I
definitely have sail-gating at Husky stadium on my bucket list. It’s a gorgeous setting and the whole place
has been remodeled and upgraded since I went there ten years ago. The Buffs make their second to last road trip
before coming home to two winnable games.
It will take the team’s best effort and ability to minimize mistakes
that add up and doom them. It will also
probably take some big plays, but Washington has not been as good as most
expected them to be and have shown some chinks in their armor. Keith Price absolutely torched the Buffs in
the second half at Folsom last year, so the defense obviously has to do a
better job there, but the current Buff offense is vastly improved from last
year’s version, so there could be a chance, albeit tiny, little one, that if
they catch a couple of breaks, they can sneak out of Seattle with an upset win.
§ Line: Washington is still receiving
votes in the polls and is “ranked” 32nd in the AP and are as much as
28 point favorites at home.
§ Roster Notes: This may not affect the
lineup yet, but Coach Mike MacIntyre issued the team an ultimatum Thursday,
even after a week when everyone seemed to finish the game strong, that anyone
not giving maximum effort through the whole play will be yanked. This will be interesting to watch and we
could see some mass substitutions or regular players coming out in key
situations.
§ The
second corner position opposite stud Greg Henderson appears to be somewhat in
limb0: Kenneth Crawley has held it most of the year but has been unspectacular
at best and has a sprained ankle; Chidobe Awuzie is entrenched now as nickel
and they don’t want to mess that up; John Walker has played sporadically
including one start, and now Jeff Hall started last week. They will probably be
in a lot of nickel so it will be Chido and likely Crawley, until his ankle or
play gives out.
§ Something
to remember from BoulderDevil about the offensive line: of the 17 scholarship
players that Gary Bernardi has to work with, only 4 are upperclassmen (Harris and
Handler seniors, Crabb and Munyer juniors) with 13 freshmen and sophomores.
§ Injuries: The biggest news of the week
may be that LB Woodson Greer is not going to play, tweeting Thursday (though it
appears to since have been deleted): “Out for this week. Praying for a speedy
recovery. Hopefully next week I’ll play…” This could be a big blow as he had started
taking more snaps than Derrick Webb, offering a little more speed.
§ Crawley’s
ankle is better and he has been practicing, as has Michael Adkins, but neither
had been fully cleared yet and will both likely be game time decisions.
§ Washington
with get left guard Dexter Charles back so, great, more o-line help for Sankey.
When the Buffs have the ball:
§ This
will be a homecoming for true frosh QB Sefo Liufau who is from Bellamarine, WA
and he will have tons of friends and family on hand. He is coming off his best game yet and
looking for a breakthrough performance and win. For many young kids this could
be a distraction and some might force things or make poor decisions, but I
don’t think that will be the case here.
Look for him to have his best game yet.
§ Sefo
hit seven different receivers last week and he needs to keep spreading the ball
around. While P-Rich is the only real big-time
playmaker, they do have a bunch of solid skill players and some TEs with size.
§ Christian
Powell is a big, strong, bruising back, but they really need the change of pace
that Michael Adkins gives them, but the Buffs have been awful on third or
fourth down and very short yardage. The
line does not get a push at all in obvious running situations and whoever the
back is gets stuffed almost every time.
They either need to change up something on the blocking or the
play-calling by taking advantage of that sell-out of the defense to run Sefo on
play action, keeper on the zone-read option, or a combo of both.
§ If
Adkins is back, as is expected, they have the option of doing some interesting
things with both he and Powell lined up with Sefo in the backfield, either
flanking him in the pistol, or lined up more in an I formation straight behind
him. When they tried to use Powell with
Jones, it was not as effective of a combination. I prefer Abron over Jones.
§ The
offensive line got some credit for limited sacks, but that credit actually
needs to go to Sefo who is adept at moving in the pocket, rolling if necessary
and getting rid of the ball safely, even if he has to take a big hit. If Wood or Webb was in there, we’d be looking
at many more sacks and bigger losses.
§ There
is some talent and ability but this group needs to learn how to close drives
and not settle for FGs.
§ Marcus
Peters is one of the top corners in the league and will likely be tasked with
shadowing P-Rich the most, although senior Sean Parker will get some chances as
well. The question will be how much
safety help do they get?
§ The
Huskies have a deep defensive line led by Hau’oli Kikaha. They have recently been
working two talented freshmen into the lineup more and more with Marcus Farria
and Jojo Mathis.
When the Huskies have the ball:
§ Once
again the Buff defensive line will be in the spotlight trying to contain a
Heisman potential RB (if there weren’t so many outstanding QBs) and another
mobile and experienced QB, which has been the combination that has killed
them. Chidera continues to have a few of
the best plays, and also a few of the worst when he makes bad reads and doesn’t
contain the corner.
§ Bishop
Sankey could be the best running back in the Pac12 averaging 145 yards per game
with 12 TDs, not too far behind Carey’s numbers.
§ Keith
Price is a senior QB who was considered other-worldly two years ago, has been
inconsistent enough this year, even though he is healthy, that many have
clamored for young Cyler Miles (of Mullen) to take over the sled. However,
Price is regaining his form and had his best game ever against CU last
year. He has the knack to just make
plays and is certainly salivating after watching some film.
§ Even
without Williams, Price has a nice stable of receivers to spread the ball
around, including seniors Jaydon Mickens
and Kevin Smith, plus a bunch of talented younger guys.
§ TE
Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, who was touted as possible All-America but then ran,
er drove into some legal problems, has been generally quiet so far this
year. So, of course, the safeties will
be tested. If Bell and Orms are tasked
with covering him, he could have his break out game. The Buffs will need to chip him with
linebackers.
§ Tedric
Thompson must just not have picked up enough of the defensive reads yet and
Marques Mosley just doesn’t get it, because both are way faster than Bell and
Orms, but coaches don’t seemed inclined to play the younger, faster players. Although
they could get their chance if coaches sense any lack of effort.
§ This
could be a big game for LB Derrick Webb, who had lost a lot of playing time to
Greer. Defenses are much more aware of Addison Gillam now, so whichever other
LBs are on the field must step up and make plays.
Special Teams:
§ This
is an area where they probably need a big play, a return a block, a fake, to
able to pull this game out.
§ After
his two fumbles, Ryan Severson will be under everyone’s microscope this week,
assuming he is out there; another fumble and he will probably (better) be gone. I have called for true frosh Devin Ross, or
Marques Mosley again, others for P-Rich (I like him for certain punts only),
but BoulderDevil suggests DD Goodson and I must agree as he has excellent
lateral movement in traffic and the best spin move on the team as well as some
flat out speed.
§ As
for Spruce, I am more comfortable with the “safe” choice on punt returns as the
ball is harder to catch and many more bad possibilities on a punt return than
kickoff, but as I have repeatedly written, when the opposing punter is backed
up and the return man is standing near or inside the 50, P-Rich should be the
one there.
§ Wil
Oliver has been named a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award for best kicker,
but no matter how good your kicker is, you can’t expect to win games in this
conference when he is trotting out there for 5 or 6 FG attempts per game.
§ Darragh
O’Neill has fallen off his pace a bit, mostly because he is rubgy punting more
than using the traditional style. They
have not given up the big one, but there net punting is less than they want it
to be.
§ Overall, it is still impossible to pick the Buffs, going on the road
against a more talented team. They would
need a couple of big, even fluky plays to pull this game out. Although CU is certainly getting closer to a
Pac12 breakthrough, and the Huskies were in a downward spiral in October, the
talent gap is still too great and Washington should get a hard-earned W 38-27.
§ It’s
another late kickoff so here’s bunch more to help you through the afternoon:
Stuart’s
TIPS: http://www.cuatthegame.com/2013/cu-at-washington-a-preview/
RalphieReport
Preview: http://www.ralphiereport.com/colorado-buffaloes-washington-huskies/2013/11/8/5077356/huskies-barking-up-wrong-tree?utm_source=ralphiereport&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs
Plati’s
CU Game Notes: http://www.cubuffs.com/fls/600/gameday/uw13/cunotes.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=600
Washington
Game Notes: http://www.cubuffs.com/fls/600/gameday/uw13/uwnotes.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=600
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