Wednesday, September 2, 2015

September Means Football


Usually I want to enjoy watching baseball through October with some interest in football; however, like a lot of recent years except last year the Seattle Mariners have done so poorly I start looking at football earlier.

I am more than a casual fan I just don’t put in one hundred percent into it like those who love football a lot and stay tuned even during the off season. I know there are those who watch every pre-season game and don’t miss any of the action. I only watch a portion of those games; however, when the season starts I do see all the games. If the Mariners are playing at the same time I will watch them during commercial ads and then switch back to the Seahawks when action starts again unless it is a year like last year when the Mariners were in the running to make the playoffs. In those cases I will watch more of the Mariner game still keeping my eye on the Seahawks.

Besides the Seahawks I am a UW Husky fan as well so opening season again Boise State starts on Friday night Sept. 4. I will watch most of that game switching to the Mariners during commercial breaks. I know some people may find that odd thing to do. When I was a kid I usually listen to a football game on the radio and watch a baseball game on television; this was before the Mariners came into existence. I loved watching Saturday baseball on television each week. At that time the Husky games were not on television very often; of course, if they were on television then I would do the same as I do now switch back and forth during commercial breaks. I call myself a sports freak not just a baseball or football fan.

This season the Huskies have a young team on both offense and defense so at this point it is hard to know how many games they will win over the season. My guess is that they will six games; most likely I am being optimistic but being a fan you have to be. They likely will be starting a freshman quarter- back named Jake Browning though Coach Peterson has not named a quarterback as of yet. We may not know the quarterback starting until before game time.

The Huskies defense will be starting a brand new group of guys on the line so it is real hard to know how they will do. Last year with an experience line it took them at least a couple games to get a rush on the opposing teams quarterback so I expect it will take them even longer this year.  The important thing though for the line is to be able to stop the running game so the defensive backs can use their job when the opposition throws the ball. I would not be surprised if Boise State will try to run the ball against the Huskies a lot before throwing the ball. If they are able to run the ball with success then the passing game will open up as well.

On the offensive side the Huskies will be starting with Dwayne Washington at running back along with a couple of backups. The Huskies success against Boise State will depend on the running game since they also have inexperience as far as their receivers go and of course the quarterback. In the same way if they are able to run the ball with success it will allow Browning to be able to feel comfortable to throw the ball from the pocket. The first game will give us more of an idea what kind of team the Huskies will be.

Besides the Huskies I am sure the Pac-12 season will be another exciting season. I believe the Oregon Ducks have to be favored to win the North again while in the South it will be tougher competition. USC should be expected to be at the top with the Arizona schools along with UCLA to try and knock them off. Do not expect a lot out of Colorado and Utah.

In the NFL the Seahawks have one remaining pre-season game on Thursday against the Oakland Raiders before starting the season on the road at St.Louis on Sunday September 13th. The Seahawks likely will play a lot of players who are on the bubble to make the season opener roster.

So everyone let football season begin and let your favorite teams win. Go Seahawks and Huskies!

 

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