Washington football failed their first test of the year vs Auburn. They have a chance at some redemption this weekend against Utah. Is the offense ready?
The best game of the week, to many, is one of three options. Some feel that Ohio State-TCU will be the most competitive game this Saturday. Others side with Auburn-LSU, while a smaller third group picks Boise State-Oklahoma State. While all of those games should be awesome, I’m here to tell you that there’s a fourth game you should be holding to that level this weekend.
The only problem is that it doesn’t kick off until 10:00 p.m. ET. Washington at Utah, regardless of when it kicks off, is one of the best games of the whole weekend, and should be an absolute delight to watch. Utah’s spectacular defense should be a great test for Washington’s iffy offense, and Washington’s defense may completely keep Arizona State off the board.
If you’re looking for a solid, defensive battle to end your day, this is the way to go. Throw in fun playmakers on both sides in players like Aaron Fuller, Ty Jones, Byron Murphy, Tyler Huntley, Zack Moss and Britain Covey, and you’ve got a super intriguing battle that could go a long way in defining the Pac-12 this year.
While Washington is pretty heavily favored here, I think Utah is one of the most underrated teams in the whole country. If their offense can get going early, this could be a struggle all game long. Here’s how you can watch it:
Date: Saturday, September 15
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Washington keys to victory
Washington is a very good team, and despite their Week 1 loss, they’re definitely still playoff contenders. However, I think just half of the team is playoff caliber right now. This offense has some really serious issues, and needs to look better this week against a really good Utah defense. That means better decision-making from Jake Browning, better running from Myles Gaskin, and perhaps above all else, much improved line play. They can win with defense, but some offense would certainly be helpful.
Utah keys to victory
Utah has to cause a lot of chaos to win this game. They need their awesome front seven to make plays, and force Jake Browning into situations he’s not comfortable with. With that, they need to force several turnovers to help out their offense, because I just don’t see this offense winning on its own. However, if Utah can force Washington to beat them in the air, they’ve got a chance.
Betting Odds
Courtesy of Oddshark
Point Spread: Washington -5
Over/Under: 47.5
Prediction
I don’t trust Utah’s offense enough to call for an all out victory here. I think Washington is the better team, and I think they’re probably going to win on Saturday. However, I do think Utah is going to make this game very tough on Jake Browning and the Washington offense, so for that reason, I have the covering, while this game comes nowhere near topping that 47.5 over.
Final score: Washington 17 Utah 13