A big Pac-12 battle takes place on Saturday afternoon as the Colorado Buffaloes head into Washington to take on the #15 Huskies. Colorado has played pretty well this year so far and stands 5-1 on the year. A tough loss last week to USC hasn’t completely dashed their hopes of making it to the Pac-12 Championship, but has definitely threw a wrench into their ability to win it.
To win the PAC-12 South, the Buffaloes are going to have to win out and hope that USC loses one more game. The Huskies on the other hand are in full control of their destiny. In a packed PAC-12 North, they need to just keep winning games. Last week’s loss to Oregon didn’t help their chances but yet they still find themselves at the top of the conference. In a big battle, the Huskies are favored by 16 points.
Colorado Looking to Bounce Back
Colorado has been playing very well this year, but just had a few hiccups in their last contest with USC. They lost that game 31-20 and fell out of the AP Poll. Colorado sits at 5-1 and are looking to become bowl eligible with one more win this year. They score 34.8 points a game and move the ball to a tune of 453 yards a game. With an explosive offense like the Buffaloes have, anything can happen against any type of defense.
Quarterback Steven Montez has led Colorado so far with 1,590 passing yards and 11 touchdown passes through six games. Montez has thrown for three touchdowns but still has been very efficient completing 70.5 percent of his passes on the year. He has also run the ball for 134 yards and four touchdowns. The leading rusher on the team is Travon McMillian.
He is a guy who is a freak athlete and can pull off a big run at any time. He has run the ball for 560 yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, the Buffaloes are pretty solid as well holding opponents to 20.5 points a game and 351.5 yards of offense. They only allow 136.8 yards of rushing a game and 214.7 yards passing a game.
Huksies Looking to Avoid Loss #3
Washington has had two hiccups on their schedule thus far this year. A season opening loss to Auburn, who has gone 3-3 since that and has dropped out of the polls and then last week against #17 Oregon. These two games show us that Washington is a beatable team if you are able to control the run and force their quarterback Jake Browning into making quick decisions.
Browning has thrown for 1,751 yards and 10 touchdowns but he has also thrown six interceptions. They do move the ball pretty effectively with 441.9 yards of total offense a game but struggle to convert that into points at times only averaging 28.9 points a contest. Their defense is really good as they only allow 16.0 points a game and just 315.1 yards of total offense a game. They are balanced defensively as well only allowing 178.6 yards passing and 136.6 yards rushing a game.
This is going to be a really good game. Both teams really need to come out of here with a win. Washington is pretty beat up right now as they are without nine players for this Saturday’s game and all are pretty key parts. They are without their top two running backs and quite a few defensive players.
Buffaloes Compete on the Road
I look for Colorado to come out and show that they are capable of being in the top tier of PAC-12 teams and for them to come out and play fast. Washington has struggled to cover the spread this year and against a potent offensive team like Colorado, I’m not sure they can do it. Take Colorado to cover and possibly sneak out with a win.