The Huskies are tied with Penn State for the 10th spot in the Associated Press Top 25, and Arizona State just fell out of the rankings after their loss to San Diego State last weekend.
For Washington, you’ll hear the pundits say “This is a must-win game for the Huskies”, but that’s one of the most over-used mantras out there.
Every game is a “must-win” for any team — and it’s no different in the minds of the Arizona State coaches and players going into the Saturday night meeting at Husky Stadium.
So here’s a few storylines to nibble on between now and Saturday..
The two-deep questions for Washington: After we posted the screenshot of the two-deeps yesterday, we were immediately left with questions about the fact that Nick Harris, Joel Whitford, and DJ Beavers were all listed. To be honest, we truly do not know where things stand with these guys because Chris Petersen never tells us. He did say they want to get Whitford back “sooner or later”, but that’s about all.
The storyline here is just to keep an eye out for the re-appearance or non-appearance by any of these guys this weekend. Remember, Trey Adams was likewise listed as a starter against Auburn and then didn’t play. We truly have no idea with such things, but what we do know is that ASU only averages five yards per-return and so this isn’t a huge special teams threat at this point.
Both teams are looking for o-line consistency: Herm Edwards and Chris Petersen both talked about the need for continuity with their offensive line play in yesterday’s press conferences. While it’s not great to see those six sacks on Jake Browning listed on the stat sheet, Arizona State’s o-line has given up 12 sacks on Manny Wilkins.
The storyline here is that it will be interesting to see if either Washington or Arizona State can score over 30 points against eachother. While the Husky defense has a huge advantage, neither offense has been “prolific” in the the first three games of the season. And as our Sunday article suggests: It’s all on the line.
Revenge for last season: Chris Petersen will always downplay this factor, it’s still a real motivater where the players are concerned. That game in the desert last year was a debacle in every sense. Petersen said of that game, “Arizona State was coming on…but we were a big favorite. We go down there and just don’t do anything on offense. We had a touchdown called back…the mindset, the mentality…everything changes. You get those taken away, and the momentum of the game completely changes.”
The Huskies have the advantage of this game because they’re at home, and let’s face it — ASU has had their number this entire century. Even Herm Edwards admits that he’s aware of the lopsidedeness of the series. But this year the Huskies are more ready for Manny Wilkins, and the Huskies have a big upper hand.
Herm Edwards vs the Huskies: The last time Edwards was in Husky Stadium was when he was at Cal, “It’s a fantastic venue…it’s going to be loud. I can remember when I first went up there as a freshman in college, the quarterback was Sonny Sixkiller. I said “he’s got a good football name: Sonny Sixkiller'”.
He would go on to say that this is “they type of venue you want to play in” with the excitement and crowd noise. But this will be a first for him as a head coach and this will be the first loud, hostile environment his Sun Devils have gone into all season. San Diego State pales in comparison.
Gaskin hitting his stride: Early in the season, we all were bemoaning the fact that the Huskies’ running game hadn’t gotten uncorked yet. But this has been a standard the past three seasons. Not a good standard, however. You want to establish the run early and often in big games such as a Kickoff Classic, but for whatever reason, Gaskin hasn’t hit the 100-yard mark until two or three games into the season since he’s been at Washington (I don’t have the exact stats right in front of me so if I’m exaggerating, I’m sure you’ll let me know).
Last week he rushed for 143 yards against a very, very tough Utah defense last weekend, and ASU’s run-defense has been very porous this season, so he could definitely go off this weekend.
