The Stark Truth

The Los Angeles Times reported today that UCLA is still interested in talking to Steve Sarkisian, but the Washington football coach hasn’t shown any interest in the Bruins’ vacant job. Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable and former Seahawks coach Jim Mora have also been mentioned as candidates.

Washington, by the way, got another verbal committment for the class of 2012 over the weekend when linebacker/fullback Ryan McDaniel said he was going to play for the Huskies. He’s from Torrance, Calif., same as UW coach Steve Sarkisian. Defensive end Cory Littleton of Mount Miguel High in Spring Valley, Calif., committed later in the week. That pushes the 2012 class to 19. Five of the 19 verbals are in-state players. Here’s the complete list.

Washington State also has 19 verbal committments, four from the state. There are no QBs on this list, but you know that’s going to change with Mike Leach coming to Pullman. This might be a good spot for Jake Heaps, who has decided to transfer from BYU. After sitting out a year, he would be a junior in eligibility wherever he lands. Between Heaps and promising freshman Connor Halliday that would give the Cougs some pretty good depth at that position.

Former Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck and Husky QB Jake Locker, now teammates with the Tennessee Titans, ham it up for ESPN.com’s Kenny Mayne, a former quarterback at Wenatchee CC and Pacific Lutheran University. Funny stuff.

The Angels spent $331.5 million to sign slugger Albert Pujols and pitcher C.J. Wilson. Everybody always complains about the Yankees buying pennants. Well, is it now time to start hating the Angels like so many people hate the Yankees?

Former Garfield and University of Washington star Brandon Roy is reportedly contemplating retirement because of knee injuries that have limited him. Even with bad knees, he was a force, averaging 19 points over five NBA seasons. If the Portland TrailBlazer gives it up, he’ll still go down as second-greatest basketball player born and raised in Washington state. The greatest? NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton.

Oregon running backs coach Gary Campbell, when asked about Pac-10/12 running backs, said there’s no way the UW’s Chris Polk ranks among the top-5 backs he’s seen in 29 years: Campbell told The Oregonian:  ”I think (UW’s Chris) Polk is good but he’s not as good as Steven Jackson or Ken Simonton or LaMichael (James) and probably not as good as Reggie Bush.”

Die-hard Cougar, Go-to-Guy Jim Moore, has nothing but nice things to say about Husky Stadium.

Former Husky QB Brock Huard says current Husky Keith Price QB sounds like Avery Ward and plays like Charlie Ward, the former Heisman Trophy winner from Florida. He also reveals that teammates call Price “Teeth” because he’s smiling all of the time. Huard, now an analyst for ESPN and radio host on 710 ESPN, wrote about the top sophomore quarterbacks in the country is this ESPN insider piece.

The Autzen Zoo, an Oregon Ducks fans site, poses this question: How much longer will Oregon own the Northwest?

Ralph Russo of the Associated Press picks the UW to upset Oregon 38-33.

The unpredictability is the best part about sports.

Everybody says Tim Tebow can’t play in the NFL,  and the quarterback/evangelist/right winger proves everybody wrong, nearly leading Denver to a comeback, upset victory over the Chargers on Sunday. You don’t have to agree with his politics or like his passing technique to appreciate what he brings to the football field — the guy’s a winner. It’ll be interesting to see if his role will increase after what he did on Sunday.

Everybody buried the Seahawks weeks ago. But Tarvaris Jackson shows he can play when he gets a little protection, and when he goes down, maligned Charlie Whitehurst comes off the bench to lead the Hawks over the New York Giants. The 10.5-point underdogs thrive in a no-huddle offense, the defense makes a lot of big plays and they shock the world. If not the world, the bookies in Vegas and all of those football know-it-all analysts.

The Yankees, the Phillies, the Red Sox are done, but the Brewers, Tigers, Cardinals and Rangers play on. And the Diamondbacks came thisclose to advancing to the baseball’s Final Four. You can’t figure this stuff out, which is the way it should be.

And how about those San Francisco 49ers? The mild, mild NFC West might have a legitimate contender after all. Jim Harbaugh can coach and QB Alex Smith, the Bremerton-born player and former No. 1 pick who has been labeled a bust, isn’t a such a schmuck after all.

How many of you gave Olympic High a chance to beat North Kitsap in football on Friday night?

How many of you thought Washington’s Keith Price was going to be this good? Steve Sarkisian will never come out and say that Price is flat-out a better college QB than Jake Locker, but he is.

Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, remember that you don’t.

There’s always going to be a Buster Douglas come along to knock out a Mike Tyson.

There’s always going to be some shocking surprises along the way; there always are and it’s a big reason why the games we like to watch and play are so much fun.

The Washington Huskies didn’t have a turnover.

Didn’t give up a sack.

Only had three penalties for 30 yards.

Held Nebraska to 91 rushing yards, despite missing three defensive linemen.

Rushed for 268 yards (177 on 34 carries by Chris Polk, 83 on 13 carries by Jake Locker).

That’s how the Washington Huskies upset No. 18 Nebraska 19-7 on Thursday at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

That’s the same Nebraska squad that humbled the Dawgs 56-21 in Seattle on Sept. 18. Nebraska finished with 533 total yards that day, 368 of it on the ground.

Nobody saw this one coming. Washington, playing in its first bowl game since 2002, beat Nebraska at its own game. The Huskies won the battle in the trenches; they played with more passion and hit harder. Washington outplayed Nebraska in every aspect of the game.

Locker caught a pass, but didn’t complete one in the first half and Washington led 10-7. He was just 5 of 16 for 56 yards overall, but he threw about five passes away and did a masterful job of managing the game.

Finishing the season with a four-game winning streak, capped by this inspired performance, brought back memories of what it used to be like at Washington when it routinely competed for the Rose Bowl and Pac-10 titles.

This win should be enough to convince even the cynical among us that the Huskies have taken their biggest step yet toward returning to that level.

Washington earned more than revenge on this night; it earned back some national respect and just made itself a lot more attractive to potential recruits.