Washington football: Updated game-by-game predictions for 2020

Washington will be looking for revenge in this game, as Utah used a win over the Huskies as a springboard to an 11-1 regular season and the Utes were one win away from the College Football Playoff before getting run over by Oregon in the Pac-12 title game.

Utah will be without quarterback Tyler Huntley, running back Zack Moss and the majority of one of the best defenses in the country. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham will have his work cut out for him, but the Utes will be fine as he is one of the best coaches in the country and develops talent as good as anyone.

The Utes will be turning to South Carolina transfer Jake Bentley at quarterback and it will be on him to lead an offense that was very efficient. The defense will be fine, but won’t be as good as last years unit, which is to be expected. I think these two teams are evenly matched, but I give the edge to the Huskies because I’m not a big believer in quarterback Bentley.

Huskies win a low-scoring game.

Final Score: Washington 28, Utah 24 (5-2)

Another hire that has not gone the way many thought, Chip Kelly will be under a lot of pressure to deliver in his third season at UCLA. Kelly came to Hollywood as one of the most celebrated offensive minds in all of football, but his first two seasons have been terrible for the most part.

The breakthrough Bruins fans have been searching for could come this season, as former blue-chip quarterback prospect Dorian Thompson-Robinson will be junior and he saw some improvement last year. The unit that needs to see the most improvement however is the defense as the Bruins finished 116th in scoring defense last season.

I expect UCLA to be a competitive team this year, but they lack key playmakers on defense to be taken seriously in the Pac-12. This could be a potential trap game for the Huskies, but their defense finds a way to win a closer than expected game.

Final Score: Washington 35, UCLA 27 (6-2)