The hype surrounding the No. 14 Washington Huskies is insane at this point. Despite going 6-6 in the regular season, many pundits are calling for the Huskies to win the PAC-12 North and some even believe this team is destined for the College Football Playoff. Expectations like that are tough for any team to fulfill, but impossible for a team that hasn’t won double-digit games in a season since 2000. The Huskies opponent in College Football Week 1 will be the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Watch this regular season Week 1 matchup live on Saturday, September 3, 2016, at 2 p.m. ETat Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. This game will be broadcast on the PAC-12 Network.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Rutgers +26.5
Washington -26.5
Over/Under 55
Odds Analysis
This line has moved some, but not a crazy amount. The Huskies were 25.5-point favorites when the line opened a month ago, and the number has moved a point for the home team. The total opened at 57 but fell to 55 shortly after it opened and has remained there.
Player to Watch
Most of the people picking the Huskies are confident that Jake Browning will take a massive step forward this season. As a true freshman, Browning had his ups and downs, but got better as the season went along. Browning nearly cracked the 3000-yard mark on the season and led Washington to three big wins to close out the season.
However, those looking at the season stats for Browning are missing the big picture. He put up most of his numbers against four teams, Sacramento State, Utah State, Arizona, and Oregon State. Not one of those teams was particularly impressive against the pass and outside of those games he really struggled. In Washington’s other nine games, he threw just three touchdown passes and only cracked the 300-yard mark once.
Coaching Angle
It will be interesting to see just what Chris Ash can get done at Rutgers. Ash spent the last five seasons learning as the defensive coordinator under first Bret Bielema and then Urban Meyer and had some of the top defenses in the country in his stints at Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Ohio State. He knows what it takes to win, but inherits a pretty young team.
Any coach the Scarlet Knights had would be better than the mess that was Kyle Flood. Flood became a laughing stock after multiple off the field incidents and the only reason he wasn’t fired was because the athletic department didn’t want to pay another coach for the season. Ash represents a significant upgrade and will have this team playing much better.
Free ATS Pick
Washington should have one of the top defenses in the country this season. The Huskies gave up less than 20 points per game in the offensive-oriented PAC-12 and their run defense stood firm, allowing over five yards per carry in one game. That defense will thwart what Rutgers wants to do.
The concern for the spread is whether or not the Huskies can score enough to cover. Washington only cracked the 30-point mark against FBS opponents five times in 2015 and although the offense should be improved, how much better can it really get? The offensive line is talented, but still extremely young at this point and it won’t have the easiest time creating holes.
Don’t be surprised if this game is a lot closer than the odds have it. Washington still hasn’t proved that it has an offense capable of covering big spreads and although this is a nice, young team the expectations are out of control at this point. We saw what happened when all those expectations were on Arkansas at the start of last season and the Razorbacks initially collapsed before recovering. The Huskies will be better than last season, but this team still has a lot of work to do.
College Football Odds: Huskies 27, Scarlet Knights 13
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