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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Dawgs Might Be Real Mutts Lack Of Depth Could Kill UW’s Run For No. 1

Blaine Newnham Seattle Times

The Huskies haven’t had this kind of buildup to a season since 1982, when they were ranked No. 1 after thrashing Iowa in the Rose Bowl the previous season.

That team ended up playing in the Aloha Bowl.

The returning talent, the schedule and the preseason hubbub unquestionably put this season’s Washington team in position to win a national championship.

The journey from here to there, from the Sunday in 1993 when the Pac-10 announced its program-crippling sanctions and Don James quit, to a September in 1997 when the Huskies are ranked No. 1 by The New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune and Atlanta Constitution, is remarkable, perhaps unprecedented.

That said, the Huskies are overrated.

Without appropriate emotion and midseason execution, the game Saturday at BYU could end the party before it starts.

There is no question these Huskies are not as strong or deep as the 1991 team that went undefeated and had most games won before halftime. The Pac-10 sanctions took a toll that leaves them a few key injuries from being ordinary.

They don’t have the depth at quarterback and running back they had a year ago. They have some wonderful players on defense - Jason Chorak, Tony Parrish and Jerry Jensen - but no proven performers behind them.

They had severe punting problems last season, and practices this fall have shown little improvement.

They scored touchdowns 68 percent of the time last season when they got inside the other team’s 20-yard line. Corey Dillon, who carried the offense, is gone.

The Huskies aren’t sure how much their best offensive lineman, Benji Olson, can play. He has had limited practice after back surgery.

And even with Olson healthy a year ago, they didn’t have the power to compete against the two big-time programs they played, Notre Dame and Colorado.

They are an intellectual choice to win the national title. They have the quarterback, the running back, the offensive line, the swarming defense and the schedule.

But do they have the brute power? Surely there was an outage last season in South Bend, Ind. The way they were manhandled in the Holiday Bowl, can you suggest they are now on a par with Colorado?

The Huskies haven’t won a bowl game or a Pac-10 championship under Jim Lambright. Perhaps they should start there.

Lambright has decided to revel in the preseason acclaim for his program, certain the national attention will precipitate national recruiting, yet he will admit getting back to the Rose Bowl is a more attainable goal.

There is no team with the reputation of a Miami or Florida State to overcome. They can make their case against BYU and Nebraska and meet Penn State in one of history’s great Rose Bowl matchups.

But will they?

The odds are against them. The dream schedule is tougher than it needs to be. As high as the Huskies are ranked, they don’t need to play Nebraska. They could play Kansas and do themselves just about as much good.

But to worry more about the destination than the journey is always a mistake. The Sept. 20 game against Nebraska should be one of the most anticipated moments in UW history. Any number of teams have as good a shot to win a national title as do the Huskies, including Nebraska.

When all is said and done, the success of this season for Washington will be measured in the Pac-10 standings, not the national polls.

Through it all, Lambright has done a magnificent job of putting his team in a position to go to the Rose Bowl, where the Huskies haven’t been since January 1992.

Failing to win a national championship shouldn’t be a disappointment. Failing to get to the Rose Bowl should.