Former Husky to Start for 49ers Sunday

In his time as a Washington Husky, Cody Pickett rewrote the program’s record books and even set a few Pac-10 records too. In the NFL, he has yet to even have much playing time since being drafter last year by the San Francisco 49ers.

This weekend he will get his shot.

When the season started, Pickett was playing special teams and was basically the fourth quarterback on the San Francisco roster. However, with injuries to both Alex Smith and Ken Dorsey, he will be starting for the first time in his career.

During last Sunday’s game, Dorsey went down to his injury and in came the former rodeo champ to chants of “Cody! Cody! Cody!”

Hopefully he’ll be hearing those same chants at the end of the game on Sunday too.

Huskies Pick 4th in Pac 10 by Media

Pre Season Pac 10 Media Poll:
1. Arizona (23) 325
2. Stanford (9) 294
3. UCLA (2) 263
4. Washington 238
5. California 212
6. Oregon 183
7. Oregon State 132
8. USC 87
9. Washington State 86
10. Arizona State 50

I can't really argue with that poll, at least not as far as where the Huskies are placed right now. I certainly think that they have the ability to finish higher than fourth, but with so many inexperienced players on the roster right now it’s going to take some time to figure how good this team actually is. If the new guys gel and Brandon Roy and Bobby Jones can be as good as I really think they can be then 4^th should be the lowest this team should finish. However, if things don’t go quite as well I don’t think it would be out of the realm of possible for Cal or Oregon to pass them up.

Looking at the conference this season, I see five tournament teams. I think Arizona and Stanford are a lock at this point. My other three are UCLA, Washington, and Cal. With Leon Powe and transfer Omar Wilkes, I see them as a serious contender in the Pac 10.

Miami @ Virginia Tech

In 1999, Michael Vick led undefeated Virginia Tech past Miami and into the second ever BCS national championship game. Back then, the Hurricanes were climbing their way back to the top of the college football world after crippling sanctions brought the proud program all the way down to 5-6 just two years earlier.

This time around, Miami (6-1) has joined Virginia Tech back up among the ranks of the college football elite, and they are looking to put an opening season loss to Florida State behind them and march onto their first conference title since they joined the ACC and a sixth national championship.

However, the Hokies (8-0) counter with another Vick at the helm of their offense to slow down the surging Hurricanes.

Marcus Vick is going to have to follow in his brother’s footsteps—a task he has been trying to do since he first stepped on campus in Blacksburg, Virginia—if Virginia Tech wants another shot at the national title.

While Vick and Devin Hester—Miami’s dynamo punt returner—are the most exciting players in this contest, the match up comes down to a pair of defenses that claim statistical supremacy over the rest of the country. Virginia Tech’s 9.1 points per game tops the nation while the Hurricane’s 221.6 yards per game does the same.