Tag Archives: keith price

Sports

What You Need to Know: Sports Edition

Richard Sherman celebrates with the SeaGals after his game-clinching interception.

Headline:
The Sounders won, the Huskies won, the Seahawks won BIG TIME.

Executive Summary:
The Sounders’ dominating 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake vaulted them over that team for first place in the MLS Western Conference. Lamar Neagle and Obafemi Martins scored the goals.

The Huskies beat Illinois in Chicago 34-24 for their first win away from Seattle against a non-conference opponent since 2007. The Dawgs were also dominant, and their margin of victory should have been much bigger, but they fumbled twice and committed 12 penalties.

Continuing the dominant theme, the Seahawks’ defense shut San Francisco down completely, keying Seattle’s 29-3 blowout victory over the 49ers. The game was scoreless when lightning caused an hour-long delay; after that the Hawks’ defense set the offense up with terrific field position, and Marshawn Lynch came through with three TDs.

If you want to sound smart around the watercooler:

Say: “Are we watching one of the NFL’s greatest defenses?”

Your background: The San Francisco 49ers possess one of the NFL’s most potent offenses. No one doubts this. Last week against Green Bay, which has one of the NFL’s better defenses, the Niners scored 34 points, gained 494 yards, and star receiver Anquan Boldin had 13 catches. Against the Seahawks on Sunday night? The Niners scored 3 points, gained 207 yards, and star receiver Anquan Boldin (blanketed by Richard Sherman most of the night) had 1 catch. It was simply one of the finest defensive performances in Seahawks’ history.

Say: “The Supporters’ Shield is ours to lose!”

Your background: In European soccer, the league champion is usually the team that finishes with the best record; there’s no playoffs. In most American sports, the team that finishes with the best record gets diddley-squat (see the 2001 Mariners). This used to be the case in the MLS, but some fans came up with the idea of recognizing team with the best record with the “Supporters’ Shield.” The winner gets a trophy and an automatic berth in the CONCACAF Champions’ League. With Friday’s win, the Sounders have 49 points (you get three for a win, one for a draw), one better than New York and Real Salt Lake.

Say: “Price and Sankey looked amazing, but what’s wrong with ASJ?”

Your background: Quarterback Price, running back Sankey, and tight end Austin Sefarian-Jenkins (a.k.a. “ASJ”) are the three most talented offensive players the Huskies have. On Saturday against Illinois, Price threw for 342 yards, completing 80% of his passes. Sankey ran for a career-high 208 yards and scored 2 touchdowns. But ASJ, playing his first game of the season after serving a one-game suspension to atone for a drunk-driving charge, looked out of it. He’s considered the best NFL prospect of the 3, but won’t be for long if he plays like he did Saturday—committing 3 penalties, whiffing on blocks, gaining only 7 receiving yards, and appearing out of breath.

Next week: Huskies vs. Idaho State, Saturday, noon; Sounders @ L.A. Galaxy, Saturday, 7:30 pm; Seahawks vs. Jacksonville, Sunday, 1:25 pm.

News, Sports

Smart QBing Helps Huskies and Seahawks to Easy Wins. Now Comes the Gauntlet

Seattle Football WeekendBoth the Huskies and the Seahawks are where we thought they’d be on September 17th–the Huskies at 2-1, and the Seahawks at 1-1. Our two favorite teams won their games by a combined 59 points this weekend, the Huskies winning 52-13 over lower-division Portland State the Seahawks 27-7 over the favored Dallas Cowboys. During the Husky game, I felt so carefree I went to the Mobile Food Rodeo in the third quarter. Happily chomping on food truck falafel will soon be replaced by nervously biting my nails, though, as the teams both enter the toughest parts of their respective schedules.

Intelligent quarterback play spearheaded the two wins. The Huskies’ Keith Price wisely targeted the two Husky receivers who were impossible for lower-division Portland State to cover–6’6″, 260 lb. tight end Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, and 6’2″ former state track champion Kasen Williams. Of Price’s 14 completions, 11 went to either Sefarian-Jenkins or Williams. The poor Portland State Vikings tasked with defending them simply had no chance. On the bright side, someday, when Sefarian-Jenkins and Williams are in the NFL, they’ll be able to point to the TV and say, “Hey, that guy jumped over me and caught a touchdown pass!” With the Huskies’ defense and special teams getting big plays, Price knew not to make risky throws that might give the Vikings hope, and didn’t throw an interception.

The Seahawks’ Russell Wilson played a similarly efficient game. Like Price, he threw only 5 incompletions and 0 interceptions. Playmaking wide receiver Golden Tate’s return seemed to give the Seahawks offense a spark, as Tate had 3 catches for 38 yards–two for key third-down conversions on touchdown drives. Tate’s crackback block of Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee sprung Wilson for a key first-down run, energized the crowd, and put Lee out for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Seahawks defenders were dishing out hits of their own. The Cowboys offense was moving in the first half, but whenever a completion was made, the receiver took a huge hit. By the second half, Cowboy receivers were suddenly dropping catchable balls. Until a late drive with the game well out of reach padded their numbers, the Cowboys offensive output in the second half was 3 drives for 35 yards, which all ended in punts.

Now the scary part: What’s next. The Huskies next four games are against ranked opponents–#9 Stanford a week from Thursday, then consecutive Saturdays at #3 Oregon, home to #13 USC, and at #22 Arizona. Washington will likely be two-touchdown underdogs in all four games. If you’re an optimist, maybe you think that this stretch gives Washington a chance to prove that they belong in the top 25. As for me, I don’t think they’re quite ready for this, especially will all the injuries at offensive line.

The Seahawks’ schedule isn’t quite as daunting, but it’s possible that they’ll be underdogs in each of their next six games. The early line on next Monday night’s game at CenturyLink Field vs. Green Bay has the Seahawks as 6-point underdogs. After that, it’s these five teams:

@ St. Louis — QB Sam Bradford is the 4th highest-rated passer in the NFL after two games.
@ Carolina — Cam Newton outdueled Drew Brees yesterday.
vs. New England — Is New England.
@ San Francisco — Seem even better than last year.
@ Detroit — Playoff team from last year.

The Seahawks used to be able to count on their substandard NFC West competition providing some easy games during divisional play, but our long-derided division seems to be on the upswing. Sunday, the NFC West had a 4-0 record for just the second time since divisional realignment in 2002. There will be no 7-win divisional championship this season, the Seahawks will need strong, consistent play to even sniff a playoff berth. That will start with winning at least three of these next six games.

In other weekend football: Wazzu looked shaky in a narrow win over UNLV Friday night. Quarterback Connor Halliday, filling in for the injured Jeff Tuel, threw some nice deep balls but also threw 2 interceptions. The Cougars would now seem to have a dreaded “quarterback controversy” on their hands. Whoever Mike Leach chooses to play quarterback, Wazzu should go to 3-1 Saturday, they host Colorado, which lost 69-14 Fresno State on Saturday and may be the worst team in Division I. The Cougars are 18.5-point favorites.

Insane game down South on Friday night, as Kentlake beat Puyallup 76-55. Kentlake’s QB, Steffin Church, threw 9 TD passes. The Issaquah-O’Dea game at West Seattle Stadium turned out to be pretty entertaining, with Issaquah winning 33-30. Bothell, ranked #5 in 4A at the start of the year, is 0-3 after losing 27-11 to 2A Capital Friday night. All three of Bothell’s non-league opponents were ranked in the top 5.

News, Sports

Same Ol’ Same Ol’ for Huskies and Seahawks

Football WeekendThe Huskies learned Saturday where they are in their climb back up the mountain of college football eliteness–still looking for their shoes at base camp. #3-ranked Louisiana State laid some Christian Grey-style domination on the Huskies, winning 41-3.

I missed the chance to make some easy money at Auto Battery, where I was watching among an overflow crowd of University of Georgia alumni there for the UGA/Mizzou game. Halfway through the second quarter, watching LSU make UW QB Keith Price run for his life, I mentioned to my friend that the game was “over.” Some Georgia guy sitting near us was all, “It’s only the second quarter,” and I stupidly tried to explain my position instead of just giving him 1,000-to-1 odds on a Husky comeback and telling him to put his money where his mouth was.

LSU’s plethora of huge, fast, defensive linemen owned the game. Their four-man line was able to pressure Price without blitzing–which meant that Price had to find open receivers, on the run, against seven LSU defenders. It was hopeless. A quarterback with a hero complex would have forced throws down the field and thrown multiple interceptions; Price wisely either dumped the ball to his outlet receivers or threw the ball away. The Huskies had more punts (8) than they did catches by wide receivers (7).

The oddest thing to me was reading Steve Sarkisian starting his post-game assessment of LSU by praising LSU’s offense. Not that the Tigers don’t deserve the praise, but their 437 yards of total offense was largely a function of how often they had the ball. The Tigers averaged 6.2 yards per play, which is very, very good, but San Diego State had 5.5 yards per play against the Huskies two Saturdays ago.

Sarkisian still seems to see the game through an offense-only lens, and if he’s going to turn Washington into a power again, he needs to apply his football and recruiting acumen to the subject of defense. Like legendary Husky coach Don James, Sarkisian is a former college quarterback. Unlike Don James, Sarkisian has not yet figured out that, as a football coach, he’ll be remembered for defense or he won’t be remembered at all.

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Solid Play from Wilson Highlights Seahawks’ Persistent Weaknesses
Russell Wilson had a solid but not spectacular start for the Seahawks in Week 1, and led a last-minute drive that had the Seahawks a sticky fingertip away from a victory. After four consecutive passes from inside the 10-yard-line in the game’s final minute fell incomplete, the Seahawks were left with a 20-16 loss that looked a lot like last year’s losses. To wit: The Seahawks couldn’t protect their quarterback and couldn’t get consistent pressure on the opponent’s quarterback.

One note on Wilson’s start–the NFL’s QB rating system gives him an awful 62.4 score (100 is considered a good game), but that system doesn’t take QB rushing yards into account (Wilson had 20), and it dings Wilson for a meaningless interception at the end of the first half. Wilson played well, giving his receivers multiple chances to win the game for the Seahawks. He may not, as Bill Simmons of ESPN contends, be the best quarterback in the NFL, but I’m looking forward to more.

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Aberdeen/Hoquiam #InternetFail
The 107th Aberdeen vs. Hoquiam football game was chosen for an Internet broadcast as part of the Great American Rivalry Series, so of course the game was a complete blowout, with Hoquiam winning 49-6…Skyline High did the state prouder, going to Salt Lake City and crushing one of Utah’s top teams in a game that was televised on ESPNU…Bellevue vs. Bothell was supposed to be a good game, but it was a complete mismatch, with Bellevue up 35-0 at half. Bellevue–which has added a spread attack to its already potent wing-T offense–is ranked as high as #5 in the nation. It’ll be cool to see how high they can rise.

News, Sports

Washington-Stanford Will Be a Battle of Tight Ends (In a Purely Non-Sexual Way)

Austin Sefarian-Jenkins
Sefarian-Jenkins

Let’s take a look at the diving catch Husky Austin Sefarian-Jenkins made on Saturday, shall we? It’s here at the 2:10 mark. In case you’re too lazy to click, what happens is, Sefarian-Jenkins makes a full-body-length dive, parallel to the ground, to catch a Keith Price pass.

If Sefarian-Jenkins were an NFL wide receiver, this would be a great catch. If Sefarian-Jenkins were a college wide receiver, this would be an amazing catch. Sefarian-Jenkins is a tight end. A true freshman tight end.

While Price is a much better passer than Jake Locker, the biggest improvement in the Husky offense has been at the tight end position. Husky tight ends had just six catches all of last season. Sefarian-Jenkins already has four touchdowns.

Catches by Husky Tight Ends, 1981-2011 (Click for larger image)

When the Huskies face Stanford on Saturday, Sefarian-Jenkins won’t be the only talented tight end on the field. The Cardinal have three of them. Zach Ertz, Coby Fleener and Levine Toiolo have combined for 34 receptions, 12 of them for touchdowns. There are 70 FBS teams with fewer touchdown catches than Stanford’s tight ends.

Fleener is the deep threat, averaging 23.9 yards per catch. “That Fleener can run, man,” Steve Sarkisian told the media yesterday. “It’s not just linebackers. They are throwing seam routes and go routes and corner routes on defensive backs, and they make plays.”

Coby Fleener
Fleener

At 6-foot-6, 254 pounds, Fleener will be enough of a mismatch against the Huskies’ undersized young outside linebackers: Princeton Fuimaono (6-1, 215), Jamaal Kearse (6-2, 224) and John Timo (6-1, 220). When lined up against the Huskies’ even smaller cornerbacks, he’ll have at least a six-inch height advantage. The last hulking receiver UW had to deal with–Eastern’s Brandon Kaufman–scorched the Dawgs for ten catches and 140 yards. Fleener is bigger and probably more talented.

Though he’s as tall as Fleener at 6-6, 258, Sefarian-Jenkins won’t have as easy a time of it, at least on paper. Stanford’s outside linebackers are close to his size: Trent Murphy (6-6, 260), and Chase Thomas (6-4, 240). Sefarian-Jenkins may get some comfort in the fact that UCLA TE Nelson Rosario had eight catches against Stanford earlier this month.

Very rare is the football game that you’d say will come down to how the tight ends perform. But for this matchup–the first time since 2003 that the Huskies are in a game where both teams are ranked in the top 25–the stats of the tight ends will probably tell the story of the game.

News, Sports

Husky Quarterback Keith Price Feels Neither Pain Nor Pressure

Price

Imagine: You’ve got a new job as a widget salesman! Catch is, your predecessor had so much sales talent, he was known around the office, unironically, as “The Savior.” Your second-in-command is the son of one of the greatest salesmen of all time. And you? You’ve got no hype, no pedigree. Still want the job?

Keith Price did. Not widget salesman (that was a clever rhetorical device!), but quarterback of the University of Washington football team. A position occupied for the past four years by Jake “The Savior” Locker, and now vied for by Nick Montana, son of NFL Hall-of-Famer Joe. So how’s the Compton-raised sophomore done under the pressure of following a legend, and being shadowed by the son of another?

Oh, he’s only leading the nation in touchdown passes.

Locker

Price may not be better than Locker, but he’s sure playing like it. Last week’s Husky game against Nebraska provided an interesting chance for comparison. The Huskies played Nebraska twice last season with Locker at quarterback. In those two games combined, Locker completed just 9 passes, for 127 yards and 1 touchdown. In last Saturday’s game, Price completed 21 passes for 274 yards and 4 touchdowns.

There are reasons to believe that Nebraska’s defense is weaker this year, but there can be little lingering doubt that the unsung Price is a more proficient quarterback in UW head coach Steve Sarkisian’s pro-style passing offense than Locker ever was.

And Price is doing all this on two sprained knees. (“They’d probably have to cut off my legs to keep me from playing,” Price told a media contingent this week.)

Rooting for Locker, as perfect a physical specimen as has ever played quarterback, was never satisfying. Because of his overwhelming hype even before coming to Washington, you expected greatness from Locker–something that just wasn’t possible his first two years as a subject of the incompetent Tyrone Willingham fiefdom. Under Sarkisian, Locker had to learn a pro-style offense in just two years. Didn’t happen–though the NFL’s Tennessee Titans are so convinced of Locker’s ability to learn, they made him the eighth-overall pick in April’s draft.

Montana

Sarkisian has had much more success coaching Price. Maybe that’s because he and Price have a lot more in common–at least in their lack of pedigree and hype. Sarkisian’s dad not only wasn’t a football star, he’d probably never heard of the game when he came to the US from Iran at age 18. And Sarkisian was so lightly-regarded as a quarterback recruit that he began his college athletic career on the baseball diamond.

It was a surprise when Sarkisian named Price the starter during spring practice–most fans expected Montana to compete for the spot. But Sarkisian’s decision has proved to be an outstanding one.

Saturday, Price and the Huskies host Cal at Husky Stadium in a critical game for two teams scrapping for ground in the middle of the Pac-12 North Division. Cal’s pass defense is suspect–they allowed Colorado to pass for 474 yards two weeks ago. Yet the Huskies’ pass defense may be worse–they’re ranked 115th out of 120 NCAA teams in passing yards allowed per game. Vegas expects a close, high scoring game: UW is favored by one point, with the over/under set at 58.5. Bookies have pegged UW as just a one-point favorite.