But first, a word from the editor…

2020 has been an extremely trying year in this country; COVID, rioting, violence, lock downs, election drama, and in the midst of this Stephen King novel — no football.

Not for Washington, anyway.

After this year’s election, politics is definitely a blood-sport; it’s become a back-ally, bare-knuckle knife fight, but now that it’s over we all need to move on.

Whether you’re right, left, or in the middle, and despite bitter words exchanged between some of us on Twitter, the one thing that we can all agree on is that Husky Football is a way of life and (at least for me) has been for 59 years.

This was that one thing that would always distract me (and I’m sure you too) when the rest of the world seemed unfriendly or scary, college football Saturday would always deliver; whether it was thethrill or the agony of defeat.

In 2020, however, we’ve been deprived of that too.

Last night the SEC cancelled big games, as well as other games being cancelled. Cal might not play this week as well — as a football fan I see now that I took this “distraction” for granted.

So I’m hoping upon hope that we make it to Saturday night and the Huskies finally take the field.

I never experienced November without football — and I’ll never take it for granted again. Every game could be the last game of the season.

So assuming this weekend goes as planned, these are five things I’m looking forward to this weekend as the Huskies host Oregon State.

Jimmy Lake’s first game as a head coach:

What kind of game-time adjustments he’ll have? What kind of field general will he be? We know the camera will spend a lot of time on him because this is his first game as a head coach, and everyone knows that Lake was an elite defensive backs coach — and there’s no reason why he can’t become an elite head coach (with time).

They always say “the team takes the identity of their head coach”, and I expect Lake to be a fiery, passionate, energetic coach who will demand excellence out of his players.

Of course, there will be bumps in the road; typical up’s and down’s for a first-time head coach — but I am personally excited to get the Jimmy Lake era started because I have faith that he can take Washington football to the next level.

The O-Line

It all starts up front, and this is one unit I am super excited to see. Jimmy Lake has said that Washington has the biggest offensive line in the Pac-12, and from sources I’ve spoken with, this sounds like a real dominant, physical group.

One guy to keep an eye on is 6-6, 355 lb sophomore guard, Ulumoo Ale.

Even though Ale was just a 3-star guy coming out of Fife High School in Tacoma, he is something special. A beast — and the networks missed the mark. When Ale was at the Poly Bowl he was flanked by several Husky commits and one of them was Sam Taimani.

After the game Taimani told me, “This guy is pancaking everybody and he tried to pancake me and I wouldn’t let him.”

You wouldn’t think a guy would go after his own future teammate with such gusto — but Ale is bad man — he’s in the mold of a Siupeli Malamala. I expect big things of Ale because he’s one of those road-graters you hear about. Big, physical, athletic, and a big chip on his shoulder.

The BUCKS

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen this position really take flight on the Husky defense — so I can’t to see Laiatu Latu thundering out of the shoot. We saw glimpses last year of this blue-chip out of Sacramento, and at 6-4, 265 he brings a big, thick, fast-twitch, angry pass-rusher who stands to be a first-rounder in the future.

And who’s his back up? Sav’ell Smalls, of course. Nuff said there.

The Offense as a Whole

John Donovan will run a pro-style offense, and we haven’t really seen yet what this 2020 offense brings to the field, but I expect to see a lot of involvement with the running backs — both running and catching.

The run game will be more downhill than we’ve seen, and Jimmy Lake has said several times that he wants to see his tailbacks running the ball down people’s throats.

The Quarterbacks? Nope, not them. The Wide Receivers

As long as the new starting quarterback can get the ball out and throw 20 years, they’re fine — but this roster of receivers is even more exciting.

I look forward to seeing Austin Osborne finally bust out at 6-2, 200, and the return of Terrell Bynum, who began to make his statement last season and never looked back.

Also Ty Jones (6-4, 200) is due to have a big season, and with newbies such as Jalen McMillan on the two-deep roster, we should see marked improvement over last  year’s passing game.

So in closing, let’s go back to what I said above: Whether you lean to the left or lean to the right — stand up for your Dawgs and fight fight fight.

Husky fans need to come together (again) and get behind this team and its coaches. They need you more than ever because you can’t be there in the stands, so send out positive vibes as you watch from home. Wear the same thing you would wear if you were going to the game.

And never take these games for granted —  any week could be the last of the season. And don’t forget to reach across the aisle and end the war of words.

I’ve been just as guilty the past week; I’ve never been one to back down from a fight — but damn it — we all need to learn to get along again.

There’s Power in the Pack.