Valero Alamo Bowl Washington Vs. #12 Baylor: Preview

For the first year in a new bowl agreement, the Valero Alamo Bowl will feature a team for the Pac-12. Washington comes out of the tough Pac-12 North which sent two teams to the BCS. They face another stiff test against #12 Baylor in San Antonio.

The Huskies started the season out strong going 5-1 but hit a bit of a buzz saw in the second half of the season as they dropped 4 of the next five but rebounded to defeat rival Washington State in the Apple cup to give them their final record of 7-5. Washington now looks to the future as they remodel Husky Stadium and look for their second consecutive bowl victory under Steve Sarkesian.

Baylor also started the season hot, and ran into trouble midway through as they dropped 3 of 4 against Kansas State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. The Bears would bounce back though and win out, topping both Texas and Oklahoma en route to a 6-3 mark in the Big XII.

The highest individual honor in college football was handed out last week and it went to the dynamic Robert Griffin III. RGIII as they call him has been an absolute dynamo on offense. He has thrown for 3998 yards to this point on the season. Griffin not only can hurt you with his arm, but the dual threat quarter back compliments the running game by adding another 644 on the ground. The Bears are an offensive machine and Griffin is the key accounting for 45 touchdowns on the season.

RGIII will provide the most challenging vertical threat that the Huskies have faced all season and that could provide problems. The Huskies rank 116th in the country against the pass and that does not bode well going up against the Heisman winner. Baylor scored 43.6 points per game, much of that thanks to the passing game and if the Huskies don't find a way to slow it down they could be in for a long day. A glimmer of hope for the Husky defense is their pass rush. The defense averages 2 sacks per game and despite his gaudy numbers, Griffin has been sacked 25 times this season. If the Huskies can get the push through the middle, it's possible they could slow the passing game.

Griffin doesn't do it alone, obviously. The offense features Senior wide out Kendall Wright who has hauled in 101 receptions this year for 1572 yards. Baylor has not used him in the running game as much as years past but he is still a threat to get the ball and turn it up field. Wright has been on fire, recently posting over 100 yards receiving in each of his last four games. Against Oklahoma, he exploded for 208 yards and has shown himself to be a tough cover, regardless of who lines up across from him.

Usually when a team is as prolific as Baylor in one aspect of the game, the other suffers.  This isn't the case with the Bears. Baylor features Terrance Ganaway at the starting running back position. The Senior has experienced a breakout season, tallying 1347 yards on the ground. Ganaway runs with great field vision, balance and has a nose for the end zone, evidenced by his 16 touch downs this season. Baylor likes to run play action passes and the zone read so if the Huskies can shut down Ganaway, it could go a long way in negating a major facet of the offense.

Speaking of running, Washington features one of the finest running backs in the country in Chris Polk. The All Pac-12 first teamer has been a stalwart and work horse for the Huskies this season. Polk has run for over 1000 yards each of his three seasons with Washington and this year he looks to have his biggest season as a Husky. He needs just 71 more yards on the ground to top that figure. Where Polk has excelled and shown himself to be a multiple threat attack is in the passing game. Polk has 29 receptions for 324 yards and 4 scores. He will get a chance to run also as Baylor has not been good against the run, besting only 18 other schools in the NCAA. Polk has breakaway speed and is tough to bring down. Baylor is going to have to be sure with their tackling if they want to keep Polk in front of them and out of the end zone.

Joining Polk in the backfield is second year player, first year starter Keith Price. Price has taken over the reigns nicely completing over 67% of his passes on the year. While Price has played well in their wins, he has been a little more spotty up against AP ranked opponents this year. Only 7 of Price's 29 touch down passes have come against Top 25 opponents up against 5 of his season's 11 interceptions. Price throws a beautiful pass and Washington will need him to step up big, getting the ball out to his receivers Devin Aguilar and Jermaine Kearse. Both Aguilar and Kearse will be playing in their final games as Huskies and will hope to leave the school as members of one of the more successful recruiting classes in recent memory.

As mentioned before, Washington will be looking to add their second consecutive bowl win and give them more momentum going into next season which could see the Huskies competing for a shot in the Rose Bowl. For Baylor, it's entirely possible the Robert Griffin III will be jumping to the NFL and will look to use his performance as a swan song before the combine. Expect this to be a high scoring affair as the strength of the offenses match up very well against the weaknesses of the opposing defenses. We will see who will be able to get stops when they need them to pull out the victory.

#8 Oregon Vs. Washington: Preview

The Ducks were able to contain Price last year, can they do it again?
(Photo By Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

Over the past 7 years, the border war between Oregon and Washington has been pretty one sided. Not only have the Ducks won each of the previous 7 contests but they have done so by more than 20 points in each game. The Huskies look to change that as Oregon comes into town for what will be the final game played in Husky Stadium before it is renovated.

Last season, Washington broke in freshman Keith Price against a raucous Autzen crowd for his first start. A challenge for anyone, let alone a rookie. He performed admirably completing half of his passes for 127 yards and a score in a losing effort. The Duck defense got to him 5 times and limited dynamic running back Chris Polk to 77 yards on 17 carries. Price's counterpart Darron Thomas had a field day against the Huskies, accounting for 3 touchdowns, two of them on the ground. Thomas made an eye popping play where he came to a full stop, juked back, then went toward the end zone on a scoring run that got the Autzen contingent on it's feet. Thomas' 89 rushing yards was only eclipsed by LaMichael James who tallied 121 yards and 3 rushing touch downs of his own.

The Huskies held the Ducks scoreless in the first quarter, but depth and speed played a factor as it often did last season and the Ducks pulled away to a final of 53-16. It was the first time to that point in the year that Oregon had not put any points on the board in the first quarter and the Huskies hung with their rival until the Ducks exploded for 35 in the second half.

This season the Huskies have improved and are looking to get back on the track to Pac-12 prominence. Keith Price has played well, taking over permanently for graduated Jake Locker and has thrown for 1990 yards and connected on 23 touchdown passes. Last week, the Huskies found themselves in a shootout with a suddenly revived Arizona squad in which they won 42-31. It was one of the only times that Price has looked less than spectacular completing just over half of his passes and throwing 3 picks to his one touchdown. Washington really rode the back of Chris Polk who accounted for 5 touch downs and became the first player in Washington history to rush and receive for 100 yards.

The Huskies have an offense that can put points on the board, if they take care of the ball and continue to ride Polk. It's not a question that when he is on the field, he is the most threatening player out there for the offense. He owns a powerful style of running which can give defensive coordinators heart burn as he breaks tackles running down the field. The Washington running game is complimented by a pair of talented wide receivers in Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar who have 395 and 427 yards respectively. Kearse went over 1000 yards receiving last season and gives the Huskies a vertical threat which could give the young Oregon secondary problems on Saturday.

The Huskies only two losses on the year have come against upper teir talents in Nebraska and Stanford. In those losses they have allowed 116 points and at times showed difficulty in tackling. The defense is going to have to be sure tacklers against Oregon's offensive attack. Oregon will likely try to spread the Huskies out and put them into one on one situations to allow their speedy players like LaMichael James, De'Anthony Thomas and Kenjon Barner to make plays. Washington will have to tackle well because if they miss their assignment it could be a big play or a touchdown in a hurry.

The Ducks look to be lead by Darron Thomas who is returning from a knee injury against Arizona State. He sat out against Colorado and only played the first half against Washington State in which Thomas looked rusty, throwing 2 interceptions one of which was returned for a score. He and James will likely be starting against Washington despite a budding quarter back controversy stemming from back up Bryan Bennett's filling in for the injured Thomas.  If Thomas and James are 100% will give defensive coordinator Nick Holt issues in this game. In respect to the quarter back controversy Mark Helfrich has been glowing in his support of Thomas; saying, "I believe 100 percent in Darron Thomas in all ways, shapes and forms. There's nothing else to read into this."

Oregon Will Win If:                        Washington Will Win If:
Contain Polk                                   Force and Capitalize on Turnovers
Get solid play from QB and RB        Tackle on first contact consistently
Limit Price in the Pocket                  Price and Polk dominate