2010 Washington College Football Predictions

July 28, 2010

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The Washington Huskies enter the 2010 college football season as a team to watch when it comes to competing for the Pac-10 title, which has suddenly become much more wide open due to the sanctions brought down on perennial favorite USC.  Head coach Steve Sarkisian is looking to improve on a 5-7 first year campaign that included wins over his former allegiance USC and a 32 point win over the Cal Golden Bears in their final game.  Another strong recruiting class for the Dawgs has fans believing there is light at the end of the tunnel for the program.  Jake Locker will be the catalyst once again as the preseason Heisman favorite has all the tools to lead the Huskies back to prominence.  View the full conference breakdown in our 2010 Pac 10 college football predictions article.

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Many NFL draft experts believed that Locker would throw his name into the mix after a successful Junior season saw him pass for 2800 yards and 21 touchdowns.  Scouts had him pegged as one of the top quarterbacks taken if not thee top player chosen overall.  Sarkisian and other advisers talked Locker into returning and expectations have been raised for the upcoming season since the announcement was made.  The running game will offer a nice compliment to Locker’s dual threat status. Sophomore RB Chris Polk rushed for 1100 yards and five touchdowns as a true freshman.  Locker was second on the team in rushing last season with 388 yards and scored seven times.  WR Jermaine Kearse earned second team All Pac-10 honors with 50 receptions for 866 yards and eight scores.  He will need to build on those numbers along with WR James Johnson and his 39 catches to form one of the more daunting duos on the west coast this season.  Locker will not have a familiar target over the middle when the Huskies kick off on the 4th of September as TE Kavario Middleton was recently dismissed from the team.  There are plenty of weapons on this side of the ball though and with 10 starters returning all signs point towards the scoreboard being lit up when Locker and company take the field. 
 
Washington returns eight starters on defense from a unit that gave up an average of 26 ppg under defensive coordinator Nick Holt.  Two of the three players lost, however, were third round draft picks that included all time sacks leader Daniel Te’o-Nesheim.  LB Mason Foster will take over the leadership role as his 85 tackles last year was good enough for second on the team.  The Senior will be responsible for directing this side of the ball that features a very talented but youthful secondary led by CB Desmond Trufant that was prone to give up the big play.  This side of the ball made great strides towards the end of the season shutting out rival Washington State and holding a very good Cal offense to just 10 points.  The success of this season will likely hinge on the development of the defense in year two of the new regime.  
 
According to Phil Steele, the Huskies have the 7th toughest schedule in the nation which will make it no walk in the park to reach their first bowl game since 2002.  Their key game will be hosting Nebraska on Sept 18th.  If they can pull out a win against the Huskers heading into Pac-10 play it will add a good amount of momentum.  An interesting match-up occurs on Oct 30th when Stanford rolls into town with heralded QB Andrew Luck taking on Locker in a battle of two of the top quarterbacks in the country.  My prediction for Washington this year is 7-5 as they are about two years away from starting to compete for a conference title on a yearly basis.

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Posted by Jack Jones · Filed Under Football Predictions 

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