The week couldn't have started off more perfectly, with one of the biggest Washington upsets of all time as the Huskies defeated USC. Though the weekend did not end perfectly, nothing could make this week anything but a success. Here are my weekly grades after the jump.
University of Washington Football Team: UW made national news Saturday, stunning the #3 team in the nation, USC, 16-13. In the defensive battle, kicker Erik Folk won the game on a 22-yarder with three seconds left. Though USC was playing without several key players, including Taylor Mays and QB Matt Barkley, it was the biggest win for the Dawgs in years. Led by Jake Locker and forcing three turnovers in their own territory, UW simply outplayed Southern Cal.

The game showed that perhaps the sports world may have been wrong about how quickly Sarkisian can turn the program around. Facing off against his former boss Pete Carroll, Sarkisian got the win that propelled UW to #24 in the nation. Coming from an 0-12 season, the improvement has been remarkable. A bowl game is now easily in the picture, and I would not rule the Rose Bowl an impossibility.

The next seven weeks should let us know how legit these Huskies are. With five of these games on the road, we will see how well the Dawgs do away from their revived support at Husky Stadium. I sure hope the last game was no fluke, because these Huskies are looking like something special. Grade: A+


Seattle Seahawks: The Hawks succumbed to both injuries and the San Francisco 49ers Sunday. They lost, 23-10, but more importantly lost several key players to injury. Of the two, the latter worries me more: will the Hawks be able to avoid the injury plague that devastated their team last season? Right now, it’s not looking likely.

San Francisco won the game primarily on the strength of running back Frank Gore. His two long touchdown runs, of 79 and 80 yards, were huge momentum swings for the Niners. Both of these runs went for longer than the Hawks ran for the whole game, as Seattle tallied only 66 yards rushing.

As I said earlier, the main concern coming out of this game will be the health of the Seahawks. Hasselbeck, Tatupu, Locklear, and Wilson all had to exit due to injury. Along with Jones, Hill, Trufant, Mebane, Spencer and Branch, that’s 10 starters potentially out due to injury. Hopefully, none will be out too long (Hasselbeck tweeted that he’s “Going to be alright”) and the Hawks can get back on track. Grade: D


Seattle Storm: The Storm made another first round exit in the WNBA playoffs, losing Game 3 to the Los Angeles Sparks 75-64. They have not been able to replicate their 2004 championship season success, losing five times in the first round since.

For the past two postseasons, the Storm has been without leading scorer Lauren Jackson. Each time, they look good in the regular season, only to drop out in the playoffs. Is there a curse surrounding this team? (the Curse of Clay Bennett, perhaps?) Grade: D

Photo Source: USA Today