After a 10 – 4 regular-season record and a heartbreaking loss to the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl (23 – 28), Washington Football is looking to bounce back with a reloaded team. With departures of Myles Gaskin, Jake Browning, Kaleb McGary, Byron Murphy, Taylor Rapp, and Greg Gaines there is going to be a new pack of Huskies on the field but Chris Peterson will still lead them. Let’s take a look at what the schedule will look for the 2019 Huskies:
August 31 – Eastern Washington
September 7 – Cal
September 14 – Hawai’i
September 21 – @ BYU
September 28 – USC
October 5 – @ Stanford
October 12 – @ Arizona
October 19 – Oregon
November 2 – Utah
November 8 – @ Oregon State
November 23 – @ Colorado
November 29 – Washington State
*December 6 – Pac -12 Championship Game*
(Bold is Pac – 12 games)
After the hopes of reaching the National Championship fell short and landed the Huskies in the Rose Bowl, they are hoping for a good season this year but truthfully it may be a little rough. With the departures of Browning and Gaskin’s alone the offense will be a very new looking aspect of the team. However, UDub will have a new QB at the helm and is considered to be on of the most “hyped” QB’s the fan base has seen in a while. The 6’5 junior transfer from Georgia – Jacob Eason will be the starter for the Huskies. If he is able to produce in Peterson’s system he can be a valuable aspect to a potentially big Husky air raid offense. With Aaron Fuller, Ty Jones, and Andre Baccellia returning at wideout, this is a core receiver group that can do some damage if they are on the same page as Eason. At times last year the Huskies struggled to put up points so if Eason is able to utilize the weapons around him while also learning from the great Chris Peterson, the QB can help lead the Huskies back to a great year in the Pac – 12.
At tailback, the junior Salvon Ahmed will be the leading back who was featured in the 2018 Huskies game plan playing backup to Gaskin. Ahmed I would say is a bit of an undersized power back who has bursts of speed. When he runs, he runs with a bit of a purpose, which is something that can dominate against Pac – 12 defenses. Of course, the running game is heavily based on offensive line play, which can be iffy for the Huskies this season.
When looking on the defensive end, this again is something that can be iffy. The corners are going to be a young group but meanwhile, the backers will be a mix of seniors and redshirts so there is a balance in terms of coverage. However, with a young core of corners, the defensive side of the ball can be rough because mentally if they get down on each other it can be a long game if they mess up early in a game.
Overall it is hard to really gauge how this team is going to be in the 2019 season. This Huskies squad will be a complete overhaul compared to the product we saw on the field last year. With a new offense, a new defense, new skill players, this team has the ability to be a really good squad or a middle of the pack/chugging along type of team. In my honest opinion, I think behind Peterson this team will get the right coaching that they need and will be led to a similar season as last year. I don’t think they will make the College Football Playoffs but another Rose Bowl appearance is possible for this team especially if Jacob Eason is playing the way he is anticipated to be alongside Aaron Fuller. I truly think this team is going to mirror last year’s record with a 10 – 2 finish. The two loses I see for the Huskies would be against USC and Oregon. That means the Huskies would start off with a 4 game winning streak and end the season on a 4 game winning streak (with the last game being the Apple Cup against Washington State).
Obviously, these are predictions but again, with what Peterson has done at Washington so far, I think his success will continue to blossom in Seattle and possibly have a great QB in his possession with Jacob Eason. Plus opening the season on a three home games, this is a great boost for the Huskies if they are able to get wins at each of those games before traveling for the BYU game. I think this team will continue to surprise many college football fans and see a big year. With the Pac – 12 being one of those conferences that you might not ever know who the top dog is going to be, it is hard to be 100% accurate but I think the University of Washington will continue to be one of the dominant teams. What are your thoughts and predictions on the 2019 Huskies?
Written by Tyler Pastorius
Image Credit: James Leyva / The SkyBoat
