Wasington Preview: Call of the Wild

By this point in the season, while the previews always pose interesting challenges, I could almost write a wrap-up before the game starts.  In fact, I've already started my Monday Grab Bag for next week; it's called "Winless in Seattle."  Here's a preview:

"Blah blah special teams disaster, blah blah penalties, blah blah screen game, blah blah team doesn't know how to win, blah blah blah. "

It's been the same for every weekend that CU isn't playing within it's comfort zone (whupping lil brother in Denver), and the whole thing is starting to get old.  I'm having trouble discerning genuine improvement anymore; maybe that's just the cynic in me, but I've reached a critical stage in watching the team this season.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still on board with Coach Embree and crew, but my heart is catching up to what my brain knew all along would be a long rebuilding process

Hell, I'm probably lashing out because of the helpless nature of being a fan, but my eyes are starting to glaze over whenever the football program is brought up.  I'm desperate for a bright spot, but as I said last week, I'm not sure that there's one on the horizon until October passes us all by.

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Balto, the most famous Husky of all time.  That's all I got today.

Making their fist trip to the Pacific Northwest since that dreadful 2004 affair with Washington St, CU takes on the Washington Huskies, looking to somehow, someway halt the road losing streak in its tracks.  Kickoff is set for 1:30 MT, and the game can be seen on Root/FSN if you're so inclined.

Click below for the preview...



I can't talk about this game without mentioning the venue.  Husky Stadium is an idyllic setting for college football.   Located on the banks of Lake Washington, it features nice views of the Cascade Mountains and Mt Rainier, and it's probably the only venue in the Pac-12 that can hold a candle to the perfection that is Folsom Field.  (Bleacher Report ranked Folsom one spot below Husky Stadium, but they're stupid)

It's a beautiful place to watch a game.  Not as beautiful as Folsom, but still pretty awesome.

It's also crazy loud.

Near 70% of the seats in Husky Stadium are situated between the endzones, and the metal roofs covering the main stands focus all the resulting crowd noise back on the playing field.  This combines to create volumes that can crack 130 decibels, which is insane.

It's a unique stadium in a special setting, and it's only to be improved over the next few years as the stadium goes under a massive overhaul.


Opponents season so far - 


After 5 games and a bye week (lucky bastards) UW is sitting pretty with a 4-1 overall record and a perfect 2-0 start to conference play.  Outside of a frustrating loss in Lincoln to the hated red menace that is the Huskers, the Huskies have looked pretty good, and find themselves just a step below the powers in the Pac-12 North (Oregon and Stanford).  A 3rd place finish in the North this season would be nothing to snark about.

The times have mostly been good for UW this season

The interesting thing about the early going for UW is that they share two common opponents with CU.  They've beaten both Cal and Hawaii in 8-point games in Seattle, shrugging of late comeback charges from each in the 4th quarter.  I note that combined the Warriors and Bears put up nearly 700 passing yards on the Huskies, and both teams left Husky Stadium with sizable time of possession advantage (largely due to blisteringly fast UW scoring drives).  On the flip side, UW scored 7 total TD's through the air in those two contests.  Look for an airshow, and quick scores from the Huskies.




Offense & Defense - 


Of the 20 total touchdowns scored by the Husky offense this season, a whopping 17 have been scored through the air.  They run more then they pass  (average over 35 carries/game vs 28 passing attempts/game) and only grab 241 passing yards per game, so the air attack just becomes an acute focus of the offense when they approach the endzone.

However productive their passing attack has been, I wouldn't call the offense one dimensional.  UW spreads the ball around, with no single receiving target outshining the rest, and 7 players have caught touchdown passes so far this year.  Combined with a strong rushing attack lead by multi-year starter Chris Polk, and this offense is more balanced than a 17-3 touchdown ratio would imply.

On defense, you can see some cracks as they give up over 400 yards per contest, but the Huskies make up for that by getting their hands on the ball (grab over 2 turnovers a game, have caused a total of 14 fumbles, recovering 7).  They give up a lot through the air, but that is mitigated by the fact that they've usually held the lead, and have played some strong passing teams.  If you can stay in the game, you can put together some long drives.


Star Players - 

The leader of the offense is sophomore QB Keith Price.  Ranking second in the Pac-12 in passing efficiency, Price is deadly when given time to find his myriad crew of receivers.  His stat line features excellent 68% passing and a 17-4 TD-to-INT ratio.  With a Buffs secondary hurting for talent and depth, he should have a typically productive and efficient day on Saturday.  Luckily, he's mostly one dimensional, and not really a threat to run, having only gained 81 rushing yards on the season.

Price is yet another quality Pac-12 QB.

No one wide receiver stands out: 4 wideouts have grabbed more than 200 yards, but no one has more than 300 (P-Rich had nearly 300 yards in the Cal game alone) and 6 have more than 10 catches with no one having more than 20 on the season.  It's an offense that truly spreads the ball around.

Chris Polk has nearly 750 all purpose yards, and does a good job balancing out the Husky attack.  He averages nearly 150 yards/game, and can wear out a defense in a hurry.

Polk can get things done on the ground.

Defensively, the Husky leader is senior LB Cort Dennison.  He's gobbled up 44 total tackles on the year, 4 of which were for loss.  Junior Desmond Trufant is a lock down corner with a bright future ahead of him; he's already grabbed 4 turnovers on the season (two each of interceptions and fumble recoveries).  Sophomore safety Sean Parker looks like he's going to be a good one; in only his second season he's second in the team in tackles and can cover a lot of ground in the defensive backfield.




Coaching - 


Tasked with cleaning up the winless mess left to him by departed former head coach Tyrone Willingham, Husky boss Steve Sarkisian has availed himself quite well after only 2.5 years in charge of the program.  Almost instantly he brought respectability and competitiveness back to a program that had lost both under the previous regime.

Rising to prominence through the vaunted offensive juggernaut that was the mid-2000s USC teams, Coach Sark  was welcomed with open arms by the win-starved UW fanbase.  After a 5-7 inaugural campaign in '09, which included a win over his former USC squad, he guided the Huskies to a 7-6 record last season, including wins over USC (again) and, most importantly, Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.  (A Husker loss is a hell of a Christmas present, thanks much Coach Sark!)

Washington is back on the college football map because of the efforts of Coach Sark.

Honestly, I'm rather jealous how quickly he got things back on track in Seattle.  No, the wins haven't piled up yet, but he has the Huskies in line for a  3rd straight year of improvement under his tutelage.  He's proven to be a pretty good hire, and I hope he sticks around the shores of Lake Washington for a few years.




Prediction -

The Buffs could get Luck-y, and catch the Huskies looking past CU to next week's matchup with Stanford (pun intended), but I doubt it.

Husky Stadium is a tough place to walk into, and CU, if you haven't heard, has had some troubles on the road.  I just can't imagine CU winning a road game against a competent passing team with the defensive backfield in the shape that it's in.  Throw in an injured Paul Richardson, and I'm seeing 100% loss.  Not that it should be a blowout, just that the Buffs will not win Saturday.

On the positive side, I could see a big day from the defense in terms of getting to the QB.  Additionally, maybe, finally, Speedy will have a huge rushing day to put the all-time rushing record back into reach (currently, it's starting to slip through his grasp).  However, it won't be enough.

The sick joke that is the road losing streak will continue to thrive in the Pacific Northwest, and the Buffs will fall to the Huskies.

UW 37 - CU 20

GO BUFFS, PROVE ME WRONG AND MUZZLE THOSE HUSKIES!