Who would have thought about it? To understand the dimension of this win for the Huskies, you need to look at their records for the past couple years.

 Coming to this game, Washington won only 1 game out of 13, did not win a single game in 2008 (0 – 12), and lost 56-0 at USC last year. On the other hand, Pete Carroll’s team was 13-1, finished 12–1 last season, won seventh straight Pac-10 Championship, beat Pen State in the Rose Ball last year, beat Ohio State last week, 10 BCS Championships   (1 for Washington),  and ranked #3 in the AP poll.

 How did they do? Well, this victory started at the end of the 2008 season. After going 5-7 in the 2007 season, 4-9 in 2007, and 0-12 in 2008, the Huskies fired their head coach Tyrone Willingham and hired the young USC’s offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. But Steve did not leave USC alone; he brought with him USC’s defensive coordinator Nick Holt.

 The hiring of Holt was not easy, Holt initially turned down the job in early December 2008. When Holt finally agreed to join Steve Sarkisian in Washington, he became one of the highest-paid coordinator and assistant coach in NCAA football.  Holt deal is worth $2.1 million over three-year; $600,000 in the first year and $650,000 in the second and third years. And that is not all, Holt also will receive a $200,000 retention bonus, payable to him up front, but would have to be returned all or in part, on a sliding scale, if he were to leave before the end of the contract. Not a bad deal.

Washington won this game on defense by not letting USC’s offense take off. By bringing together 2 of the architects of USC’s success the last couple years, the Huskies are on their way to turn around their program. However, the Huskies are not a BCS ball team this year because of their roster, which lack depth. With the current roster, the Huskies will probably finish the season at 8-4.

 As for USC, this is not a new territory for them. They lost to unranked teams each of the last 4 seasons and always managed to play in a BCS ball in January. So, I expect them to play in another BCS ball in January again this season.