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Grantland checks in. We ain't the glamour boys - Printable Version

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Grantland checks in. We ain't the glamour boys - Redrum - 08-13-2014

Not an illogical shift in the spotlight's focus,  but still...  A corpse could pick the Pac North: Oregon.  The new boy on the block, UDub's Peterson, gets his load of expectations.  Oh, and there's this team in Palo Alto, too.  We miss you already Ben, Trent, Shane, David, Cam, Tyler and Ed.

http://grantland.com/features/2014-pac-12-college-football-preview-oregon-stanford-usc-ucla/

Re: Grantland checks in. We ain't the glamour boys - CTcard - 08-13-2014

(08-13-2014, 09:14 AM)Redrum link Wrote:  The new boy on the block, UDub's Peterson, gets his load of expectations. 

One of the preseason themes for several years now has been, "This is the year UW is really going to break through."

This grantland article takes it a step further, proclaiming,
"Almost exactly as soon as Steve Sarkisian got the Huskies to a by-god breakthrough season ..."

That breakthrough season (2013) included a 5-4 conference record, a stunning advance over the previous conference seasons of 5-4 (2012), 5-4 (2011), and 5-4 (2010) [and 4-5 (2009), Sarkisian's first year.]

Now we'll see what kind of breakthroughs Petersen will produce.

Re: Grantland checks in. We ain't the glamour boys - washingtonismoney - 08-13-2014

Sarkisian did improve the Huskies. The problem for him was that the conference improved at (more-or-less) the same rate. Mind the second derivative.

Re: Grantland checks in. We ain't the glamour boys - CTcard - 08-13-2014

(08-13-2014, 12:55 PM)washingtonismoney link Wrote:Sarkisian did improve the Huskies. The problem for him was that the conference improved at (more-or-less) the same rate. Mind the second derivative.

Well, if you have been flat for several years, all derivatives go to zero.
And if you've matched the conference for several years, you all have the same second derivative.

If UW can find a QB, they are a good choice to work their way up the pecking order this year - but that doesn't stop my amusement at past descriptions of their trajectory.

Sarkisian took his improvement credit up front - Redrum - 08-15-2014

His first season (2009) pulled them out of the bog at 4-5 conference.  From then on, he only got one conference win better (5-4) for four straight years.  The "donors" for UDub's win improvement were almost consistently  Kal and WSU.  The teams against which he never made lasting gains were Oregon (0-4)  Stanford 1-3 and OSU (2-2). 

But, he did beat one of our better teams (prior to a QB change) and during that stretch managed to beat USC and UCLA twice.  So it seems more of a division balance dynamic.  The North was improving and maintaining,  traditional South powers struggled.  He got a gift by playing and beating woeful Colorado 3 times and equally woeful Utah twice. 

But, yes.  By eyeball test and some key moments,  UDub did play better under Sarkisian.  But I would be tickled if USC under Sarkisian repeated his past UDub improvement record.

Re: Grantland checks in. We ain't the glamour boys - Leftcoast - 08-15-2014

Our record against UW since 2007

2013/10/05  Stanford    31  -  Washington  28 W 
2012/09/27  Stanford    13  -  Washington  17 L 
2011/10/22  Stanford    65  -  Washington  21 W        Shaw's first year
2010/10/30  Stanford    41  -  Washington    0 W 
2009/09/26  Stanford    34  -  Washington  14 W        Sarkissian's first year
2008/09/27  Stanford    35  -  Washington  28 W 
2007/11/03  Stanford      9  -  Washington  27 L            Harbaugh's first year
2006/11/11  Stanford.    20 -  Washington  3  W.          Harris ' final year; 1-11 season

I'd say Sark had UW playing tough against some very good Stanford teams in his last two years.



Re: Grantland checks in. We ain't the glamour boys - StanFan88 - 08-15-2014

Bottom lines: 
1.  Sark is an above-average HC.  He's won no more than 8 games as HC.
2.  Petersen is also an above-average HC who could be great.  Let's see how he does when his team plays a full season of top competition.  Remember Utah...

I think UW will get better, but they won't be that much better this year.  They will battle with Oregon St for 3rd in the North.

Re: Grantland checks in. We ain't the glamour boys - Leftcoast - 08-18-2014

Fixed that.