1. The blueprint No doubt you’ve heard it by now. It’s become a rallying cry around Seattle in the buildup to the Peach Bowl: Give Chris Petersen a month to prepare, and anything can happen.
It happened 10 years ago in the Fiesta Bowl, when Petersen and Boise State knocked off Oklahoma. Petersen and the Broncos made a habit out of beating up teams from the bigger conferences with better resources. They did it again — right here in Atlanta — against Georgia in 2011. They did it to Virginia Tech in 2010, and to Oregon 2008 and ’09.
Saban had a month too and he's pretty damn good as well.
2. John Ross III Simply put, Alabama hasn’t seen anything like him this season.
Neither had Colorado
3. Turnover margin The Huskies lead the nation in take-aways, with 33, and turnover margin, at plus-21. Alabama, meanwhile, has coughed up 19 turnovers this season and has only a plus-five turnover margin. And while true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts has been terrific for Alabama, he has been susceptible to turnovers — throwing nine interceptions and fumbling 10 times (losing five of them).
The Jood has something here
4. Jake Browning is rested If the Huskies have any hope of winning, their sophomore quarterback has to be great. He probably doesn’t need to be perfect, but he’ll need to be something close to it. Jake Browning was sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting, and UW’s improved offensive line play ought to give him at least a few chances to find Ross and Dante Pettis deep, even against Alabama’s scary front seven. After a long regular season, Browning had a light workload for two weeks after the Pac-12 title game, and a rejuvenated Browning could be scary, too.
Still has a noodle arm and might be hurt. Three weeks doesn't heal a separated shoulder.
5. That secondary Budda Baker, Sidney Jones, Kevin King, Jojo McIntosh, Taylor Rapp. They believe they make up the best secondary in the nation. The numbers put them in the conversation: 13 touchdown passes allowed against 19 interceptions. UW has a 5.8 yards per pass attempt average, the same as Alabama’s defense.
Point Jood
6. Those big dudes up front
For all the attention the UW secondary has (deservedly) received, the real key for the UW defense probably lies up front. It’s where Elijah Qualls, Greg Gaines and Vita Vea roam, and it’s where the Huskies most resemble an Southeastern Conference team.
Qualls, Gaines and Vea weigh in at a combined 971 pounds — give or take a turkey sandwich or two — and they’re versatile, to boot. The Huskies’ game plan, no doubt, will be to keep Hurts in the pocket and make him beat UW with his arm. And they have a chance to make that plan work because of their strong D-line.
But still have Psalm and O'Brien and not much quality depth
7. Big plays for the big game To beat ’Bama, the Huskies will need to find a way to create “explosive” plays. You simply can’t expect to sustain long drives against that defense. The good news is the Huskies were pretty good at that this season, ranking in the top 10 nationally with 43 plays of 30 yards or more. Alabama ranks 18th nationally, having allowed 20 plays of 30 yards or more. Better hope Browning has time
8. Did we mention John Ross III? No one in college football is more fun to watch than Ross.
Jood running out of reasons
9. The SEC is overrated You’d be a fool to call Alabama overrated. But the SEC? That’s a different story. After ’Bama, the next SEC team ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 is Auburn … at 17. And outside of ‘Bama, every other SEC team has at least four losses. The Pac-12, meanwhile, has four teams ranked in the top 16.
Agreed
10. Alabama’s overconfidence
No way Saban lets them be overconfident. When was the last time Bama was overconfident?
Bama is still a college team and is beatable. UW must play very well and get some breaks but it is doable.
Qualls, Gaines and Vea weigh in at a combined 971 pounds — give or take a turkey sandwich or two — and they’re versatile, to boot. The Huskies’ game plan, no doubt, will be to keep Hurts in the pocket and make him beat UW with his arm. And they have a chance to make that plan work because of their strong D-line.
But still have Psalm and O'Brien and not much quality depth
Qualls, Gaines and Vea weigh in at a combined 971 pounds — give or take a turkey sandwich or two — and they’re versatile, to boot. The Huskies’ game plan, no doubt, will be to keep Hurts in the pocket and make him beat UW with his arm. And they have a chance to make that plan work because of their strong D-line.
But still have Psalm and O'Brien and not much quality depth
doogie
Member Posts: 15,072
Comments
Here are 10 reasons a Husky victory is possible:
1. The blueprint
No doubt you’ve heard it by now. It’s become a rallying cry around Seattle in the buildup to the Peach Bowl: Give Chris Petersen a month to prepare, and anything can happen.
It happened 10 years ago in the Fiesta Bowl, when Petersen and Boise State knocked off Oklahoma. Petersen and the Broncos made a habit out of beating up teams from the bigger conferences with better resources. They did it again — right here in Atlanta — against Georgia in 2011. They did it to Virginia Tech in 2010, and to Oregon 2008 and ’09.
Saban had a month too and he's pretty damn good as well.
2. John Ross III
Simply put, Alabama hasn’t seen anything like him this season.
Neither had Colorado
3. Turnover margin
The Huskies lead the nation in take-aways, with 33, and turnover margin, at plus-21. Alabama, meanwhile, has coughed up 19 turnovers this season and has only a plus-five turnover margin. And while true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts has been terrific for Alabama, he has been susceptible to turnovers — throwing nine interceptions and fumbling 10 times (losing five of them).
The Jood has something here
4. Jake Browning is rested
If the Huskies have any hope of winning, their sophomore quarterback has to be great. He probably doesn’t need to be perfect, but he’ll need to be something close to it. Jake Browning was sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting, and UW’s improved offensive line play ought to give him at least a few chances to find Ross and Dante Pettis deep, even against Alabama’s scary front seven. After a long regular season, Browning had a light workload for two weeks after the Pac-12 title game, and a rejuvenated Browning could be scary, too.
Still has a noodle arm and might be hurt. Three weeks doesn't heal a separated shoulder.
5. That secondary
Budda Baker, Sidney Jones, Kevin King, Jojo McIntosh, Taylor Rapp. They believe they make up the best secondary in the nation. The numbers put them in the conversation: 13 touchdown passes allowed against 19 interceptions. UW has a 5.8 yards per pass attempt average, the same as Alabama’s defense.
Point Jood
6. Those big dudes up front
For all the attention the UW secondary has (deservedly) received, the real key for the UW defense probably lies up front. It’s where Elijah Qualls, Greg Gaines and Vita Vea roam, and it’s where the Huskies most resemble an Southeastern Conference team.
Qualls, Gaines and Vea weigh in at a combined 971 pounds — give or take a turkey sandwich or two — and they’re versatile, to boot. The Huskies’ game plan, no doubt, will be to keep Hurts in the pocket and make him beat UW with his arm. And they have a chance to make that plan work because of their strong D-line.
But still have Psalm and O'Brien and not much quality depth
7. Big plays for the big game
To beat ’Bama, the Huskies will need to find a way to create “explosive” plays. You simply can’t expect to sustain long drives against that defense. The good news is the Huskies were pretty good at that this season, ranking in the top 10 nationally with 43 plays of 30 yards or more. Alabama ranks 18th nationally, having allowed 20 plays of 30 yards or more.
Better hope Browning has time
8. Did we mention John Ross III?
No one in college football is more fun to watch than Ross.
Jood running out of reasons
9. The SEC is overrated
You’d be a fool to call Alabama overrated. But the SEC? That’s a different story. After ’Bama, the next SEC team ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 is Auburn … at 17. And outside of ‘Bama, every other SEC team has at least four losses. The Pac-12, meanwhile, has four teams ranked in the top 16.
Agreed
10. Alabama’s overconfidence
No way Saban lets them be overconfident. When was the last time Bama was overconfident?
Bama is still a college team and is beatable. UW must play very well and get some breaks but it is doable.
He is injured too now