Washington Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2017

Last year, Washington downed Colorado 41-10 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara to claim the Pac-12 title. The Huskies, though, needed plenty of help from their defense to put up such a blowout. Jake Browning went 9-of-24 for just 118 yards, though he did throw two touchdowns. But his opposite number at quarterback, Sefo Liufau, had a much worse evening.

Liufau went 3-of-13 for 21 yards and three interceptions after returning to the game in the third quarter. He was helpless to do anything against the Huskies’ formidable defense. By the end of the game, the Buffaloes hardly looked like a top-10 team.

But their play throughout the course of 2016 merited Colorado’s position in the polls. A 10-win regular season was impressive, and they were definitive Pac-12 South champs. The Buffaloes, though, will have a hard time rebuilding on defense. That is doubly true after losing defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt to the same job at Oregon.

Prediction: Washington 38, Colorado 21 (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12)

Washington will still have some rust to shake off after facing little test in its opening three games. Colorado could even take an early lead at home. But eventually Washington will get into the groove, Browning and the backfield will begin to gash a green defense by run and by pass, and the Huskies will run away with this contest with a fourth-quarter surge in Boulder.