Seems like a few folks in here think pretty highly of Washington. Don't count me as one of them. Coming off of a 5-and-7 season and having it been a long time since they've won a road game, I don't see an excuse for BYU should they not win their season opener. I know I'm certainly picking the Cougs to win.
I would pick USC, Oregon, Oregon St and maybe even Stanford to finish higher than UW in the PAC this year.
I live in Happy Valley and can tell you there are plenty of "excuses" for BYU to lose this.
#1 No proven QB. Bronco is just waiting for one of them to "lose" it before naming the permanent starter.
#2 Lost offensive players. No Pitta, Hall, Or Unga this year. That's a lot to replace. Although they may have the talent to make up for their losses, I think it will take more than the home opener for those other players to prove themselves.
#3 Sark is a real good offensive playcaller and Jake Locker is a stud. He'll find BYU's weaknesses (which aren't too hard to find. They still lack a lot of athleticism out on the perimeter). Washington came very close to knocking out the Cougs a few years back. They're a lot better team now.
#4 Although Washington may have weaknesses on defense, who's going to exploit them? Quick question, after Riley, Heaps, and Jacobson, name another offensive player for BYU. That's the problem. Who's their tight end? Who's their RB? How are they going to exploit Washington's weaknesses?
I can tell you, from all the people I've talked to at school at UVU, most BYU fans are very concerned about this game. They'd be far less had Unga still been on the roster. But right now the general feeling is that this team is going to take a few games to figure out things that most teams figured out in spring ball (like who their QB is going to be).
BYU may blow this game out. If they do, more credit to them. But most fans are feeling pretty uneasy right now. No one knows what to expect. A running offense like when Doman played? Will Heaps look good? Will Jacobson even get the ball? Will Chambers or Ashworth look better this year? Who's the main ball-carrier going to be?
I think Utah fans basically knew what to expect in their home opener. Pitt was going to try and run the ball and eat up clock. While the Utes were going to try and put them into throwing downs forcing them to beat them passing. Offensively, the Utes needed to keep Wide/Asiata involved while Wynn just needed to not make mistakes. Dump the ball off for short passes and allowing the superior athleticism of Ute receivers to make plays.
