When last we left Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame had sent him packing two years ago and Irish fans wanted to send me packing for defending him.
We know what has happened since at Notre Dame. Charlie Weis arrived and awakened the echoes, although his overrated defense (a designation by, um, yours truly) has toned those down to a low murmur.
Meanwhile, Willingham has resurfaced, and with him University of Washington football has resurfaced. Colorado fans all know Washington football. It’s the program ex-Buffs coach Rick Neuheisel took to the 2001 Rose Bowl and then left in shame in 2003 before the Huskies sank to the bottom of the Puget Sound.
Under Willingham, Washington is 3-1, the defense has developed some teeth and Husky Stadium is, literally, rocking again.
Hugh Millen, who still holds the Denver Broncos’ career completion record of .626 during his stint here in 1994-95, was at Saturday’s 29-19 win for the Huskies over UCLA. He does pregame, halftime and postgame interviews for KJR Radio in Seattle and, yes, the press box indeed shook.
“They’re playing tougher on defense,” Millen said Wednesday. “I see them playing more together. I see them not quitting when things are getting down. Under Neuheisel, in the third quarter they were thinking, ‘I’m an hour away from my Xbox.”‘
Millen, who played at Washington under Don James from 1984-85, is not a Neuheisel fan. Millen called Neuheisel’s program “Club Rick,” in which, Millen said, his “approach was if you come to Washington ‘I’ll make it the funnest experience you’ll ever have.’ That was his MO. The message ought to be, ‘Come here for the toughest experience of your life, but you’ll grow and your fun will be in the winning locker room.”‘
Neuheisel won, but he couldn’t recruit in the trenches or on defense, the foundations on which Washington football was built. The Huskies have had only two all-Pac-10 defensive players since Neuheisel arrived in 1999 and none since 2002.
Keith Gilbertson did nothing with Neuheisel’s leftovers and left Washington in 2004 after a 1-10 mark, its worst in 116 years of football.
While Irish fans threw four-leaf clovers at Weis’ feet in South Bend, Willingham arrived quietly in Seattle. He went 2-9 last year, was picked last this year and opened by barely escaping with a victory over San Jose State.
But then something clicked. The Huskies were tied with Oklahoma at halftime 13-13 before losing 37-20, and knocked off Fresno State 21-20. Then, trailing UCLA 16-7 at halftime and bringing memories of past pratfalls, Willingham walked into the locker room and said, “Are you afraid to be great?”
Washington outscored UCLA in the second half 22-3.
“I attribute it to asking the question, ‘Are you scared?”‘ Willingham said Thursday from Seattle. “‘Are you afraid?’ It means a lot to a lot of people. It means get back to our accountability. Work and point to a goal.”
Willingham has done two main things to turn around Washington. One, a defense that once couldn’t stop a strong cup of Starbucks latte has learned how to tackle.
It held UCLA to two field goals the last three quarters and held Fresno State to three touchdowns. Fresno State isn’t Ohio State, but only two years ago Fresno waltzed into Seattle and won 35-16.
“The manner in which we played this past weekend, we placed our defense in jeopardy throughout the contest,” Willingham said. “But we responded in not giving up touchdowns. We gave up field goals. We’re tough-minded.”
Second, he has transformed senior quarterback Isaiah Stanback from the most athletic quarterback in school history, according to Millen, into simply a really good quarterback. Stanback, one of Neuheisel’s notable recruits, placed fifth in the Pac-10 100 meters last spring and threw five touchdown passes against Fresno and UCLA.
“I don’t know if he could be a great dimension in the SEC because everyone’s so fast,” Millen said. “But people don’t play defense much in this conference anymore. His talents put a load on a defensive coordinator.”
Washington plays three of its next four on the road, including No. 3 USC and No. 20 California. The Huskies’ secondary is suspect, and they turn the ball over too much. But with the Pac-10 relatively weak, a bowl game isn’t impossible.
So if the Irish are happy, so is Willingham, who won’t reveal his hurt from his days in South Bend or his comeuppance in Seattle.
“I’ve been at this game long enough to know it can be awful sweet today and awful sour tomorrow,” he said.
USC has edge for No. 2
Southern California is No. 3 behind Auburn in The Associated Press poll, but No. 2 ahead of Auburn in the Harris and USA Today coaches polls, the only two used in the Bowl Championship Series format.
USC is also a solid No. 2 in the computer rankings, with Auburn No. 6. Ohio State, No. 1 in the polls, is third in the computers and Michigan first. If the BCS rankings came out today, USC would have the edge for the No. 2 spot behind Ohio State and the inside track for the BCS title game.
The first BCS rankings come out Oct. 15.
“It’s hard to say three weeks away how (USC and Auburn) could shape up,” said Jerry Palm, analyst for collegebcs.com. “The polls could change. USC could get a scare from Washington, but will they be ahead in three weeks if they win as expected? I think SC would still be ahead, but it’s possible that Auburn beats Florida on the 14th and does it in such a way that it jumps USC in the polls.”
QBs on edge
Only at football-mad Florida would the nation’s fourth-ranked quarterback be unpopular. Chris Leak has thrown for 1,066 yards and 12 TDs with only four interceptions but his fans booed him early in the fourth quarter against Kentucky.
Tim Tebow, the freshman sensation, went in for a change of pace and had three straight runs for 62 yards. On the next possession, he ran 6 yards for a first down to the Kentucky 15, and boos greeted Leak when he returned. He answered with a 6-yard TD pass.
“My wife said, ‘Hey, don’t worry about them booing Chris. They’re booing you,”‘ Florida coach Urban Meyer joked.
At Arizona State, the nation’s top passer from last year is struggling. Rudy Carpenter threw four interceptions at California, bringing his total to eight, four times what he had last year when he threw 17 touchdown passes.
There is speculation Carpenter is feeling the pressure after coach Dirk Koetter changed his mind and tabbed him as the starter, sending Sam Keller out of the job and eventually to Nebraska.
At Georgia, coach Mark Richt has not announced Saturday’s starter at Mississippi between freshman Matthew Stafford, who started against Colorado, and redshirt freshman Joe Cox, who led the fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Buffs.
