Coach Baird on Husky Football

Everything went right and the Washington Huskies pulled off the biggest upset in all the bowls but unfortunately it almost got lost because of a similar upset in womens basketball. So it goes.
Those of you who read my prediction of a Washington victory over Nebraska must have been wondering what made me feel it could happen. Everyone knows I’m a homer and I always pick the Huskies to win, but in this case, I sincerely believed it. What was more important is so did the Husky players and coaches.
From a coaching perspective it just seemed to me that everything was setting up perfectly for the Dawgs. The weather was wet, the opponent couldn’t possibly take them seriously, and they were such huge underdogs that literally no one gave them a chance. How do you beat a team that you lost to by a score of 56-21 earlier in the season? Easy, take advantage of their lack of mental and emotional commitment and beat them at their own game. Close down the board and play smash mouth football with them and don’t blink an eye. Of course, following the formula of running the football on offense, stopping the run on defense, protecting the football, and being solid in the kicking game.
That’s exactly what they did and it is exactly why they won the football game. It’s what anyone who ever played at West Bremerton H.S. knows is called “ground Chuck”. To heck with passing the football and if your opponent wants to throw it then go after their quarterback and attack him in obvious passing situations. The Huskies did just that and sacked the Cornhuskers 5 times for minus 43 yards and played arguably their best defense in over a decade. They mauled the Nebraska on defense and ran it right down their throats on offense. It wasn’t even as close as the 19-7 score would indicate.
Washington dominated the Holiday Bowl from start to finish and did it against one of the most physical teams in the country. They beat the Cornhuskers at their own game, they ran the football and outrushed them 268 yards to 91. Are you kidding me? You don’t do that to Nebraska unless they simply didn’t want to be there and it was obvious they didn’t.
Washington had been dominated up front in their first meeting back in September but this time around they did the dominating. They established control of the line of scrimmage from the very start which most of you missed because of an overtime game and then continued to pound the rock as the game progressed. It was “ugly” ball from the get-go but anyone who appreciates good old fashion smash mouth football had to be impressed. The Washington Huskies simply kicked the you know what out of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. For me as an old school ball coach it was as sweet as victory by Washington as I have seen in at least a decade of following the team.
It was indeed “ground Chuck” with Husky running back, Chris Polk rushing for 177 yards on 34 atempts, that’s right, thirty four carries. We’d been waiting all year for them to finally do this but who would have imagined it happening against the “black shirts” of Nebraska. Almost unbelievable was that he only lost a single yard on the whole day. He was a work horse, he was a war daddy, and he literally ran over, thru, and around the Cornhusker defenders. It was the way football is suppose to be played and between their rushing game and their defense, the Washington Huskies served notice that they were back and they were tough enough to win it in the trenches.
So ends the second season under Steve Sarkisian and had the Huskies of UConn not been upset by the Cardinal of Stanford snapping a 90 game win streak in basketball then certainly these Huskies would have gotten the national recognition they so rightfully deserved. For all those Husky fans who have suffered over these past 7 years or so it was a fitting reward for their loyal support. This team has risen from the ashes of that 0-12 debacle and put themselves back on the national scene. It was surely the finest hour for the senior class who has endured so much defeat during their 4-5 years wearing the purple and gold. There is great pride in the Husky nation again and with continued recruiting success they will hopefully do this in a Rose Bowl or BCS game in the near future. There is no way this program was going to flounder in the depths forever. For right now, they are back and they made us all proud and they did it by getting physical, the way it should be done.

Share on Facebook