The No. 13 Washington Huskies take on Eastern Washington on Saturday at Husky Stadium. Here are five things to watch for when the Huskies take the field.
1. Let Eason shine?
The long awaited Husky debut of quarterback Jacob Eason is almost here. The Georgia transfer started all 13 games as a true freshman at Georgia. Eason passed for 2,430 yards and 16 touchdowns. But a knee injury derailed his sophomore year and led to Jake Fromm stealing the job and leading the Bulldogs to the National Championship game. Jacob Eason is back home but how will the Huskies use him against Eastern?
This a game the Huskies could likely do little passing and have plenty of success with a veteran offensive line leading the way. But letting Eason show all his tools early could benefit UW in the long run. It might be smart for Washington to let opponents in the future know that they can’t stack the box against this team and they are capable of throwing it over the top.
2. How many carries does Salvon Ahmed get?
After four straight 1,000 plus yard rushing seasons, Myles Gaskin will hand the keys to junior Salvon Ahmed. In 2018, Ahmed rushed 108 times for 658 yards and eight touchdowns. Ahmed has breakaway speed that few players have but the big question is can he carry the ball 20 plus times like Myles Gaskin did seemingly every single game?
It will be interesting to see how many carries Ahmed gets against Eastern on Saturday. Realistically I set the over/under at about 15 carries. If I had to pick I think he goes under that if things go according to plan. In a perfect world you would like to keep Salvon Ahmed healthy and limit his touches in this game.
3. The Eric Barriere show
Don’t be surprised if Eastern Washington starting quarterback Eric Barriere decides to transfer to an FBS school after this season. The redshirt junior is a Preseason All-American candidate. Barriere took over for an injured Gage Gubrud in the sixth game of the season in 2018 and all he did was lead the Eagles to the FCS National Championship game before falling to North Dakota State. The dual-threat QB passed for 2,450 yards and threw 24 touchdowns while rushing for 613 yards and adding eight TD’s on the ground.
Eric Barriere has been compared to former Eagles and Oregon QB Vernon Adams. Barriere is more electric on the ground and still has plenty of room to get better. The Huskies will have their hands full trying to slow him down on Saturday afternoon.
4. Who steps up at Wide Receiver?
A season ago the Huskies offense averaged just 26.4 points per game – the lowest by far since Chris Petersen became head coach back in 2014. One of the biggest weaknesses on the offense was the inconsistent play at WR. Aaron Fuller led the team in receiving with 874 yards. The Huskies return nine of their top 10 receiving leaders plus add a lot of talented freshmen.
Will it be Chico McClatcher that gives the offense a spark? McClatcher is back on the team and looks the most healthy he’s been since he arrived at UW. Quinten Pounds is back and seems to make spectacular plays but can he stay healthy? Ty Jones at 6-foot-4 showed flashes as a sophomore but can he become a go to target? Andre Baccellia has always had great hands but can he take the next step? Or will the next star WR come from one of the young wide receivers like Terrell Bynum, Marquis Spiker, Austin Osborne, Trey Lowe, or Puka Nacua? Of course a healthy Hunter Bryant will greatly help but in this case we are discussing wide receivers. UW should be better at WR but how much better is yet to be determined.
5. Inside Linebacker depth?
Washington will start seniors Brandon Wellington and Kyler Manu at the inside linebacker positions on Saturday? But behind them on the depth chart there isn’t a player that isn’t a freshman or red-shirt freshman. That is concerning no matter how good your program is. In a perfect world the Huskies get out to a big lead and get these young linebackers some reps. to see what they have behind Wellington and Manu.
