Fresno State coach Pat Hill has confirmed to the Fresno Bee that he did indeed fly up to Seattle on Saturday and that he interviewed for the UW football job.

He said that things went well, but apparently no offer was made.

Meanwhile, here's a far-less-mentioned coaching suggestion from TNT columnist John McGrath.

The Fresno Bee is reporting that Freso State coach Pat Hill flew to Seattle today, presumably to discuss the football coaching vacancy at the University of Washington.

Hill had been quoted as recently as Friday saying that he had not discussed the job with UW.

UW officials are sticking to their policy of not commenting on their search for a coach to replace Tyrone Willingham after this season.

Fresno State concluded its regular season Friday with a 61-10 loss to Boise State. That dropped the Bulldogs to 7-5 overall and 4-4 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Hill is 56 years old and in his 12th season at Fresno, where his is 92-60 with one shared WAC title and nine bowl trips.

The Bee reports that Hill has a contract that runs through the 2010 season at an annual rate of roughly $1.2 million -- however, there is no buyout clause requiring payment if he leaves early.

Hill becomes the second potential coach reported to have visited the campus, joining Notre Dame offensive coordinator Michael Haywood.

This struck me a lot as similar to the game the Huskies played Tuesday against Florida, except against a weaker opponent.

That's another way of saying that the Huskies have looked pretty good two games in a row here.

"Coming off of two losses was tough, but we were anxious to play," senior Justin Dentmon said. "We knew we were going to come out with a lot of entergy, so we just wanted to stay focused throughout the game. ... We know we are a good rebounding team, so we just have to cut down on our turnovers."

Here's my game story.

We'll certainly learn more Thursday when they host Oklahoma State.

Some highlights:

Star of the game: UW junior Quincy Pondexter was extremely active while scoring 16 points and 12 rebounds, both game highs.

Key stats: The Huskies outrebounded Pacific, 46-20. That helped overcome a 12-of-24 performance at the free throw line. Both teams committed 19 turnovers, many unforced.

Key run: Isaiah Thomas opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the game. UW never lost that lead and played at least 10 points ahead through the entire second half.

Observations: UW returned to .500 at 3-3. Pacific fell to .500 at 2-2. … This was Pacific’s second game against a Pacific-10 Conference opponent. The Tigers had opened the season with a 68-56 loss at California.

Quotable: “This was not an emotional up-and-down affair. It wasn’t a sellout crowd. It wasn’t a nationally televised game where you just played on adrenaline. There were a lot of stops. There were a lot of turnovers. (Pacific) played a half-court game. And (Pondexter) played the way he did, that was very special.” – UW coach Lorenzo Romar.

Next: 8 p.m. Thursday, Oklahoma State, Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series; Hec Edmundson Pavilion; FSN.

7:04 left Huskies still holding Tigers are arms-length without quite putting them away, 58-44.

Halftime: Justin Dentmon his an almost-NBA three to push the Huskies to their first double-digit lead.

Pondexter almost a halftime double-double: nine points and rebounds.

Brockman four points, one rebound, two fouls; but others picking up the slack nicely so far.

Huskies shooting .536; Tigers .440.

UW 3 of 8 at the line, but Pacific only 2 of 5.

Washington out-rebounding Pacific, 20-11.

1st/3:21: Huskies have led most of the way. Maybe all the way. But Pacific hanging close.

UW has nine turnovers, Pacific eight ... lots only semi-forced.

Officiating crew calling lots of reaching fouls away from the hoop.

Quincy Pondexter really hustling: nine points, six rebounds.

12:55 Game about to start. As expected, Huskies are going with what has become their regular starting lineup: Brockman, Dentmon, Thomas, Gant and Pondexter.

Here's today's preview story.

11:45: The Huskies and Tigers are on the court at Hec Ed, warming up. Pacific in black, UW in their golds.

UW a 14-point favorite, which strikes me as a lot against what seems to be an NCAA-tournament contending team.

I'll be back with any news as it breaks, and will keep a running blog through the game and after.

Tipoff is 1 p.m. on FSN.

The Huskies will host Pacific at 1 p.m. Saturday, starting an eight-game homestand that will take them through December.

This will be the first meeting of the two teams since the 2005 NCAA tournament vistory that sent the Huskies to their first Sweet 16 of the Romar era. That's part of my topic for the Saturday paper.

Meanwhile, here's a link to the Pacific men's basketball site.

And here are some preview highlights:

PACIFIC (2-1)
AT WASHINGTON (2-3)
1 p.m., Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

TV: FSN.
Radio: 950-AM.
Series: UW leads 5-1 and 3-0 at home. The loss came in the first meeting, 86-71, at Pacific in 1972. The most recent meeting came in the second round of the 2005 NCAA tournament, a 97-79 win in Boise, Id.

Statistical leaders: For Pacific, forwards Anthony Brown and Byran LeDuc, 12.3 ppg; F Sam Willard, 8 rpg; G Lavar Neufville, 3.3 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 18 ppg and 12.6 rpg; Isaiah Thomas, 3.8 apg.

Scouting report: The Tigers started their season with a 68-56 loss at California. Since then, they have beaten UC-San Diego and Nevada. LeDuc scored a season-high 23 points in the win at Nevada. … Pacific, a member of the Big West Conference, has won 20 games in four of the last five seasons. Coach Bob Thomason is in his 21st season there. … UW returns home after losing to Kansas and Florida in the College Basketball Experience Classic in Kansas City on Monday and Tuesday. … The Huskies are scoring 72.8 ppg and out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 13.6 rpg. … Brockman is 16 rebounds away from catching Bob Houbregs for fifth on the school’s all-time list. … Senior guard Justin Dentmon is 16 points away from his 1,000th career point. … UW forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning playing in the Kansas City games after recovering from leg injuries suffered in a fall, and he is expected to make his home debut tonight.

Next: 8 p.m. Thursday, vs. Oklahoma State, Edmundson Pavilion.

UCLA (4-6) at ARIZONA STATE (4-6); 6:30 p.m. Friday - Bowl hopes remain alive for the winner of this ESPN2 game. ASU, 31-27.

OREGON (8-3) at OREGON STATE (8-3); 4 p.m. Saturday - Uncommonly big stakes in this Civil War: If the Beavers win, they go to the Rose Bowl. Ducks, 28-24.

NOTRE DAME (6-5) at USC (9-1): 5 p.m. Saturday -Trojans have been getting stronger as the season has moved along. Irish moving in the other direction. USC, 49-7.

WASHINGTON STATE (2-10) at HAWAI'I (6-5); 8 p.m. Saturday -- Cougs are pretty unlikely candidate for two-game winning streak. Hawaii, 24-14.

1.) USC 9-1, 7-1. Rivals Notre Dame and UCLA up next.
2.) Oregon State, 8-3, 7-1. Desperately bad time fo Jacquizz Rodgers to get hurt.
3.) Oregon, 8-3, 6-2. Ducks have won four of last five games.
4.) California, 7-4, 5-3.Jahvid Best goes for 201 yards in Big Game.
5.) Arizona 6-5, 4-4. How rebuilt are these guys considering four of their wins have been vs. Toledo, Idaho, UW and WSU?
6.) Arizona State, 4-6, 3-4. Win over Bruins would keep bowl hopes alive.
7.) Stanford, 5-7, 4-9. Second straight season of improvement under Harbaugh.
8.) UCLA, 4-6, 3-4. Win over Sun Devils would keep bowl hopes alive.
9.) Washington State, 2-10, 1-8. They anti-Couged it, doing what needed to be done when it needed to be done.
10.) Washington, 0-11, 0-9. What timing: a third bye week in a season that can't end fast enough.

Syracuse upset Kansas in overtime to win a very entertaining College Basketball Experience Classic on Tuesday at the Spring Center in Kansas City.

UW forward Jon Brockman was named to the all-tournament team.

As for UW's 2-point loss to No. 17 Florida in the consolation game, the Huskies were disappointed they didn't get the win over a ranked team. But they were encouraged by the improvement from yesterday. And Romar seemed to believe that a nasty beating like yesterday's might have been necessary to get his team's attention enough to make the kind of improvement they made tonight.

Some highlights:

Star of the game: UW forward Jon Brockman had 22 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs. Brockman hit 10 of 14 shots from the field.

Key stats: Washington shot 58.9 percent from the field and 53.8 percent on 3-pointers, but only 57.9 percent from the free throw line. Those eight missed points came back to haunt them.
Key sequence: Florida led by three as UW began its final possession. The Gators chose to foul. Isaiah Thomas hit the first shot, cutting the lead to two. Then he missed the second on purpose. Brockman rebounded, as the Huskies had hoped, but his desperation shot at the buzzer fell short.

Observations: This was Washington’s final game away from Hec Edmonson Pavilion until the start of Pacific-10 Conference play, Jan. 3 at Washington State. … The Kansas fans that had taunted Thomas on Monday became fans on Tuesday. Thomas repeatedly drove to the basket, going right at the Florida big men, and the fans cheered his every basket. … Justin Dentmon was 5-for-5 on 3-pointers.

Quotable: "I don’t think there’s any doubt in my mind that we needed Kansas. It’s unfortunate. It’s not what we would have asked for. But the way that we got beat by Kansas made it crystal clear in our guys minds that we needed just to slow down and shared the basketball and get the ball reversed and play together more.” – UW coach Lorenzo Romar, asked it the 19-point Kansas loss on Monday taught lessons that led to the improvement on Tuesday.

Next: 1 p.m. Saturday, vs. Pacific, at Hec Edmundson Pavilion; FSN.

Halftime: UW led most of the half, but some Huskies turnovers and Florida 3-pointers pushed the Gators ahead late.

UW being led by Justin Dentmon with 14, including four 3-pointers. His career high is 24.

Both teams shooting like crazy: UW 58 percent, Florida 56 percent. Huskies also 5-of-8 (63.5 percent) on threes.

Florida out-rebounding UW for now, 14-12.

UW 11 assists -- already more than last night against Kansas -- and eight turnovers.

1st/14:16: Huskies off to an early 15-8 lead. The difference so far is they're hitting outside shots: two 3-pointers by Dentmon, one by Turner.

Tipoff: Huskies lineup is unchanged: Brockman, Pondexter, Gant, Dentmon and Thomas.

Very small crowd here now, but it should build steadily through this game as tip for the CBE championship between Syracuse and Kansas nears.

* The Huskies are on the court of Sprint Center for the consolation game of the CBE Classic.

They'll meet No. 17 Florida at 4:45 PT. The game will be on ESPNU, so good luck with that.

Huskies are 2-2 on the season.

They're wearing their home whites.

I'll click in with any pregame news, especially if there's a change in the starting lineup after getting blown out by Kansas yesterday.

Then I'll keep a running blog through the game and return with postgame notes and quotes.

Here's my game story from the Tuesday paper.

Huskies shot 29 percent from the field, and that obviously won't do. Even with UW dominating the boards.

However, after the game, coach Lorenzo Romar was fairly upbeat. He believes the team will shoot better when it starts working for better shots, and he believes they'll be able to start doing that.

"I think we’re rushing shots because we’re not making the extra pass enough," he said. "At this point we’re not looking enough to make our teammates better. I don’t think it’s a total selfish thing. I think you go into the game, you’re confident, you feel like, hey I can make this happen, and it’s not happening. The shot clock probably needs to run down a little further in our case."

The players mostly took their lead from their coach, seeming not too discouraged by a 19-point loss in their first test against top-flight opposition.

Highlights:

Star of the game: Kansas 6-foot-11 center Cole Aldrich contributed all across the stats box with 16 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots, two assists and a steal. He also contributed to holding UW forward Jon Brockman to a season-low seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Key stats: Kansas shot 50 percent from the field and limited UW to 29 percent. Washington had 15 turnovers and only eight assists. The Huskies’ free throw problem continued, as they hit only nine of 16 (56 percent). Kansas had outrebounded its first two opponents by an average of 11 boards, but UW dominated 43-34 Monday.

Key run: The Huskies were down by eight and playing for the last shot of the first half to cut it to six. However, an Isaiah Thomas shot was blocked as he drove the lane and Kansas broke down court with Tyshawn Taylor scoring at the buzzer to put the Jayhawks ahead, 32-22.

Observations: Washington fell to 1-8 against Kansas. … UW forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning got his first playing time after missing the first three games with leg injuries. He had four points and three rebounds in 10 minutes. … Washington’s shooting percentage was its lowest since hitting 28.8 percent in a loss to Stanford last season. … The Jayhawks moved to 190-74 in Kansas City and 6-0 in Sprint Center. KU has won 28 straight regular season games in Kansas City. Kansas also moved to 7-0 on games played on Nov. 24. … Thomas shot an early air ball and the Kansas student section stayed on him much of the night.

Quotable: “I think it gives us a great idea of what a high-level basketball team plays like. They were just a great example of what a good Division I winning basketball team does. It was pretty evident out there, the things that we need to do.” – Brockman.

Game One: Syracuse (4-0) advanced to the championship game with an 89-83 win over No. 18 Florida (3-1). Guard Jonnie Flynn and forward Paul Harris led the Orange with 18 points each. Center Arinze Onuaku had a game-high 12 rebounds. Center Alex Ryus led Florida with 24 points, while forward Chandler Parsons had nine rebounds.

Next: The Huskies will meet Florida in the consolation game at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday on ESPNU. Kansas and Syracuse will meet for the CBE Classic title at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

11:55/2nd Huskies can't shoot from outside and when they try to drive the Jayhawks keep blocking shots and turing them into fast breaks in the other direction.

Halftime: Half ended badly as UW tried for a last shot, but Thomas was blocked on a drive and a Kansas break went the other way for a basket at the buzzer. The difference of six down or 10 down.

Thomas and Brockman have seven each for the Huskies.

1st/7:43: Matthew Bryan-Amaning is in.

Huskies still having big free throw problems. KU, 19-14.

Pregame: Huskies and Jayhawks out warming up. Geography aside, the Huskies are in their home whites.

Mathew Bryan-Amaning is warming up and seems likely to make his season debut.

Usual starting lineup expected.

Game one final: Mild upset in the opener: Syracuse 89, Florida 83. That means if the Huskies beat Kansas they'll play the Orange for the title at 7 tomorrow; if they lose, they'll meet Florida at 4:45. What might matter most for fans is that the championship game is easily available on ESPN2. The consolation is tougher: ESPNU.

Halftime, Game 1: Sprint Center is a very nice place -- although my fingers keep wanting to type "Spirit" for some reason. It's probably less than half full now, but the crowd should grow considerably for the next game, with Kansas involved -- though they're across state lines, we're only 43 miles from the Jayhawks' campus.

However, I noticed in the paper today that they're still offering 2-for-1 ticket deals, so I've got to assume there are a fair number of unsold seats.

Meanwhile, nice game playing out: Syracuse 41, Florida 38. Both teams 3-0 coming in. It's on ESPN2.

3 p.m. (PT): On road trips, it's always fun to see what the local media has to say about a UW visit.

In this morning's Kansas City Star, columnist Brair Kerkhoff was talking about the CBE -- which I write about in the blog post below -- saying, "All four teams got involved, but the Washington Huskies may have had the best time."

Meanwhile, in the game preview, staff writer J. Brady McCollough writes, "The pro-KU crowd in Kansas City should help the Jayhawks if they struggle early in the game as they did against UMKC in the opener. (KU guard Sherron) Collins and (Jon) Brockman won't guard each other, but whichever emerges as the best player on the floor will lead his team to victory."

The Jayhawks are favored by six.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. (PT) on ESPN2. The tournament-opening Florida-Syracuse game tips at 4:30, also on ESPN2.

The CBE Classic is part of the College Basketball Experience, a permanent tribute to the game located adjacent to the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City. I was able to spend a couple of hours there this afternoon, and it's a lot of fun. I bumped into several Huskies fans in there, and if any of you are ever out this way, I certainly recommend it.

It is mostly made up of two part: an upstairs area that has lots of participation areas: a full open court, a 3-on-3-court, some free throw shooting areas, a 3-point shooting area and a dunk area. In fact -- while I'm probable for tonight's game -- I actually have a pretty good bruise on my wrist from one of my dunks ... on the 8-foot rim.

The bottom part of the CBE is more like a traditional museum, with some exhibits and films on the history of the game. Lorenzo Romar shows up in several of the films, including one in which he says, "Rules without relationships can lead to rebellion." Which is a very nice line I had never heard before.

That's also where they have the hall of fame, which now includes a new class inducated yesterday: Charles Barkley, Arnie Ferrin, Danny Manning, Billy Packer, Jim Phelan, Nolan Richardson and Dick Vitale.

As I say, lots of fun. And the tournament hasn't even begun yet.

Here's my UW-Kansas preview from this morning.

I have made the trip from Pullman to Kansas City, and right outside my hotel window is the Municipal Auditorium - the site of the the NCAA 1953 national semifinal game when Washington lost to Kansas.

The Huskies and Jayhawks will meet again at 7 p.m. Monday in a semifinal game of the College Basketball Experience Classic -- just three or four blocks from the old auditorium in the new Sprint Center. The earlier game will pair Florida and Syracuse, meaning that four of the last six national championships are represented by three of these schools.

The Huskies, of course, are the only one of the bunch without an NCAA hoops title. And last week I asked coach Lorenzo Romar if he ever thinks back to those final seconds in the 2006 Sweet 16 when the Connecticut game got away from them -- when they were that close to the Elite Eight ... and who knows, maybe a Final Fout and a national title.

"Yeah, I think about the Uconn game," Romar admitted. "I’m not saying if we would have won the game we would have won a national championship. But that year we were playing very good basketball at the time, we had a great great player in Brandon Roy and we had some great senior leadership. We had many components that go into allowing you to be very good, and we would have liked to have had the opportunity. But we came up short, it didn’t work out."

The team arrived in Missouri yesterday and went for dinner at the famous Arthur Bryant's BBQ.

The team practiced two hours today at Penn Valley Community College, had study hall in the afternoon and attended the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Induction this evening at the Sprint Center.

(Apparently one of the highlights for the team was meeting Charles Barkley ... and a number of jokes were made about the physical similarities with UW freshman Tyreese Breshers. The eam took a photo with him... Romar also spoke a lot with Dick Vitale, Nolan Richardson and a number of others.)

They also will also check out the College Basketball Experience , a tribute to college basketball for which this tournament is named. I'm hoping to do that too. Looks like a cool place.

Finally, a quick look at the tounament and the UW game:

WASHINGTON (2-1)
VS. NO. 24 KANSAS (2-0)
7 p.m. Monday, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
TV: ESPN2.
Radio: 950-AM
Series: Kansas leads, 7-1, and was ranked in the Top 20 in all eight games. The schools’ first meeting was in the 1953 Final Four. UW’s lone win came in the 1974 Jayhawk Classic. The most recent meeting was a 67-57 Kansas home win in 1988.

Statistical leaders: For UW, F Jon Brockman, 20.3 ppg and 11.3 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.3 apg. For KU, G Sherron Collins, 20.5 ppg; F Morris Markieff, 10 rpg; G Brady Morningstar, 3.5 apg.

Scouting report: Kansas is off to a 2-0 start for the second consecutive season and for the fourth time in six seasons under coach Bill Self. The Jayhawks are scoring 78 points per game and allowing 50.5. They are shooting 48.7 percent from the field and holding their opponents to 26.5 percent. Kansas also is outrebounding its opponents by 11 per game. … Collins is coming off a career-high 25 points against Florida Gulf Coast. He leads the team in scoring while hitting 60 percent of his shots. The No. 2 scorer is sophomore center Cole Aldrich (12.5 ppg), who also has four blocks. Collins and freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor each have four steals through two games. … UW forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning might make his first appearance of the season after missing the first three games due to injuries from a fall in practice.

Opening game: 4:30 p.m., Syracuse vs. Florida.

Next: Losers play at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in the CBE consolation game; winners play at 7:15 p.m. for the title. Both games at Sprint Center.

Here's a link to the bulk of our Apple Cup stories, along with this photo slide show.

Not surprisingly, the Huskies said this was one of their most disappointing games of the season.

Perhaps more surprisingly, they also said they're glad there's another game ahead. Maybe they have to say that. But they seemed to mean it. I might have thought that after all they've been through the last thing they would want would be two more weeks of practice leading to a game that they'll likely be two-touchdown underdogs. Maybe three. But they seem to really get that zero out of their win column, and that game at Cal represents their one last chance.

Meanwhile, the postgame meeting with coach Tyrone Willingham seemed more adversarial than usual. Willingham tried to ignore a question about whether he will stick around the coach the Cal game. Actually, it seemed a fair question to me. But Willingham simply started at the reporter who asked, and then on follow-up finally repeated his usual answer that he believes he remains the best man to coach this team through the end of its season.

Willingham also wasn't at his best when asked if he takes responsibility for this 0-11 team.

His answer: "Obviously, if you’re the head coach at this time, you take responsibility for what’s going on, but it should also be noted, the day that I arrived, what the situation of the program was."

In general I give Willingham a lot of credit for all the class and patience he has shown with an unending line of questions that mostly boil down to: Why are you and your team so bad? However, that wasn't a great answer. He took over a team was 1-10. Four years later he has one that is 0-11. He should have stopped at the first comma.

However, one of Willingham's players -- senior Johnie Kirton -- may have given the best answer of the night. A reporter noticed that Kirton had stayed out on the field a long while after the game and asked about it.

"I was thinking about all the years that I’ve seen the Apple Cup played," Kirton said. "That’s how it’s supposed to be played, it’s supposed to be played down to the wire, and I felt privileged to be in this last one. Unfortunately we lost, but I hope the guys behind me understand what it feels like. The guys who haven’t played here before. It’s not fun losing over here."

Here are the highlight from TNT reporter Ryan Divish:

Turning point
With 31 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, WSU quarterback Kevin Lopina hit true freshman Jared Karstetter on a 48-yard completion putting the Cougars deep in Washington territory and turning a seemingly impossible last-minute rally into a possibility.

WSU player of the game
Nico Grasu. The WSU kicker booted three field goals, including the game-tying 28-yarder with two seconds remaining in regulation, and two more in overtime, including the winner from 37 yards.

UW player of the game
Willie Griffin. The freshman tailback ran for a game-high 112 yards on 26 carries and the Huskies’ only touchdown. It was the most yards a Husky has run for in a game this season. Much of his production came early in the game as UW built a 10-0 lead. Griffin had 86 yards at halftime, but saw his playing time cut for some reason for much of the second half.

Not red, but crimson
The Cougs sported a different look than they have for any other Apple Cup. Coach Paul Wulff surprised the team with crimson helmets with the word "Cougars" in script on the side – the first time the Cougs have used that helmet. Before the week, the seniors requested to wear the crimson pants and jerseys as well, giving them a solid look.

Running Reid
WSU punter Reid Forrest had the second longest run from scrimmage in the game with his 28-yard scamper on a fake punt. With the Cougs facing fourth-and-18 from their own 30, Forrest took the snap and bolted right. With most of the Huskies intent on pressuring the kick, Forrest slipped by them with ease, running untouched until finally being pushed out of bounds. It was the fourth longest run for the Cougs this season.

Ground games going
Both the Huskies and Cougars looked to establish their running games after getting subpar efforts from their quarterbacks in recent weeks. The Huskies rolled up a season-high 224 yards rushing with Griffin getting 112. True freshman Terrence Dailey also had a solid game with 94 yards on 20 carries. WSU wasn't quite as productive, but did manage 171 yards rushing - the most against a Pac-10 team this season. Dwight Tardy ran for 80 yards on 19 carries and Logwone Mitz added 74 yards on seven carries, including a 57-yard run which is WSU's longest run from scrimmage of the season.

Fouch fails to reach 100
For the third time in seven starts, quarterback Ronnie Fouch failed to throw for 100 yards in a game. Last weekend against UCLA, Fouch threw for just 39 yards. On Saturday, Fouch threw for 99 yards on 11-of-16 passing with nearly a third of that yardage coming on a 38-yard screen pass to tight end Michael Gottlieb.

Injury report
Washington offensive lineman Jordan White-Frisbee was helped off the field by teammates and was favoring his ankle, but the Huskies reported no other major injuries. For the Cougars, Jeshua Anderson suffered a chest contusion and Tony Thompson had a mild concussion.

Extra points
Paul Wulff become the first WSU coach coach since Jim Sweeney in 1968 to win his Apple Cup debut. ... Receiver Brandon Gibson had five catches, moving him into second place on WSU’s all-time receptions list with 181. He moved ahead of Hugh Campbell (1960-62), who had 176. Gibson now trails former teammate Michael Bumpus, who has 195. ... Cougars linebacker Greg Trent had 12 tackles, giving him 371 for his career and moving him into seventh place in WSU history.

Next
WSU wraps up its season with a trip to Hawaii for a non-conference game on Saturday at Aloha Stadium. The Huskies have next weekend off and return to the field on Dec. 6 when they travel to Berkeley to take on the California Bears.

Several Huskies said this was the toughest of their losses.

None said they wish the season was over ... they all pointed to the Cal game as one last chance to avoid 0-12.

Ty Willingham said he thinks he's still the right coach to lead the team into that final game ... and he clearly wasn't happy about being asked.

Heading down: I'm going down to the field, and the interview/writing area is pretty far-removed here, so I won't be filing again for a while. However, I will eventually be back for notes and quotes.

How'd it look on TV?

3rd/2:56 WSU's Logwone Mitz went off-tackle untouched for a 57 yard touchdown. Untouched, that is, until he was in the end zone, where he was horse-collared for a 15-yard pentalty.

Halftime: Willie Griffin has 86 yards on 18 carries. Fouch has completed six of eight passes for 42 yards.

Those stats reflect the gameplan, which is basic, running when they can and passing safely when they have to.

2nd/5:07 Huskies turn a Mesphin Forrester interception into a 35-yard Ryan Perkins field goal. UW, 10-0.

2nd/12:17 The Huskies are keeping the offense very basic, and they just went 60 yards for the first score with tailback Willie Griffin getting the score after doing most of the damage along the way. UW, 7-0.

Ebd of first quarter: The Huskies are having the better of it so far. But no score. Or near-scores. However, UW will start the second quarter with a first down at the Coug 47.

Kickoff: Washington won the toss and will receive.

Pretty good sprinkling of empty seats. But lots of purple in the east end zone.

UW game captains are Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Juan Garcia, Michael Gottlieb and Johnie Kirton.

It's Senior Day here, so the WSU seniors were intoduced before the game.

11:20: Both teams are out on the field for warm-ups. The Huskies are in their usual road unis. However, the Cougars are in all-crimson -- helmets, jerseys, pants -- with the old script "Cougars" across the helmet. WSU has gotten into the habit of wearing the grey "Cougars" helmets in recent Apple Cups, but I've never seen the crimson version before.

10 a.m. At renovated Martin Stadium. Actually, at renovated WSU. I covered this team in 2002 and 2003, so I was on campus a lot then, but have only been back for UW football and basketball since. They've really made a lot of improvements, including a new bookstore and golf course.

As for the stadium, the stuff seems mostly ornamental: a new gate and entry area along Stadium Way, and more concessions and restrooms. And a new scoreboard with a much larger video areas than the one a Husky stadium.

Meanwhile, they have apparently just opened the gates, and mostly the student section is filing in.

No activity on the field yet.

The rain has stopped. It's just a cloudy day, breeze going left to right as you'll watch on TV, and not near as cold as a Nov. 22 in Pullman might have been.

First post: It is a cold and rainy morning in Pullman. The clouds rolled in late yesterday after a beautiful day. And it got cold enough where I'm half-surprised there's no snow out there.

Anyway, here's a link to our preview story from this morning.

And the post below has a link to weather updates.

And I'll be back in a couple of hours from the stadium for our daylong running blog from the 101st Apple Cup.

Kickoff is noon on FSN.

Just arrived in Pullman, driving down from Spokane on a beautiful day.

The current forecasts call for something similar for the Apple Cup, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid- to low-40s for Saturday afternoon.

Not expecting much in the way of news updates today, but if anything does happen, I'll post here.

Otherwise, the main news today is coming from far away, where Missouri has apparently reached a contract extension agreement with Gary Pinkel, whose name had been floated in connection with the UW job.

No. 21 Oregon State at Arizona. Beavers have won three straight at Arizona Stadium. OSU, 34-31.

Stanford at California. Bowl bid at stake for the Cardinal in extra-big Big Game. Cal, 31-27.

Washington at Washington State. I've covered every UW game this season, so I understand how punchless this team is. Yet, I look at those WSU scores and statistics, and I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like it. If the Huskies are still up to giving full effort, they seem the clearly better team. UW, 21-10.

Last week: 5-0.
Season: 55-11.
UW games: 9-1.

UW moves to 2-1 on the season.

Once the Huskies shots started dropping the Panthers were toast. And did those shots drop: 21 for 32 in the second half.

Jon Brockman had eight points and eight rebounds -- both season lows. And it was the first time in 40 games that Brockman scored in single digits.

Coach Lorenzo Romar said the FIU defense concentrated not only on Brockman with what have become the usual double-teams, but they really worked to stop the Huskies from running. It worked in the first half, Romar and several Huskies said, because they rushed their shots. The shots started falling in the second half because they gave more possessions the time and effort needed for better shots.

“We were trying to make home run plays too early,” Romar said. “The result, 11 turnovers in the first half. In the second half we came down after the first few minutes and we began to share the ball. Once we began to share the ball and not make the home run play early, the end result of that was only five turnovers in the second half and a higher shooting percentage.”

Justin Dentmon led the Huskies with 21 points. Isaiah Thomas had 19. And Romar continues to rave about how much Justin Holiday can impact a game despite scoring only two points.

Scott Suggs also saw his first action of the season.

UW moved to 2-1 with defending national champion Kansas dead ahead Monday.

"We are ready to play Kansas," Dentmon said. "And I think that our team will step up."

----In-game running blog:
* The Huskies hit their first six shots of the second half, and it's funny how that kind of changes everything. They seem to have taken control unless they go hyper cold again.

Halftime: The Huskies have hit 7 of 32 shots (21.9%). One of those was a nice little floater through the lane by Isaiah Thomas as the last second of the half ticket off.

Thomas leads the Huskies with 12 points. Brockman is having trouble with lots of attention from the big Panthers' front line and has only four points.

* About 12 minutes in and the Huskies are 5 of 22 from the field. And that better change, because FIU is pretty large up front, and so far the Huskies are trying -- and failing -- to shoot over them.

* Very small crowd here. I hear traffic is nasty out there tonight. But as of now, this is much smaller even than the sub-8,000 crowd that showed up Tuesday.

By the way, there also are enough unsold tickets for the Kansas City portion of this tournament where they are about to offer a two-for-one special. That's something of a surprise -- even in a big arena -- due to the presence of Kansas.

* The Huskies' starting lineup is back to what appears to be normal in this early stage of the season: Brockman, Pondexter, Gant, Dentmon and Thomas.

* We're more than an hour from tipoff. They've apparently just opened the gates, as the Dawg Pack is filing in.

The Golden Panthers -- yes, that's what they are -- are on the court.
The only Huskies on the court are the ones still trying to get healthy: Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Artem Wallace.

Usual game-day plans here. I'll post pregame news as it happens. Then give a few in-game updates. Then back with notes and quotes after filing my story.

Meanwhile, a quick scouting report:

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (2-0)
AT WASHINGTON (1-1)
7 p.m., Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
TV: None.
Radio: 950-AM

Series: UW leads, 2-0, including an 83-48 blowout in the last meeting, Dec. 21, 2003, in Seattle.

Statistical leaders: For FIU, G Michael Dominguez, 19.5 ppg; C/F Freddy Asprilla, 11 rpg; G Nick Taylor, 6 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman 26.5 ppg and 13.5 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.5 apg.

Scouting report: The Golden Panthers have opened with a three-point win over Eastern Kentucky and a 19-point win over Monmouth. FIU has size and experience along its front line, which features 7-foot senior center Russell Hicks, a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference preseason selection and the league’s top shot-blocker last season. Another returning starter is 6-foot-9 junior power forward Nikola Gacesa, who had a career-high 20 points in the win over Monmouth. Dominguez, a transfer from Northeastern (Colo.) Junior College, has taken 17 of FIU’s 31 three-point attempts.

Next: 7 p.m. Monday, vs. Kansas, CBE semifinal game, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.

University officials aren’t commenting on the search for a new football coach. However, all indications are that Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood was in Seattle today to interview for the job. Although most indications also are that he isn't expected to be the guy.

Back to news people will actually comment on: Tailback Brandon Johnson was back at practice Thursday after missing two days due to a death in the family. Coach Tyrone Willingham had said Johnson might have missed too much practice to play this week. But he said Thursday that Johnson probably will travel with the team to Pullman.

Willingham said he doesn’t know whether Johnson, Terrance Dailey, Willie Griffin or even FB/TB Luke Kravitz will start. (Actually, the latter would be very cool. He's a lifelone Husky fan, and starting or getting a lot of carries in the final Apple Cup of his career would be a nice happy story in a season that hasn't had near enough of them.)

Offensive tackle Ben Ossai (concussion) practiced today, and Willingham said he might start.

The Huskies will fly to Pullman on Friday. As you may recall, they had bussed to Oregon. But the Cascade Mountains combined with the late-November date made flying the safer choice this time.

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Michael Haywood will meet with UW regarding its head coaching position, according to a report at Rivals.com.

(The report has now been confirmed by the Chicago Tribune and other media that cover Notre Dame.)

Citing unnamed sources, the report said Haywood was excused from his Notre Dame duties Wednesday and was on his way to Seattle.

Haywood was on the Louisiana State staff from 1995-2002, coinciding with Emmert and Woodward’s time at LSU.

The report follows a recent and ongoing controversy in South Bend, where coach Charlie Weis has announced that he will handle the offensive play-calling for the remainder of the season.

Here is a statement from Weis that addresses both the play-calling issue and Haywood's absence from practice this week:

Weis: As far as play calling goes. This week, Mike Haywood is going to be missing some practice for personal reasons. I support these personal reasons. But he'll be missing some practice again. And with that being said, followed up by a short week next week for the rest of the regular season I will be handling the play calling on offense.

1 USC (1) 9-1, 7-1. Belated and modest payback against Stanford.
2 Oregon State (2) 7-3, 6-1. Only UA and UO stand between Beavers and Rose Bowl.
3 Oregon (5) 6-4, 5-2. QB Masoli, with 387 total yards, is Pac-10 player of week for second time.
4 California (4) 6-4, 4-3. Only 11 first downs vs. Beavers.
5 Arizona (3) 6-4, 4-4. Lost two of last three, but bowl-bound for first time since 1998.
6 Arizona State (7) 4-6, 3-4. Can go bowling if they beat Bruins and Wildcats.
7 Stanford (6) 5-6, 4-4. Most yards (367) of any USC opponent this season.
8 UCLA (8) 4-6, 3-4. Forced season-high five turnovers vs. Huskies.
9 Washington (9) 0-10, 0-7. If only they could find an opponent with similar problems…
10 Washington State (10) 1-10, 0-8. If only they could find an opponent with similar problems…

The EA SPORTS Maui Invitational today announced that the University of Washington will be among the eight-team field that will battle at Maui's famed Lahaina Civic Center during Thanksgiving Week in 2010.

The other schools will be Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wichita State and host Chaminade University of Honolulu.

More information is available at GoHuskies.com.

Brandon Johnson has left the team for a couple of days to deal with a death in the family.

Coach Tyrone Willingham indicated that a player missing the heavy workout days of Tuesday and Wednesday might not be able to start the Apple Cup on Saturday. However, as of now, he doesn't know who might start in Johnson's place.

The top candidates would seem to be Terrance Dailey or Willie Griffin.

Willingham also said cornerback Matt Mosley has a partially torn knee ligament. However, it is not believed that surgery will be necessary.

UW president Mark Emmert has appointed a search advisory committee to assist in the UW's search for a new head football coach.

Among the appointees is sophomore quarterback Jake Locker.

The committee is chaired by Pat Dobel, a professor of public affairs who also serves as the UW's faculty athletic representative to the Pacific-10 Conference. The committee will report to Emmert and Athletic Director Scott Woodward.

Here's a link to the complete release from GoHuskies.com.

Meanwhile, the list of possible candidates seems to have lost one possible name with the news that Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has officially been named next in line for the top job there.

The Huskies' season-ending football game at California game has been selected for national telecast on FSN and will kickoff at noon Dec. 6.

The game, of course, will not only end the season, but the Tyrone Willingham era at Washington.

The game will be played after a bye week following this weekend's Apple Cup.

And speaking of that game, several good notes and reports from Eric Williams' UW football coverage and Ryan Divish's WSU coverage in today's paper.

Meanwhile, I'm back on football today and should have some notes and quotes to pass along this afternoon.

UW freshman guard Isaiah Thomas was on the bench at the start of the Cleveland State game because he was late -- just barely -- joining his teammates on the court for pregame warmups.

UW coach Lorenzo Romar started Venoy Overton instead.

"Isaiah was just a couple of minutes late," Romar explained after the game.

However, Thomas was sent onto the court after three minutes and eight seconds. He ended the night back in Romar's good graces with eight points, two rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes.

"That’s a team rule," Thomas said. "(I was) exactly one minute late. ... We go out to the court as a team at 6. I was getting my ankles taped. It was my fault. I take the blame for it."

Thomas was asked when was the last time he started a game on the bench.

"Never," he said. "It felt weird, but we got the win. That’s the important part."

Thomas contributed the key play in that win, hitting a three-pointer from the corner at the same time Jon Brockman was being fouled under the basket. The result was a five-point play that seemed to settle the issue.

"I have confidence in my shot," he said. "I was open and I shot it. It was a good pass from (Joe Wolfinger.) … That was a big shot."

Both teams are now 1-1.

And not surprisingly, the roller-coaster nature of the game -- Huskies fast start, second half swoon and late fast finish -- was the main topic after the game.

“I thought we definitely made progress tonight – not only from the Portland (loss on Saturday), but from the Western Washington exhibition,” coach Lorenzo Romar said. “We guarded in the first half very well, and I thought we played as a team with energy. I thought we shared the ball. I thought we were very efficient. In the second half, we came out flat. It’s just something we have got to be able to solve, coming out in the second half and maintaining the intensity we had in the first half.”

“You get a 22 point-lead, you get real comfortable and you think it’s going to be the same as the first half way,” senior Jon Brockman said. “We were victims of that, and we can’t let that happen. When we play against Kansas, we’re not going to get a second chance like that.”

Jon Brockman had 23 points and 13 rebounds, both game highs. Quincy Pondexter contributed to the big first half with 13 points, though he added only two in the second. Justin Holiday provided defense, energy and a career-high 11 rebounds. Joe Wolfinger had 12 points and five rebounds, and he hit a late three-pointer that was a dagger to any remaining CSU hopes.

Guard Cedric Jackson led the Vikings with 20 points.

“I think this Washington team plays defense really hard, and that is one of their strengths,” CSU coach Gary Waters said. “The big guy (Brockman) is a man amongst boys.”

The game turned for the last time on a 5-point play 10 minutes from the end. With the lead down to five, freshman Isaiah Thomas nailed a three-pointer from the corner. As the ball sailed toward the hoop, Brockman was fouled. He went to the line adding two free throws that made it a five-point play and bought the Huskies a little breathing room at 63-53.

“I have confidence in my shot,” Thomas said. “I was open, and I shot it.”

The Huskies return to action at 7 p.m. Thursday, hosting Florida International the second game of this CBE regional. Regardless of the result of that game, these evolving Huskies will advance to Kansas City, Mo., where they hope to put their Tuesday survival experience to use against the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks in a semifinal game Monday.

The Huskies move to 1-1 on the season.

It was a bit of a carnival thrill ride in the middle, but it ended up as a pretty solid win against a team that's probably a lot better than their name recognition.

As mentioned this morning, these guys beat the Oakland team that beat Oregon last night.

Jon Brockman led UW with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

I'll be back later with some notes, quotes and final stats.

* A nice Thomas bucket on a drive, a Wolfinger 3, more Brockman dirty work around the basket, and this one seems settled ... again.

* The Huskies seem to have finally remembered that they have that Brockman guy on the roster, and he's helped them cool the Cleveland State run. But there's a game here, whereas at halftime this thing seemed settled.

Isaiah Thomas has only five points, but he drilled a big three from the corner that could turn out to be the one that turned this back toward UW.

* Remember that 22 point halftime lead? That's long gone. It looks like the teams have changed uniforms and just about everything has reversed. I can't remember Jon Brockman going this deep into a half with no points and no rebounds. And they need to get him back in or this is a disaster waiting to happen.

Washington has dominated in just about every way, and looks like a very different team from that pratfall of an opener at Portland.

Quincy Pondexter had one of those halves that get folks so excited about his potential, scoring 13 points, hustling and really leading the team especially with Brockman on the bench.

Brockman has 15 and 10 in 13 minutes.

The Huskies have outrebounded SCU 36-16 and limited them to 23.7 percent shooting.

Joe Wolfinger, who's sticking around the bucket much more this season, added nine -- none on 3's.

Isaiah Thomas was 0-for-6 and got a scolding from Romar after forcing a drive in the final seconds of the half.

* Huskies up 14-8 with 11:52 left in the first half.

Thomas came in about three minutes into the game, and he seems physically fine.

Huskies have five turnovers already, but they're playing hard.

Lots of empty seats in the upper level.

Tipoff: The Huskies have made an unexpected change to the starting lineup, moving in Venoy Overton in place of Isaiah Thomas.

Coach Lorenzo Romar had praised Overton's play in the opener against Portland. However, Romar always likes to see trends, not individual performances, before making moves. In fact, he seemed to scoff at the idea of moving Overton into the lineup on the basis of one performance.

Obviously, we'll get his thinking after the game.

5:55: A handful of Huskies and a lot of Cleveland State Vikings are on the court warming up about an hour from tipoff.

I'll pop in with any pregame news, then try to give some running-blog updates through the game, and come back after with notes and quotes.

As mentioned in this morning's newspaper, this game is part of the College Basketball Experience Classic. And the tournament logo, along with the logo of a couple of sponsors have been added to the Hec Ed court.

There is also a special game program, featuring one player from each of the 12 participating teams. UW is represented by senior guard Justin Dentmon

There's no TV, but the game is on KJR, 950-AM.

As dvast8r points out below, UW is down to it's final days of its name-the-mascot contest.

Final names are Dubs, Spirit and Sundodger.

And as dvasta8r points out, it's gotta be Sundodger, right? I mean, UW gave away that great name once before. But not twice, eh?

Info at GoDawgs.com

WSU coach Paul Wulff and UW coach Ty Willingham agreed on today's Pac-10 football coaches conference call that if all things were equal they prefer the tradition of playing the Apple Cup as the final game of the regular season.

That won't be the case this season, as WSU ends up with a 13th game in Hawaii -- as UW did last year -- while the Huskies' odd three-bye season ends Dec. 7 with a visit to California.

Both coaches admit that might become the new reality -- especially in seasons when the game is played in Pullman. Unless the new coach disagrees, Washington likes bye weeks in the new 12-game season and one of the best ways to accomplish that would be moving the Apple Cup back a week or two. But WSU doesn't want to host the game on Thanksgiving week when students are off campus. And the idea of playing a December game on the Palouse isn't all that inviting either.

At least as of now, the Huskies are scheduled to end the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Apple Cup game. However, neither of those proposed schedules include byes, so that may not survive.

Oakland -- of Michigan -- defeated the Oregon Ducks in overtime last night on Mac Court.

It was an entertaining game, but I mention it here because Oakland is the same team that Cleveland State beat by three points in its season opener.

And I mention that because the Huskies play Cleveland State tonight at Hec Ed.

So, it's a bit of a bank shot, but maybe we'll get an early season indicator of how the Huskies stack up in relation to the Ducks this season.

UW, by the way, is favored by 7 1/2 points tonight (the same margin the UW football team is currently favored in the Apple Cup.)

The 0-1 UW basketball team opens its home season Tuesday night against Cleveland State in what is technically the first round of the College Basketball Experience tournament.

However, the tournament starts out with a goofy format in that the result of tonight's game -- or Thursday's when Florida International visits -- won't affect anything in the tournament ... including UW's trip to Kansas City next week to play Kansas.

I try to explain some of that in my Tuesday story.

But it probably makes more sense for now to forget about the tournament and just fret about the season.
That season-opening loss to Portland looks even scarier when you consider that Cleveland State is probably a better team than the Pilots.

But at least this is at home.

A quick preview:

CLEVELAND STATE (1-0)
AT WASHINGTON (0-1)
7 p.m. Tuesday, Hec Edmondson Pavilion.
TV: None. Radio: 950-AM.

Statistical leaders: For CSU, F D’Aundray Brown, 15 ppg; F J’Nathan Bullock, 10 rpg; G Cedric Jackson, 6 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 30 ppg and 17 rpg; G Venoy Overton and F Quincy Pondexter, 3 apg.

Series: First meeting.

Scouting report: The Huskies are off to their first 0-1 start since 2003. … UW forward Mathew Bryan-Amaning is out tonight and doubtful for Thursday with hip, knee and ankle pain from a fall in practice last week. … CSU came from behind to win its opener, 58-55, over Oakland University of Michigan. Brown scored a career-high 15 points while going 7-of-9 from the field. Jackson had a full stat sheet, with eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. However, the Vikings’ star may be Bullock, who had his 14th career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. … Last season, Cleveland State went 21-13, finished second in the Horizon League and advanced to the NIT. They were picked to win the league title this season.

Next: 7 p.m. Thursday, vs. Florida International, Hec Edmondson Pavilion; no TV.

UW quarterback Jake Locker had the metal taken out of his injured hand on Friday. However, he's out for the Apple Cup on Saturday, and coach Tyrone Willingham indicated that Locker is probably also done for the season.

Otherwise not much real news of out today's press conferences. Senio Kelemete might be back this week. Matt Mosley is doubtful. Cody Bruns and Terrence Dailey sound iffy.

Also today, UW belatedly offered up these Huskies of the week from the UCLA game.

Three early items to start Apple Cup week.

First, here's my Monday preview story.

Next, the Huskies have opened a 9 1/2-point favorite.

That might seem like an awful lot for a team that hasn't won in one calendar year -- UW's last win was Nov. 17, 2007, over Cal. However, comparative scores show just how bad the Cougars have been.

Against seven common Pac-10 opponents, UW lost closer to six of them: by 34 points to Oregon, while WSU lost by 49; UW lost by seven to Stanford, WSU lost by 58; UW lost by 21 to Oregon State, WSU lost by 53; UW lost by 56 to Southern California, WSU lost by 69; UW lost by 20 to Arizona State, WSU lost by 31; UW lost by 20 to UCLA, WSU lost by 25. The lone exception came against Arizona, where the Cougars lost by 31 and the Huskies by 34.

Finally, the early weather forecast seems OK for late November in Pullman ... looks like low 40s for the noon Saturday kickoff and cloudy but no current mention of rain or snow.

Kickoff is noon Saturday at Martin Stadium. The game will be shown on FSN.

Here is TNT reporter Todd Milles' game story from UW's season-opening loss at Portland last night.

And here are some additional observations from Todd this morning:

Give credit where credit is due – the University of Portland beat the Huskies utilizing a style the UW should have had the upper hand in – getting close shots inside.

Robin Smeulders (20 points), Kramer Knutson (10 points) and Luke Sikma (four points) were crafty inside, and their mid-range games were superior to that of any of the Huskies. Throw in the occasional penetration of guards Nik Raivio and Ethan Niedermeyer, it's no wonder the UW held a lead for six of the 40 minutes.

OBSERVATIONS
· Thomas' struggles: UW coach Lorenzo Romar remarked afterward that his younger players, notably his guards, tried to do "too much individually." One of the culprits was Curtis High product Isaiah Thomas, who struggled in his college debut.

On one play with 13:04 to go in the first half, Thomas thought he lost Portland's Taishi Ito on a crossover dribble, but the guard reached back and stripped him for a turnover.

A few possessions later, Thomas had the ball again, split a double team but lost handle of the ball to Ito.

Finally, after an airball 3-pointer with 101/2 minutes remaining before halftime from the right corner, Romar had seen enough, and got Thomas out of there. Assistants Jim Shaw and Cameron Dollar carefully pointed out a few things to Thomas before he took a seat at the far end of the bench.

Thomas eventually fouled out with 3:52 to go, finishing with 10 points.

"Foul trouble messed me up," Thomas said. "We've got to look for the next game … get better."

· Glimpses from Overton and Turner: Guards Venoy Overton and Elston Turner were subjected to animated discussions with Romar during the game. Turner's came when he didn't dive for a loose ball on a Pilots' possession with more than 14 minutes to go.

But their on-ball pressure disrupted Portland. Overton forced Pilots point guard T.J. Campbell into a couple bad passes, and Turner ripped the ball out of Sikma's hands and made a free throw that gave the UW a 64-60 lead with 6:43 to go.

· Brockman's late 3-point attempt: As good as Jon Brockman was – his 30 points was one shy of his career-high – Romar second-guessed the big man's decision to fire a game-tying 3-point attempt with 32 seconds remaining.

The senior from Snohomish was all alone from the right-center arc, but his shot rimmed short.

"I wouldn't say that would be the shot we would have drawn up," Romar said. "He's been really working on his shot. All of a sudden, he was wide open. He just shot it. If he had to do it again, he probably wouldn't have shot it."

Of course, the Huskies would not have been in any position to tie – or win – the game without Brockman's heroics from the floor. At one point late in the first half, he scored 16 points in the final 8:42, including 12 in a row.

Tyrone Willingham opened with the words, "Obviously, not a whole lot can be said about tonight," and that's about right. Mostly we just heard players saying that they're disappointed, they're still trying and they still believe.

Fortunately for them, it might be a little easier to believe in the coming week, considering it's Apple Cup week and Washington State is one of the few teams the Huskies figure to match up with, maybe even be favored against.

Here's Willingham's entire opening statement:

"Obviously, not a whole lot can be said about tonight. We didn't run it, throw it, tackle it, catch it or do in in a manner that weould put us in a position to be successful. We came into the ballgame knowing that we had to produce a run game to give our offense a chance, and we could not do that. We could not generate enough, and we were not able to pass the ball well enough to offset what we were not doing in the run game. So, obviously it became a very difficult night for us and one of great disappointment for our young men and the Husky family."

Looking ahead, he said, "We're going to take a break, we're going to get ourselves refreshed and we're going to attack the Apple Cup."

And he admits that there is added motivation to avoid an 0-12 season.

"I would say that adds to the urgency. I think our guys feel it. I think I feel it. I think they wanted to win tonight. They didn't want to finish out the home (season) without a win. I think these guys want to be successful I think the coaches want to be successful. And all we have is two remaining games, and we'll give it the best we have for those two remaining games."

Of course, that other coach was also part of the spotlight tonight.

"It was emotional," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said of returning to Husky Stadium. "But pleasantly. There were a lot of friendly faces."

And Neuheisel winning on the game: "In some ways, it was important to try to play well and try to find a way to get a win, but more importantly this is for our team. I tried to tell my guys that this is about UCLA and Washington both trying to point to the future, and who's going to get that first leg up."

(Here's more on Neuheisel from TNT reporter Ryan Divish.)

And, of course, the other thing special about tonight was the goodbye to this senior class, that has been through so much. Here's the take from sixth-year center Juan Garcia.

"It was very emotional. Very hard. It makes it harder that we lost. It hasn't been the season that any of us wanted. When you leave something, it hurts. I'll never det to go down that tunnel again. It hits you pretty hard."

A few highlights:

Player of the game
UCLA came into the game with the least effective running attack in the Pacific-10 Conference, averaging just 77.8 rushing yards per game. They doubled that with 157 yards on Saturday with Kahlil Bell leading the way with 97 yards and two touchdowns.

Husky of the game
Playing in his final home game, senior linebacker Trenton Tuiasosopo gave the Huskies an early spark first by intercepting a pass and returning it 34 yards, setting up UW’s tying touchdown. On UCLA’s next possession, Tuiasosopo deflected a pass that was intercepted by teammate Tripper Johnson. Tui also was in on seven tackles.

Turning point
Instead of taking advantage of that Johnson interception, UW quickly gave the ball back on a turnover of its own. Quarterback Ronnie Fouch evaded blitzing linebacker Akeem Ayers, but Ayers stayed with the play, caught Fouch from behind and forced a fumble. The Bruins took over at the UW 31 and quickly moved for a touchdown that gave them a 14-7 lead that they never surrendered.

Delayed trouble
UCLA opened with a trick play. Quarterback Kevin Craft flipped the ball to receiver Dominique Johnson on an apparent end around pass. However, Johnson apparently somehow missed Marcus Everett running free far behind the UW secondary and instead carried for short yardage.
However, this only delayed things as the Bruins continued on their way to a 12-play 80-yard touchdown drive for the game’s first score.

Farewell, seniors
It was Senior Day, and 19 Huskies were introduced to the home crowd for the final time: Jared Ballman, Casey Bulyca, Byron Davenport, Desmond Davis, Mesphin Forrester, Darin Harris, Charles Hawkins, Juan Garcia, Michael Gottlieb, Johnie Kirton, Luke Kravitz, Robert Lukevich, Jovon O’Connor, Ryan Perkins, Chris Stevens, Trent Tuiasosopo, Jordan White-Frisbee, Walt Winter and Chancellor Young.
Perhaps the loudest ovations went to Tuiasosopo, Garcia and Perkins, a junior kicker who will forego his senior season due to lingering damage from a knee injury.
Kirton also drew a reaction by coming out in a hand-lettered shirt reading: "Dawg 4 Life.”

Personnel report
UW tailback Brandon Johnson got his first start of the season and led UW with 75 yards on 20 carries. … True freshman Everrett Thompson also started at defensive end, becoming the 10th true freshman to start for the Huskies this seaosn. ... UW cornerback Matt Mosley was injured on the kickoff that began the second half. He was taken to the locker room in a cart. Coach Tyrone Willingham said the team was awaiting the result of X-rays. … UCLA guard Darius Savage left the game in the first quarter with a left ankle sprain.

Extra points
This was Tyrone Willingham’s final home game as coach of the Huskies. … UW completed its home season 0-7, its first winless home season since the 1800s. … UW attempted only one pass in the first quarter and didn’t complete one until four minutes into the second. Fouch ended the night with seven completions in 22 attempts. Walk-on Taylor Bean made his first career appearance, throwing two passes with no completions and one interception. … The Huskies came into the game with three interceptions on the season and they doubled that with three on Saturday. … Marlion Barnett, a 6-2, 220-pound tight end/linebacker from Santiago High School in Corona, Calif., committed Saturday to join the Huskies freshman class of 2009, according to Dawgman.com and Realdawg.com. … Captains for the final home game were Chris Stevens, Trenton Tuiasosopo, Juan Garcia and Michael Gottlieb.

Next
Noon Saturday, at Washington State, Martin Stadium, Pullman. FSN.

The Huskies finish their first winless home season in school history, 0-7.

I'll be back later with notes and quotes.

Heading down: I'm heading down to the field a little earlier than usual due to the tight deadlines tonight. Feel free to fill in with any comments, and I'll be back later with notes and quotes.

Start of the fourth quarter: The Bruins opened the fourth quarter with a Kahlil Bell touchdown capping a 92-yard touchdown drive, and pulling ahead 24-7.

2nd/4:53 UW went for it on a fourth down from the UCLA 39. Fouch was sacked for a 12-yard loss. UCLA moved down enough to hit a 50-yard field goal to take a 17-7 lead.

2nd/11:17 Fouch was hit and fumbled while trying to pass. UCLA took over at the UW 31 and marched in, mostly behind Kahlil Bell's running.

End of 1st quarter: UCLA has 100 yards of total offense, UW 44. All of UW's are on the ground. However, UW has the lone takeaway.

1st/0:44 A deflected Craft pass was intercepted by Trenton Tuiasosopo and returned to the Bruins 10. One play later, Brandon Johnson ran it in from the seven. (7-7)

1st/8:40: Brandon Johnson got the start at tailback for the first time this season.

1st/8:53:
UCLA opened with a trick play. Quarterback Kevin Craft flipped the ball to receiver Dominique Johnson on an apparent end around pass. However, Johnson somehow didn't see Marcus Everett running free far behind the UW secondary and instead carried for short yardage.

However, this only delayed things as the Bruins continued on their way to a 12-play 80-yard touchdown drive.

Kickoff: Much louder boos for Neuheisel and the Bruins when they took the field this time.

UW captains are Chris Stevens, Trenton Tuiasosopo, Juan Garcia and Michael Gottlieb.

Washington won the toss and chose to defer. UCLA will get the ball first.

7:20 The seniors are being introduced. Perhaps the best hand for Trenton Tuiasosopo and Juan Garcia. But also very nice for Ryan Perkins. And Johnie Kirton came out in a hand-lettered "Dawg 4 Life" shirt.

7:05 The Bruins just left the field. There was some booing as Neuheisel headed up the tunnel. But the stadium is still largely empty and from what I could tell from the press box, nobody's heart really seemed into it.

6:35: Both teams are on the field warming up. However, there has been no introduction of UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel yet ... and frankly not enough fans in the stands to mount much of a cheer or boo either way.

6:30: Marlion Barnett, a 6-2, 220-pound tight end/linebacker from Santiago High School in Corona, Calif., commited Saturday to join the Huskies freshman class of 2009, according to Dawgman.com and Realdawg.com.

4:55 p.m. Lightest traffic I've faced all season.

And even though I'm here early, it's already almost fully dark, with most of the great Lake Washington view already gone ... for tonight, and for another season.

The plan tonight is to go with our usual blogging plan: pregame news as it happens, then a running blog with in-game reports, then you guys have to take over with any comments while I do my postgame writing and interviews. And then I'll be back with final notes and quotes.

There might be fewer in-game reports tonight just because the late start makes the newspaper deadline pretty tight, so I'll need to be writing as the game plays out.

A reminder, kickoff is 7:15 -- actually, 7:26 I think -- and the game will be on FSN.

Unfortunately, the Huskies are opening their basketball season on the night of a football game. And I'm covering the football game. Therefore, I'm afraid basketball blogging is out tonight and will resume Tuesday when the Huskies host Cleveland State.

A reminder that football is on the usual places: FSN and 950-AM. And basketball is on Comcast SportsNet NW, which is Channel 179 on most Comcast lineups, and 1150-AM on the radio dial. Tip is 8 p.m.

Tucked away inside my basketballl season-opener story today was the first word I had heard from new athletic director Scott Woodward about resuming a series between UW and Gonzaga.

Like Turner, Woodward spoke about the series in generally positive terms. But when I asked if he thought it was such a good thing that he would simply order it to happen, he said no, that -- also like Turner -- he would leave it to the basketball coaches.

"I would love for it to happen," Woodward said. "I think it's a great competitive series. But it's going to be to the benefit of the University of Washington, period."

My read?

I wouldn't expect to see the series revived anytime soon.

The Huskies play their 10th football game of the disappointing season Saturday, and the first basketball game of a season still full of hopes.

Here's my game preview story, and a quick look at each:

UCLA (3-6 OVERALL, 2-4 PAC-10)
AT WASHINGTON (0-9, 0-6)
Kickoff: 7:15 p.m., Husky Stadium
Television: FSN. Radio: 950-AM.
The series: UCLA leads, 36-29-2. The Bruins have won six of the last seven meetings, including a 44-31 victory last season at the Rose Bowl.
What to watch: The return of former UW coach Rick Neuheisel has dominated the game-week conversation. On the field, both teams sense a chance at a rare victory. In some cases, the team’s problem areas pair interestingly, such as with UCLA’s running game, which ranks last in the Pac-10, going against UW’s run defense, which ranks ninth. This is Senior Day, and 19 Huskies playing their final home game will be introduced. This game also marks the final home appearance for UW coach Tyrone Willingham.
What’s at stake: Washington is still looking to shake its status as the only winless team in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and end its 11-game losing streak, which is a school record and the longest in the nation. The Huskies’ last win came on Nov. 17, 2007, so UW needs a victory today to avoid a full winless year. A Bruins’ loss assures a losing record and eliminates them from bowl eligibility.

And ...

Here's my hoops preview story and highlights box:

WASHINGTON (16-17 last season)
AT PORTLAND (9-23)
8 p.m., Chiles Center, Portland.
TV: CSN NW (Channel 179 on most Comcast systems).
Radio: 1150 AM.
Series: UW leads, 11-1, including five straight. The Huskies nipped Portland, 67-63, last season in Seattle.
Statistical leaders (returning from 2007-08): For Portland, G Nik Raivio, 12.6 ppg; F Luke Sikma, 7.3 rpg; G Ito Taishi, 3.2 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 17.8 ppg and 11.6 rpg; G Venoy Overton, 3.2 apg.
Scouting report: The Pilots were picked sixth in the annual West Coast Conference preseason poll. They return five players that started at least 13 games last season and seven of their eight top scorers. Sikma is the son of former Sonics star Jack Sikma, and Raivio is the brother of former Gonzaga star Derek Raivio. … This game is expected to mark the UW debut for true freshmen Isaiah Thomas, Elston Turner and Scott Suggs. The Huskies might be without two big men: Matthew Bryan-Amaning, who took a hard fall in practice this week and whose availability will be a game-time decision; and true freshman Tyreese Breshers, who is out until at least December with a shin injury.
Next: 7 p.m. Tuesday, vs. Cleveland State, Hec Edmondson Pavilion

Here's my story on the incoming class of 2009, and here's the class:

ABDUL GADDY, 6-3, 170, G, Tacoma/Bellarmine
Listed by Scout.com as the sixth-best prep prospect in the nation and second-best point guard. Top vote-getter in Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram’s Best of the West voting. Led Washington Class 4A with 23 ppg as a junior, and also averaged six rebounds, five assists and two steals. First-team all-state and first-team all-state tournament selection, and became first non-senior in 12 years to be named Gatorade Washington Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

CHARLES GARCIA, 6-9, 220, F, Los Angeles/Riverside CC (Calif.)
First-team all-city selection as a high school senior. Enrolled part-time at Sacramento State, but didn’t play. In junior college, he grew into a first-team all-state selection, averaging 14.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks as a freshman while shooting 57 percent from the field. Has quickness to defend multiple positions. Counted on to contribute immediately when Jon Brockman and Artem Wallace leave after this season.

CLARENCE TRENT, 6-7, 230, F, Gig Harbor/Patterson School (N.C.)
Attended Gig Harbor High School through his junior year in 2007. Then moved to Findlay Prep School in Nevada as a senior, and currently attends the Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C. Listed by ESPN.com as the No. 14 power forward prospect nationally. Averaged 15.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in the 2007 National Prep School Showcase. Explosive. Can guard multiple positions.

C.J. WILCOX, 6-5, 180, G, Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS
A pure shooter with athleticism who somehow stayed largely under the recruiting radar until discovered by UW assistant coach Jim Shaw. Led Utah Class 5A basketball in scoring with 23.7 ppg. Also averaged six rebounds, 2.2 steals and two blocks. Unanimous first-team all-state selection. Father, Craig, played guard at Brigham Young University from 1993-95.

Here's the release from UW.

Here's a video of coach Lorenzo Romar's signing-announcement press conference.

After a delay of a couple of days, Washington will get around to introducing its men's basketball freshman class of 2009 at 3:15 this afternoon.

All of the previously reported commitments are still expected to move from oral and non-binding to written and binding.

The class is expected to include prize point guard Abdul Gaddy of Tacoma/Bellarmine (Here's a link to Doug Pacey's story about Gaddy picking UW.)
Power forward Clarence Trent of Nevada
Shooting guard C.J. Wilcox of Utah
And power forward Charles Garcia of City College of San Francisco.

The class has been rated No. 10 by Scout.com and 19th nationally by Rivals.com.

Here's more on the class from Dawgman.com.

UW is doing a nice job of conducting its football coaching search behind the scenes.

So, absent much real information, we updated our original coaching candidate list in today's paper.

No. 6 Southern California at Stanford. Stanford’s memorable upset will be remembered. USC 34-6.

California at No. 23 Oregon State. Visitor has won the last four meetings. OSU, 31-24.

Arizona at Oregon. Ducks were ranked No. 2 nationally last season until Cats upset them. Oregon, 31-24.

Washington State at Arizona State. ASU schedule could fuel late-season bowl run. Devils, 53-13.

UCLA at Washington. Both teams have plenty of weaknesses, but the Bruins have been able to overcome theirs three times, while these Huskies never have. (By the way, why is this game on national prime-time television?) Bruins, 27-24.

Last week: 5-0
Season: 50-11
UW games: 8-1

UW forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning is doubtful for the season-opener Saturday at Portland after taking a hard spill in practice over the weekend.

Coach Lorenzo Romar said MBA hurt his hip, knee and ankle.

Meanwhile, true freshman Tyreese Breshers is out with a shin injury that has limited him throughout camp. Romar said Breshers isn't expected back until the start of December, and that's around the time they may decide whether he should move into the rotation or redshirt.

The Huskies open the season at 8 p.m. Saturday at Portland. The game will be available on Comcast Sports NW.

The News Tribune offers our preseason college basketball preview today. And while the best way to enjoy it is to settle down with the actual paper -- I really recommed you purchase three or four before the season opens Satuday -- we also have most of the highlights at thenewstribune.com.

Those highlights include a double-barrel look at Isaiah Thomas (one looking back to Curtis, the other ahead to UW),plus in-depth coverage of UW, WSU, Gonzaga, Eastern and Seattle U.

Here's my bottom line on Washington, just two days from the start of the season:

The Huskies are confident they have a Pac-10 player-of-the-year candidate in Brockman, and they hope they have a freshman-of-the-year candidate in Thomas.

Beyond that, the course of the season may turn on how well the other returning veterans mesh with the promising newcomers.

The NCAA tournament scenario includes marked improvement from the long-promising Dentmon and Pondexter, continued growth from sophomores Overton and Bryan-Amaning, and reasonable contributions from the newcomers and returning role players.

The disappointment scenario includes ongoing free throw problems, not enough outside shooting to keep defenses from packing it in on Brockman, and the kind of rushed shot-selection and inconsistent defense the Huskies showed in their exhibition game.

1 USC (1) 8-1, 6-1. Anazing defense handled challenge from California.

2 Oregon State (4) 6-3, 5-1. Control their own Rose Bowl destiny, but road is tough.

3 Arizona (3) 6-3, 4-2. Looks like Mike Stoops’ first bowl team.

4 California (2) 6-3, 4-2. Defense hung tough against Trojans.

5 Oregon (5) 6-4, 5-2. WR Jaison Williams 13 catches from Ducks career record.

6 Stanford (6) 5-4, 4-3. Cardinal has won five straight at home... somehow turning tiny crowds into an advantage.

7 Arizona State (7) 3-6, 2-4. Dennis Erickson finally got his Husky Stadium win.

8 UCLA (8) 3-6, 2-4. QB Ben Olson practicing again after fall camp foot injury.

9 Washington (9) 0-9, 0-6. Showed signs of life for few fans who watched.

10 Washington State (10) 1-9, 0-7. Thirty-point loss was closest in four games.

UCLA quarterback Ben Olson, who hasn't played yet this season after breaking his right foot in preseason camp,is working with the No. 2 offense this week and could see action Saturday at Husky Stadium.

UW defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said he doesn't think the UCLA offensive identity would change greatly with either Olson or starter Kevin Craft.

And if the UCLA offense gets an extra weapon this week, Donatell might have a little more to work with as well. Defensive lineman Senio Kelemete (knee) is working this week and is possible for Saturday, while cornerback Mesphin Forrester (knee) is practicing and probable. Corner Vonzell McDowell (arm) is practicing, too, although he remains limited.

However, not all the UW injury news was so good. Jordan Polk (concussion) remains out.

And Darin Harris's concussion is now considered likely to have ended his career.

Final note: The Huskies will practice outdoors this afternoon despite the nasty weather.

Wednesday is the start of the national signing period for the men's basketball freshman class of 2009.

However, UW is not expected to announce any signees on Wednesday and won't until Thursday at the earliest and more likely Friday.

However, fans of Huskies hoops shouldn't panic. Or even worry. All indications are that the announcements are being held up for dull practical reasons, and all of the reported oral commitments are still expected to come through.

The class, rated No. 10 by Scout.com and 19th nationally by Rivals.com, is expected to include:

Prize point guard Abdul Gaddy of Tacoma/Bellarmine (Here's a link to Doug Pacey's story about Gaddy picking UW.)
Power forward Clarence Trent of Nevada
Shooting guard C.J. Wilcox of Utah
And power forward Charles Garcia of City College of San Francisco.

Here's more on the class from Dawgman.com.

Obviously, I have come to understand what the name "Rick Neuheisel" means up here.

But all the name meant to me for a decade or so was the name of a mediocre quarterback of my awful local pro team -- the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL -- when I lived in the Alamo City in the mid-1980s.

I asked Neuheisel today if he had any particular memories of those days.

"I thought those were great days," he said. "It was unpredictable as to whether we were going to get paid or not. But I cherish the memory of playing with all the characters that were on the team. It was a great chapter of my life."

Neuheisel isn't joking when he mentions the missing paychecks. The Gunslingers were one of the least stable teams of instable league. They lasted two seasons and were gone. But for both of those seasons, Neuheisel was their quarterback.

And by Gunslinger standards, he was quite a catch. A golden guy from the golden West and with a Rose Bowl background to boot.

Here's a little background, for anyone who might care.

And by the way, I'll have a story Wednesday on a different UCLA coach: defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker.

We heard from UCLA coach Rick Neuhiesel today by conference call. He said several interesting things, and John McGrath will write about some of it for our Tuesday paper, and I'll write about some more of it leading up to the game at UW a 7:15 p.m. Saturday.

However, there were two particular things I wanted to share now.

One, Neuheisel gave a straight-out apology to UW fans:

"I just want the fans to know that I am truly sorry for the messiness of how things shook out. Husky football is a great entity and a great program and I believe that good things are in store, and I believe that is also the case for UCLA football."

He, when asked, he made a nice push for UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker as a head coach:

"I think he would be a wonderful candidate that I encourage anybody and everybody to certainly explore, because DeWayne is not only a gifted tactician with respect to defensive football, but also a good leader. The kids rally to him and I think he's a guy that people would be making a mistake if they didn't go that extra step and find out what he's all about and realize what a good man he is."

As I mentioned, more later.

But now, a scouting report on the Bruins:

UCLA (3-6 OVERALL, 2-4 PAC-10)
7:15 p.m. Saturday, FSN, at Husky Stadium.
Scouting report: UCLA is looking for its first road win. The Bruins rank 108th nationally in total offense. Kahlil Bell leads a rushing offense than ranks 116th out of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Craft ranks fifth in the Pac-10 in passing yardage and ninth in pass efficiency. The Bruins rank 67th nationally in total defense and 95th in scoring defense. Reggie Carter is their leading tackler, averaging 7.4 per game. Alterraun Verner is fifth in the league in passes defended. Over the last five games, opponents have converted only 28.1 percent on third-down tries. UCLA shines on special teams. Austin Terrence leads the league in all-purpose yards and kick returns. Aaron Perez is the top-rated punter. Kai Forbath is second in field goals.

I remember the first long sit-down one-on-one interview I had with coach Tyrone Willingham as he was about to begin his first season as UW coach.

I told him how meaningful the walk down the Husky Stadium tunnel has been for so many Huskies, and I asked him if he expected to feel any emotion his first walk down as head coach.

He said that the walk down the tunnel isn't what is important; the important thing is the competition that awaits on the field at the end of the tunnel.

Over these past four seasons, that answer has come to seem very much in keeping with the man Willingham is.

Today, I had to turn the question around, noting that he would take his final pregame walk down that tunnel on Saturday, and wondering if he expects to feel any emotions this time

“I’ll be drawing closer to an end here,” he said. “Ends that don’t finish the way you’d like them to are kind of difficult.”

I plan more Senior Day coverage as the week progresses. But my Tuesday story will look at Willingham's final walk, and also the final walk of kicker Ryan Perkins, who has decided to skip his final season due to the worsening condition of the knee injury he suffered in the 2006 spring game.

Coach Tyrone Willingham said today that QB Jake Locker will have surgery this week or next to remove the plates that were inserted into his injured thumb.

Willingham said it remains undetermined if Locker will return this season. However, that seems mightly unlikely given the timeline, how little there seems to gain and how much might be lost.

In one other health update, Willingham said X-rays were negative on the arm/elbow injury CB Vonzell McDowell Jr. suffered late in the ASU game. His return date is not yet known.

UW coached picked as players of the week for their efforts in the Arizona State game: freshman receiver Cody Bruns (offense), sophomore linebacker Mason Foster (defense) and senior Chris Stevens and kicker Ryan Perkins(special teams).

Also honored for their work on service teams were offensive lineman Terence Thomas, linebacker Cort Dennison and cornerback Adam Long.

This is the long-awaited week that marks the return of former coach Rick Neuheisel to Husky Stadium.

However, as the events of this season have turned out, the hello to Neuheisel might take the backseat to a goodbye to this unfortunate UW senior class, which will run down that Husky Stadium tunnel for the last time.

Saturday will also mark the last time down that tunnel for coach Tyrone Willingham.

And perhaps even a chance for a victory, as Neuheisel's UCLA Bruins are struggling, too: 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the Pac-10.

Kickoff is 7:15 p.m. Saturday. The game will be shown on FSN.

Here's a link to the UCLA football Website.

And here's another to the UCLA coverage of the LA Daily News.

But before moving on to all that, a last glance back at the week behind:

LAST WEEK
Washington hung with Arizona State for three quarters before giving up the final 23 points on the way to a 39-19 loss. That dropped the Huskies to 0-9 overall and 0-6 in the Pacific-10 Conference. It also set a UW record of 11 straight losses, the longest ongoing streak in major college football.

SOMETHING TO BUILD ON
The Huskies opened their playbook with a variety of trick plays. The reverses and receiver passes entertained the fans for a while, and also seemed to energize the Huskies. Freshman Cody Bruns caught two passes and completed two passes. Ryan Perkins was 4-for-4 on field goals.

SOMETHING TO WORK ON
The UW running game sputtered to a near halt at 1.9 yards per carry. QB Ronnie Fouch completed only 13 of 40 passes with two interceptions and no touchdowns. The defense allowed Rudy Carpenter to complete 22 of 31 passes and Keegan Herring to run for 144 yards.

PERSONNEL ISSUES
Perkins has decided to give up the game after this season due to lingering knee trouble. Returner Jordan Polk (concussion) and CB Vonzell McDowell Jr. (apparent arm injury) left the game and didn't return. QB Jake Locker's original return date is near, but the risk may outweigh the reward.

Players and coaches acknowledged that the Huskies seemed to have extra energy tonight ... thanks in part to the agressive and tricky play-calling.

However, when the trick plays stopped, the basics were ugly: 1.9 average yard per rush. Ronnie Fouch 13 of 40 passing with two interceptions.

And defensively, they allowed Rudy Carpenter to complete 22 of 31 passes for 218 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. And for all the troubles ASU has had running this season, they let Keegan Herring rip through them for an ASU season-high 144 yards.
Nine games -- and nine losses down -- three games to go.

Here's my game story.

Here's coach Tyrone Willingham's postgame interview.

And some highlights and notes:

Player of the game
Arizona State senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter completed 22 of 33 passes for 218 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“We just had to stay with our plan, stay patient, keep on going,” Carpenter said. “We were going to get our chances to score, which we did.”

Husky of the game
Receiver Cody Bruns caught two passes for 19 yards. He also completed two passes, including a 6-yard touchdown throw to quarterback Ronnie Fouch.

Turning point
Midway through the third quarter, UW had possession and a 19-16 lead. A trick play was ordered in which Bruns took the snap, handed to receiver Jermaine Kearse on a reverse and Kearse flipped the ball back to Fouch who was supposed to throw down field. However, Fouch’s primary receiver was covered and the secondary receiver didn’t complete his route, forcing Fouch to take a sack for a 12-yard loss. The Huskies couldn’t make up that yardage, and punted to the Sun Devils, who promptly began a run of 23 unanswered points.
“We were trying to do a little reverse pass to D’Andre (Goodwin), but he was covered,” Fouch said. “My outlet was Jermaine down the sideline, but we just had a miscommunication between me and him.”

Happy homecoming
Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson grew up in Everett and spent many afternoons at Husky Stadium. However, this was his first win there as a coach.
“This stadium is someplace I grew up around, and I haven’t been very lucky here,” Erickson said. “So it was nice to win here, but that wasn’t the biggest thing. The big thing is getting a win for our team.”

Injury report
UW’s Ryan Perkins connected on a career-high four field goals, one short of John Anderson’s school record five in the 2002 Apple Cup. Perkins said he will give up the game after this season due to a history of knee troubles. … UW returner/receiver Jordan Polk suffered a concussion, and defensive back Vonzell McDowell Jr. left the game late with an apparent arm injury. No prognosis was immediately available for either player.

Extra points
Terrance Dailey ran for 66 yards. That gives him 240 for the season and moves him past Jake Locker for the UW rushing lead. … Washington entered the game with five sacks on the season and recorded two on ASU’s first drive of the game. … UW linebacker Chris Stevens blocked a punt in the third quarter, the first blocked punt by a Husky this season. … ASU’s Troy Nolan’s 44-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown was the first such play by a UW opponent since Arizona’s Wilrey Fontenot did it on Nov. 6, 2004. … UW game captains were Michael Gottlieb, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Paul Homer and Chris Stevens.

Next
The Huskies close their home season with a visit by Rick Neuheisel and UCLA at 7:15 p.m. Saturday. The game will be shown on FSN.

Here's my game story.

The Huskies fall to 0-9 and the losing streak extends to a school-record 11 straight games.

I'll check back in a couple of hours with notes and quotes. Meanwhile, I hope to hear your thoughts on a game that for quite a while seemed more competitive -- far less like sheep to slaughter -- than recent UW efforts. The coaches opened the playbook, and at least tried some new things on the way to an overly familiar result.

4th/12:34: It feels like the Sun Devils just finished a drive the Huskies couldn't afford to let them finish. Eight plays, 49 yards, 2-yard TD pass. ASU up, 30-19.

Start of fourth quarter: UW went three and out, and ASU is back in UW territory. This feels like a drive the Huskies need to stop or this thing could start slipping out of reach.

3rd/2:33: Eight play 41-yard drive moves Sun Devils back ahead, 23-19.

3rd/8:53: Chris Stevens blocks ASU punt, and Huskies take over at the ASU 14. Then defensive holding makes it a UW first down at the ASU 7. However, they were stopped on the three, and Perkins came in for his fourth field goal, making it UW, 19-16.

Attendance: 57,013 paid. There are fewer here; but not terrible, all things considered. (And the rain has mostly stayed away.)

3rd/12:01: Nice Matt Mosley kickoff return. Then 21 yard field goal to tie it again at 16.

Halftime: In the final half minute, ASU intercepted a Ronnie Fouch pass, and turned it into three points giving the Sun Devils a 16-13 lead at halftime.

UW leads in total yards, 204-200. First downs are even, 16-13. However, 10 ASU points have come from UW turnovers, and the Huskies have to clean that up.

Fouch has completed seven of 17 passes for 151 yards. Terrance Dailey has eight carries for 17 yards ... which moves him past Jake Locker into the team's rushing lead.

Overall, an uncommonly interesting first half.

And even halftime had something to recommed it, as UW's new school song was played in Husky Stadium for the first time.

2nd/1:02: 37-yard ASU field goal ties it at 13.

2nd/5:30: Rain seems to have stopped.

2nd/6:30: Pretty good rain coming down all of a sudden.

2nd/10:09: Matt Mosley forces an ASU fumble. Ryan Perkins converts 33-yard field goal. UW, 13-10.

2nd/12:01: This time the Huskies are opening the playbook. After a long pass to Goodwin got them inside the ASU 10, UW finished the drive with a long lateral to Cody Bruns, who then passed back to QB Ronnie Fouch for the touchdown.

However this turns out, the Huskies are playing loose and wide open.

Get to a TV.

2nd/14:50: The Huskies decided to go for it on fourth and 1 from their own 43. Paul Homer took a handoff up the middle and seemed close, but the ball popped out and ASU safety Troy Nolan recovered and ran it in for a touchdown.

2:27 of first: ASU answers with 34-yard field goal.

5:47 of the first: The stadium is now maybe half full, and those who came out have been rewarded with the Huskies' first lead since Oct. 18 vs. Oregon State: a 35-yard Ryan Perkins field goal on UW's first possession

The UW defense has opened with three down linemen and Chris Stevens as a stand-up end/linebacker/rusher.

The offense got a boost with a Cody Bruns' end-around pass to D'Andre Goodwin for 29 yards.

Kickoff: UW won the toss and chose to defer. Arizona State will open the game on offense.

Weather still OK, but iffy.

Crowd still tiny ... can't be more than one out of four seats filled.

UW game captains are Michael Gottlieb, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Paul Homer and Chris Stevens.

3:30: I am tempted to leave the press box, walk to the middle of the field, yodel, and see if it echoes. I can't begin to describe how empty the stadium is a half hour before kickoff.

And the weather remains better than predicted ... although there are enough clouds up there where the expected rains may yet arrive.

1:50: I made it to the press box just in time to watch the Huskies march across the field and up the tunnel to prepare for Game Nine, their second-to-last home game of the season.

And they made the march in sunshine. For all the dreary weather forecasts this week -- and for all the dreary weather this morning -- it's a comfortable, beautiful afternoon at Husky Stadium.

We'll handle our usual gameday blogging patter: I'll pop in here and pregame news develops, then keep the running blog going through the game, then turn it over to you for in-game and postgame comments while I handle postgame interviews. Then I'll be back late with one final post of notes and quotes.

Kickoff is 4 p.m., and the game is on FSN.

One of our blog readers is also a longtime Husky tailgater. And he's involved in a contest to find the best tailgate in the country, which is being held at the ESPN website.

It's the "Scott L." Husky tailgate. And if you click on the picture and are wondering, they're playing a game called "beer-shoes," a drinking-game version of horseshoes. The two guys shown in the picture are the beer-shoes champs from last season.

Anyway, feel free to vote to help a UW tailgater and Husky Insider blog reader.

Plus, there's no questioning their devotion if they're going out today to tailgate in this weather before watching a couple of teams with a combined 2-14 record instead of watching from the comfort of their couch, convenient to the beer in their fridge.

ASU has a six-game losing streak.

UW has a 10-game losing streak.

Something's got to give.

Here's my Saturday game-preview story, and a quick scouting report:

ARIZONA STATE (2-6 OVERALL, 1-4 PAC-10)
AT WASHINGTON (0-8, 0-5)
Kickoff: 4 p.m. Saturday, Husky Stadium.
Television: FSN. Radio: 950-AM.

The series: UW leads, 15-12. However, ASU has won four straight – its best run in the series. The Sun Devils won 44-20 last season in Tempe, Ariz. In the 2006 meeting at Husky Stadium, ASU won 26-23 in overtime.

What to watch: ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter needs 165 passing yards to reach 10,000 for his career. The Sun Devils are among the worst rushing teams in the country, but tailback Shaun DeWitty broke out with a 110-yard performance last week at Oregon State. … Three areas of Huskies achievement: They rank second in the Pac-10 in third-down conversions and in yards penalized and third in turnovers. … The combination of UW’s record, a low-profile opponent, TV coverage and predictions of bad weather could bring out one of the smallest crowds in recent seasons.

What’s at stake: The Huskies are the only remaining winless team in the Football Bowl Subdivision. … Another loss mathematically knocks the Sun Devils out of bowl eligibility. … ASU coach Dennis Erickson, who grew up in Everett, is 0-4 as a coach at Husky Stadium. … UW wants to end its nation’s-longest 10-game losing streak, while ASU wants to avoid a school-record seventh straight loss.

UW senior forward Jon Brockman is among 50 men's college basketball players listed as preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year award.

The list is headed by Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, who won last year’s award. Ralph Sampson of Virginia is the award's only two-time winner (1982, '83).

North Carolina (Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson) had three players on the list. Six schools placed two: Louisville (Earl Clark, Terrence Williams), Duke (Kyle Singler, Gerald Henderson), Marquette (Jerel McNeal, Dominic James), Pittsburgh (DeJuan Blair, Sam Young), Connecticut (Price, Hasheem Thabeet), and Texas (Damion James, A.J. Abrams).

In all, 42 schools and 13 conferences are represented: Big East (12), ACC (8), Pac-10 (5), SEC (5), Big 12 (5), Atlantic-10 (2), Big Ten (3), Conference USA (3), Mountain West (2), West Coast (2), Colonial Athletic Association (1), Ohio Valley (1), and the Southern Conference (1).

In addition to Brockman, the other Pac-10 players are Chase Budinger of Arizona,Darren Collison of UCLA, Taj Gibson of USC and James Harden of Arizona State.

More information is available at www.woodenaward.com.

No. 21 California at No. 7 Southern California. Trojans have won last four in the series since the Golden Bears’ big upset of 2003. USC, 37-17.

Arizona at Washington State. Cougars have been outscored 127-0 over last two games... and Wildcats have a pretty good offense. Wildcats, 58-10.

Stanford at Oregon. Big bowl implications for teams tied in the middle of Pac-10 standings. Ducks, 34-27.

Oregon State at UCLA. Beavers hope this is first of two visits to Rose Bowl. OSU, 31-16.

Arizona State at Washington. Probably the two most disappointing teams in the Pac-10. ASU, 34-10.

Last week: 3-1.
Season: 45-11.
UW games: 7-1.

Postgame: Here's my game story from the Friday paper.

Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

Jon Brockman led all rebounders with 18.

Western Washington's Michael Duty -- formerly of Bellevue Community College -- led the Vikings with 17 points, and Morris Anderson of Federal Way had a really fascinating stat line: 12 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, five steals and four assists.

In general, the Huskies seemed to think they showed some flashes that they can be a very good team... but that they didn't show it for 40 minutes.

Coach Lorenzo Romar: "Well, it was good for us to finally get out on the floor. I look back to trying to compare to where we were last year at this time, and I think we’re further along. I thought we played very good defense in spurts. I thought we had too many spurts when we didn’t. And we can’t do that. We can’t do that next Saturday when we play at Portland. But overall there were a lot of positives."

ISIAH THOMAS: "It was a blessing from God. It was something I’ve been looking forward to, my family has been looking forward to, and it finally came today and I was just blessed to experience something like that."

JON BROCKMAN: "I thought we played like 30 minutes of great basketball. There were times when we were playing and I thought we were unbelievable. We were working together. On the defensive end, guys were moving, guys were talking. But then we played like that for a little bit and all of a sudden go dead and guys weren’t getting back on defense. But for the most part I thought we played a pretty good ball game.

WWU coach BRAD JACKSON on Thomas: "I've watched him play a lot growing up and what he did tonight was not surprising. Obviously, he is more mature than most freshmen, having been out of high school a couple of years. He creates so many things for you on offense. It is like guarding air: He is there, and then he's not there. He will be a great addition to their ballclub."

Final: Good news: Isaiah Thomas scored a game-high 27 points and looks to be the real thing, a difference-making scorer/passer who will change games.

Bad news: The defense has to play better than this.

I'll be back in a while with stats, notes and quotes.

First half:

Obviously, this exhibition against a Division II school isn't going to be about result, it's going to be about clues to what this Husky team might become.

A few observations along the way:

*The starting lineup was composed of Jon Brockman, Quincy Pondexter, Darnell Gant, Isaiah Thomas and Justin Dentmon.

*The first three Huskies off the bench were Mathew Bryan-Amaning, Venoy Overton and Elston Turner. The next two were Joe Wolfinger and Justin Holiday.

*With the starters on the floor, Thomas brought the ball of the court with Dentmon as the off guard. When Thomas shared the backcourt with Overton, Overton handled the point.

*Jon Brockman took the first UW free throw of the new season, and nailed it, drawing cheers. He also hit the second. The Huskies’ streak ended at three, when Thomas missed the second of two free throws. However, the Huskies ended up hitting 10 of 15 free throws in the first half ... an upgrade from the awful 58.6 percent of last season, but not as good as what they're hoping.

*From the floor, UW is 18 of 42 from the field .... only 42.9 percent against a Division II school.

*Thomas is fearless in going to the hoop. However, so far he is only going left.

*Thomas also provided the highlight of the night, a nice short of hook across-court pass behind his head to Justin Dentmon.

*Prize 2009 recruit Abdul Gaddy of Bellarmine is here and drew a chant from the Dawg Pack.

Tipoff: UW starters are Isaiah Thomas, Justin Dentmon, Quincy Pondexter, Jon Brockman and Darnell Gant.

Here we go.

5:50: A reminder that the game won't be on either TV or radio. However, there is a free video feed from the UW Website's Dawg Channel All-Access.

5:45: The teams are out on the floor for warmups. The Huskies uniforms -- home and road -- are unchanged from last season.

5:30 At Hec Ed for a first look at the new Huskies.

Jon Brockman, who hurt his back a bit earlier this week, ran through some early practices and looked fine.

The only other remaining question will be the fifth starter along with Brockman, Justin Dentmon, Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas.

I'll click in when we get that info, and then will keep this blog running through the game and after with postgame notes and quotes.

This rainy Thursday afternoon moved the Huskies’ practice into Dempsey Indoor. A rarity for the Huskies ... and a little surprising considering more rain is expected at gametime Saturday.

Meanwhile, coach Tyrone Willingham’s final injury update before the game lists linebacker Donald Butler and defensive tackle Cameron Elisara as probable for Saturday even though both missed practice time this week with neck injuries.

Finally, The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is asking fans attending Saturday’s game to bring a blanket or coat to help homeless people and other people in need.

If you want to get an early look at UW's men's basketball team, or to watch in on Isaiah Thomas' college debut, UW is making that easy with $10 tickets for tonight's 7 p.m. exhibition against Western Washington.

Here's my game preview.

Here's the game preview from the UW basketball site.

And here's some background on Western Washington .

The game won't be on either TV or radio. Your one alternative to showing up in person is watching a free video feed from the UW Website's Dawg Channel All-Access.

I'll also keep a running blog from Hec Ed.

1 USC (1) 7-1, 5-1. Mauled Huskies with starters, finished them off with subs.

2 California (5) 6-2, 4-1. At least six wins in all seven seasons under Jeff Tedford.

3 Arizona (3) 5-3, 3-1. Week off after disappointment of USC loss probably a good thing.

4 Oregon State (4) 5-3, 4-1. Win over ASU was Mike Riley’s 52nd at OSU , third on all-time list.

5 Oregon (2) 6-3, 4-2. Ducks won’t leave their home state again until bowl time.

6 Stanford (6) 5-4, 4-2. Win over WSU marked Cardinal’s first Pac-10 shutout since 1974.

7 Arizona State (8) 2-6, 1-4. Finally got running game fired up at Oregon State.

8 UCLA (7) 3-5, 2-3. Freshman Taylor Embree has 20 catches over last four games.

9 Washington (9) 0-8, 0-5. Schedule turns more manageable ... if Huskies still believe they're capable of winning. (Here's my game preview -- on the running game -- from today's paper.)

10 Washington State (10) 1-8, 0-6. Shutout again and frustrations give way to finger-pointing.

Sometimes when things go bad, they just go bad.

As you may have noticed, things are going bad with the Washington football program. And here's about as clear an indication as their is: in the last two weeks, UW has lost two starting defensive tackles in pregame warmups.

You may remember that Senio Kelemete hurt his knee while warming up before the Notre Dame game. And now it turns out that Cameron Elisara suffered a neck injury while warning up at USC. Elisara started the game, but was pulled due to that pregame injury.

Elisara is back working already this week and should be available for Arizona State this Saturday. Kelemete seems more likely for UCLA the following week.

Cornerback Mesphin Forrester (knee) also is more likely for next week than this one.

In other health news, linebacker Donald Butler (neck) wore the protective red jersey in practice yesterday, however he is expected to be ready by Saturday.

Coach Tyrone Willingham said the Tuesday practice was a good one, but the schedule had to be altered due to thunder and lightning around the stadium.

And finally, Willingham was asked his thoughts about Tuesday's election of the first African-American president, Barack Obama.
He called it a "great day for America because now what is written in the Constitution comes to life."

Washington's men's basketball exhibition at 7 p.m. Thursday against Western Washington won't be on either radio or television.

However, there are plenty of tickets available for anyone wanting a rare chance at watching the Huskies from good season.

And meanwhile, the UW Website will have free live video of the game from the Dawg Channel All-Access.

I covered UW basketball yesterday, while Eric Williams handled football. And Eric ran into an interesting story as always-interesting sixth-year center Juan Garcia spoke out after a long absence from the media.

Here's the link to the story, including a few notes at the bottom.

Two days away from the exhibition opener Thursday against Western Washington, coach Lorenzo Romar seems to be closing in on an initial starting lineup.

Romar sometimes uses the exhibition game lineup as a reward -- using his best defensive players or rebounders, for example. This season, however, he's interested in getting his actual starters some time together.

This first lineup could be altered a bit by the potential absence of Jon Brockman, who suffered an apparently minor back injury when he fell in practice.

However, he said he expects to start Brockman, Quincy Pondexter, Isaiah Thomas and Justin Dentmon. The other starter could be Darnell Gant or Mathew Bryan-Amaning, perhaps depending on Brockman's availability.

Romar went out of his way to praise Gant, almost a forgotten man after redshirting last season; and also sophomore Justin Holiday.

We'll hear from ASU coach Dennis Erickson late Tuesday morning.

In the meanwhile, a short scouting report on the Sun Devils:

ARIZONA STATE (2-6 OVERALL, 1-4 PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE)
4 p.m. Saturday, FSN, at Husky Stadium
Coach: Dennis Erickson, 12-9 in second season at ASU, 160-74 in 19th season as a head coach at six schools.

Last week: ASU lost, 27-25, at Oregon State. The Sun Devils marched 72 yards in the final two minutes for a touchdown, but their two-point try to tie failed. QB Rudy Carpenter completed 15 of 27 passes for 217 yards with one TD and no interceptions. TB Shaun DeWitty rushed for 110 yards on 16 carries.

Against the Huskies: UW leads the series, 15-12, although ASU has won four straight – its best run in the series. The Sun Devils won 44-20 last season in Tempe, Ariz. In the 2006 meeting at Husky Stadium, ASU won 26-23 in overtime.
Washington connections: Erickson is from Everett and is a former coach at Washington State and with the Seattle Seahawks. Arizona State’s roster includes only one player from the state of Washington: CB Cameron Harkey, a junior from Spokane/Lewis & Clark H.S. There are two Huskies from Arizona: CB Matt Mosley and LB Kurt Mangum, both from Chandler, less than 10 miles from the ASU campus.

Scouting report: ASU started 2-0 but has lost its last six games. … The Sun Devils rank seventh in the Pac-10 in scoring offense (20 ppg) and scoring defense (26.63 ppg). ASU started the season with questions along it offensive line, and those have not been adequately answered. The team ranks 115th nationally with 85.88 rushing yards per game, and 109th in sacks allowed. DeWitty got his first career start last week and become ASU’s first 100-yard rusher this season. … The Sun Devils’ defense has forced nine turnovers of its last three games. … QB Rudy Carpenter is sixth in Pac-10 career touchdown passes and is ninth in passing yards and total offense. … Michael Jones is fifth in Pac-10 receptions and receiving yards this season. … Kyle Williams leads the league in punt return average (15.6), and Thomas Weber leads in field goal percentage (70.6). … LB Mike Nixon is the league’s No. 3 tackler.

There wasn't much news from the UW football press conference today. A little more reaction to the big news that is now one week old -- UW's decision to dismiss coach Tyrone Willingham at the end of the season -- and what that meant to the team's concentration at USC and what it might mean this week against Arizona State.

The rest was mostly personnel updates:

Defensive tackle Cameron Elisara suffered a stinger in Saturday’s loss at Southern California, but is expected to return to practice Tuesday.

Similarly, receiver Cody Bruns suffered a mild concussion at USC but is expected to be available Tuesday.

Cornerback Mesphin Forrester, who missed the USC game due to a knee injury could miss another game or two, but the injury isn’t seen as long-term.

Willingham said he is waiting for direction from the university on how to deal with the high school recruits who have given their oral commitments to play at UW. He also said the next coach will decide whether to grant a fifth season to fourth-year players with eligibility remaining.

Washington-UCLA game on Nov. 15 has been selected for national broadcast by FSN.

The game, which features the return of former UW coach Rick Neuheisel, will kick off at 7:15 p.m.

UW has lost 10 straight games and Arizona State has lost six straight. But Vegas doesn't seem to have much doubt about which is the more struggling team, installing the Sun Devils a 14-point favorite Saturday at Husky Stadium.

I should have some information from the weekly UW press conferences at noon today, and I'll blog that once I have it.

Meanwhile, a couple of links for the week:

The official ASU football website.

The Arizona Republic's ASU coverage.

LAST WEEK
Washington (0-8 overall, 0-5 Pac-10) went against the best the conference has to offer and fell far short, 56-0, at Southern California. It was the first time the Huskies failed to score since 2001 at USC and their worst shutout loss since 1973. UW is the only major college team still winless.

SOMETHING TO BUILD ON
Very little, obviously. However, UW now moves into a three-game stretch against teams near the bottom of the league – including two at home. It may also help that the Huskies will have had another week to adjust to the idea that their coach will be replaced at the end of the season.

SOMETHING TO WORK ON
For the second consecutive week, no unit could be considered anywhere near good enough. The offense didn’t get a first down until midway through the second quarter. The defense gave up touchdowns on USC’s first six possessions. Quarterback Ronnie Fouch threw three interceptions.

PERSONNEL ISSUES
Pre-existing injuries pushed safety Tripper Johnson and cornerback Matt Moseley into the starting lineup. Johnson was in on 11 tackles, but USC receivers had a field day. DT Cameron Elisara left the game with a shoulder injury. However, no health updates are expected until Monday afternoon.

THE WEEK AHEAD
Arizona State (2-6, 1-4) visits Husky Stadium at 4 p.m. Saturday. ASU fans might be as disappointed as UW fans, because they started with higher expectations. ASU came into the season hoping to give USC a run for the title. Now they’re closer to the basement. Both teams must sense a rare chance at victory.

By the way, if UW officials thought last week's annoucement put an end to the speculation about whether Tyrone Willingham will finish out the season ... it didn't.

Among the questions to Willingham in his record-short two-and-a-half-minute postgame press conference Saturday was a question about if he would leave before the end of the season if he thought is would help the team:

TW: I think we’ve already gone through that.

That brought the follow up: Do you still think you’re the right coach on this staff to motivate the team?

TW: I would say yes.

Here's my game story.

That was a bad game, and none of the Huskies were saying otherwise.

However, while coach Tyrone Willingham indicated that part of the problem might have been disruption from the announcement that he'll leave at the end of the season, the players said that wasn't a distraction but rather an incentive to play well for their coach.

However, none could quite square that with the 56-0 result.

The players all also supported Willingham's decision to try for a touchdown in the fourth quarter rather than take a short field goal to get that zero off the board. Willingham said the team wanted to go for the TD, and the team agreed and said they apprecaited his confident in them.

Other highlights:

Player of the game
USC quarterback Mark Sanchez completed 15 of 19 passes for 167 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. And he accomplished all that in little more than a half, as he called it a night after USC’s first possession of the third quarter. Sanchez has now thrown for at least one touchdown in all 11 of his career starts.

Husky of the game
Senior linebacker Trenton Tuiasosopo recorded a game-high 12 tackles, including seven solo tackles.

Turning point
USC scored touchdowns on its first six possessions. Meanwhile, it took the Huskies six possessions to manage their first first down.

Hustle play
Midway through the third quarter, senior defensive tackle Johnie Kirton got a tackle after catching USC tailback C.J. Gable from behind 50 yards down field.
“I’m not surprised, because I know that Johnie can run,” defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said. “That’s why we’ve got him over there. His thing is to see how good a defensive lineman he can be by the end of the year.”

Alone at the bottom
Washington’s loss, coupled with North Texas’ win over Western Kentucky, leaves the Huskies as the only remaining winless team of the 119 that make up the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. UW also is in sole possession of the nation’s longest current losing streak: 10 games.

Injury report
Injuries pushed safety Tripper Johnson and cornerback Matt Moseley into the starting lineup. Defensive tackle Cameron Elisara left the game with a shoulder injury. Donatell said he doesn’t believe it is serious. Mesphin Forrester missed the game with a knee injury. Receiver Cody Bruns went to the sideline after suffering a hard hit to the head.

Extra points
Combined with Washington State’s 58-0 loss at Stanford, the Washington schools were outscored 114-0 on Saturday. … USC is now 24-0 all-time in the month of November under coach Pete Carroll. … This was USC’s third shutout of the season. However, the Huskies were shut out for the first time since a 38-0 loss at USC in 2001. This also was the Huskies worst loss since a 65-7 drubbing at Miami in 2001, and their worst shutout loss since a 58-0 beating at Oregon in 1973. … UW captains are Juan Garcia, Mike Gottlieb, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and Donald Butler. … There were light showers early in the game. Temperature was 73 degrees at kickoff.

Next
4 p.m. Saturday, Arizona State at Husky Stadium.

Here's my game story.

Heading down: I'm heading down for what are sure to be some unhappy interviews. I'll be back with notes and quotes. Any chance this looked any better on TV than it did from here?

Ty rejects FG: Facing fourth and one from within field goal range, Willingham decided to pass on the field goal that could have ended the shutout. The Huskies got the first, but then Ronnie Fouch threw an interception that keeps the zero on the scoreboard. Brave decision or foolish?

End of three: Huskies are at the SC 19 and therefore perhaps in position to get a fourth-quarter scored to avoid a shutout for the second straight week.

5:24 of the third: USC, on its first series with No. 2 QB Mitch Mustain, marched in for a TD making it 49-0

Huskies left alone: North Texas just defeated Western Kentucky, 51-40, leaving UW as the only winless team in the 119-team NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and well on their way to being the sole owner of the nation's longest losing streak: 10 games.

Halftime: As I type this, WSU is trailing Stanford 58-0, meaning the Washington schools are down a combined 100-0.

The Trojans lead in first downs, 18-2, in rushing yardage 158-10, in passing yardage 167-25 and in total yards, 325-35.

3:04 of the second: A long workmanlike drive puts USC ahead, 42-0. However, UW got its first first down on its last possession, picking up some applause from the Coliseum crowd.

9:06 of the second: A Ronnie Fouch pass was intercepted, and SC covered the needed 16 yards on two runs. SC, 35-0.

(At this moment, Stanford is leading WSU 51-0, meaning the Washington teams are trailing right now by a combined 86-0.)

(Meanwhile, North Texas -- the only other winless team in the FBS -- is up in the fourth quarter.)

10:37 of second: UW stopped SC on fourth and goal at the one. However, a Husky lined up offsides, and SC scored on its next try. It's that kind of day. Or maybe just that kind of team.

End of first quarter: USC, 21-0. Huskies have four three-and-out possessions for a total of 14 yards.

3:31 of the first:Trojans went 33 yards in two plays. SC, 21-0.

UW had 10 yards on nine plays and no first downs.

4:28 of the first: Quinton Richardson bit big-time on a pump and go, which resulted in a 32-yrd SC TD.

10:14 of the first: UW offense went three and out. USC went 57 yards in nine plays, with QB Mark Sanches completing five of five.

Kickoff: USC won the toss and elected to defer. UW will receive to start the game... giving them an early look at the nation's best defense.

Three UW lineup changes: Jermaine Kearse starting at wide receiver, Tripper Johnson at safety and Matt Moseley at cornerback.

UW captains are Juan Garcia, Mike Gottlieb, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and Donald Butler.

It doesn't seem to be raining now, but it looks like we'll have off and on showers. It's also breezy. Temperature is 73 degrees.

2:40: Less than an hour until kickoff and it's raining.

2:15 Uh-oh. North Texas -- the only winless FBS team other than Washington -- has taken a lead in the first quarter of its game today against Western Kentucky.

2:05: I haven't seen the UW travel roster yet, but
we are told that safety Victor Aiyewa (groin) and corner Mesphin Forrester (knee)did not make the trip, so that's a couple of would-be-starters out of the secondary against the top pass-efficiency quarterback in the Pac-10.

2 p.m. The Trojans are in the house. They arrive with a bit of fanfare here. A victory bell is rung and they walk down a ramp into the stadium from the side that once held the Olympic flame. Then they walk onto the field and huddle at midfield.

The drama of the whole thing is cut a big because the huge stadium is empty except for what ahhears to be a thousand or so folks in the student section and just the smallest dotting of fans spread out across the rest of the place.

Anyway, the Trojans are heading up the tunnel to the locker room now.

1:50: There are a lot of clowns around the stadium today, and I mean that literally. LA celebrates Halloween like no town I've ever seen. Last night there was a huge party in West Hollywood -- I mean like downtown Seattle for the Seafair parade -- and apparently it wasn't enough, because there are lots of folks in costume here today.

I got here early -- even ahead of the traffic, which I thought was impossible in LA -- and spent an hour or so walking around the stadium and the USC campus a block or so away. It's homecoming, so there's lots of tailgating and the rest. Nice gameday atmosphere.

Plus, I just like this stadium. You can see the "Hollywood" sign from the press box. And, of course, there's all the history. And then, wandering over to the main entrance, you're reminded what history really is. There are two blocks of stone: one from the Roman Coliseum, and one from an ancient Olympic site in Greece.

The block from the Coliseum seems to be a solid block of stone. But the Athens block seems some sort of concrete-like mix. You look at it closely, and its dotted with seashells. And you just look at them and wonder how old they are, where they came from, what ancient human placed the block. Amazing stuff.

If any of you travel with the Huskies now and then, and haven't done the Coliseum yet, I recommend it highly.

(That said, I haven't really noticed any traces of the ongoing renovation that was promised to keep the Trojans here.)

Finally, we'll do our normal gameday blogging. I'll pop in here with pregame news as it develops, then keep a running blog through the game, then I'll go dark while going down for postgame notes and quotes. Then I'll return with a final post.

The game is on FSN. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m.

I belatedly got around to skimming though USA Today's NBA preview section, which published on Tuesday.

It has a story on the Sonics' move to Oklahoma City, which includes a comparison chart of the two cities.

Under "National/professional titles" for OKC it lists the seven Oklahoma college football titles (even though the university is in Norman, 23 miles away.) However, for Seattle, it lists the Sonics 1979 NBA title and even the Storm's 2004 WNBA title, but nothing about those 1991 Huskies ... or -- more understandably -- the 1960 Huskies.

Under "Famous athletes" the OKC chart lists Jim Thorpe and Barry Sanders and Mickey Mantle, while the Seattle list once again is Husky-free: Steve Largent, Ken Griffey Jr. and Lenny Wilkins.

The preseason Associated Press and ESPN men's basketball rankings are out now.

The Huskies received 18 votes, good for a No. 35 rankings, in the mendia poll, and eight votes, good for a No. 38 ranking in the coaches' poll.