| There is some good news for the 10 worst | | | | other team has more. |
| Sagarin-ranked Division 1-A teams in the | | | | 5) Washington ranks 118th among 119 teams in |
| nation-they are not the worst team in the nation. | | | | total defense (yards given up). |
| When we pose the question, "So who are the | | | | 6) Washington ranks 114th among 119 teams in |
| current worst players in Division I-A football in the | | | | scoring defense. |
| nation?", Army (ranked 190th among 119 Division | | | | 7) Washington ranks 116th among 119 teams in |
| 1-A teams), Idaho (180th), Eastern Michigan | | | | rushing defense. |
| (171st), North Texas (152nd), Southern Methodist | | | | 8) Washington ranks 119th among 119 teams in |
| (148th), Kent State (145th), Alabama-Birmingham | | | | pass efficiency defense. |
| (140th), Louisiana-Monroe (138th) and Washington | | | | 9) Stanford, the Huskies last opponent and last |
| State (136th) can all breathe a sigh of relief. The | | | | home game opponent, came in averaging 272 |
| spotlight will not be on them. | | | | yards of offense and walked out of Husky |
| There are actually 31 other teams (too numerous | | | | Stadium with a 35-28 win and 466 yards of |
| and irrelevant to mention here) ranked lower than | | | | offense. |
| the current worst team in 1-A football. | | | | The new Husky defensive coordinator this year is |
| The worst team after college football's 5th week | | | | Ed Donatell, a former successful defensive |
| is ranked 90th by Sagarin, and is none other than | | | | coordinator for the Green Bay Packers and |
| the University of Washington Huskies. | | | | Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. This should give you |
| This is not an idle designation or flippant comment, | | | | some idea of the current lack of defensive talent |
| the Washington Huskies have earned this dubious | | | | at the University of Washington. Last year |
| distinction based on their non-performance on the | | | | Washington's defensive secondary could not |
| field of battle. | | | | cover my grandmother. Apparently this year's |
| Among other considerations that qualify | | | | version of a secondary is even less capable. |
| Washington as currently the worst 1-A team in | | | | Jake Locker, Washington' top offensive threat, |
| the nation are these irrefutable facts: | | | | broke the first metacarpal of the right thumb on |
| 1) Washington is the only winless Bowl | | | | his throwing hand, so reserve redshirt freshman |
| Championship Series team in the country. | | | | quarterback Ronnie Fouch will take over. Fouch's |
| 2) Washington is the only winless team from a | | | | backups will be walk-on redshirt freshman Taylor |
| major conference, and is only 1 of 3 winless | | | | Bean and true freshman Luther Leonard. If |
| teams among the 119 schools in the NCAA's Bowl | | | | Washington had no bad news, they would have |
| Subdivision (called Division 1-A by normal people | | | | no news at all. |
| left over from earlier generations). North Texas | | | | On the bright side, the Washington Huskies have |
| (0-4) and Army (0-4), both mentioned earlier, are | | | | played the toughest schedule among all 245 |
| the other winless teams. | | | | Division 1-A and 1-AA schools, according to the |
| 3) Washington has zero (zip, nada) quarterback | | | | Sagarin's ratings. Some pundits thought that if |
| sacks this season, and ranks last among 119 | | | | Huskies did not beat Stanford when they had the |
| teams in quarterback sacks nationally. Apparently | | | | chance, they might not get a win all year. They |
| the Husky defenders do not know who to tackle | | | | just might be right. |
| when, or are unable to advance far enough on | | | | It looks like it is going to take some serious |
| defense to get the job done. | | | | growing up and playing up for the Huskies to do |
| 4) Washington's defense ranks dead last in tackles | | | | anything except diddly-squat. |
| for loss. They have 13 in 5 games and every | | | | |
