Weekend Sports Roundup: Happy to be Wrong Edition
A Rare Win: Yesterday, we were certain the Seahawks would fall to 2-7, that their struggling offense would come up short against the Baltimore Ravens' defense. Well, we were wrong. The Seahawks won 22-17. We could discuss how Seattle's play was far from perfect, how Tavaris Jackson had difficulty connecting with receivers and how the majority of points (16 to be exact) still came from the foot of Steven Haushka. We could bring up that the Seahawks still made plenty of dumb mistakes that racked up penalty yards, especially in the fourth quarter when it seemed they might be trying to lose the game. But, we'd rather talk about the positives, like how Marshawn Lynch had his first ever back-to-back 100-yard-plus rushing games and how he outmaneuvered Ray Lewis on one of his 32 carries. We'd rather praise Tavaris Jackson for a solid performance, in which he threw for 217 yards without an interception in sight. We'd rather just celebrate an all to rare win for this young Seahawks team.
Next Up: Locking horns with the St. Louis Rams.
Late Season Struggles: The UW football team was routed on Saturday, falling 40-17 to the resurgent USC Trojans and stringing together losses for the first time this season. Saturday's defeat continued the Huskies' trend of losing to ranked teams, showcasing that while UW has exhibited marked improvement on the offensive side of the ball, they are still not ready to compete with the PAC-12's elite teams like Stanford, Oregon, and USC. Fortunately for the Huskies, they have already guaranteed their bowl eligibility and have an easy finish to their regular season schedule.
Next Up: Perhaps beating up on Oregon State down in Corvallis will make the Huskies feel better.
Streak Busted: Meanwhile, Washington State snapped their five-game losing streak with a win over Arizona State in chilly Pullman on Saturday. The Cougars freshman quarterback, Connor Halliday, put up some impressive numbers (494 yards, 4 TDs) in his first serious outing. The victory means that the Cougs could be bowl eligible if they win their last two games, which includes an Apple Cup showdown against Washington on November 26.
Next Up: Utah comes to Pullman.
In indoor sports news, it was a busy weekend for basketball teams across Seattle and the state.
UC-Davis came to town to beat up on our city's squads, beating the UW women on Friday 69-68 before topping Seattle University 66-62 on Sunday.
The UW Men started their opening weekend confidently with a 91-74 win over Georgia State, but barely made it out of the weekend unscathed after a 77-71 win over Florida Atlantic on Sunday.
The Gonzaga men's team also had a close call this weekend when they beat Eastern Washington by a score of 77-69. GU's women's team, coming off last season's impressive tournament run and a 101-88 win over Hofstra on Friday, were not so lucky. They fell to highly-ranked Stanford on Sunday 76-61.
Finally, the Seattle Pacific men's team took home the Dixie State Classic tournament title over the weekend.
