EATTLE – That’s four straight defeats, three that came on the last play of the game, the past two in overtime.
The emotional wreckage that followed excruciating defeats to USC and California came with inner pride that the Huskies gave two national powers ample cause to sweat. The loss to Oregon State and Saturday’s defeat to Arizona State, on the other hand, were barren of any warm feelings.
As secretly encouraged as the Washington Huskies’ players, coaches, alums and fans had to be following the courageous efforts on the road against top 10 teams Cal and USC, they have to be equally puzzled with the home flops against the Beavers and Sun Devils.
The questions are legion.
Just two: Where’s the home-field advantage? Why the polarized set of performances?
Logic says that, as close as Washington came to knocking off the Golden Bears and Trojans on the road, it should have had success against OSU and ASU, given similar performances and high-decibel support from the home crowd.
But this is a team that defies logic, one whose showings vary wildly from Saturday to Saturday. Against Oklahoma, it was Ohio State the first half, Buffalo the second. Even in their victory against UCLA, the Huskies’ dismal, scoreless first half gave few cause to expect they would storm back with 29 of 32 points after intermission for a 29-19 victory.
Crazy? That’s just Washington, the 2006 variety.
“We put all of our efforts into our games and to come up short, it hurts,” defensive tackle Wilson Afoa said. “Losing twice, in overtime, in two weeks takes a toll on us. We just have to come back next week and fight.”
At once, the Huskies draw rave reviews from bouncing back from two seasons of 2-9 and 1-10. They leave their own fans borderline breathless with bold efforts simply not seen in the past two years.
The next minute, they relive the past two years with middling showings against middling teams.
“We really have to get over that hump,” linebacker Scott White said. “We’re so close to having a really good record this year, but a couple plays here and there have cost us. We need to make two or three more plays to win the game.”
They’ve outdone themselves with four victories and realistic talk of a bowl game. Gone is the weekly blowout after blowout.
They’ve also tripped over themselves as they did in the recent lean years unknown before in school history.
The truly dark days of 2004 and 2005 should yield a clue to the wildly inconsistent 2006.
This group has never won with any consistency before on the collegiate level. It knows less about the blueprint to winning than it knows the blueprint to the Pentagon.
Why should anyone expect the Huskies to suddenly turn it around, kick derrieres and take names?
They’ve never come close before. Why should they now?
The Huskies are smack in the middle of transition. They’re almost good enough to play consistent. They’re bad enough, whether it’s an issue of talent or attitude, to lose games they should win.
That’s what makes 2006 a remarkable year in UW football history. Despite the established losing environment, head coach Tyrone Willingham and his staff have instilled the beginnings of a winning environment: one of positive self-worth and a willingness to break old, destructive beliefs and habits.
It’s a process. It can’t come overnight. This season is better than last; next season will be better than this.
The staff is still teaching; the players are still learning. And coming off two straight disastrous years, it’s certainly understandable when doubt occasionally creeps in and performance suffers.
The game is far more mental than most realize.
“They key is, it depends on what (the players) want,” Willingham said following Saturday’s heartbreaker. “If we desire more, we’ll get more. We’ll continue to work and drive ourselves. There should be no let-up or give-up or step back in our football team.”
Even at 4-5, Washington still can climb into a bowl game. It won’t be easy without Isaiah Stanback, its most talented player and unquestioned leader.
But even if a bowl game eludes the Huskies, 2006 certainly has its encouraging aspects on which to build.
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