2014-15 Football Previews – (Pac-12) – Huskies
Steve Sarkisian is out, but he left a whole bunch of talent for Chris Petersen to work with in the new head coach’s first year roaming the sidelines for the University of Washington Huskies.
Pac-12 Conference 2014-15 College Football Previews:
Head Coach: Chris Petersen
2013 Record: 9-4
Washington Gambling Odds to win BCS Championship: 85/1
Washington Gambling Odds to win Pac-12 North Division: 6/1
Washington Gambling Odds to win Pac-12 Conference: 14/1
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Despite finally breaking the seven-win mark from last season, Sarkisian has taken his talents to SoCal to become the new head coach of the USC Trojans. The team made strides under Sark from the time he began to the time he left, but the hope is that now Petersen can elevate this program to yet another level—a level that will have the team contending for a spot in the newly added College Football Playoffs.
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The question, of course, is: Can that kind of stride take place this season? In all likelihood, the answer to that question is a resounding no, but we should see improvements, making them more competitive against the best that the conference has to offer.
Team Strengths:
Having Cyler Miles on the roster is a strength for Washington. The sophomore quarterback is mobile, and was considered the easy choice at starter when last season came to a close, but troubles off the field caused him to miss spring training. Assuming he picks up where he left off, he should be named starter, which would be a good thing for UW; we just can’t assume anything about this position until we hear concrete evidence from Petersen.
At tailback, the team is ready to move past Bishop Sankey and give the load to Dwayne Washington. There’s no doubt that this kid has speed, as evidenced by his long-distance scores last season, but you can’t ignore his size, either. At 6’2”, 221 pounds, Washington has NFL size written all over him. He’s a skilled back who can certainly make plays, but when he learns how to combine both his size and his speed in the attack, he could be unstoppable at the collegiate level.
Offensive line has been a topic of discussion in years past for all the wrong reasons, but we’ll give the team credit for keeping its guys around and grooming them into a veteran unit. That should help prepare the young quarterback and running back game in and game out.
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Defensively, this team has a lot of experience both on the line and at linebacker. Both of those areas should be strengths, which is crucial considering a lack of experience in the secondary.
Team Weaknesses:
Outside of junior Marcus Peters, this group of linebackers is very young. Youth isn’t always a bad thing, as talent comes early for most of these kids, but having tested players on the field is crucial when you’re playing teams like Oregon, Stanford and UCLA.
On offense, as much of an asset as the quarterback can be, should he be who we think he is, he’s going to have to deal with a surprisingly difficult situation at wide receiver. Kasen Williams will be a primary target if healthy, but he’s coming off of a serious leg injury. On top of that, Damor’ea Stringfellow has transferred to Ole Miss, and inexperience will be the theme after that.
2013-14 UCLA Football Gambling Prediction: 9-4
Looking at the strengths that this team has, it’s easy to see how it could be improved from last season. The problem is, the offensive strengths are mostly wild cards, making it possible that a dropoff could take place as well.
The safe bet is that UW finishes 9-4, just as it did last season. The team should realistically start the season 4-0 before it plays Stanford. The schedule gets tougher from that point on, and while double-digit wins is certainly possible, 9-4 just feels like where we’re headed with the 2014 Huskies.
2014 UW Schedule
- Sat, Aug 30 @ Hawaii
- Sat, Sept 6 vs E Washington
- Sat, Sept 13 vs Illinois
- Sat, Sept 20 vs Georgia State
- Sat, Sept 27 vs Stanford
- Sat, Oct 11 @ California
- Sat, Oct 18 @ Oregon
- Sat, Oct 25 vs Arizona State
- Sat, Nov 1 @ Colorado
- Sat, Nov 8 vs UCLA
- Sat, Nov 15 @ Arizona
- Sat, Nov 22 vs Oregon State
- Sat, Nov 29 @ Washington St.
