Greyson Gunheim said earlier this week that he is “fed up” with losing, a feeling he is certainly not alone in having.

Going back to the 1-10 2004 season, players have had to cope with losing more often than not. Washington’s seniors say they’re tired of handling those losses, and are ready to enjoy some winning before their careers end.

“You just try to endure,” tailback Louis Ranking said. “Just try to make it through and keep coming. You can’t ever quit. I believe if you really keep going at something and you keep trying hard at something, good things are going to happen. Nothing bad is going to happen to you if you keep giving your all.”

A strong finish and a bowl game could give a happy ending to players who have known too much about disappointment in their time at Washington.

“That’s the main thing is how you finish,” said Rankin. “Sometimes you start slow, but you’ve got to finish strong. That’s what you’re going to be known for; how you finish. If we go out there and win these next games, then we can get to a bowl game and get this program going back in the direction that it was in when we first got here.”

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog

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