We had a chance to catch up with Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times to discuss the Washington Huskies and preview Saturday’s ASU at Washington match up.
Where is the confidence level of Washington with a struggling ASU team coming to Seattle?
Bob Condotta: You have to remember that UW is riding a 10-game losing streak, tied for the longest in school history, so I don’t think it matters who they are playing right now — their confidence isn’t going to be very good. That said, I’m sure they feel like this is a more winnable game than a lot of the others they have played in recent weeks. Considering UW’s first eight opponents have lost 19 games — and the next three have lost 19 games.
Is this a game they feel they can win?
Bob Condotta: I guess the answer is similar to the one above. This team has had so many bad things happen to it that it’s confidence and sense of if it can win any given game is definitely really low. But again, ASU may offer a little more hope since the Sun Devils are also struggling a bit. But UW is in such a weird state — 10 straight losses, a fired coach — it’s really hard to read them right now. I don’t think using a lot of the normal parameters to try to judge them are really going to do much good in such an abnormal situation.
Was it, in your opinion, the right thing to do in firing Ty Willingham before the end of the season?
Bob Condotta: As a reporter who covers the team, I generally stay out of the opinion business, so I won’t give mine on this. I will say that most around the program seemed to think that since it was so inevitable, it may as well have been done when it was. The biggest controversy has been whether it made sense to keep him on for the rest of the year once he was fired. The school felt the continuity was needed to keep the program on track unitl a new coach could take over — making sure kids go to class, etc. — so the new regime wouldn’t walk into a lot of extra problems.
Who is one Washington player ASU fans may not be aware of that they should watch for on Saturday?
Bob Condotta:I’m wondering if there’s anyone on the UW roster ASU fans would even have reason to know of in the first place? The player on the team having the best season is junior DE Daniel Te’o-Nesheim. His numbers aren’t much because he tends to be the focus of the other team’s O-line, but he has a relentless motor and always seems to be around the ball. He has three of UW’s five sacks this season.
