2013 Washington Huskies
College Football
Preview
Schedule and Odds
After three straight 7-6 seasons, head coach Steve Sarkisian is looking to break the bubble and get the Huskies over the seven-win hump. Of course, getting to three straight bowl Games is a good sign, but when fans are hoping for an appearance in the Top 25, not so much. Things were looking good for them last season after starting 3-1 and beating Stanford, but they proceeded to lose three straight Games after that. With a lot of returning starters in the mix, 16 in all, the Huskies are looking to make that step to eight or nine wins in the regular season.
The offense returns nine starters which should help immensely in a unit that averaged just 24 points per Game last season. Keith Price is back at the helm after a largely disappointing season. His numbers in 2012 were actually worse than in 2011 even though he attempted 70 more passes. If he can shed last year’s problems, that’ll be a nice starting point for this offense. The Huskies will also be getting back running back Bishop Sankey who came out of nowhere last year and finished with 1,439 yards. Their wide receivers also remain intact with Kasen Williams and Austin Seferian-Jenkins leading the way. The offensive line was decimated by injuries last season which was a main reason for their problems, but if they can stay healthy, this unit now has depth and is ready to improve.
Washington’s defense was actually a strong suit in the Pac-12 last year and they will be once again with plenty of returning starters and experience at all positions. The only question comes at cornerback where they are losing their top two standout playmakers. Nevertheless, many are considering the Huskies to have one of the top defenses in the conference.
2013 Washington Huskies Football Schedule
Aug. 31 vs. Boise State
Sept. 14 at Illinois (Chicago)
Sept. 21 vs. Idaho State
Sept. 28 vs. Arizona
Oct. 5 at Stanford
Oct. 12 vs. Oregon
Oct. 19 at Arizona State
Oct. 26 vs. California
Nov. 9 vs. Colorado
Nov. 15 at UCLA
Nov. 23 at Oregon State
Nov. 29 vs. Washington State
To start the season, the Huskies get to face a top defense at Boise State which will be a good test to see if the offense has improved in the offseason. Then they get to travel to Soldier Field to face Illinois which won’t be an easy Game even though the Fighting Illini finished with just two wins last year. Washington’s Conference Schedule isn’t the prettiest, but they should be able to make some noise.
Unfortunately, the hardest part of their Schedule is at the beginning of the year which is exactly what happened to them last season. They get a stretch of Arizona, Stanford, Oregon and Arizona State in their first Four Games. All of those Games will be very difficult to win. Getting two wins from those will be a plus, but only one may be expected. After that, they get a couple of nice home Games and then the Huskies have to travel in back-to-back weeks to face UCLA and Oregon State.
Their Schedule sits nicely for them to finish with seven wins once again which means it’s going to take one or two upsets for them to improve. With plenty experience on their side and an offense waiting to breakout, those upsets are very possible.