The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT November 3, 2010

For as long as I can remember, there was always something good about Northwest football on the weekends. One way or another, someone had a good weekend, win or lose.

Last weekend, nobody did, not even by a long shot.

When three teams get outscored 116-3, there's a word for that kind of performance - lousy.

THERE WAS some talk that Washington State's game on Saturday with Arizona State was a winnable game. In looking at the 42-0 final score, it appeared as though either the Sun Devils were just that good, or the Cougars are really bad.

The same could be said about the Washington Huskies, who defeated USC a few weeks ago, then dropped a home game 41-0 to the Stanford Cardinal at Husky Stadium last weekend.

You can point some fingers at their youth, or quarterback Jake Locker for not being able to will the team to win, but neither seems to be the case.

For both schools, neither team has played well in recent years, with the Huskies clinging to wins over USC the past two years.

Washington State has beat Southern Methodist and Montana State the past two years, not likely wins that Paul Wulff will need to keep his job.

Locker, who was projected to be the first quarterback selected in the NFL Draft in the spring, will be lucky to land in the third round if things don't turn around soon.

THE BIGGEST game of the weekend belonged to the Seattle Seahawks as they traveled to former AFC rival Oakland.

With a win, Seattle could have been playing for the best record in the NFC this weekend, as odd as that sounds.

The way they played, they'd be lucky to beat Lake City or Coeur d'Alene.

They failed to get a third down conversion until the fourth quarter and the offense was flat offensive, despite the defense keeping them close enough to make it interesting.

The 33-3 loss was the worst they’ve had against the Raiders since a 44-7 drubbing in the first game between the two in the ‘Hawks inaugural season.

FORTUNATELY FOR either the Cougars or Huskies, one of them has to win when they meet in Pullman in three weeks in the Apple Cup.

The Seahawks likely could go from leading the NFC West to having an 0-4 month of November with games against the Giants, Cardinals, Saints and Chiefs coming up.

It could be another long winter for area football fans, as most sit around begging for a win, while other Northwest football fans wait for Boise State to lose.

Right now, I don’t see either happening anytime soon.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via e-mail at [email protected].