POLL RESULTS: UW’s season is already a disappointment

As “Dandy” Don Meredith used to sing during Monday Night Football broadcasts, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over …”

The University of Washington football team suffered a heartbreaking loss last Saturday, falling 30-27 in overtime to hated rival Oregon. The Huskies entered the season with College Football Playoff aspirations, but the loss to the Ducks was Washington’s second defeat of the season. No team has ever been selected for the final four with two losses, meaning the Huskies’ national championship hopes are all but dashed.

Washington has plenty of season left. There’s still five games remaining, there’s still a chance of winning the Pac-12 North and winning a conference championships, and there’s certain to be a bowl game. But given the expectations at the beginning of the season, is the Huskies’ season already a disappointment? That’s the question we posed to readers in this week’s Seattle Sidelines poll, and here’s how you voted:

POLL: Did Saturday’s 30-27 overtime loss to Oregon, which was Washington’s second loss of the season and knocked the Huskies out of College Football Playoff contention, render UW’s season a disappointment already? Full context here: https://t.co/Fysg8o80Te

— Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson) October 15, 2018

Add it all up and 61 percent of the voters have already written Washington’s season off as a disappointment, while 39 percent believe the Huskies can still salvage the season and make it a success.

I find this to be a pretty negative take on things. Yes, Washington seemed to have all the pieces in place this season, led by a senior four-year starting quarterback in Jake Browning and a senior four-year starting running back in Lynnwood’s Myles Gaskin. So falling short of the CFP, especially when the Huskies made it two years ago, stings. But if Washington wins out the rest of the way, gets into the Pac-12 championship game because Oregon slips up against a team like Washington State or Utah, wins the conference title, then goes to the Rose Bowl and wins it? That seems like a season to celebrate to me.

And the Huskies themselves seem to be in agreement. Washington coach Chris Petersen wore a t-shirt with that specific message at his Monday press conference:

Chris Petersen’s shirt trying to show the UW world isn’t coming to an end after loss at Oregon pic.twitter.com/uU9OkdKHbC

— Tim Booth (@ByTimBooth) October 15, 2018

And the team has moved onto the next game, which is Saturday at home against a Colorado team that jut suffered its first loss of the season.

Finally, I can’t help but question the results of the poll a little bit. I know there’s a strong Washington State Cougar community in Snohomish County. Could the Cougar fans, who I’m guessing would have voted en masse one direction, have influenced the results? I don’t know, but I can’t help but ask the question.