Washington football has dreams of repeating as Pac-12 champs and returning to the playoff. Here are five reasons why the Huskies will struggle in 2017.
For the past decade, Washington stood in the shadow of Oregon and Stanford in the Pac-12 North. The Huskies finally broke through their 16-year conference title drought last season. Though Washington lost to USC in the regular season, they toppled Colorado in the Pac-12 championship to take the league crown. Though they had to sweat out the decision, the Huskies also made the third edition of the College Football Playoff.
With the lion’s share of their offensive production from 2016 back, the Huskies hope to repeat both feats this year. But they must cope with the bulk departure of a talented group of defenders. That balance between offense and defense helped drive Washington to the conference title and a Peach Bowl berth in 2017.
After leaving Boise State and moving to Seattle, Chris Petersen has done an admirable job turning around the Huskies. Expectations are high for the defending champions entering the new year. Given the results of last season, the fan base has plenty of reason to be bullish on the team’s prospects for the upcoming season.
But they should not get too complacent or expect that everything is going to work out for Washington. Even their veterans come with their own question marks. Here are five reasons why the Huskies are going to stink in 2017.