It’s week 3, and the Huskies will attempt to right the ship against the Big Sky’s Eastern Washington Eagles! Our staff has their predictions below!
Andrew Berg (2-0 SU, 2-0 ATS)
Forty-two-point-five points??? Did the oddsmakers see what Washington did offensively over the last two weeks? Sure, the Huskies haven’t played FCS competition, but they should have physical advantages over Washington St and Utah St that were never apparent when they had the ball. Winning a game by six TDs obviously requires a team to score at least six TDs and the Dawgs
have done nothing through two weeks to indicate that could be attainable.
QB Nate Bell has carried the offense with 260 passing yards per game. However, Eastern has struggled in the trenches and the UW defensive line should be able to get penetration and make him uncomfortable. The Eagles have only averaged 3.7 yards per carry against three FCS teams and the UW defense has been fantastic against better opposition.
The bigger question is whether the offense can start to right the ship. They have not blocked well and they continue to lose skill position players who could make up for the lack of great blocking. Rashid Williams has joined Christian Moss, Jordan Washington, Jayden Limar, and Quaid Carr on the list of walking wounded. Demond Williams has been erratic so far and his depth options are getting thinner. I expect the outcome to be a step in the right direction. I think the offensive line has the talent to play better and there is still good talent at WR. However, I don’t think there’s anything near enough attacking talent to win by 42.5.
Washington 35 – Eastern Washington 10
Mark Schafer (2-0 SU, 0-2 ATS)
Here in week 3, it is currently the worst I’ve ever felt about this team after a 2-0 start. Injuries are piling up in the worst spots, the offensive line has no push up front so we can’t run the ball, and Demond Williams has shown little improvement over last year. Again it’s still early, but I’m running out of patience for the offense. This game, then, against the FCS Eastern Washington Eagles, will mark a turning point for the unit. Either they get it together and get some positive momentum against an easy opponent, or they sink deeper into the mire of mediocrity. I sincerely hope the positive outcome is the one we see on Saturday. For that to happen though, Demond’s going to have to stay calm and not force the big play, and the line is going to have to bully the Eagles’ front. If they can do that, then maybe they’ll get back to how I thought they’d look coming into the year! Not sure how much that’s worth against an FCS team, but hopefully that can be a springboard toward something positive.
Defensively, Eastern likes to throw, and the dual threat Nate Bell will be a tough cover. However, he’s short a few of his wide receivers, and the onus for the offense will fall largely on him and his running backs, and ultimately, this defense has too much talent to give up much in the way of field position. I expect an easy win, but not a cover, as 42.5 is too much for this offense at this point.
Washington-31, Eastern Washington-10
Raymond Lucas Jr. (2-0 SU, 0-2 ATS)
I’ve predicted consecutive blowouts and Washington has not delivered. So why would I do it a third time? The Huskies are favored by a whopping 42.5. The Huskies haven’t scored 42 points total this season… against two bad opponents, mind you. That said, EWU is not the EWU of old. The field still appears vibrant red on television, but the quality of play on that field has dipped. Still, EWU remains dangerous because it resides in the Evergreen State so there will be no shortage of motivation as it takes on the biggest brand in the state. For that reason, Washington can not give EWU any hope or it will be on upset alert rather quickly. I think the Huskies win this game, but I think it’s another weekend that’s too close for comfort. Washington hasn’t “survived” yet. As in there hasn’t been a game that felt like it was going to result in a loss, only for the Huskies to win it in the end. I think that happens this weekend. Washington will find more success on offense than then the previous two weeks, but not enough to win comfortably.
Washington-24, Eastern Washington-20
Straight Up: Washington–3, Eastern Washington–0
Against The Spread: Washington-0, Eastern Washington–3
Average Score: Washington–30, Eastern Washington-13.33
As always, leave your predictions in the comments below! Go Dawgs!
