In case you hadn’t seen the preseason AP poll that just came out, it’s worth checking out to see that the Huskies, fresh of a 4-9 season, got one vote in the poll. It turns out that vote came from Joe Giglio of the Raleigh News and Observer.
I decided to email Giglio to ask him about his vote, and here’s what he had to say when asked to explain why he voted for the Huskies:
1) Jake Locker
2) They were better than 4-9 last year. Three of last year’s losses were to BCS teams, two of those — USC and Hawaii — were by one score.
3) Everyone in the Pac-10, even USC, will take a step back from last year, especially Cal, Oregon, Arizona State.
4) Ty Wilingham’s fourth Notre Dame team went to the BCS
That last point Giglio makes is about the 2005 Notre Dame team that played in the Fiesta Bowl. Charlie Weis coached that team, but it was made up of Willingham players. This, obvsiously, is Willingham’s fourth team at Washington.
Giglio also posted a similar explanation on his blog.
Oh, and for the record, Giglio didn’t got to Washington, he went to NC State, and he’s from New Jersey, not Seattle or anywhere near here.
As for today, not much new to report. Willingham said today that, while the injury situation seems bad, it’s not much different from a normal year. Willingham said he went back and looked at his injury report for this time last year, and that the numbers were very similar.
“You know what’s amazing?” he said. “We’ve got two more guys on our injury list than we had last year at this time, that’s it. Now we have probably a few more significant names that we had a year ago, but it’s the same process that you end up with every year. At some point, you’re going to have some injuries if you’re banging around, if you’re moving around and doing things.”
Freshman receiver Cody Bruns, who was out yesterday, apparently took a helmet to the back and is having muscle spasms. Willingham said Bruns should be back soon.
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