2012 Season Preview: Part 1

Season Preview Weeks 1-3

     Well, we are just about a week away from the start of the 2012 Husky Football season, the most glorious time of the year. The time of the year where my wife gets to have a lot of "shopping days" and alone time in the other room while I watch football for about 12 hours straight, but I digress. Let me throw out there that I am just a fan like you, and so this season preview will look more like what you are thinking than any kind of expertise that you can take to Vegas. With all that being said, here is my attempt at how I think this season will go.

Week 1: San Diego St. at "home"
     According to Major League Baseball, San Diego is our natural rival, so there will be a lot of pent up frustration against the Aztecs, who we just hate so much. San Diego State is an improving squad who went 8-5, and 4-3 in the Mountain West Conference. They have gone to two straight bowls and are looking to make more noise in the MWC this year. Their quarterback may look familiar since the Huskies faced him in an Oregon State uniform, and, most importantly, beat him and the Beavers 35-34 double OT win. The Huskies had a 21-0 lead in that game and the Beavers slowly fought back only to see a dropped ball in the endzone on the last play of the game give the Huskies the win. So, Katz might want some revenge. San Diego State has a balanced attack with a quarterback who has big game experience in the Pac-12 and a running game that is solid. However, the Aztecs lost both of their studs at quarterback and running back, and that isn't always easy to replace. Husky fans were a little nervous about the first game last year in a tough Eastern Washington team who was fresh off of a national championship in the F-C-who cares? And even though Eastern went on to have a pretty terrible season, it was obvious last year's Husky team was a little slow getting off the ground. I think there is too much to prove for the offense and defense this year for the Huskies, and not playing in Husky Stadium will actually take a little pressure off the team in the home opener.
My Prediction: Huskies win 41-28 in a shaky debut in front of a disappointing opening day crowd of about 59,000 fans. Team Record (1-0)

Week 2: Louisiana State University (or LSU to all of you sports fans) in "the scariest stadium in football, especially at night"
      Well, folks, it would be really easy to be a Deborah Downer right off the bat and tell you that there is absolutely no chance the Huskies can win this game. But, I am going to be the consummate Husky fan and say that there is a sliver of hope in this one. LSU is one of THE best teams in all of college football, they have been for the last 5 or 6 years and it will be even truer this year than last year. Now, I don't think LSU is going to be national champion this year, but I think they will knock on the door. "Having said that" (see Curb Your Enthusiasm), I think that the Huskies match up relatively well with a team like LSU. There is no denying the greatness the Husky offense is capable of, and they can seriously move the ball when they need to. I believe LSU's staunch defense will give the Huskies problems, but only bring them down to Earth about halfway. In other words, if the Huskies average more than 35 points per game this year, which I think they are capable of, then they can probably get away with scoring 24 or so against LSU, which is a ton for LSU. And there is always the "Honey Badger" factor. Tyrann Mathieu was kicked off the team for hanging out with Cheech a little too much. He is a guy I can picture giving even an extraordinary offense like the Dawgs big time trouble. But, like last year, he is not even their best player in the secondary, so they will have plenty of other weapons on D. The key to the game will be how far Justin Wilcox came with the defense in the offseason, and if they can match the speed of the LSU offense. LSU's offense is not great, in fact, not at all. But, it is still the SEC, and when you have SEC athletes, it is really hard to keep up with them. LSU can win games 9-6, 12-5 and 2-1 (which I know is impossible, but you get the point), but it really has yet to be seen if they can win a barn burner. Arkansas went up 14-0 on LSU the day after Thanksgiving last year only to see LSU go off and beat the crap out them the rest of the way. But that was about the only time LSU needed to flex its offensive muscles.
My Prediction: Huskies end up losing 24-14 after keeping it close at half in an early season match up that is just too overwhelming in a hostile crowd. Team record: 1-1 (0-0)

Week 3: Portland State at "home"
     I feel really bad for the Vikings in this game. I mean, really bad. Coming off of a loss to LSU on the road, the Huskies will come back and really take it to Portland State of the F-C-who cares? A few key players will probably be back from some injuries that kept them out from the first couple of games and they will be excited to try a few things before taking on Stanford the next week. This game reminds me of those Idaho/San Jose State games of the 90's and early 2000's, a nice little setup game to build some confidence before getting into the nitty gritty. Portland State has to hope that the injury bug has hit hard and the Huskies put the 2011 IMA flag football champs on the field instead of Keith Price and co.
My Prediction: Huskies win 48-17 in a drubbing where Portland State gets most of its points in the fourth quarter. Team record: 2-1 (0-0)

That is a look at the first three games of the season. I will release parts 2-4 over the next few days. Unfortunately, I have a 9-5 job on the side that kills my time in front of the computer focused on football. Hope you enjoyed the first installment.