A GRIP ON SPORTS • Seahawks win! Seahawks win! Seahawks win! Now that we’ve gotten the bottom line out of the way, let’s delve a bit deeper into what happened last night in Santa Clara, shall we? Read on.

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• Be honest. When the Hawks entered the fourth quarter last night leading by two touchdowns, you started running scenarios through your mind, didn’t you? You know what I mean. You expected them to blow the lead, didn’t you? Or did the 49ers look so inept, that thought didn’t even cross your mind? Which brings up a conundrum Hawk fans face right now. To illustrate it, let’s quickly recap the records of the teams Seattle has defeated this season: the Bears are 2-4, the Lions 1-5 and the 49ers, after last night's 20-3 Hawk win, are 2-5. Conversely, the teams that Seattle has lost to are:  St. Louis, at 2-3, Green Bay, 6-0, Cincinnati, 6-0, and Carolina, 5-0. In other words, the Hawks have proven they can beat the NFL’s bad teams, with St. Louis being the exception, as it often is with Seattle. Now can the Hawks actually beat a decent team? We may not find out for a while. The Hawks don’t play again until November, when they open the month at 2-3 Dallas, who still won’t have starting quarterback Tony Romo. Then comes a bye. And then Arizona comes to town. The Cardinals, who visit CenturyLink on the 15th, should be 6-2 when they hit town. And that game should tell us more. But for now all we have is last night’s win as evidence of improvement. And there was that, except in one glaring area. The defense was lights-out unmovable last night, allowing the 49ers just 142 yards of total offense. (Richard Sherman showed the nation what he can do to a good receiver in Kris Richards' scheme when the front is applying even decent pressure – Seattle had six sacks of Colin Kaepernick for a loss of 43 yards – by completely shutting down Torrey Smith.) The offense was good enough, thanks in large part to Marshawn Lynch and his 27 carries for 122 yards – subtract five carries early on inside the 3-yard-line and Lynch averaged more than 5 yards an attempt. That’s good. The receivers were more than adequate, the special teams solid and the passing game ... ah, there’s the rub. When Russell Wilson drops back to pass, it’s an adventure and not is a good way. He was sacked five times again last night – we are not going to get into the eternal debate between the “he’s holding the ball too long” crowd and the “offensive line sucks” group – and tossed two interceptions. Neither of those things is good. Duh. It’s an area that still needs fixing and everyone, I’m sure, is beginning to wonder if it can be this season. And without a cure, what ails the Hawks, losing to good teams, will not go away.

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• WSU: Oh, what could have been. The WSU soccer team came this close to upsetting No. 4 Stanford, losing 2-1 in double overtime at home. ... That’s what we used to call in the baseball biz starting the batter with a change-up. Now back to the heat. Jacob Thorpe’s new-look practice report last night focused on how the WSU defense preps for hurry-up offenses so prevalent in college football these days (though let’s hope Jacob’s Thursday night football report doesn’t violate some unwritten rule). Arizona plays as fast as just about anyone in the nation and features two quarterbacks who bring different skills, as Jacob’s story in today’s S-R shows. ... After practice Jacob talked with and recorded videos of assistant coaches Alex Grinch and Clay McGuire. ... Today, Jacob has his morning post with links. ... Luke Falk and the offense is the subject of this ESPN.com Pac-12 blog piece. ... Want some picks? Sure you do, though these are already 0-1 this week. ... Oregon State has some new help with the offense.

• Gonzaga: BYU installed a new scoreboard in its arena. Turns out the old board was off-center. It’s all part of major renovations aimed at keeping the Cougars competitive.

• EWU: Jim Allen starts your Friday with a feature on offensive lineman Thomas Gomez. You can file this one under the heading “redemption story.” ... Jim held a live chat yesterday and has posted a transcript. ... The volleyball team lost in straight sets at Idaho State.

• Whitworth: Linfield has been the most successful football program in the Northwest Conference for as long as anyone can remember. Whitworth would like to knock the Wildcats off that perch. The two undefeated teams meet in Oregon this Saturday. Tom Clouse has an advance. ... The Whitworth men are ranked third in the preseason Division III poll, their highest preseason ranking ever.

• Golf: MeadowWood pro Bob Scott is battling cancer. His friends have gotten together to put on a benefit golf tournament. The turnout is impressive. Jim Meehan has more in this story.

• Preps: The Central Valley Bears earned a football postseason berth with a 27-8 win over Ferris last night. Greg Lee has the coverage. ... Greg also has a preview of this weekend’s Idaho state cross country races. ... The fall state playoffs are in full swing in Idaho, with competitions in boys soccer, girls soccer and volleyball. ... The GSL slowpitch playoffs are underway. ... The league volleyball season is winding down. ... GNL soccer is close at the top.

• Seahawks: No matter what, a win against the 49ers is better than a loss. That truly is the bottom line. And it may have the Hawks back on the right track. ... Despite seeing a lot of the game from the seat of his pants, Wilson did get the time to team up with Tyler Lockett on a long touchdown pass. Maybe that’s what he meant by telling his teammates to “believe” before the game. ... The Legion of Boom seemed to be back as well. ... Kris Richards was happy with the effort, especially Michael Bennett’s up front. ... Everyone received high marks after this one. ... Everyone from Seattle, that is. The 49ers are in disarray and people are pointing fingers after the loss.

• Mariners: Reports are filtering out from a variety of sources Jerry Dipoto has made his managerial choice. It seems to be his former catcher, Scott Servais.

• Sounders: There will be a new announcer for the Sounders next year as the franchise is cutting ties with Ross Fletcher.... Seattle isn't the only team trying to clinch a playoff berth this weekend. So is Fanendo Adi and the Portland Timbers.

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• Only one more day to Saturday. You know what that means, right? Yep, yard work. Oh, and college football. Until later ...

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