Tag Archives: UW football

by | October 9, 2011 · 12:38 pm

The Thousand Yard Game

Husky Stadium is a special place for us, and we’re guessing a lot of our readers feel the same.  Given that this is the last year for the stadium as we know it, we thought we’d offer up some of our favorite memories that came on Montlake.  With memories, there’s always the chance that they’re only special to the people involved, but hopefully with this series you’ll see something of the importance these memories hold to us.  With a few of them, maybe you were there as well.  The bye week seems like a good time to start, with more posts to come throughout the season.

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My first trip to Husky Stadium was the 1995 Apple Cup.  I was in the eighth grade, and as near as I can remember, I went with my dad and his two cousins, Dave and Steve.  Reading about that game now, it turns out that it was a pretty great game, with the Huskies winning on a late field goal.  I have vague recollections; we walked out talking about Ryan Leaf’s debut, how the Cougars had themselves a quarterback.  Mostly, I remember being excited to be at a Husky game at long last.

My first real memory at Husky Stadium came a year later.  We bought season tickets for the first time, along with Dave and Steve, but they decided to stay home for a late-season game against cupcake San Jose State.  My whole family decided to go, along with my friends Mike and Tyler.  My birthday was the next week, so my parents gave me an early present: a corduroy coat I had picked out earlier.  They thought I might want to wear it, and I did, but I decided to go with my ski coat instead, in case of rain.  It was a good move.

We got to the game early and found seats in the east end zone.  It was cold already, and in the open bleachers at that end of the stadium, the wind blows off the lake and right onto your legs and back and neck.  On cold days, you hope the section is full and that big people are sitting behind you, because that’s the only thing that blocks the wind.  When half the crowd leaves for concessions or the restroom at halftime, the temperature seems to drop twenty degrees instantly.

As the band was lining up to take the field, my dad looked toward the sky in front of us and said, “If this was Yakima, we’d have a hailstorm in about twenty minutes.”

The band played, and the flag was unfurled for the Star Spangled Banner.  The flag holders made their dash across the end zone to retrieve their instruments, and the tuba players donned jerseys for their weekly pre-game game of football before the players took the field.

As the Huskies ran out of the tunnel, it started to hail.  Then, it started to rain. Continue reading →

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by | September 30, 2011 · 8:38 pm

UW vs. Utah Predictions

Here’s a joke:

A midget’s walking down the street.  As he’s turning a corner, he runs into Wilt Chamberlain.

The midget looks up and says, “Utah!”

Joe

This game is a tough read. The Dawgs are scoring points and moving the ball well. Keith Price is playing at an All-American level. With an offense as potent as UW’s, it’s hard to count them out of any game. The Huskies have already played one tough game on the road in Nebraska, so they will not be intimidated by the rowdy Utes crowd. They played at BYU last season in the altitude, so they should know what to expect. Nevertheless, they are 10 point dogs. I understand why. This is Utah’s Pac-12 home opener, it’s homecoming, the Utes are coming off a beat down of rival BYU, and they just had their bye. Those are all very good signs for Utah. I’ve watched Utah play a couple games this year vs USC and BYU. I wasn’t too impressed with them at USC, and I am not sure how good BYU is, so while the crushing of the Cougars is impressive, just how impressive is yet to be seen depending on how BYU ends up.

This game is very simple, if the Huskies defense plays well, and by well I mean get a few 3rd down stops and don’t give up bone headed plays in the secondary, the Dawgs have a very good chance to win because their offense cannot be stopped, I don’t care how good the Utes D is. My problem is I don’t trust the defense. I just simply have no faith they can put together four quarters of solid defense, and on the road, you can’t afford silly mistakes. They haven’t eliminated the mistakes, so until they do, these games will always be brutal, what could have been finals. Another heart-breaker:

Utah 35 – UW 31

Danny

I used to intern for David Locke at 950 KJR, and he is now a radio host for KFAN in Salt Lake City.  I follow him on twitter and I’ve learned this week that Utah is buzzing over this game.  In fact, ask a Utes fan and he will tell you this game is the most anticipated since the Fiesta Bowl in 2005.  This is not a rivalry, nor a matchup of ranked teams, but Utah is playing its first ever Pac 12 home game.  Apparently this is a really big deal; heck, even a pre-game fireworks show is planned.  In games like this, the first quarter is crucial.  If UW comes in and shuts up the 45,000 “mini” sea of red, then I like our chances to keep it close until the end.  It’s obvious that Utah’s strength is their defense, and their weakness is putting up points.  The Huskies are prolific on offense, but far from great on defense.  Home field advantage, turnovers, special teams, and weird stuff will all loom large, but I think the side that can elevate their weakness will win this game.  My guess is the bye week gives Utah’s offense an advantage, and the atmosphere inspires the defense.

Utah-38, UW-27

Andrew

Does anyone have any idea what’s going to happen in these games?  Why do we make predictions in the first place?  Why does the sun come up in the morning?  One of these has to do with science and the other two questions I’m truly looking for an answer to.  All this pressure of making a prediction just makes me so nervous for the game because I start to think about the game even more than I do in my everyday life (which is quite a lot), and then I get nervous a full 24 hours earlier than I would otherwise.  To summarize, these things are dumb!

But, you want my take on the game?  I think Utah has been talked up way too much.  They beat BYU by 44 points because BYU turned the ball over 8 times.  8 times!  That is ridiculous!  Their other games, they’ve looked solid but nothing more.  That sentence could have been said about the Huskies too.  The Utah offense is suspect, but so is the Husky defense.  The Husky offense is very good, but so is the Utah defense.  It’s a stalemate.  Does that mean it comes down to special teams?  That would mean the Huskies would have a slight edge.  But, I’m picking Utah because this is a game that top-20 teams in the nation win.  I don’t have the faith that the Huskies are quite there yet, but if they win then, for the first time since 2001 (or maybe 2002) I’ll truly believe the Huskies can win any game.  Go Dawgs.

Utah – 34  UW – 27

Matthew

The Huskies seem to be continually faced with games which could possibly come to define them as a football team.  Some, such as the Nebraska game, they’ve lost.  Some, they’ve won.  And still we’re not sure what this team is.  Tomorrow’s game seems like the latest and most definite of these defining contests.  If the Huskies are a better than mediocre team, they should beat Utah on the road.  At the very least, they should keep it competetive until the end.  The truth is, we have no idea what will happen in this game because the Huskies are still incredibly unpredictable, and until they can play well consistently, no single game is defining.

All that being said, this has the makings of a great game, and a win really could be a catalyst toward a big season.  As Joe said, it’s going to rest with the defense.  If they can figure out how to get off the field on third down even half the time, the Dawgs will run away with this game.  I’m not really sure what Utah is.  They are always well-coached, they have solid talent, but their offense is probably the least threatening UW has seen thus far.  Their defense is solid, but the Husky offense is better than that.  Utah is coming off a blowout of BYU followed by a bye.  As Andrew said, BYU had 8 turnovers and almost lost to Utah State tonight.  BYU isn’t very good.  That doesn’t mean Utah isn’t good, but I’m thinking the Dawgs grow up in Salt Lake City tomorrow and pull out the win.

UW 34, Utah 27

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by | September 23, 2011 · 10:46 pm

UW vs. California Predictions

Let me take you inside the absolutely fascinating inner workings of Good Guy Prediction posts.  I (being Matthew) send Danny, Andrew and Joe a text at some point on Friday that says, “Hey, send me your predictions when you get a second.”  They all send me an email, and when I get home that night, I combine them in a post, write an incredibly exciting intro, and that’s that.

Ideally, this process would happen on Wednesday or Thursday, so that people could read the predictions before gametime and so my fellow Good Guys have a little more time to respond.  Alas, I’m lucky if I think about this post before lunch on Friday, so occasionally you get a predictions post with two predictions instead of four, like today.  Joe’s off hiking somewhere, which sounds great if you’re into that sort of thing.  Andrew played a show tonight (which was great) and has his 21st birthday Saturday (happy birthday!), so he’s a little otherwise occupied.  Dan and I will hold the fort for this week.

Edit: And Andrew pulls through with his email as soon as I posted this.  Good job, the little guy! (That’s his nickname.)

Dan

After beating Cal on the road last season, it would seem unlikely that the Huskies would let the Bears return the favor tomorrow, especially considering UW appears to be improved from last year. But Cal may have finally found a playmaking quarterback, something they have lacked for the past couple years. Maynard is a dual threat QB whose game apparently resembles Keith Price. He has weapons to throw to in Keenan Allen and Marvin Jones, and I’d imagine the Bears will gobble up yards like most teams seem to do against UW. However, I have a hunch the Dawgs will yield less points than one might expect, if for no other reason than the defense is bound to come out hungry. This game is a virtual toss up in Vegas, but  for no good reason I think the Huskies put all 3 phases together tomorrow, and Sark can finally smile. Maybe the homer in me is talking, but I think Cal is catching UW at the wrong time.

UW-45, Cal-27

Matthew

It’s hard to be completely sure about anything Husky related right now, but I’m pretty sure that if Keith Price and Chris Polk are on the field, the offense will score at least 30 points against almost anyone.  The defense is anyone’s guess.  They have the talent, but I think there’s a lack of confidence in the new linebackers that’s affecting the whole unit.  Sarkisian’s comments about the defense were revelatory.  Hopefully they cut loose this week and let their athleticism take over.  I’d rather see big plays with a few mistakes than the steady drip of yards they’ve been surrendering.

The last two games between these two have been wins for the Dawgs, a blowout and last year’s game winning touchdown by Polk with no time on the clock.  I’d love another blowout, but I’m expecting a close one.  The Golden Bears are a talented team in almost exactly the same position as the Huskies, as an unproven team with talent.  The winner becomes the front runner for third in the tough northern division.  I think the Huskies pull it out.

UW 38, Cal 34

Andrew

I don’t know what to think of this game.  It’s a very important game in this season where we’re trying to figure out if the Dawgs have taken another step forward.  I have a lot of confidence in the offense, they are moving the ball very well the last 2 weeks.  But, Cal also scares me.  I’m not sure if they’ve earned me being scared of them (I’m not sure they care about me, in general so they are kind of jerks), but they have a strong defense and a decent offense.  Against the Huskies defense, a decent offense is all you need it seems.  But sooner or later, the defense will play better.  It might be the year 2017 or it might be in this game.  I have said almost nothing in this preview.  This game seems even and whoever wins the turnover battle will win the game.  Home field advantage will be a key.  For some reason it sure seems to me like Cal is going to win.  Maybe it’s because it’s my birthday and I’m not sure if the Huskies have ever won on my birthday.  I hope I’m wrong and I hope Chris Polk, Keith Price, and Ta’amu run up to me in the stands after a blow out and deliver me a game ball along with a million dollars.  But, for now I’m going to say Cal wins 35-27.  Prove me wrong Dawgs!  GOOOOOO!!!!! HUSKIES!!!!!

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by | September 17, 2011 · 9:12 am

UW vs. Nebraska Predictions

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a local farmer’s market.  Corn was in season.  I bought 4 ears of corn for $1.50.  Several days later, I had maybe the worst day of my year thus far.  I went to work and by noon had a pretty good cold.  The afternoon was fairly miserable, and then I went to the dentist after work, who gave me less than great news.  When I finally got home at 8:00 that night, I lit up the barbecue to make a hamburger.  As I was waiting for it to cook, my dad called.  Our family dog, Monte, whom 11 years ago I had brought home from work where he was dropped off as a stray puppy, had died.  He was literally the best dog on the face of the earth.  It was a crappy day.

Know what else I did that day?  I husked some corn.  I like corn.  I especially like to barbecue corn on the cob, and that’s what I did that day.  It didn’t even taste good.

Anyone can be a corn husker, but few can be Dawgs.  Let’s win this one for Monte.

Andrew

I had meant to put up a preview of Nebraska and a recap of last week on the blog but never got around to it.  The Huskies left me feeling a bit more optimistic after last week but they still had quite a few problems.  The Cornhuskers seem to have holes too.  They blew out Chattanooga but took a while to get rolling in that one.  Last week, they struggled with Fresno State and held on for the win.  Fresno is close to even with Hawaii, if anything they’re a little bit worse.  I believe Nebraska is worse than they were last year, but not by much.  When they stomped the Huskies last September I thought they’d be the National Champion.  So, maybe these teams are a lot closer to even than the betting line suggests.  On defense, the Huskies have to stop Taylor Martinez from running all over them.  He’s the only thing that really scares me for the Huskers.  On offense, the challenge will be to run the ball even though Nebraska knows that the Huskies will be running.  If the Dawgs can get a few big pass plays to start the game, then I think the offense will have some success.  They have to tackle well, not lose any assignments, create turnovers, and play smart physical football.  Frankly, I’m excited for this game.  We can see how the Huskies truly measure up.  Last week we saw glimpses of what the Huskies could be (in the first quarter) and this week they’ll have to be that team for the whole game to win.  I don’t think they’re quite able to pull it off but I think they’ll keep it close, making it a fun game to watch.

Nebraska 31, Huskies 21

Dan

Of all the outcomes, I would only be surprised if the Huskies blowout the Huskers. Outside of this, anything seems possible. Before the season began, I was thinking we would get thumped in this game, because in some ways it really is a recipe for disaster. You have the unbelievable road environment in Lincoln, with its red sea and tradition. The revenge factor is there too, and the talent favors NU as well. Throw in a healthy Taylor Martinez, and a repeat of the 56-21 score last year seems possible. But the strength of the Huskies is their D-line, and nothing Nebraska throws (or runs) at them is going to be a surprise. I doubt Martinez gets bottled up all day, but I think the Dawgs will keep him in check, and force him to throw the ball. I also expect UW to score a little, especially with news that Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska’s stud cornerback, is likely out. Dennard is capable of shutting down one side of the field in the passing game, so his absence could be huge. Despite these reasons to be optimistic, I just see every call, and every bounce going the Cornhuskers way tomorrow. The players in red and white will be amped for this game, and I still think emotion plays a large factor in college football.

Nebraska 45, Washington 20

Joe

I just don’t like where the UW’s defense is at.  I realize Neb runs the ball primarily, and I think UW is much better suited to stop the run.  That said, I think Neb does throw and tries to exploit the Dawgs weakness.  UW  must throw the ball well, because Neb is going to key on Polk, so UW needs to flip conventional thinking: throw to set up the run.  Neb was embarrassed in the Holiday Bowl and they will be jacked up, crowd will be nuts, there’s nothing about this game I like on the road.  Neb simply because of the home field advantage and the revenge factor.  Close early, Neb pulls away late.

Neb 38 – UW 21

Matthew

This is such a strange game.  Everyone knows about the 3 games in a year, with the first two being as different as could possibly be.  Taking away the history, this is a pretty favorable game for the Huskies considering Nebraska is considered a possible top 10 team.  Nebraska is certainly talented, but passing isn’t their strength.  Their secondary, which was the major difference in the first game, has taken a step down, especially if Alfonzo Dennard doesn’t play (probably wishful thinking).  So far, Nebraska has shown themselves to be nowhere near the same team they were last September.

Even with that being the case, I still consider Nebraska the favorite.  They have more talent, they have more experience winning games, and they’re at home.  Plus, it’s not like the Huskies have been dominant this year.  It’s scary but easy to picture Keith Price interceptions, no holes for Chris Polk, and Taylor Martinez running for 200 yards and 4 touchdowns.

For the Huskies to win, I think they have to be balanced on offense and get to at least 27 points.  I think they can do this.  I expect more out of the receivers, and as long as Price doesn’t let the situation get to him, he should have some success.  The defense needs to play like they did in the Holiday Bowl.  Anything much short of that and they could be in trouble.  They can’t let Martinez run wild too often, and they have to consistently control the line of scrimmage.  Up until Friday morning I didn’t give the Huskies much chance, but I’ve talked myself into an upset.  Go Dawgs.

UW 30, Nebraska 24

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by | September 9, 2011 · 9:13 pm

UW vs. Hawaii Predictions

Another week, another game.  Today’s question: why are Hawaii, Pepperdine, and every school in San Diego not dominant in sports?  Given the choice between Pullman, Lubbock and Hawaii, I know which I’m choosing.

Matt

I expected the Huskies to roll last week, and I was way off.  I thought Sarkisian’s comments this week were fascinating, especially when he talked about the players needing to realize that they can play and can’t be tentative.  Against Eastern, they looked like they did early last season: tentative, unsure of themselves, lacking an identity.  Remember that game against Arizona (might have been in 2009) where Arizona kept throwing bubble screens until the Huskies finally stopped one?  That is kind of how last week was.  Eastern kept throwing and luckily Desmond Trufant finally stopped them.

Most of us assumed, or at least hoped, that the identity the Huskies established at the end of last year would carry over to this season.  In week one, it didn’t.  The physical playmaking was nowhere to be seen.  There’s no reason to think they won’t eventually get it back, unless Jake Locker was just an irreplaceable part of that identity.  I don’t think that’s the case, so the question is when they’ll flip the switch and dominate someone.  Here’s to hoping it’s this week, because they might not win this one otherwise.

UW 37, Hawaii 24

Dan

The last time Hawaii played in the state of Washington, they won. But that was against WSU, and typically the Warriors are awful away from the island. I really don’t see Washington losing this game, but they easily could if the same team that played Eastern shows up. Ta’Amu and the d-line have got to make things uncomfortable for Moniz, and the linebackers have got to disrupt the passing lanes. The secondary gets a boost with Richardson’s return, and having a nickel package all game will help. On offense, UW is going to open things up a bit, and 30+ points seems likely.

I’ll call it Huskies 33, Warriors 24

Joe

All week it has been DEFCON 1 surrounding UW football.  The amount of vitriol toward the Dawgs performance against EWU could fill the Grand Canyon.  No Husky fan in their right mind was happy with how they played last Saturday.  No coach or player, for that matter, was happy with how they played.  The saving grace is the Huskies did indeed survive and salvage a win, which at the end of the day, in sports, is all that matters.  Another saving grace is they get a home game versus Hawaii.  Yes, the Rainbow Warriors (I love to continue calling them that) run the run ‘n’ shoot, which will cause problems for the Huskies secondary, no doubt, but I think the Dawgs come out much more aggressive and focused for this game.  No way they play sluggish and uninspired like they did against Eastern.  I believe coach Holt will continue to dial up defenses to get the players in the right position to make the play.  It’s up to the players to execute, and I believe they will.  It’s a matter of survival at this point.  Step up, or lose.

Offensively, I expect coach Sark to open up the playbook and throw down field.  The lack of a deep passing game last week was unacceptable, and they know it.  Look for the UW to attack Hawaii deep, while pounding Polk up the middle, with Callier changing the pace outside.  I am fully expecting to see ASJ get targets and passes coming his way.  He’s too talented a weapon to only throw to once or twice in a game.  In the end I am going with UW if for no other reason they are the more desperate team, despite being 1-0.  They must prove last week was a fluke.  There is no other option if they want to go bowling again this year.

UW wins 33-27

Andrew

Last week was an embarrassment, but it was what the Huskies needed to be ready for this week.  It’s been a bit of a strange week around Husky Nation.  The players all seemed to be chewed out Monday afternoon and Sark gave one of the most honest press conference’s I’ve ever seen, even though it was after a win.  Most players then declined to do interviews this week and practice was closed to everyone on Thursday.  The level of intensity has definitely gone up, but will that mean an improvement?  I think so.  Maybe it’s because I never got down much after last week, but I think the Huskies are still an 8 win team in the Pac-12.  An 8 win team in the Pac-12 has to beat Hawaii at home.  Does Moniz (Hawaii’s QB) scare me?  Sure, but no one else on their offense does.  Their defense looked good against Colorado, but Colorado hasn’t won a road game since their Buffalo mascot was born it seems.  Tomorrow at this time I might be kicking myself for buying into all the things we’ve heard about the team being more intense, but for now I think it’ll mke a difference.  In fact, I think the Dawgs win more comfotably than last week.  Go Huskies!

UW 35, Hawaii 27

Go Dawgs!

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by | September 2, 2011 · 10:21 pm

UW vs. EWU Predictions

It’s finally here.  Without further ado, here are the Good Guy predictions for the battle royale at Husky Stadium tomorrow.

Joe

Eastern is no slouch, and I don’t think the Huskies will treat them as such. I believe Sark has the Huskies focused and prepared to play the Eagles at a high tempo and tons of emotion. I expect the Eagles to come out jacked and just as prepared, which I think will help the UW get “up” quicker than normal, especially when playing a perceived easy win. I honestly see the Huskies running the ball early, then working the middle of the field with ASJ. I expect Callier to get the bulk of the carries, even if Polk somehow plays or Fogerson. I’d be all for Callier getting a ton of carries. I think the Huskies WRs corps could be unstoppable, how EWU will combat that I have no idea. Defensively the Huskies will be fine, EWU hasn’t seen this level of talent in FCS. There won’t be a shutout, but I don’t expect EWU to move the ball at will. Early season game, lots of jitters, emotions, there will be crazy plays, blown assignments, timing will be off, and the Dawgs will win:

UW 31 – EWU 14

Dan

Even when Washington tries to schedule a cupcake for once, they fail. Eastern is no slouch, and if this were a week 2 game, or god forbid it was being played on the red turf, I’d be very nervous. But the Huskies are at home, and given that this is the first game, the players have had all offseason to think about the Eagles. Bo Levi Mitchell is a legit QB and he has a veteran group of receivers to throw to. I expect Eastern will move the offense through the air, and rack up decent passing totals between the 20s, but the Huskies are too deep, too talented, and too hungry to start 1-0. They can’t lose this game, and they won’t.

Washington–30, Ea. Washington–20

Andrew

If you follow the Huskies at all, you know this week the theme by the coaches has been “1-0.”  In fact, Sark has said that this was the theme since fall camp began.  “1-0.”  The Huskies haven’t started the season with a win since 2007, and if you remember that it wasn’t a feel good win.  We’ve also heard all week about how good Eastern Washington is.  It seems every person in the state has said, “Eastern is going to surprise on Saturday.”  I have no doubt that Eastern is a very good football team that is in the FCS.  But, they’re no match for the team they’ll face on Saturday.  They don’t have as much depth, talent, and it will take a minor miracle for them to win this game.  I’m sure the Dawgs are sick of hearing how Eastern is going to surprise them.  I’m sure they’re sick of Eastern players saying, “The Huskies don’t respect us” or things to that extent even though no Husky player or coach has come close to saying that.  It’s a Saturday on Montlake and Husky football is on its way back.  The Dawgs make it a bit stressful but then dominate.  Welcome back Huskies, I’ve been waiting for this since a certain night in late December.

Huskies 38, EWU 13 

Matthew

Eastern is certainly scarier than the typical FCS team, but I think their talent is maybe getting a bit overblown.  Could the Huskies lose this game?  Sure, it’s possible, I guess.  Will they? Not a chance in the world.  Eastern might score a few points, but I can’t see this being close.  My only question is how long it takes the Huskies to break away.  In past years, they’ve started slowly in the few blow outs they’ve had before pulling away later.  This Saturday, I’m hoping the first quarter has Jesse Callier running through 10-foot holes, Jermaine Kearse 20 feet behind the EWU secondary, and Bo Levi Mitchell flat on his back after every play.  Go Dawgs!

UW 48, EWU 17

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by | August 31, 2011 · 6:35 pm

Hello Dawg Fans

To anyone still reading this nearly dormant blog, welcome to the 2011 season of college football and the first season for the new Pac-12 Conference.  This is a favorite time of year for the Good Guys, so you should start to see a lot more posts here.  Personally, I am finally done with the graduate school that’s kept me from posting for the past 8 months or so, and I’m looking forward to getting back to writing.

The Pac-12 season kicks off for everyone this week, with Arizona State and Utah both kicking off tomorrow and everyone else starting the season on Saturday.  The only real attention grabbers for the weekend are UCLA at Houston and the battle of off-season troublemakers between Oregon and LSU.  Everyone else plays an FCS or comparable team.  Not to say that all of the teams have a definite win, but even the Cougars should have a pretty easy go of it this week.

Reading through the multitude of Pac-12 previews over the last few weeks, the conference seems unsure, at least after Oregon and Stanford at the top.  Oregon, despite the offseason drama, is still as fast as anyone and a threat to return to the BCS championship.  Stanford has a few more questions after losing Jim Harbaugh and several receivers, but they still have Andrew Luck and as much or more talent as anyone else in the conference.  Expect these two to stay at the top of the league, perhaps meeting as undefeated teams later in the season. Unfortunately, both play in the new North division with the Huskies, meaning that only one of them can play in the new Pac-12 Championship.  Of course, if the Huskies want to play in it instead, they’ll probably have to beat at least one of these teams and win just about everything else.  More on them in a bit.

After those two, the pecking order is anything but clear.  In the south, there is talent with question marks.  ASU looked like the top dog, but they’ve suffered some major injury losses, and the Sun Devils haven’t met expectations since Jake the Snake was there, as far as I can remember.  USC still has excellent talent, but they’re banned from the postseason.  Utah is always good, but how they’ll transition to the Pac-12 is a big question.  Arizona could put up crazy passing numbers if they’re o-line holds up.  Even UCLA and Colorado seem like they could surprise, although each have big questions or weaknesses.  I could truly see just about any order of finish in the south, but none of these teams seem truly dominant.

There is similar uncertainty after Stanford and Oregon in the north.  California might have the conference’s top defense to go with some weapons on offense.  If new quarterback Zach Maynard can consistently get the ball to Keenan Allen and Marvin Jones and Isi Sofele provides a reasonable facsimile of Shane Vereen, they could easily surprise and make a bowl.  It’s hard to imagine Oregon State struggling for a full year, but the offseason has not been kind to them.  They lost Jacquizz Rodgers somewhat surprisingly to the NFL and will start the year with at least four starters out due to injury.  James Rodgers is among those who might return later in the year, so it’s quite possible this will be another season where the Beavers play good football by November.  They have questions on both lines even before the injuries, however, so I have my doubts.  Cougar fans have been talking for months about this being their season to break out.  Their schedule starts easy, and if they can beat San Diego State to go 3-0, they might have something this year.  WSU is definitely better than they have been, but I’m betting talk of a bowl game will prove to be wishful thinking.

That leaves us with the University of Washington.  They’re being picked anywhere from 3rd to 5th in the north, with projections of 6-8 wins.  That seems likely, with a couple of significant injuries the only real plausible path to fewer than 5 wins.  It’s become difficult to expect much out of the Huskies, but this might be the year that starts to change.  I remember a comment on a chat board somewhere saying that the Dawgs won’t really return to dominance until they have Pac-12 starter level players who are unable to get onto the field.  The Huskies are still too young for that to really be the case this year, but they’re getting closer.  Their talent level and depth is significantly better than it has been in years.  They have difference-makers at every position.  The question now is whether all of these players are actually ready to make a difference.  The offensive line needs to translate their talent into consistent performance.  The young linebackers on either side of Cort Dennison will have to grow up and make plays in a hurry.   Everyone else just needs to show consistency.  There is plenty of talent, but in past years it hasn’t always produced results.

After that, it comes down largely to one player: Keith Price.  If the rest of the team plays up to its talent-level, he only needs to be okay.  Manage the game, make most of his open passes, not do anything crazy and the team should be fine.  I think he can do that, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he does more.  Jake Locker was one of my favorite Huskies of all time, but realistically, he wasn’t that great last year.  Price should be able to produce similar, if not better, passing numbers.  However, like many great quarterbacks, Jake had the ability to get better and make plays when he needed to.  There’s no way to know if Price can consistently do that yet.  Probably, he can’t, but luckily there are plenty of others on the team who might be able to fill that void.

I don’t know what the actual over/under line is on regular season Husky wins.  If I had to guess, I would set it at 6 1/2.  I’ve talked myself into expecting 7-5 or 8-4 before a bowl game, and if everything broke right I could see even better than that.  It’s been 11 years since everything broke right for the Huskies.  I’d say they’re due.

-Matthew

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