The Morning Haul: 10/4

Pacific Takes just recently posted a roundtable discussing the most overrated team in the Pac-12, and Washington was picked by 4 of the 8 members of the discussion, and a few others leaned that direction. To be honest, it sort of surprised me. Now, I understand the rationale: that the Huskies won a close game against San Diego State, lost horrible in Baton Rouge, and then won a close game over Stanford, and suddenly they are ranked. But really, Stanford was ranked #8 in the country. If beating them isn’t supposed to mean much, doesn’t that mean that the Cardinal is overrated?

It was Stanford that was ranked around #18, beat USC in a close game, which vaulted them all the way to #8 in the ranking in a single week. Then, in their next game, they immediately lost to an unranked Washington team. How is that the fault of the Huskies?

I will concede the point that #23 Washington isn’t a proven, elite team this year. But that is what the #23 slot is for, team’s that have shown promise, say, by beating a top-10 team, to be ranked in a way that if they turn out to disappoint, they can quickly fall out of the ranks. Now, the #8 spot is for elite teams. To fall within one week from that position, to me, is an indicator of having been overrated.

Oh, and one more thing. Several writers in that roundtable discussion mentioned how, while it’s too early to make judgement, that Washington’s games against #2 Oregon and #12 USC would allow them to prove whether or not they’ve been overrated so far. Well, that is a bit ridiculous. It is basic logic that a team ranked #23 should lose to both the #2 and #12 teams, and it shouldn’t mean they were overrated. It mean they did exactly what they were supposed to do based on their rank. If UW beats both those teams, it means #23 was grossly underrating them all along.

Stories Especially Worth Reading:

It’s easy to see that Kasen Williams is beginning to play up to the NFL-type potential that has been seen in him since high school. Here’s a video from Condotta of Kasen’s take on his recent success.

A nice look at Kendyl Taylor’s role in the backfield from the News Tribune.

Offensive Position Preview of the Oregon Ducks from the Dawg Pound. The defense and special teams previews will come next, and you can bet I will link them as they are posted.

Condotta’s story about Justin Wilcox, especially his history with Oregon. A great read.