BY TODD DYBAS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

The drawing board must be getting tired.

It's going to get another visit from the Huskies after Oklahoma punished Washington 55-14 Saturday at Husky Stadium, leaving Washington 0-3 heading into its bye week.

Hope, or any other ethereal emotion associated with the possibility of an upset, was smashed following the Huskies' three-and-out on the first possession which Oklahoma answered with a touchdown 2:10 later.

That set the rhythm of the game, Oklahoma rolling, rolling, rolling while the Huskies stumbled and fumbled. Washington quarterback Jake Locker turned it over, fumbling after a 19-yard gain. Huskies wide receiverD'Andre Goodwin made a grab, gained 23 yards, then fumbled. Oklahoma scored touchdowns both times following the complimentary possessions. Every Washington positive was countered with a more influential negative.

The 34-0 score at the half sent scores of purple-clad fans out the gate, waking up dormant buses that just went on break.

"I didn't give them anything to get excited about, we didn't do that, and that's the honest truth," Washington head coach TyroneWillingham said about the exodus.

Per usual, the air-raid siren sounded when the Huskies returned for the second half. That warning may have been more appropriate when Oklahoma and quarterback Sam Bradford landed in Washington state.

Bradford threw only three incompletions Saturday, thanks to excessive protection or immediate and proper blitz reads. Bolstered by a stout running game and a New York city cab ride pace, Bradford appeared a man of leisure at times, surveying comfortably behind the mastodons that make up the Oklahoma offensive line.

"I think we knew that if we came out and executed and played like we could, then this was a possibility that we could win like this," Bradford said, leaving all toesunstepped upon.

The Sooners were running their third-string tailback before the half was out, and made Ming the Merciless cringe by opening the second half with a 77-yard touchdown just one minute into the third quarter.

The Huskies, on the other hand, had trouble snapping the ball. Missed a 28-yard field goal. Locker took a shot to the sternum that forced backup quarterback RonnieFouch onto the field to close the first half. Washington turned it over three times.

"There's no excuse," Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said of the fumbles. "(Oklahoma) is known for getting the ball out. You have to tighten your game up when you play somebody of this magnitude because they're going to search the ball and they're going to hit you and you've got to have it locked down."

Locker sped into the end zone from 15 yards out for a comfort score midway through the third quarter, putting a seven in place of the zero lit on the scoreboard for the first 39 minutes of the game.

Now losers of three consecutive games, the Huskies know they will at least have a draw next Saturday, it's the bye week. The list of things to work on is long and varied.

Washington did not tackle well. It did not cover well. It did not run well. Oklahoma's varied schemes on both offense and defense let theSooners lead the dance, as it spun, dipped and subsequently stomped on the Huskies feet any time Washington tried to gain the lead hand.

The uneven score is one thing, but the rest of the country will see the pregame fracas in the tunnel between the two teams, then see three Huskies offensive lineman piling on Oklahoma defensive tackleDeMarcus Granger, with one of them appearing to punch the Sooner. This is not the Husky way that Willingham often talks of. At the postgame press conference, he appeared unaware of the exchange in the tunnel, which was primarily whooping and pushing.

Those acts are only inspiration for the masses who will be calling for Willingam's removal after dual destructions and the loss on Flag Day. Stanford comes to Husky Stadium in two weeks, and the Cardinal most certainly is not Oregon, BYU or Oklahoma, a trifecta that could be stationed in the top 15 come Monday.

But Stanford's apparent vulnerability may cut the sharpest were Washington to lose. Lose to Oregon? All right. Nipped by BYU? Ok. Blasted by Oklahoma? So be it.

Lose at home to Stanford, falling to 0-4?

"We all know what's on the line at Stanford," Lappano said. "Guarantee you we all know what's on the line. That is a must-win game."

Saturday the buses groaned, as did the home crowd, most of which departed before the third quarter was over. Another Saturday came to a close next to the lake, with the only enduring beauty the scenery.

Still, Willingham stuck to his guns.

"I think our football team is going to be all right, and you'll see that before the year is out," he said.

Todd Dybas is the editor of Seattlesportsonline.com. Contact him at tdybas@seattlesportsonline.com