Washington Huskies and WSU Cougars Both Lose

The Washington Huskies and the Cougars

 both lose Friday evening. The first Friday

game for both teams. They are both winless

in their conferences to. They totally different 

games though.

The Huskies game ended before the Cougars

game though they started about the same

time.  The Huskies were slight favorites 

playing at home but this was the largest 

margin of defeat as well.  Final was Iowa 41

Washington 24

The game was basically over by half time.

The Huskies offense couldn't do anything

in the first half and the defense had trouble 

stopping Iowa.  The first quarter  Iowa 

kicked a field goal in their first possession 

then another one in the second possession.

The Huskies offense couldn't get anything 

going. All season long the first quarter has

 been tough on them. Right about the end

of the first quarter the Huskies punted the

ball and Iowa was able to run back to the 44

yard line on their side of the. The very next

play Iowa was able to run it back for 56 yards

and a touchdown.

Jeremy Hecklinski Iowa's backup quarterback 

ended up starting because of an injury to

starter Hank Brown who had to leave in last

weeks game. Hecklinski threw two touchdown

passes in the second quarter. Just after the

two minute warning the Huskies kicked a field goal.

Quarterback Desmond Williams Jr. was sacked 

and left the game. See if he is back next week.

Elijah Brown the Huskies backup quarterback 

went the rest of the way. Brown actually threw

two touchdowns in the third quarter and Iowa

had another one in between those two.

In the 4th quarter  the Hawkeyes ran for another touchdown. The Huskies though got a touchdown 

when the clock run out. For the first time in

over a decade the Huskies ran for negative yards

at -3. The Huskies had 320 yards passing.

The Huskies couldn't stop the Hawkeyes running

game that was for 263 yards. Next week the 

Huskies play again on Friday at Purdue. Go Dawgs.

The Cougars ended up losing a close game

although they had a good lead at half time

The Cougars had two field goals in the first

quarter so Utah State was blanked. Utah

State had a field goal early on in the 2nd quarter.

The Cougars next possession they had their

third field goal of the half and had a touchdown 

to making it 16-3 Cougars lead going into

the third quarter.

The trouble was the Cougars weren't able to

score at all in the second half. Utah State had

a touchdown in the third and 4th quarters 

after the Cougars had fumbled. The Cougars 

still had a chance to win on a field goal at least

however came up short on third down. They 

end up punting and Utah State kept them out. 

Final Utah State 17 WSU 16. Hopefully the

Cougars learned a lesson. 

The Cougars play Oregon State next Saturday 

at Corvallis. Go Cougs. 

Preview SF 49ers at Seahawks

The Seahawks are favored by a field goal 

at home but both teams have good offenses

and defenses. 

The 49ers are 4-0 while the Seahawks 3-1. 

Last year the Seahawks won both games

and it is important to at least split if wanting

to make the playoffs every year.  The 49ers

had a lot of injuries last year and still won

12 games. They finished third behind the 

Seahawks and Rams.

This year the 49ers are healthy right now.

Quarterback Brock Purdy is having a very

good season throwing for 1007 and their

offensive line is doing well since he hasn't 

been sacked once.  Purdy does a good 

avoiding the rush. The Seahawks have

good speed on the defense and will have

to slow Purdy and receivers.

Running back Christian McCaffrey, wide 

receiver  Deboo Samuel Sr. and George 

Kittle tight end are having stiller seasons 

so far which means the Seahawks defense

has a job of slowing them down. 

The 49ers have injuries to their defensive 

backs so Sam Darnold with Jaxon Smith-

Njigba and the rest of receiving group will

try to take advantage of it. Be important 

if the 49ers offense is going strong. The

Seahawks running game with Emanuel Wilson 

will have to do the job to setup the receivers.

We won't see Jadarian Price  for a few more

weeks.  This should be exciting for sure. 

Go Hawks.

Seattle Mariners 40 Man Roster Right Now

The Mariners right now have 23 pitchers on

the 40 man roster. All but two pitch at one

time of another during the 2026.

The Mariners have six starters so someone 

should be traded to pick up a reliever or a

bat depending who would be available in

a trade. Logan Evans who missed last season 

would be considered a 7th starter. Now

who would the Mariners trade to get someone.

Some say Logan Gilbert who is the closest 

to be a free agent should be the guy but he

would be a good choice to sign to an extension.

Bryce Miller and George Kirby who both struggling 

throughout the season though had good moments 

to be traded. All the starters enjoy being in Seattle 

as well. It comes down to the best offer out there.

The bullpen suffered when Matt Brash went on

the injured list which hurt the Mariners from

making the playoffs. They need to find someone 

to move into his spot even if he returns healthy 

in 2027. Acquiring another lefty for the bullpen 

should be priority too. They needed additional 

depth in case of injuries or poor performance 

too. The bullpen can't be a sure thing from one

season to the next. 

Hoby Milner is a lefty they had in September but 

he will be a free agent so they want to resign 

him is a question mark. The Mariners have

15 relievers on the 40 man roster not counting 

Milner and they will have 8 when the season 

starts unless they want to go with six starters. 

The Mariners have eight relievers including 

Matt Brash returning along with Carlos Vargas 

who returned late in the season.The two lefties

in Jose Ferrer and Gabe Speier. Are they good 

enough or should one of them be replaced.

Eduardo Bazardo had a poor September for 

sure. Can he return to his former self or not.

The Mariners have to make at least one move

in the bullpen. The question is who will be

gone. 

The Mariners have three catchers.  We are

familiar with Cal Raleigh and back up Jhonny 

Pereda who had 90 at bats while hitting .300

with two home runs and eight rbis. Outside

the batting average not great stats but seemed

to do fine defensively. The question why didn't 

the Mariners not keep him when Cal returned

instead of Mitch Garver. The Mariners should 

keep him unless they can find another backup

catcher instead. The Mariners third catcher

is Willie McIver who they acquired on waivers

from Toronto who they had him from Texas

Rangers. His major league was only with the

Athletics last year where he batted .186. 

The limited time in triple A Tacoma he hit

.270. The Mariners have several minor league 

catching prospects where one of them could

be the backup to call and get significant 

time playing though we are most likely have

to wait until 2028 at the earliest. 

The Mariners have 13 infielders on their 

40 man roster.  There will be four starters 

plus likely two on the bench. Among those 

Colt Emerson and Will Wilson who had little 

playing time are on the injured list ending 

the season. The Mariners would like

Emerson to be the starting shortstop if

he is ready when spring training ends.

Wilson is a former number one draft pick

though he has little major league experience 

and below two hundred he is 28 years old 

so Wilson could be welcome for depth.

JP Crawford listed as well though he will be

a free agent. The question is will the Mariners 

want to retain him or not. So that leaves

ten infielders besides those three. Naylor 

and Cole Young at second and third. The 

question is if the Mariners acquire a bat will

that be a third baseman. They do so then

Brendan Donovan and Michael Arroyo be

the two infielders though they may see 

action in the corner outfields as well. In

that case having a third infielder on the

bench is a possibility.  Four infielders 

could be at triple A for depth purposes.

The Mariners have eight outfielders and

Dh on the 40 man roster. Randy Arozarena 

and Taylor Ward are both free agents to be.

Ward is likely not to return and Arozarena 

may not either. If Arozarena doesn't return

the Mariners will likely have to acquire 

another outfielder or Montes and Canzone

be the guys right now to occupy those

spots.  Montes likely would platoon with

Arroyo. We can see Donovan out in left

and right if they do pick up a 3rd baseman.

Brennen Davis who spent most of the 

season on the injured list though began

at triple A and Luke Raley who had 262

at bats with 15 home runs while batting 

.225. He doesn't hit lefties very well.

He is due arbitration but the Mariners 

could non tender him which would mean

he would become a free agent.  Victor

Robles has an option year so be could 

return of the M's decline he would be a

free agent.

Both Raley and Robles are the only two

who could play center field if Julio  needed

a day off. These two are let go then whatever 

bat they acquire would need to play center

too.  If the Mariners and Arozarena be able

to make a deal he would be the other one.

Whatever the Mariners do the question is

will they hire the manager and the coaches

before or not. Still answers to find. Go M's. 

.

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Preview WSU Cougars At Utah State

Monday the news out of Pullman head

coach Kirby Moore is taking over the 

duties of play calling. This doesn't mean

the offensive coordinator is out. Moore

who was offensive coordinator at Missouri 

last year so not far from the job.

Moore could have the duties for a week 

to show what he wants for the offense

then just telling the OC.  Showing can

be what the offensive coaches need to

see. 

One thing is there sees more use of the

running backs coming out of the backfield 

as well as running the ball. This is something 

the Huskies and Seahawks need to do we

what they do to.  The Cougars lost their

number one receiver in the Apple Cup for

the season so that could be a difference 

as well.  The offensive line needing to do

a better job.

Moore didn't come out saying Caden Pinnick 

is the guy this week either so we will see.

The Cougars are 1-4 and none of the losses

were close at least by the score. The win 

was against a team they were highly favored 

agains. Last weeks game the Cougars were

favored by a field goal at home and lost to

Fresno State 26-6. The two field goals were 

in the first half too. 

The Utah State Aggies have the same record

as the Cougars and are favored  at 5.5 points.

Be the home team might be the reason. They 

weren't expected to be good this season. 

The Cougars have averaged 22.5 points a

game while giving up 25 points. The Aggies

have averaged 13 points a game while 

giving up 28.4 a game. The only team they

both played was the Huskies and the Aggies 

kept it very close.  The Cougars played the

opening of the season so can only judge

so much.

Both teams total yardage isn't far off from

each other. The Cougars are averaging 

313.8 a game while the Aggies is only six 

more. It is interesting with difference in

scoring points. Pinnick is completing 61.3%

while throwing 5 interceptions compared

to three touchdowns in the three games total.

He has three running touchdowns to.

The Aggies are better at throwing the ball

than the Cougars while it is the other way

around running the ball. The Cougars use

two running backs while the Aggies go with

one most of the time. Last week the Cougars 

didn't do well running the ball  compared to 

passing. We will have to see how it goes 

this week though Moore wants to have

success doing both. Go Cougs 

Preview Iowa at Washington

The Iowa Hawkeyes have a 4-1 on the season. 

They are 1-1 in the Big Ten beating Michigan

20-19 the lost to Ohio State 31-14 last Saturday. 

This game takes place Friday evening at Husky 

Stadium. The Huskies are favored by 2.5 points.

That has to be one of the closest games at Husky

Stadium where they are favored. 

The Huskies are 0-2 in Big Ten games so this

is an important game for them to win. The 

Huskies offense has struggled at times in

all five games they have played. Last Saturday 

at USC the Huskies had a chance to win but

bad play in the 4th quarter cost them the game.

The three touchdowns the Huskies had were

unconventional but when they had the opportunity 

late they played conventional. Huskies quarterback 

hasn't done as well that way.  They three td's

were a bright idea but why not stay that way.

The Huskies running game hasn't been good

all season losing three running backs and

the offensive line hasn't been good either 

Desmond Williams Jr has had to hurry passes 

as well because of protection breaking down.

The Huskies have had success going to their

tight ends. They need to stay in the same

play calling. The Huskies Lose this is going 

to be difficult for them the rest of the year.

The Hawkeyes are hard to defend since both

running and passing are both a little over

two hundred yards each. The Huskies defense

against the run hasn't been as good against 

the run as expected. If they can stop the big

running plays  that will help a lot.   The 

Hawkeyes average 29 points a game while

the defense is averaging 12.6 points a game

which is 7th in the country so this will make

it difficult for the Huskies.  Since the Huskies

play well at home most of the time this will

be a big factor. 

Hank Brown is the Hawkeyes quarterback.

On the season Brown has completed 

78 of 124 for completion of 62.9 percent

for 832 yards with five touchdowns and

one interception again Ohio State last 

Saturday.  Hank was injured in the 3rd 

quarter last week though expected to

play. 

Kamari  Moulton is the starting running

back with 33 percent of the carries with

50 for  311 yards and two touchdowns.

They have two running backs with 19

carries. Sophomore Braeden Jackson 

with 170 yards with two td's, and junior

Xavier Williams for 167 yards and  3 td's.

The 4th running back Nathan McNeil 

has 21 carries for 128 yardsand two td's.

This will be a fortable group to go against.

The Hawkeyes catches are done primarily 

by their three top three receivers. Tony Diaz

a junior leads with 25 catches with one TD

which was in the opening game of the 

season and longest reception to yards. 

Another junior Reeze Vander Zee is third

with 13 catches with two touchdowns both

against Michigan and leads the team in

touchdown catches. Tight end DJ Vonnahme

is second with 16 catches with 21 yards the 

longest. Another tight end Addison Ostrenga

is 4th with seven. He has no touchdowns 

however his longest catch 29 yards against 

Michigan.

On defense Iowa tackles are done by three

linebackers of the top four. Junior Cam

Buffington leads with 44. Second is defensive 

back Zach Lutmer with 31 tackles. Linebacker 

Jaden Montgomery is third with 27 and a 

sack against Michigan. Landyn is 4th with

19 tackles and assisted on a sack in the

season opener. 

Defense back Deshaun Lee has 17 tackles 

with two interceptions with the latest against 

Michigan. Defensive Lineman Bryce Hawthorne 

is tied with Lee in tackles the most by any 

lineman and has one and a half sacks. 

Though the Huskies are slight favorites

at home they will need to play like last

week to win on Friday. Go Dawgs. 

Cal and Naylor Have Off-season Surgeries

Two important members of the Mariners 

lineup Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor had

surgery recently since the Mariners didn't 

make the playoffs.

There weren't alone that the Mariners didn't 

make the playoffs however if they had been

100 percent healthy they might have made

it. Cal was out for just over a month returning 

after the all-star break. Interesting he blasted 

home runs in rehab assignment with the

triple A Tacoma before being activated. It

showed it didn't help him to face major league 

pitching. We will never know but it could 

have still affected his hitting.  He played in

14 games and his batting average didn't 

really change at all.  He had one home run 

in July and five rbis. He had one double as

his only other extra base hit.

Much of August he wasn't hitting well either.

In fact his average went down until August 

21 when he hit a home run and driving in

three runs and then on the 24th he had three

home runs. He had three more the rest of

the month. In September he had only three 

home runs but still had a batting average 

that ended at 182.  The first of May Cal was

hitting .186.  Only a few days before in April

he was batting .205.  His average continue 

to go down when they finally put him on

the injured list because of his oblique. The 

surgery was to cleanup on his shoulder.

Many were aware that Cal wasn't throwing 

out a lot of runners though the pitchers

could have played a part as well. 

Josh Naylor had surgery to his right wrist.

He said that you have to play through pain 

and doesn't use it as an excuse.  At the 

plate the wrist was showing giving him

problems though he ended up with a good 

average though was low on how runs which

this was part of his problem. Also his defense 

wasn't good either. 

Josh was in a slump at the beginning of the 

season and didn't get over .200 until almost

the end of April. His average climbed after 

that and his high .272 was on  September 16 

but the wrist must still had bothered him

that he ended up  .261.  Josh had only 10 

home runs which was his lowest since 2021

when he played in 69 games.  He did have 

23 doubles although lower than  any year 

except in 2021.  He had only  57 rbis and

with that he batted .212 with runners in

scoring position.  That shows a lot since

the teams batting average RISP was .233.

The team batting was .228 so they were

slightly higher with runners on base. 

A healthy Cal and Josh in 2027  will help

the Mariners a lot in 2027. We know Cal

being a catcher it will be hard to come

by over the full season. Hopefully whoever 

is Manager and the backup catcher Cal

will  catch less games in 2027. Go M's 

Seattle Kraken 1-1 Over Weekend

The Seattle Kraken has their second and

third games on the season so they are 

now 2-1.

On Saturday the Kraken lost to Edmonton

Oilers on their home place 3-1. Not a

big surprise since the Oilers and the 

Vegas Golden Knights are two of the

favorites to win the Pacific division.

After last season still up in the air

how the Kraken will finish though the

bottom half is likely unless they prove

otherwise.

On Sunday they bounced back in their

home opener beating Calgary 6-1 this

being the same score as they won in

Calgary on Thursday. 

Tuesday the Kraken play  Vegas at home. 

This game may give us more answers we

hope. After that they have two days off

before playing the Redwings in Detroit

and on Sunday the Washington Capitals 

on the road too.  In all the Kraken have

five road games in a row before coming 

home. Go Kraken.