This will be fairly short as it’s late and I have an early flight, and frankly my mind is a little scattered after writing under serious deadline pressure.

The Huskies that I talked to (which weren’t many) seemed happy to be where they are, which is 4-1 and two wins away from being bowl eligible. This is the first three-game winning streak since 2003.

Some felt this game was a bit of a bonus situation given that the Huskies have three winnable games at home coming up with Arizona State, Stanford and Oregon State. But realistically, this team can’t take anything for granted, and getting a win on the road is a huge achievement for this team. Now they have seven games to win two, with three of those games at home.

But it’s clear that the offense needs some work. It showed that it can throw the ball downfield, but the intermediate routes were not effective, and though Tyrone Willingham said he was pleased with the running game, I didn’t think it was all that great. Louis Rankin can frustrate by bouncing around instead of going forward.

But everyone involved agreed the defense was the story. Defensive coordinator Kent Baer said this was about as aggressive as he’s been at Washington and they felt they had to get after Willie Tuitama. They did, getting six sacks.

Scott White said he had a sprained shoulder suffered against UCLA and that’s why he didn’t start. That makes the solid game he had (10 tackles, three for loss, two sacks) all the more impressive. He’s really stepped his game up this season. The secondary was actually pretty solid today. They failed on a couple of key plays but for the most part did a decent job. Of course, they were helped by the pressure the front seven was applying.

The special teams overall was good, though Michael Braunstein missed two field goals he’s got to make. Sean Douglas dropped two punts at the 1 yard line and Marlon Wood had his best day returning punts.

All-in-all, a solid win for a team that now seems to be on the path to respectability. In fact, it would not be a shock if Washington is in the top 25 this week. It probably won’t happen, but it certainly could after it has received more and more votes over the past two weeks.

There were three injuries in the game, though none serious: Anthony Russo had a concussion, Chris Stevens had an asthma attack and Isaiah Stanback had a thigh bruise. All should be fine this week, according to Willingham.

Alright, that’s all for tonight. I’ll be back with some other thoughts when I get back to Seattle tomorrow afternoon.