“Oh the winds of change are blowing”! It’s a commonly used phrase in the football industry when changes are deemed necessary to inject new life into a football team.

“We’re moving in another direction.” This is supposed to soften the blow but in the end, it still means “You’re outta here.”

It was a bitter pill for Jake Locker-Washington’s most talented and versatile player (Husky coaches have said that Locker could play 7 different positions on the field)-to swallow. He had carried a lousy Washington team virtually on his back for two years, and now his offensive line could not move the Irish even 6 inches back.

Then Chris Polk, the Husky’s surprise redshirt freshman running back, appeared to give the Huskies a 30-22 lead with a 6-yard TD run with 7:07 left, but after a review he was ruled down on the half-yard line. This was a travesty as Polk had scored, but someone forgot to give the replay official a better set of eyes; perhaps he was a closet Notre Dame fan.

On 1st down from the Notre Dame 1-yard line, Polk lost a yard as the Fighting Irish line held. On 2nd down, Locker passed incomplete. On 3rd down and 2, Locker rushed and the Irish line held again. On 4th down, Notre Dame held again but was penalized 1 yard, and Washington had a new set of downs.

On 1st down, Polk rushed again and the Irish held again. On 2nd down, Washington was penalized 5 yards. On the repeat 2nd down, Locker passed for 5 yards to fullback Paul Homer and the Huskies were again 1 yard from scoring. On 3rd down Locker rushed again and again the Irish line held. On 4th down Washington was penalized 5 yards, and on the repeat 4th down, Washington would settle for a field goal, making it 27-22 Huskies.

Incredibly, the Huskies had 6 opportunities to score on the Irish from 2 yards out or less, and the Irish defense, which had not played well all day, held the line. Polk, who was stopped short on two of the attempts, would end the day with 136 yards rushing, a career best for the redshirt freshman.

Titans on Offense

Unlike Indy, the Titans haven’t had the same QB leadership from Kerry Collins, who has thrown 6 picks in 4 games this season. Still, it looks like Jeff Fisher is sticking with his veteran for now. Plenty of people within the Titans organization may be questioning Fisher’s decision and wondering when Vince Young will get another chance. But as for this week, Collins or Young, it really doesn’t matter because neither one will outscore Peyton. To be fair, the 36 year-old Collins is not all to blame. The rushing duo of Chris Johnson and LenDale White has underachieved so far, especially in the past 2 games. Johnson can give the Titans a spark if he breaks a few runs for big gains, and he is also a safe receiving option.

Notre Dame quickly scored first in the overtime to go up 37-30, and then the Washington offensive line, which had been 6 plays late in getting it done, allowed Locker to be sacked for 10 yards, and Locker threw three incomplete passes. His last pass, a 33-yarder to the 1-yard line, was pulled in by D’Andre Goodwin, who suffered a concussion when receiving two vicious hits by Notre Dame defenders at the goal line.

The inglorious ending left Locker, Goodwin, the entire team and coaching staff with one big case of an abject heartache. After calmly fighting like the warrior he is, Locker was so crushed and emotional that he could not appear at the post-game press conference

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