UW wins a national championship in 1990 if Greg Lewis doesn't get hurt vs UCLA
UW wins a national champions in 1990 if Mark Brunell could actually throw the football when it actually mattered:
at Colorado (20-14 loss) … 16 of 34 for 190 yards; 1 TD and 3 INTs
4 straight incompletions on 1st and goal inside the 10 at the end of the game … in fairness 2 of those balls should have been caught … honorable mention to PinkelFS for calling 4 straight passes with both of your starting WRs injured during the drive (McKay cracked in the ribs, Bailey with a likely concussion … both re-entered the game) instead of leveraging your best player (Greg Lewis) when you had plenty of time remaining in the game to run the ball
vs UCLA (25-22 loss) …10 of 34 for 137 yards; 1 TD and 2 INTs
Brunell basically was miserable all day long and if you go back and watch the game it was obvious that he really didn't know how to play QB at that point in time
Win one of those games and UW likely is a back to back National Champion, probably isn't sharing the title with MIami in 1991, and the overall impression of UW as a power program is far higher
What do you think about 92 if the Billy Joe shit happens? I guess even if the Doogs win out it's still another split conversation with Bama, who might be hard to eclipse after blowing out Miami in the Sugar Bowl - though it's crazy at that time, I feel like the respect for the SEC wasn't automatic.
A couple more. My doog has waned over time, but we should have played Oklahoma in the BCS Championship in 2000 and I think we would have won and stole a national title with a super flawed team. At the very least it should have been fucking Miami. It sucks we let them steal a couple scores late because we had them beat convincingly and by more than the final indicated.
2018 if we don't schedule a road game basically against Auburn late we might have run the table and gotten to get beat by Alabama or Clemson in the playoff. Our entire team, particularly the RBs got banged up trying to win that game and then we didn't have a bye week until mid-November. They dont' lose to Oregon or Cal with a relatively healthy Gaskin or Ahmed.
2018 was a squandered year and the conference fucked us. The conference sucked that year and we should have ran the table and got the right to get plundered in the final four.
If Budda Baker could actually catch a football he actually picks that ball on Bama’s first drive, probably scores, UW goes up two scores early and doesn’t throw the retarded pick 6 before half. Bama can’t wear out our (?) D with massive RBs and we win the Natty.
The B1G always had the LA schools and Washington in their cross-hairs, from Day 1, they just knew it would be worth it to wear down UW over a couple year period so that they wouldn't be paying full price for all new Pac members.
And Oregon was the "yeah it's probably going to be them" candidate to go with UW but they wanted to make sure ND was still a No.
When Oregon starts approaching any school that's even half of what UW is doing in terms of research revenue, we can talk.
Michigan and Washington practically stand alone in this conference in that regard. Anybody that doesn't think that matters, a lot, to those schools, not including the athletic history with them that Oregon doesn't have but UW does, wasn't paying attention.
It's really hard to say what happens in 1992 if the Billy Joe situation/distraction didn't happen. Arizona had a super high-end defense that had caused problems to almost everybody they played (they missed a FG at the end of the game that would have had them win at Miami) but their offense was anemic. To beat them you had to have your offense put them in a position to be chasing and UW never did that between fumbles and an inconsistent Brunell. The score at 16-3 doesn't really tell the story as the TD came late in the 4th quarter … so the game was very much winnable. It's probably fair to say that had 1) Billy Joe started with no distraction and continuity OR 2) Brunell was just flat out the starter that UW likely would have won the game. But instead, it was the perfect storm of events to beat UW.
Had UW been undefeated would they have lost the Apple Cup in the snow at the Coug? That's also really hard to say. I forgot until I looked it up that UW was up 7-6 at halftime. Does the 3rd quarter collapse happen if UW had something material to play for? Who knows.
My sense is that UW would have lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl regardless. By that point the team had a chance to reset behind Brunell and clearly had the carrot in front of them to win back to back Rose Bowls. Problem was that they had absolutely zero answer for Tyrone Wheatley … if you actually go back and watch the 1992 Rose Bowl Wheatley was really the only Michigan player that came off as dangerous in the game (not Desmond Howard). Not saying the 1992 team was bad or that they were necessarily running on fumes but they had some issues when you looked under the hood …
Nip took over the backfield duties as the lead RB (obviously he was talented enough to do that) … but stat wise you got very little out of Beno Bryant and Jay Barry who were your top 2 backs in 1991
Joe Kralik was the leading WR with 33 catches for 487 yards … to say that Bailey and McKay were missed would be an understatement
It was a very good team … but it wasn't a great team
Looking back I don't think that that team had the profile of a national championship team … championship contender yes.
If Budda gets the INT (and there was a good chance he could have scored) and UW was able to get up 14-0 in the game … then there was a good chance that UW could have been in position to force Alabama to at least use the pass during the game.
From my seats I was directly facing the Alabama sidelines and after the Budda play Saban made a bee line to Kiffin (who I believe was still on staff and hadn't take the Tennessee job until after the game when Sark became the play caller for the title game against Clemson) and chew his ass out. Bama didn't throw in that game because Saban realized right then and there that a turnover or two in the passing game was the path to a UW victory.
I don't disagree that it was a squandered year/opportunity but that team IMO wasn't a national championship caliber team … similar to 1992 in that it was a really good team.
When you go back and look at the regular season losses they were all super avoidable …
Auburn's game winning TD came on 3rd and goal from the 10 where it was OBVIOUS that they were going to run the ball and not risk a pass … one of the few times I was pissed at Kwiatkowski as a DC … force the FG and then you just need a FG to get the win. On the final drive UW got to the Auburn 37 with 2 minutes to go … plenty of time to work your play calling into FG range … but the play calling changes when you need to get a TD versus another 1st down.
The Oregon game was completely self inflicted … went for it in the 4th tied and failed instead of kicking the go-ahead FG and then missed the game winning FG as time expired.
The Cal game highlighted 1) how important Gaskin was (missed the game) and 2) the idiotic decision to put in Haener ahead of Browning leading to the pick 6 that ultimately cost the game. Big picture when you look at the roster at that point Browning was effectively a game manager and there weren't really any dynamic WRs on the roster at this point. When you lose your do everything RB you get into problems quickly.
The final score doesn't suggest as much but we were bloodied by Ohio St … we were a good team but not a CFP team
I definitely don’t think 2018 was national title caliber and not even playoff caliber a lot of years but the Pac-12 was down - USC was down, Oregon was still a year away, Stanford was done and the Coug almost stole a title. Botching the game against Auburn in Atlanta was super avoidable.
My doog opinion is the Pac-12 setup that fucking game in Eugene to fuck UW and give momentum to Oregon. Still Peterman and Uw absolutely blew a game they should have won.
I think the Pererman quitting vibes were already on that team and Browning was a lowkey disaster but Gaskin kind of willed them. They also almost blew a game to Stanford at home.
My doog ifs have all been stated. That UCLA loss still stings. Ed Cunningham has brought it up multiple tims. Notre Dame who was ranked #1 lost earlier in the day to Tennessee. #2 ranked UW just had to win, at home, against one of the lesser UCLA teams of that time.
It was a bad weather day and then you add on the Lewis injury and it just amplified things … it was a day that the D needed to be at its best and frankly they weren't.
I think most people don't really remember how hot/cold Brunell was as a QB at UW … he got a lot better once he got to the NFL and learned for a few years in Green Bay before heading to Jacksonville.
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Washington wins the natty if a hold isn't made up on Rosengarten on the 40 yard bomb to Odunze, down 7 with 8 minutes left to go.
Washington beats Alabama if Browning doesn't hurt his shoulder, and Joe Mathis + Azeem Victor doesn't get injured. Lot of ifs there I know.
Washington should be a perennial top 12 program by even doing a mediocre job of using its inherent advantages.
UW wins a national championship in 1990 if Greg Lewis doesn't get hurt vs UCLA
UW wins a national champions in 1990 if Mark Brunell could actually throw the football when it actually mattered:
at Colorado (20-14 loss) … 16 of 34 for 190 yards; 1 TD and 3 INTs
4 straight incompletions on 1st and goal inside the 10 at the end of the game … in fairness 2 of those balls should have been caught … honorable mention to PinkelFS for calling 4 straight passes with both of your starting WRs injured during the drive (McKay cracked in the ribs, Bailey with a likely concussion … both re-entered the game) instead of leveraging your best player (Greg Lewis) when you had plenty of time remaining in the game to run the ball
vs UCLA (25-22 loss) …10 of 34 for 137 yards; 1 TD and 2 INTs
Brunell basically was miserable all day long and if you go back and watch the game it was obvious that he really didn't know how to play QB at that point in time
Win one of those games and UW likely is a back to back National Champion, probably isn't sharing the title with MIami in 1991, and the overall impression of UW as a power program is far higher
What do you think about 92 if the Billy Joe shit happens? I guess even if the Doogs win out it's still another split conversation with Bama, who might be hard to eclipse after blowing out Miami in the Sugar Bowl - though it's crazy at that time, I feel like the respect for the SEC wasn't automatic.
A couple more. My doog has waned over time, but we should have played Oklahoma in the BCS Championship in 2000 and I think we would have won and stole a national title with a super flawed team. At the very least it should have been fucking Miami. It sucks we let them steal a couple scores late because we had them beat convincingly and by more than the final indicated.
2018 if we don't schedule a road game basically against Auburn late we might have run the table and gotten to get beat by Alabama or Clemson in the playoff. Our entire team, particularly the RBs got banged up trying to win that game and then we didn't have a bye week until mid-November. They dont' lose to Oregon or Cal with a relatively healthy Gaskin or Ahmed.
We fucked the dog in Eugene and I was there and it sucked.
2018 was a squandered year and the conference fucked us. The conference sucked that year and we should have ran the table and got the right to get plundered in the final four.
If Budda Baker could actually catch a football he actually picks that ball on Bama’s first drive, probably scores, UW goes up two scores early and doesn’t throw the retarded pick 6 before half. Bama can’t wear out our (?) D with massive RBs and we win the Natty.
The B1G always had the LA schools and Washington in their cross-hairs, from Day 1, they just knew it would be worth it to wear down UW over a couple year period so that they wouldn't be paying full price for all new Pac members.
And Oregon was the "yeah it's probably going to be them" candidate to go with UW but they wanted to make sure ND was still a No.
Now that is a doog wet dream. Im in
Goes against what cfb should be about but Petersen could have avoided that ridiculous game in Atlanta.
Then you still have playoffs on the line in Berkeley which unfortunately is probably all the sqwad needed to barely win that game.
lmao
When Oregon starts approaching any school that's even half of what UW is doing in terms of research revenue, we can talk.
Michigan and Washington practically stand alone in this conference in that regard. Anybody that doesn't think that matters, a lot, to those schools, not including the athletic history with them that Oregon doesn't have but UW does, wasn't paying attention.
@WoolleyDoog
It's really hard to say what happens in 1992 if the Billy Joe situation/distraction didn't happen. Arizona had a super high-end defense that had caused problems to almost everybody they played (they missed a FG at the end of the game that would have had them win at Miami) but their offense was anemic. To beat them you had to have your offense put them in a position to be chasing and UW never did that between fumbles and an inconsistent Brunell. The score at 16-3 doesn't really tell the story as the TD came late in the 4th quarter … so the game was very much winnable. It's probably fair to say that had 1) Billy Joe started with no distraction and continuity OR 2) Brunell was just flat out the starter that UW likely would have won the game. But instead, it was the perfect storm of events to beat UW.
Had UW been undefeated would they have lost the Apple Cup in the snow at the Coug? That's also really hard to say. I forgot until I looked it up that UW was up 7-6 at halftime. Does the 3rd quarter collapse happen if UW had something material to play for? Who knows.
My sense is that UW would have lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl regardless. By that point the team had a chance to reset behind Brunell and clearly had the carrot in front of them to win back to back Rose Bowls. Problem was that they had absolutely zero answer for Tyrone Wheatley … if you actually go back and watch the 1992 Rose Bowl Wheatley was really the only Michigan player that came off as dangerous in the game (not Desmond Howard). Not saying the 1992 team was bad or that they were necessarily running on fumes but they had some issues when you looked under the hood …
Nip took over the backfield duties as the lead RB (obviously he was talented enough to do that) … but stat wise you got very little out of Beno Bryant and Jay Barry who were your top 2 backs in 1991
Joe Kralik was the leading WR with 33 catches for 487 yards … to say that Bailey and McKay were missed would be an understatement
It was a very good team … but it wasn't a great team
Looking back I don't think that that team had the profile of a national championship team … championship contender yes.
If Budda gets the INT (and there was a good chance he could have scored) and UW was able to get up 14-0 in the game … then there was a good chance that UW could have been in position to force Alabama to at least use the pass during the game.
From my seats I was directly facing the Alabama sidelines and after the Budda play Saban made a bee line to Kiffin (who I believe was still on staff and hadn't take the Tennessee job until after the game when Sark became the play caller for the title game against Clemson) and chew his ass out. Bama didn't throw in that game because Saban realized right then and there that a turnover or two in the passing game was the path to a UW victory.
I don't disagree that it was a squandered year/opportunity but that team IMO wasn't a national championship caliber team … similar to 1992 in that it was a really good team.
When you go back and look at the regular season losses they were all super avoidable …
Auburn's game winning TD came on 3rd and goal from the 10 where it was OBVIOUS that they were going to run the ball and not risk a pass … one of the few times I was pissed at Kwiatkowski as a DC … force the FG and then you just need a FG to get the win. On the final drive UW got to the Auburn 37 with 2 minutes to go … plenty of time to work your play calling into FG range … but the play calling changes when you need to get a TD versus another 1st down.
The Oregon game was completely self inflicted … went for it in the 4th tied and failed instead of kicking the go-ahead FG and then missed the game winning FG as time expired.
The Cal game highlighted 1) how important Gaskin was (missed the game) and 2) the idiotic decision to put in Haener ahead of Browning leading to the pick 6 that ultimately cost the game. Big picture when you look at the roster at that point Browning was effectively a game manager and there weren't really any dynamic WRs on the roster at this point. When you lose your do everything RB you get into problems quickly.
The final score doesn't suggest as much but we were bloodied by Ohio St … we were a good team but not a CFP team
Nobody cheered for that 2018 UW OT loss to Oregon harder than the Pac 12 and all of their employees besides UW-affiliated people.
I definitely don’t think 2018 was national title caliber and not even playoff caliber a lot of years but the Pac-12 was down - USC was down, Oregon was still a year away, Stanford was done and the Coug almost stole a title. Botching the game against Auburn in Atlanta was super avoidable.
My doog opinion is the Pac-12 setup that fucking game in Eugene to fuck UW and give momentum to Oregon. Still Peterman and Uw absolutely blew a game they should have won.
I think the Pererman quitting vibes were already on that team and Browning was a lowkey disaster but Gaskin kind of willed them. They also almost blew a game to Stanford at home.
My doog ifs have all been stated. That UCLA loss still stings. Ed Cunningham has brought it up multiple tims. Notre Dame who was ranked #1 lost earlier in the day to Tennessee. #2 ranked UW just had to win, at home, against one of the lesser UCLA teams of that time.
we? recruit at a top 10 level every year with lil jimmy, deboner, and fisher of boys, and do more with more.
It was a bad weather day and then you add on the Lewis injury and it just amplified things … it was a day that the D needed to be at its best and frankly they weren't.
I think most people don't really remember how hot/cold Brunell was as a QB at UW … he got a lot better once he got to the NFL and learned for a few years in Green Bay before heading to Jacksonville.