Washington Huskies Way Too Early Preview

Steve Sarkisian looks to lead the Huskies back to another bowl game
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The Huskies found their way back to bowl contention for a second straight year after a long drought that spanned most of the 2000's. Their match up against Baylor and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III was a high octane, score fest which saw the Huskies take a commanding lead before finally succumbing to the  Bears and losing 67-56. It was another step in the right direction for a program that has clearly made the right coaching decision in Steve Sarkisian. The Huskies got out to a quick start winning 5 of their first 6. Their only loss came on the road to Nebraska 51-38 in that stretch. After that torrid start though, Washington ran into trouble in their schedule having to face Stanford, Oregon and USC losing all three of those including a head scratcher against Oregon State. They righted the ship against rival Washington State to close the season and give them their mark of 7-5 going into the Alamo Bowl.


The Huskies boast one of the best quarterbacks in the conference in Keith Price. Price is a second year starter and was a great backfield companion to star running back Chris Polk. Price passed for more than 3000 yards and had 33 touch downs to only 11 interceptions. The challenge that comes for Price this next season is he is going to be missing he three best targets from last season. Jermaine Kearse, Devin Aguilar and Chris Polk are now all in the league and he is going to have to start anew with a new receiving corps. However, he does have a pair of talented individuals coming back in tight end Austin Safarian-Jenkins and Kasen Williams, both Sophomores. The departure of Chris Polk will also be a major impact on an offense which had to often outscore it's opponents. Polk was an absolute workhorse for the offense and he doesn't leave a lot of experience behind him. Sophomore Bishop Sankey and Junior Jesse Callier will likely be the ones to try and carry the load for the offense but the two only combined for 447 yards last season. If they can get it going however, it would go a long way in keeping the pressure off Keith Price and the passing game.

The defense gets a new beginning this year bringing in a couple faces not unfamiliar to the Pac-12 in Justin Wilcox and Peter Sirmon. Last season under Nick Holt, the Huskies struggled on defense. They allowed over 450 yards per game and 35 points per game. Something had to change and bringing in Wilcox could be just the man for the job. At Tennessee, Wilcox coached a defense that was ranked top 30 nationally in the highly competitive SEC and before that, coached at Boise State during their championship runs. The Huskies are losing starters from every level of the defense to graduation but probably the player they are going to miss most is Cort Dennison. Dennison lead the team in tackles last season and added an interception. The defense is experienced, though with Desmond Trufant and Sean Parker. The cupboard is far from bare for coach Wilcox. If the defense can retool itself in Wilcox's mold, the Huskies could make a push this next season in the north.

The schedule sets up well for the Huskies with their only speed bump before conference play coming against LSU. Even still before that, they have a game against San Diego State which should give them the opportunity to tune up the offense for the showdown against the Bayou Bengals. They then face Portland State and go up against a Stanford team who will be breaking in a new quarter back and offensive line before they have to go on the road to face the Oregon Ducks. That game is followed up with a faceoff against the familiar USC Trojans. The second half of the season is much more favorable as they face the likes of Oregon State, Colorado and Washington State.

If all goes according to plan, the Huskies could find themselves with a 9-3 record and in contention to go to the conference championship with the Rose Bowl on the line. However, if Price can't find the chemistry he had a year ago on offense and Wilcox doesn't quite get the defense in line, the Huskies could be looking at another 7-5 year and have to wait another season to get back to Pac-12 prominence.

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 slows Huskies attack in 34-17 win

LaMichael James gets into the end zone against the Huskies in the first quarter.

It was supposed to be a night of celebration for the Huskies as the Oregon Ducks came into town for the last game to be played at Husky Stadium before renovations start on Monday. Prior to the game, Don James and the 1991 national championship squad were honored by the more than 69,000 in attendance. The Oregon Ducks had other things in mind.


In what was to be a battle of offenses, the defenses stood tall throughout the first half. With 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Washington had the ball inside the Oregon 1 yard and Keith Price connected with Michael Hartvigson for Price's first of two touchdowns on the day. The connection brought the Huskies within one touchdown and the momentum seemed to be in the home teams favor but the Ducks responded with a 12 play, 90 yard drive which took little more than 2 and 1/2 minutes. After several Darron Thomas passes, Kenjon Barner took it into the end zone for a 1 yard touch down run to give Oregon two scores of separation.


Washington would not make be denied though as they responded with a 75 yard drive of their own. On 1st and goal from the 10, Keith Price dropped back and hit freshman, Kasen Williams near the sideline with a beautiful catch toeing the out of bounds line. They would get no closer however as the Ducks responded with 10 more points to give the final score of 34-17. 


The Oregon defense stymied a powerful Washington offense early. Eddie Pleasant intercepted Keith Price twice in the first half on overthrown balls which lead to 14 Oregon points. Throughout the day, Washington tried to get their running game in stride but Chris Polk was limited to 80 yards on 24 carries and did not find the end zone. It was a stark contrast to the previous week when Polk scored 5 touch downs in their win against Arizona. At the same time, the defense got to quarter back Keith Price 6 times for sacks, knocking him out of the game briefly on the final sack of the game. Despite completing  24 of 35 passes, Price only through for 143 yards. Late in the third, Price hit a swing pass to Hartvigson but Terrance Mitchell came up in coverage and ripped the ball from him, putting Oregon on the Washington 23 to start their next drive. After a pair of false starts, Oregon was unable to capitalize on the turn over and Alejandro Maldanado missed a 46 yard field goal. When asked about his offenses' performance, Washington coach Steve Sarkisian stated, "Offensively, we didn't perform well enough to win. You can't have three turnovers. You can't have six sacks. You can't give a team like Oregon short fields and expect to beat them."


Price's counterpart Darron Thomas controlled the Duck offense, completing just over half of his passes for 169 yards and a single touch down to Tight End David Paulson. Joining him in the backfield was LaMichael James who played his first full game since a gruesome elbow injury against California. James rushed for 153 yards and a touch down and looked to be back at 100% just in time for the show down with Stanford next week. The Huskies had a tough time tackling Oregon's play makers and often times, the Ducks would find themselves in space after breaking tackles on momentum shifting plays. 


This win for Oregon marks the 8th consecutive victory in the series for the border rivals. It is the longest streak in the rivalry's history. Looking ahead, the Ducks travel to Palo Alto next week for what is anticipated to be the Pac-12 game of the year against Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal. Washington will also be on the road to face USC, who are coming off of a dominating win against Colorado. 

#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