Stanford 34, Washington 14: Huskies Upset Their Bandwagon

Last year we watched most University of Washington road games at Teddy's, a tavern near the intersection of Roosevelt and 65th. The scene during last year's games was this: A few scattered tables, each manned by a single grumpy middle-aged guy. And then the table at which the grumpy thirty-somethings, me and my friend David, sat.

Here's what Teddy's looked like for Saturday's UW/Stanford game:

People watching Husky football! On purpose! (Photo by David Swidler)

Back when I wrote for the Seattle P-I, I had a rollicking front-page-of-sports piece that established this rule: When it comes to sports fandom, women follow winners. Said guideline was in effect Saturday, as attractive female after attractive female filed in to watch the suddenly popular Huskies. I'm not complaining: Who among us doesn't like to see a pretty girl? (Certainly the new P-I does, even when they're covering Central American political crises.) The only time you'd see one at Teddy's last year is she happened to walk past.

Amazing what one big win can do. Teddy's was standing-room-only, we arrived 90 minutes before kickoff to secure a table.

So, thankfully, we were already buzzed when Stanford's Chris Owusu returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, staking the Cardinal to an early lead. (After the game, Coach Sarkisian would tell reporters that kicker Eric Folk kicked the ball to the left side of the field when he was supposed to kick it right. Ooopsy-daisy!)

The Husky offense got the ball back and drove right down the field, looking like they'd tie the game. But then Jake Locker threw an interception. The Dawgs got the ball back--Locker fumbled it away. The day was a disaster for Locker, who spent the week after the USC win getting national notice as a potential top ten NFL pick. As David likes to say: "Looks like somebody's been readin' his own press clippings."

Locker's decision-making and inaccuracy drew groans from the Teddy's crowd, he seemed bedeviled by Stanford's defense, made poor decisions, and generally looked like the inexperienced QB we remember from his first two seasons. No NFL scout could've looked at this Locker and seen a first-round pick.

Meanwhile, Stanford running back Toby Gerhart was flattening the Huskies to the tune of a 200-yard rushing day. "Tackle him!" we screamed, to no effect. At 6-1, 235, Gerhart is huge for a college running back.

Some in the Teddy's crowd loudly complained that the Huskies should be able to catch Gerhart because he's slow, but top speed is not a requirement for a running back. (In fact, Gerhart's reported 4.55 40-yard-dash time is faster than what 49ers back Frank Gore, last seen flattening the Seahawks for 200 yards, had coming out of college.)

By the second half, the Huskies were down two scores down, and the game fell into a familiar pattern. Stanford would run and run and run, eating away at the clock (they only threw three times after half). Locker and the Huskies would drive a bit but stall out or turn the ball over at midfield. It was quite boring, and the attractive girls mostly stopped paying attention.

The Huskies play Notre Dame next Saturday at 12:30 pm; I am curious to see if Husky Fever is just a seven-day virus or whether it can withstand the inoculation of this terrible loss.