Washington Huskies in Pac-12 Showdown with Utah
By Ben Renner
The Washington Huskies face another tough test against Utah in Salt Lake City this weekend as they continue their march through the Pac-12.
The Washington Huskies so far this season have checked off all of their to-do’s: beat Oregon for the first time in over a decade, beat one of their closest rivals in the Pac-12 North–the Stanford Cardinal, and avoid a letdown after an offseason of hype.
Up next is another item on their checklist: beating the 17th-ranked Utah Utes in Salt Lake City tomorrow. Experts are already calling this game a possible preview of the Pac-12 Championship matchup. Utah is a talented, powerful team capable that has steamrolled its past four opponents on the ground, outrushing them by nearly 150 yards per game.
Utah eked out a 52-45 win over UCLA in Los Angeles last week. They discovered the talents of Joe Williams, who joined the team only three weeks ago but ran for a school-record 332 yards and four touchdowns against the Bruins. They will try to lean on the newly-found talented running back tomorrow against the Huskies to try and negate their ball-hawking secondary.
Be careful, Washington Huskies fans. Utah can pull of the upset of number-four ranked Huskies on their home field if they can keep Chris Petersen’s crew from running up the score early and by winning the turnover battle. They will have a chance at that if the Huskies’ defense can’t shut down Williams.
The Washington Huskies are averaging 48 points per game in conference play and have won ten straight games going back to last year. If the Huskies can avenge their loss to the Utes from last year, they’ll probably be over their toughest opponents of the season. The path to the Championship is clear, starting again in Salt Lake City this time.
The Huskies take on the Utes tomorrow at 12:30 on Fox Sports 1.