SEATTLE – Washington football coach Tyrone Willingham didn’t pay attention to any bowl scenarios last week, but he said now’s the time to figure things out.
And when he looks at where his Huskies stand, he’s going to see a steep uphill climb to a spot that a month ago seemed a near certainty.
Washington ended September 4-1 and with four home games remaining on its schedule. Needing just two wins to become bowl-game eligible, it was more a matter of where the Huskies would be playing rather than if they would be playing.
Not so anymore. Not in the wake of Saturday’s 26-23 overtime loss to Arizona State that let Washington 4-5 after a winless month of October. Yes, the losses came by a combined 26 points and two were in overtime, but they were nevertheless losses and now the Huskies seem to be a long shot to make a bowl game.
“I felt pretty good if we could run the table these last four or five ball games,” Willingham said. “But now you get down to the wire, three games to go, depending on what happens here, what happens there. Now it’s kind of touchy.”
Indeed, that may be putting it kindly.
With three games remaining (at Oregon, home against Stanford and at Washington State), the Huskies are 2-4 in the Pacific-10 and in eighth place. In the wake of Oregon State’s upset of USC on Saturday, realistically only six teams will make a bowl game. California, USC, Washington State and Oregon have all clinched bowl-eligibility, and Oregon State and Arizona State are one win away from their sixth win. UCLA is a half-game in front of Washington in the standings.
It’s now a distinct possibility that even if Washington were to win six games, it could still be left out of a bowl game. The Huskies likely have to win their final three games and hope that UCLA, Arizona State and Oregon State collapse down the stretch in order for the UW to move up into sixth place, which would probably get it a Hawaii Bowl berth.
But the Huskies say they are trying not to focus on bowl scenarios.
“If we start thinking about bowls, everybody gets antsy,” cornerback Dashon Goldson said. “We need to settle down and focus on winning. That’s the part we need to focus on more.”
Because of its upset of the Trojans, Oregon State is now in fifth place with five games remaining: home against Arizona State and Oregon and at UCLA, Stanford and Hawaii.
The Hawaii game could be significant, as a loss there could leave the Beavers 6-7, which would keep it out of a bowl game regardless of its place in the Pac-10 standings.
Arizona State plays at Oregon State next week and follows that with home games against Washington State and UCLA before finishing at UCLA. The Bruins seem the most vulnerable, having lost their last three and facing California, Oregon State, Arizona State and USC to end the year.
Of course, none of the scenarios matter if the Huskies can’t find a way to win at least two of their last three games, if not all three.
“This is tough,” UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. “We’ve got three games left and we’re going to have to show up (today) and make the corrections and get ready to go play a good Oregon team. That’s all we can do.”
“We have a great opportunity (for a bowl game),” Willingham said. “We have three games remaining and we can run the table. …If we can run the table, then we still have a chance to be a bowl team.”
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