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Washington Football Looks To Rebound Against Colorado

By Roman Tomashoff

SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 16: Dubs, the mascot for the University of Washington, takes the field prior to the game between the Washington Huskies and the Fresno State Bulldogs at Husky Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 16: Dubs, the mascot for the University of Washington, takes the field prior to the game between the Washington Huskies and the Fresno State Bulldogs at Husky Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /
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Washington Football needs a rebound this week against the Colorado Buffaloes

Husky fans don’t need any more reminders about what happened in Eugene, sorry about that one. The return for homecoming should be a huge boost for the Huskies, but this Colorado team is no pushover. The Buffaloes were ranked before suffering their first loss of the season to USC last Saturday. But what do the Huskies need to do to win?

Limit the Passing Game

Steven Montez has been the most accurate passer in the Pac-12 this season and currently ranks 8th in the NCAA with a 70.5 completion percentage. He’s been completely in sync with emerging star receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., who leads the Pac-12 by a wide margin in yards and catches. The Huskies have a knack for shutting down top receivers, after holding Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry to five catches for just 20 yards. Shenault is going to be a big challenge, he’s already totaled 60 catches for 780 yards and 11 total touchdowns. Byron Murphy and Jordan Miller are going to be huge in stopping Shenault and the rest of the Colorado passing attack. We’ll see how much Montez wants to attack the corners, as no quarterback has had a ton of success against them this season.

Pound the Rock

After minor injuries took them both off the field last week, Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed are both expected to suit up and play. The Colorado defense is allowing 138 rush yards per game, and Gaskin needs a big game to get back on track. Colorado provided that last year when he rushed for a career-high 202 yards. Ahmed should see a bigger role this time around, and Sean McGrew should get some carries too to make sure the workload isn’t too heavy on Gaskin or Ahmed.

Convert Big Plays

Ty Jones is currently 3rd in the Pac-12 in yards per catch, averaging 20 yards per catch. Colorado gave up a long TD to Quinten Pounds last season, and Jake Browning showed the big play ability of this offense, throwing Jones a 42-yard touchdown pass. Hitting Jones and Aaron Fuller should open up some opportunities in the run game, and keep the Colorado defense on their toes. The Huskies pride themselves on their offensive balance, and a few big plays, especially from Jones would let the Huskies do whatever they want on offense.

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