By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – So, just how good are they, anyway?
The Washington Huskies don’t know at the moment, but they’ll have an idea following today’s opener against Michigan at Husky Stadium.
With a new quarterback and a rebuilt offensive line, No. 15 Washington finds itself in the national spotlight against No. 10 Michigan – on national television, no less – right off the bat.
Hey, at least the Wolverines got to toy around with Miami of Ohio last week.
“You’re concerned that you’ve got so many players that are going to be playing for the first time in this type of a game,” UW coach Rick Neuheisel said. “You have to at least wonder what it will look like and how they will respond to a national telecast.
“I am hopeful that we will take the field and look like a team among the nation’s best.”
Neuheisel has talked much this preseason about having pieces of the puzzle already, that it’s his job to put them together. No doubt, the Huskies are as physically talented as any UW team in the past decade. It’s a team of promise, but also one with a slew of unproven components.
Take quarterback Cody Pickett, a sophomore. Strapped with the unenviable task of replacing the great Marques Tuiasosopo, Pickett has thrown exactly six passes in a Husky uniform, not counting two he threw in last season’s Rose Bowl. He gives the Huskies the least experience of any UW quarterback since 1958.
And look at the offensive line, assigned the job of protecting Pickett. Get past two-year starter Kyle Benn, and the Huskies have next to no playing time up front. Just three other players – Todd Bachert, Elliott Zajac and Nick Newton – have seen any action at all. The two-deep roster has five redshirt freshmen on the line: Khalif Barnes, Dan Dicks, Aaron Butler, Andre Reeves and Ryan Brooks.
And as deep and experienced as the receiving corps is, the Huskies figure to need a contribution from ultra-talented receiver Reggie Williams, who hasn’t even attended his first college class yet.
By all accounts, Michigan looked ragged in its 31-13 victory against Miami of Ohio. The Red Hawks trailed just 17-6 in the third quarter and were driving for a touchdown that would have pulled them to within a field goal, but an interception ended the threat.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is concerned about an offense whose running game produced just 198 yards, failed on a fourth-and-1 and missed assignments.
“I would not have wanted to play Washington today,” Carr said afterward. “With their speed and what they bring to the table, it would have been a tremendous challenge for us to open against them.”
Carr also is fretting about his defense, which gave up 350 yards and two touchdowns against Miami of Ohio – but did come up with three interceptions.
“We did not tackle well enough,” Carr said. “It was not a lack of aggressiveness. We didn’t wrap our arms around people. A good back will break tackles if you don’t wrap him up.”
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