In the preseason, pundits expected the Pac-12 North Division to come down to a two-team race between the Stanford Cardinal and Oregon Ducks. If you were paying attention in 2010, it made sense. Stanford finished the year with a blowout win over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl and returned star quarterback Andrew Luck, while the Ducks brought back a host of key pieces from a team that damn near won the national championship.
Washington? Well, how could the Huskies ever survive without Jake Locker?
Somehow, though, third-year coach Steve Sarkisian’s team is making due without the QB who received more hype for unfathomable reasons than any other in recent memory. An offensive explosion has helped Washington jump out to a 5-1 start, including a 3-0 record in Pac-12 play that has put UW in the thick of the division race. On deck, the Huskies are facing a road trip to Palo Alto on Saturday to square off with Stanford.
UW’s offense has taken off this year despite the Tennessee Titans snatching up Locker in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. The Huskies are throwing and running the ball better than at any point in time in the last four seasons and have seen their scoring average rise 21.8 points per game in 2010’s seven-win season to 37 this year.
In recent years, an outgunned UW team wouldn’t stand a chance against a ruthless offensive juggernaut like the Cardinal. The difference this season starts with dynamic quarterback Keith Price. Through six games, the sophomore out of Southern California is ranked fifth nationally in passer rating, ahead of ballyhooed QBs like Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden, USC’s Matt Barkley and Oklahoma’s Landry Jones. Price’s touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio of 21 to 4 is far better than what Locker finished with in 2010, 17 TDs and 9 INTs.
Sark has surrounded Price with a full complement of offensive weapons, giving UW a balanced attack. Junior workhorse running back Chris Polk is on pace to rush for more than 1,400 yards on the season. His per-game rushing average of 121.3 yards per game ranks seventh in the nation, and he’s grinding out 5.4 yards per carry.
In the passing game, Price is distributing the ball with almost perfect equality between his top three receivers: senior Devin Aguilar (21 receptions, 330 yards), junior James Johnson (22 receptions, 287 yards) and senior Jermaine Kearse (23 receptions, 284 yards). Freshman Austin Seferian-Jenkins has stepped in nicely as well, averaging more than 16 yards per catch and giving the Huskies an unexpected big play threat at the tight end spot.
The Washinton D does leave a little something to be desired, ranking in the bottom half of the conference in scoring and pass defense. Even so, with the way Washington is rolling offensively, the Huskies pose a threat to the Pac-12’s lead dogs in the conference race.
