As the Pac-12 season advances, teams compete. Some teams win, some lose. After week five, Washington Football remains one of three undefeated teams.
When the Washington football team emerged from Oregon State with the win, there was a sigh of relief. For all intents and purposes, the game after facing Colorado was a trap game simply from the scheduled timing of the contest. Oregon State has been struggling this year, but the magic of college football is that it only takes one victory to turn a season around.
Oregon State tried to do so at Washington’s expense. They didn’t succeed. The Washington Huskies are now 5-0.
A win is a win. Five wins is something completely different. It begins to get lonely at the top. Just five weeks into the season, only three Pac-12 teams remain on a winning course. They are Washington State, Utah, and of course, Washington. So how did they get here?
Cougars undefeated, but at home
Washington State has gone undefeated thanks to the passing arm of quarterback Luke Falk. He’s thrown for 1,718 yards and 16 touchdowns already. While the defense has had some difficulty, they have enough in the tank to pull out two squeakers – an overtime win over Boise State, and of course the drive snuffing sack and fumble which derail USC.
Betsided
Unfortunately, Washington State has won all five games in the friendly confines of Pullman, Washington. They must now face five of their last seven opponents on the road. All that happens as the weather turns cooler. That means passing for the win will become that much tougher for the Cougars.
Utes balanced to the bye
The Utah Utes are coming out of their bye week. As such, they have faced just four opponents so far. However, the young season reveals Utah to be a rather balanced team. Like any college team, they have performed better at home than on the road. But a close win counts the same as a blowout win in the record books.
Utah will be truly tested in October. They host Stanford, travel to USC, host Arizona State, and then travel to Oregon. If Utah emerges from October without a loss, the team will certainly undergo plenty of scrutiny from the national media.
Finally, Huskies remain on track
The Washington Huskies are 5-0. But before anyone pops the champagne, that is where nearly everyone expected them to be at this point in time. The encouraging news is that the team got here unexpectedly.
So far, the Washington football team has played stymieing defense. Both against the running game and the passing game. In fact, the defense is the top defense in the Pac-12. And defenses win championships.
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But that is not to say that the Washington offense is not doing their part. Browning is a TD machine. And to top it off, the running game has come back to life in the past two games. That is just in the nick of time, as the Huskies enter the tougher sledding part of the course now. The team hosts a dangerous California team, and then takes to the desert heat to face Arizona State.
At five weeks, just three teams remain atop the Pac-12. Since the Huskies eventually face the other two undefeated teams, they can have plenty to say in terms of who ends the season that way.