The signs were apparent that the ship was sinking, but they were only realized on Saturday.
Washington lost to Nevada, 28-17, in the Wolf Pack’s first win over a Pacific-10 Conference team since it began Division I play in 1992. The Huskies, meanwhile, lost for the second straight week and are looking like the shell of a team that was expected to compete for the Pac-10 crown before the season began.
The Huskies aren’t offering any excuses, although head coach Keith Gilbertson has said injuries have plagued the team in recent weeks.
“I’m not sure who to throw in there to compete because we’ve lost a lot of front-line guys (to injury and attrition), and it shows,” Gilbertson told the Seattle Times. “We’re one-deep on the offensive line, we’re playing our second and third tight end and freshmen at receiver.”
Washington quarterback Cody Pickett had an especially hard time coming through with his usual heroics in the loss. He completed 19 passes in 37 attempts for 337 yards, but he was sacked eight times and threw three interceptions.
In Washington’s last two games — a 46-16 loss to UCLA and the upset by Nevada — Pickett has turned the ball over a combined seven times.
Nevada “covered our guys pretty well,” Pickett said of the recent loss. “A couple of those sacks were coverage sacks — I need to figure out a way to get the ball out of my hand. They played well today.”
The Huskies visit Oregon State on Saturday. The Beavers are perhaps the conference’s hottest team and pose problems to the Washington defense. Oregon State running back Steven Jackson ranks second in the nation in running at 146 yards per game.
The Huskies allow opponents an average of 118 yards per game on the ground.

They were 2-0, but not anymore
Much like Washington, Stanford has taken a turn for the worse in recent games.
The Cardinals started the season 2-0, looking like they could be a surprise team in the Pac-10. But Stanford was dominated in a 44-21 loss to USC on Saturday, and in the team’s previous game — on Sept. 27 — they lost 28-17 to Washington.
The Cardinals have redshirt freshman Trent Edwards starting for them under center, and while he has been somewhat effective, the Trojans showed him what defenses can do to young quarterbacks.
He was 8 of 19 against the Trojans, passing for 67 yards. He was pulled by head coach Buddy Teevens in the third quarter in favor of senior Chris Lewis.
“I put Chris in to give him an opportunity to get on the field and get some snaps,” Teevens said. “I told him to play your game and don’t try to do anything special, and he did some positive things. Trent is still the No. 1 guy right now.”

In the red and yellow
John David Booty has pushed the competition aside and now sits at No. 2 on the USC quarterbacks chart.
The freshman enrolled early this year — he should be a senior at Evangel Christian High School in Louisiana.
According to the USC Web site, he is believed to be the first prep football player to enroll at a major Division I university after graduating from high school early.
He made his collegiate debut against the Cardinals, completing one pass in four attempts.
“John David Booty is a really good football player,” USC head coach Pete Carroll said. “If Matt (Leinart) was to falter or get nicked, he’d go in. Somewhere down the stretch, he may have to make some big plays for us. I have no doubt that he’ll do it, too.”

What rankings?
The Associated Press Top 25 poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll both came out on Sunday.
Each poll’s rankings tell something about the Pac-10: The conference has parity and lots of it.
USC remains the highest ranked team in the Pac-10. The Trojans sit at fifth in the AP, and fourth in the coaches poll. Washington State is next at sixth in both polls.
Finally, Oregon State, despite not playing last week, is ranked 22nd in the AP poll and 21st in the coaches poll.
UCLA, Washington State, and UCLA remain the only team with spotless conference records — all at 2-0 — and USC (2-1) is the only other team with a winning Pac-10 record.

Byes … nonconference
In addition to Oregon, Arizona has a bye this week. Arizona State plays North Carolina and USC takes on Notre Dame.
The rest of the conference plays Pac-10 tilts.