BoiseStateFan's 2016 College Football Predictions

[BoiseStateFan27]

Agree with everything you said about Colorado. Only differences are I have them getting upsets against Arizona and Arizona State. I think they could be an underrated football team this year but I think their schedule keeps them from getting into a bowl this year. Sefo Liufau is one of the most unappreciated QB's in College Football in my opinion.

Like I said all they really need are some lucky breaks to go their way to make a bowl, and with how unlucky they have been you would think they're due. Their schedule is crazy I agree with the underrated team part because you have to be pretty good just to win 5 games against that schedule.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Oregon State Beavers

Preview: Gary Andersen took over Oregon State in a challenging situation, as the roster was greatly depleted in such a tough conference. It was overall a rough season, they didn't look convincing in their opener against a fcs team, the only highlight of their game against Michigan was Harbaugh getting frustrated and throwing his papers into the wind, and they beat San Jose State by 2 touchdowns. They played the easiest possible Pac-12 schedule and hardly threatened to win a conference game. The offense was a big part of the issue as Anderson inherited nothing but freshmen QBs, he cycled through them as the year went on, Seth Collins was the only one who showed any promise and that's because of his running ability not throwing ability after briefly threatening to transfer he came back and is now projected to be a receiver this year. Andersen brought in a former recruit of his in Darell Garretson from Utah State, Garretson played well in Utah State's cycle of QBs who replaced Chuckie Keeton during his various injuries, Garretson himself ended up getting hurt though. Garretson at least has some promise of stabilizing a messy QB situation. Oregon State has a variety of RBs returning, the most promising is RB Ryan Nall who ran for 174 yards in Oregon State's best offensive game which was the finale against Oregon, problem is he is injury prone but could be a breakout candidate if he stays healthy. WR Jordan Villamin is a big tall receiver who has occasionally produced some great games, Victor Bolden and TE Caleb Smith(back from injury) are both good options as well. Despite how messy the QB and RB situations were last year Oregon State had a solid offensive line, it loses it's two best starters but there's a lot of players back with experience as well. Oregon State's defense was mostly a mess, the front 7 loses some starters but it was downright terrible, opposing QBs were never pressured and opposing runs almost always gained positive yardage. Complete rebuild is needed there. Oregon State's secondary is highlighted by two good corners in Treston Decoud and Dwayne Williams, there's not much for good players behind them so Oregon State is hoping they stay healthy. The safety position meanwhile needs to be fixed. The schedule Oregon State faces almost isn't fair, they could be better than last year yet win only one game, they have non-conference games against Minnesota and Boise State. They draw Colorado, Utah, Arizona and UCLA from the South which certainly isn't the worst draw but at this point there doesn't seem to be a team in the Pac-12 that Oregon State can beat.

Predictions:

Sept. 1 @ Minnesota: Oregon State may be able to put up a fight for a half but they won't win this one. L

Sept. 17 Idaho State: This should be an easy win and probably the only one all year. W

Sept. 24 Boise State: Would be a major upset if Oregon State won this one. L

Oct. 1 @ Colorado: Unfortunately for Oregon State Colorado is further in the rebuilding process. L

Oct. 8 California: Cal has a lot of new starters this year but is in better shape right now. L

Oct. 15 Utah: Hard to see Oregon State winning this one. L

Oct. 22 @ Washington: Oregon State simply outmatched here. L

Oct. 29 Washington State: This one is out of reach too. L

Nov. 5 @ Stanford: This schedule actually gets tougher down the stretch. L

Nov. 12 @ UCLA: No chance here. L

Nov. 19 Arizona: Only a slim hope here. L

Nov. 26 Oregon: They haven't won this rivalry in a while sure can't see it happening this year. L

Predicted Record: 1-11(0-9)

 

[wazzu31]

Not even sure I want to see your predictions for us. Basically picked every game we will be favored for us to lose, obviously I'm counting you on picking the Donkeys to upset us. My calculations have you thinking we'll be 4-8.

 

[Boise4Life]

Five of Oregon State's final six games are against ranked opponents. Gonna be another rough go of it.

 

[Boise4Life]

Not even sure I want to see your predictions for us. Basically picked every game we will be favored for us to lose, obviously I'm counting you on picking the Donkeys to upset us. My calculations have you thinking we'll be 4-8.

That's the way it's looking based on what he has so far. For what it's worth I expect you guys to be very good again. No question that offense is high octane.

 

[wazzu31]

That's the way it's looking based on what he has so far. For what it's worth I expect you guys to be very good again. No question that offense is high octane.

Not saying we deserve respect or we will actually be great but damn, I don't think we'll finish 5th in the Pac 12. A returning QB in the Pac 12 is almost guaranteed to be in the running for the conference title for the past 2 decades..except for Colorado.

 

[Boise4Life]

Not saying we deserve respect or we will actually be great but damn, I don't think we'll finish 5th in the Pac 12. A returning QB in the Pac 12 is almost guaranteed to be in the running for the conference title for the past 2 decades..except for Colorado.

There's some disrespect there among many. Last year was impressive. I think people are waiting to see whether or not Leach can string two consecutive seasons together before they buy in.

 

[Boise4Life]

I've said it for years. Top to bottom the PAC stands up. Rarely do you ever get an easy one. It's just a tough conference all the way around.

 

[wazzu31]

There's some disrespect there among many. Last year was impressive. I think people are waiting to see whether or not Leach can string two consecutive seasons together before they buy in.

Leach is a bad coach is why he hasn't strung together good seasons in a row. But even with him at the helm having an experienced QB should get at about 8 wins. He flopped Tuel and Halliday, Conners junior year we went Bowling then Halliday broke his leg. Falk very well may get hurt this year and it will flush the season down the toilet. We were like what 20 points front going 11-1, but on the same token the other way but generally when a team returns basically 17 of 22 starters tend to trend upwards from the previous year. Just as UW, we get our tough games at ideal times but UCLA on the backend will be tough. Either it's semantics I just don't agree with getting upset in every game as predicted. Maybe 1 but not everyone, the offensive guys are way too competitive to allow that to happen, unless of course injuries happen which it did that killed Bender having any prayer during the AC.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Not even sure I want to see your predictions for us. Basically picked every game we will be favored for us to lose, obviously I'm counting you on picking the Donkeys to upset us. My calculations have you thinking we'll be 4-8.

You guys were not easy to pick, Falk has had a concussion history so I had you losing more later in the year. I will tell you that I have you guys winning our matchup. We have the tendency to start out the season slow and playing Leach after dark worries me.

The other challenge is you guys played in so many close games.

You're definitely going to make a bowl this year

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

I've said it for years. Top to bottom the PAC stands up. Rarely do you ever get an easy one. It's just a tough conference all the way around.

It's absolutely crazy how deep the league is, no other league in college football has so many teams capable of winning it.

 

[mcnabb7542]

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Stanford Cardinal

Preview: Stanford had a great team and a great season last year, and it took us a while to realize it. Stanford looked like they were in for a dreadful year in their season opener against Northwestern where their offense played poorly and they lost 16-6, they surprised USC a few weeks later but it took a few more weeks until everyone realized that Stanford had a great team. They lost one more time the rest of the year and that was against a surging Oregon team, they beat a really good Notre Dame team, blew out USC a 2nd time and crushed Iowa in the Rose bowl to cap off a 12-2 season. Stanford's offense will have the challenging of finding their new starting QB after Kevin Hogan graduated, Hogan was remembered for a few of his bad moments but in all reality he played really good most of the time. It will be a 3 way QB battle but all 3 candidates have the potential to play really well. The new QB will have a lot at his disposal, starting with of course do everything RB Christian McCaffrey, who ran for over 2,000 yards last year he also had the most catches on the team last year. Bryce Love is another RB who could get involved in the action as well. Stanford will miss TE Austin Hooper and WR Devon Cajuste but they bring back some pretty good receivers in Michael Rector, Francis Owusu and Trenton Irwin. TE Dalton Schultz could have a breakout year as well. Stanford's offensive line loses 3 starters, but does have a lot of juniors and seniors back, this could be a concern but usually new guys step in and play well here. Stanford's defense was not like the Stanford defense we were used to, part of the issue was the defensive line that lacked depth and had only a few good players, only 6 defensive linemen have ever played in a game and only two of them are back. Stanford struggled with the defensive line but the linebackers are a deep and strong unit for this defense. Stanford's secondary struggled for a bit last year because of having inexperienced starters, with almost everyone back this is a more experienced unit and should play a lot better. I can say Stanford has a difficult schedule but just look at the first 6 games below, every single one of those 6 teams could be really good. Whoever Stanford's new QB is will certainly see trial by fire. Stanford is once again a Pac-12 contender but I can't see them losing any less than 2 games with this hard schedule.

Predictions:

Sept. 2 Kansas State: Kansas State was incredibly unlucky last year when it came to injuries, Stanford better not sleep in this game like they did against Northwestern last year or it will be an exact repeat of that game. I have Stanford winning but they won't have it easy. W

Sept. 17 USC: It seems like the regular season meetings between these two never go as you would expect, so I'm going with USC to win. L

Sept. 24 @ UCLA: Stanford has absolutely had UCLA's number for a while now, that continues. W

Sept. 30 @ Washington: This proves to be a coming out game for Washington as they take down Stanford in this game. L

Oct. 8 Washington State: Once again Washington State hangs tough with Stanford but Stanford pulls off the win. W

Oct. 15 @ Notre Dame: The games between these two have been toss ups the past several years, I'll go with Stanford. W

Oct. 22 Colorado: Stanford dominates this one. W

Oct. 29 @ Arizona: Little bit of a groove here for Stanford as they beat Arizona as well. W

Nov. 5 Oregon State: Easy win here. W

Nov. 12 @ Oregon: With Stanford's defensive line in questionable shape it provides a huge advantage to Oregon. The two years where Stanford had a dominant defensive line happened to be the games they won. L

Nov. 19 @ California: Stanford hasn't lost to Cal in a long time, can't see that changing this year. W

Nov. 26 Rice: Does anyone else find this game to be extremely random? W

Predicted Record: 9-3(6-3)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

UCLA Bruins

Preview: UCLA started off last year strong and looked like a playoff contender, until injuries hit their defense hard. They were beaten pretty soundly in back to back games against Arizona State and Stanford. They still recovered to win 3 in a row, but then lost at home to Washington State in a game where Washington State used their backup QB for part of it, then UCLA got an impressive win at Utah, before being blown out by USC in the regular season finale. The season ended in disappointment as UCLA lost to a dangerous but 5-7 Nebraska team. QB Josh Rosen was much hyped and he played well as a true freshman, he could be even better this year, but UCLA's whole season could come crashing down if he gets hurt there's no viable backups. There's a lot of new faces on the rest of the offense, RB Paul Perkins is gone, but Soso Jamabo looked promising in limited action. 4 of UCLA's top 5 receivers from last year are all gone, UCLA could find replacements but this is a potential downfall for the offense if they don't find replacements. The offensive line loses 3 starters as well. UCLA's defense struggled badly last year thanks to injuries. There's a lot more depth now because of it, the defensive line will easily be better with Eddie Vanderdoes back. Due to Myles Jack being hurt all last year UCLA's linebackers got a head start on life without him. The secondary will be absolutely loaded Fabian Moreau is back from injury and the only loss is Ishmael Adams and that's because UCLA moved him to receiver. UCLA like every Pac-12 team has a challenging schedule they get non-conference road games against both Texas A&M and BYU. UCLA has to play Stanford and Washington State from the North but at least they get Cal and Oregon State. UCLA could contend for the Pac-12 south this year, but it is possible that they could have an awful year as well.

Sept. 3 @ Texas A&M: Dangerous situation for UCLA as the trend has been that whoever plays Texas A&M in the opener loses to them, everyone then thinks A&M is good but the team they play in the opener turns out to have a disappointing year instead. I think that finally ends. W

Sept. 10 UNLV: UCLA has no trouble winning this one. W

Sept. 17 @ BYU: UCLA beats BYU in a close battle. W

Sept. 24 Stanford: Stanford has had UCLA's number for a while now, hard to pick against this one. L

Oct. 1 Arizona: UCLA has beaten Arizona each of the past several years, so they continue that trend. W

Oct. 8 @ Arizona State: Road team has won the past few matchups, that's about the only indication I can find for how this will go. W

Oct. 15 @ Washington State: Upset! well kind of, Washington State plays well and takes down UCLA. L

Oct. 22 Utah: This turns out to be a close tight game, I think Rosen will make a big play at the end to win. W

Nov. 3 @ Colorado: Upset! Colorado has played their best games against UCLA lately so I think they finally pull off the upset against them this year. L

Nov. 12 Oregon State: UCLA easily wins this game. W

Nov. 19 USC: I've gone back and forth on this game, I decided on USC. L

Nov. 26 @ California: UCLA dominates Cal in the regular season finale to win. W

Predicted Record: 8-4(5-4)

 

[DJ]

Up for a little constructive criticism?

Use the space bar more for the main part of the previews. It helps break it up a bit and makes it easier to read.

 

[DJ]

UCLA Bruins

Preview: UCLA started off last year strong and looked like a playoff contender, until injuries hit their defense hard. They were beaten pretty soundly in back to back games against Arizona State and Stanford. They still recovered to win 3 in a row, but then lost at home to Washington State in a game where Washington State used their backup QB for part of it, then UCLA got an impressive win at Utah, before being blown out by USC in the regular season finale. The season ended in disappointment as UCLA lost to a dangerous but 5-7 Nebraska team. QB Josh Rosen was much hyped and he played well as a true freshman, he could be even better this year, but UCLA's whole season could come crashing down if he gets hurt there's no viable backups. There's a lot of new faces on the rest of the offense, RB Paul Perkins is gone, but Soso Jamabo looked promising in limited action. 4 of UCLA's top 5 receivers from last year are all gone, UCLA could find replacements but this is a potential downfall for the offense if they don't find replacements. The offensive line loses 3 starters as well. UCLA's defense struggled badly last year thanks to injuries. There's a lot more depth now because of it, the defensive line will easily be better with Eddie Vanderdoes back. Due to Myles Jack being hurt all last year UCLA's linebackers got a head start on life without him. The secondary will be absolutely loaded Fabian Moreau is back from injury and the only loss is Ishmael Adams and that's because UCLA moved him to receiver. UCLA like every Pac-12 team has a challenging schedule they get non-conference road games against both Texas A&M and BYU. UCLA has to play Stanford and Washington State from the North but at least they get Cal and Oregon State. UCLA could contend for the Pac-12 south this year, but it is possible that they could have an awful year as well.

Sept. 3 @ Texas A&M: Dangerous situation for UCLA as the trend has been that whoever plays Texas A&M in the opener loses to them, everyone then thinks A&M is good but the team they play in the opener turns out to have a disappointing year instead. I think that finally ends. W

Sept. 10 UNLV: UCLA has no trouble winning this one. W

Sept. 17 @ BYU: UCLA beats BYU in a close battle. W

Sept. 24 Stanford: Stanford has had UCLA's number for a while now, hard to pick against this one. L

Oct. 1 Arizona: UCLA has beaten Arizona each of the past several years, so they continue that trend. W

Oct. 8 @ Arizona State: Road team has won the past few matchups, that's about the only indication I can find for how this will go. W

Oct. 15 @ Washington State: Upset! well kind of, Washington State plays well and takes down UCLA. L

Oct. 22 Utah: This turns out to be a close tight game, I think Rosen will make a big play at the end to win. W

Nov. 3 @ Colorado: Upset! Colorado has played their best games against UCLA lately so I think they finally pull off the upset against them this year. L

Nov. 12 Oregon State: UCLA easily wins this game. W

Nov. 19 USC: I've gone back and forth on this game, I decided on USC. L

Nov. 26 @ California: UCLA dominates Cal in the regular season finale to win. W

Predicted Record: 8-4(5-4)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!










































However, I think we'll go 9-3.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Up for a little constructive criticism?

Use the space bar more for the main part of the previews. It helps break it up a bit and makes it easier to read.

Good idea, really I have no idea now that you bring it up why I haven't been doing that.

I do this with every single other post I do other than these previews for some reason lol.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Southern California Trojans

Preview: USC's season was anything but boring last year, they looked dominant in their first two games before getting upset at home by Stanford, they recovered to blow out Arizona State then surprisingly lost at home to Washington. Suddenly multiple Steve Sarkesian drinking incidents became public and he was fired, Clay Helton took over. They lost the first game with him back against Notre Dame but quickly pulled it together with a blowout win over Utah, USC then had mediocre performances that all resulted in wins before being blown out by Oregon. They ended the year by blowing out UCLA, then being blown out by Stanford and losing the bowl to Wisconsin.

USC chose to hire Helton on as the head coach so now we see how they are after a full offseason. USC loses QB Cody Kessler who was an accurate QB who didn't have a great arm, he also took a lot of sacks, his expected replacement is Max Browne who has a lot of talent but not a lot of experience, it's not a huge stretch to say that he could prove to be an upgrade over Kessler this year though. If Browne is even decent this should be an amazing offense, RB duo Justin Davis and Ronald Jones II are both back and USC brings back one of the nation's best receivers in JuJu Smith-Schuster, they also bring back almost every other receiver on the roster though none played as well last year, the only other receiver that played well was Adoree Jackson who plays both corner and receiver. USC's offensive line struggled last year, it was hit hard by injuries and a lot of the players who had to make starts were young and inexperienced, with only one player that started last year gone this line should be improved and a lot deeper.

USC's defense was awful last year, and with a change at defensive coordinator we'll see if it was due to poor coaching, it did have it's fair share of injuries as well. USC's defensive line starts almost completely over as a lot of players are gone. USC loses 3 of their top 5 linebackers but a lot of linebackers played last year thanks to injuries, Su'a Cravens will be tough to replace though. USC's secondary last year struggled with injuries as well, but also the primary starters were all freshmen and sophomores, which is good news for this year because that means they're all back.

USC hands down is up against the toughest schedule in college football, they play Alabama and Notre Dame OOC, and they draw the Pac-12 North favorite trio of Stanford, Oregon and Washington. USC would have to be one amazing team to contend for the playoff against this schedule but they still are capable of winning the Pac-12.

Predictions:

Sept. 3 Alabama (Jerry World): I can't see USC winning this game, unless Lane Kiffin helps them from the other sideline but I think Saban will keep him under control. L

Sept. 10 Utah State: Even this game isn't the easiest Utah State has been one of the better mid major programs lately, USC should win this easily still. W

Sept. 17 @ Stanford: Regular season battles between these two don't go as expected thus I'm picking USC. W

Sept. 23 @ Utah: UPSET!! L

Oct. 1 Arizona State: USC I think handles Arizona State in this game. W

Oct. 8 Colorado: USC doesn't have much trouble with Colorado this year. W

Oct. 15 @ Arizona: These two always play in close games, the majority have gone to USC so that's who I'll go with here. W

Oct. 27 California: USC doesn't have much trouble beating Cal. W

Nov. 5 Oregon: USC puts together one of their best games of the year and they take down Oregon. W

Nov. 12 @ Washington: USC doesn't follow it up though, their defense doesn't have answers for Washington's offense in a loss. L

Nov. 19 @ UCLA: Toss up rivalry game here I flipped between the two but decided on USC. W

Nov. 26 Notre Dame: This game becomes an intense back and forth battle, USC wins the game on a late touchdown drive. W

Predicted Record: 9-3(7-2)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Utah Utes

Preview: Utah had their best year since joining the Pac-12 last season, the start of the season was quite remarkable. Utah beat Michigan in the opener and that became a more impressive win as the year went on, they beat Utah State and Fresno State and then came the eye popping destruction of Oregon on the road, immediately the entire nation took notice and Utah was a title contender, they beat Cal while Cal was playing really well and easily beat Arizona State for a 6-0 start. Utah then crashed back down to early in a blowout loss on the road to USC, they kept afloat winning over Oregon State and more impressively on the road against Washington. Then they had a small slump getting upset by Arizona in overtime and then losing at home to UCLA. They ended the year beating Colorado and racing off to a 35-0 start against rival BYU in the bowl before holding on to win.

Utah didn't have a great offense last year, it was a conservative attack that perhaps could have done more at times to keep Utah out of close games but at the same time it also paired well with the defense Utah had. Utah loses it's top 2 QBs who also happened to be the only ones who have any game action so who starts here is a mystery. Utah got a head start on replacing RB Devontae Booker when he got hurt late in the year, RB Joe Williams performed solidly in his absence and he will be joined by the speedy Troy McCormick who missed all of last year with an injury. Utah will lose it's top 3 receiving leaders from last year but it does return both it's tight ends who were solid, receiver Tim Patrick missed most of last year due to injury and now he's back, the rest of Utah's receivers are a bit of a mystery. The offensive line loses it's starting center but returns 5 players with experience and should be a strong unit.

Utah's defense has traditionally been strong under Kyle Whittingham, and last year was definitely no different, Utah's defense was fantastic. The front 7 is always good but this year will be a test of that. The defensive line loses a lot of starters but it did have a lot of depth last year and one of the starters that returns is Kylie Fitts who forced 10 fumbles last year. Utah does lose 3 really strong linebackers so it will be interesting to see who they find to replace them. Utah's secondary occasionally had struggles last year and was maybe the worst unit of the defense, which isn't too bad still because the rest of the defense was so great. Utah brings back all but one player from the entire 2 deep so expect this secondary to be very good this year.

Utah doesn't have the worst schedule for being a team in the Pac-12, BYU is their only really big non-conference game and Utah gets Oregon State and Cal from the North, sure they also have to play Washington and Oregon but when you play 4 teams from a 6 team division that has 4 really good teams you'll have to play someone good. I feel like Utah could be in for a drop-off this year but still make a bowl.

Predictions:

Sept. 1 Southern Utah: Southern Utah nearly beat Utah State last year but they're pretty mediocre at the FCS level so Utah shouldn't have any issues. W

Sept. 10 BYU: Utah doesn't jump off to a 35-0 start this time but I do think they beat BYU, great to see this game back. W

Sept. 17 @ San Jose State: Utah doesn't have too much trouble winning this game. W

Sept. 23 USC: UPSET!! Utah gets revenge for last year by stunning USC. W

Oct. 1 @ Calfornia: UPSET!! Unfortunately Utah doesn't follow it up so strongly, they get upset by Cal. L

Oct. 8 Arizona: Seems like Arizona has had Utah's number for a while now so I'll go with Arizona. L

Oct. 15 @ Oregon State: Utah doesn't have much trouble here and they win this one. W

Oct. 22 @ UCLA: Road team has actually won the past few contests but I'll go against that and pick UCLA. L

Oct. 29 Washington: Utah's offense doesn't go anywhere this game and the defense fades late in a loss. L

Nov. 10 @ Arizona State: Utah's doesn't have much big play ability on their offense and it hurts them here in a loss. L

Nov. 19 Oregon: No repeat of last year's blowout of Oregon, Oregon will probably get some revenge. L

Nov. 26 @ Colorado: This game tends to be close every year, Utah wins it. W

Predicted Record: 6-6(3-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Washington Huskies

Preview: In last year's preview I said it would take an amazing coaching job by Chris Petersen to get this team to a bowl game, well guess what he did? He brought Washington to a bowl game. After an offseason of getting rid of misfits, dealing with injuries and preparing to start a lot of freshmen and sophomores Petersen got a head jump on the rebuilding process. When I was preparing my picks earlier this summer I was so excited, I thought "Washington's my surprise Pac-12 team this year and no one will see it coming" sure enough I later noticed every single other preview out there has them as a surprise team as well, so much for a "surprise" (for the record last year my Pac-12 surprise was Washington State going 7-5 a pick I absolutely nailed at least record wise please don't go back and look at the game by game predictions.)

The offense was pretty impressive considering how many freshmen starters played. It all starts with QB Jake Browning, who saw trail by fire as he started right from the first snap of the first game. He showed flashes of brilliance right away(and in the opener after each individual flash of brilliance the announcers compared him to Kellen Moore), but also struggled at times too. Browning enters the season with a lot of hype thanks to some incredible performances he was near perfect against Arizona and Oregon State, he still struggled at times but he was a true freshman so what would you expect? RB Myles Gaskin was also a true freshman starter and he has some good and bad games before playing great down the stretch. Lavon Coleman is a solid back who will give Gaskin the occasional breather. Washington loses WR Jaydon Mickens and TE Joshua Perkins who both will be missed but they return WR Dante Pettis, and get back perhaps the best big play guy John Ross III who missed all of last year due to injury. Washington's offensive line was pretty banged up last year several players made starts and now all but one of those are back so the line should improve.

The defense was something else last year, it was hit pretty hard by injuries in the linebackers and secondary and a lot of sophomores were starting games yet somehow this still was one of the better defenses in the country. Washington returns a lot from that defense this year. All but one defensive lineman is back, though Taniela Tupou was one of the best players on the line last year. Washington loses some of their better sack producing linebackers but they still have a ton of experience at the position. Washington's secondary was pretty good last year and now it returns almost everyone it should be the strength of the defense.

Washington's schedule definitely is manageable compared to other Pac-12 teams, the only power 5 opponent they play is Rutgers and Portland State may very well be the best opponent on their non-conference schedule, they draw the Arizona schools, USC and Utah from the South. Washington looks like they're in for a very strong year, they are a contender for the Pac-12 North but actually winning the division will be determined if they can finally beat Oregon.

Predictions:

Sept. 3 Rutgers: Rutgers has a new head coach and could be better than the dumpster fire they were last year but I can't see Washington losing to them. W

Sept. 10 Idaho: Washington should have no issues winning this one. W

Sept. 17 Portland State: Portland State was a great FCS team last year as they upset Washington State in the opener and later completely destroyed North Texas by a score of 66-7, they could provide a fight here but I think Washington will win. W

Sept. 24 @ Arizona: UPSET!! Arizona provides early signs that they are ready to compete for the Pac-12 by taking down Washington. L

Sept. 30 Stanford: Washington recovers and grabs a huge victory by taking down Stanford, they reduce McCaffrey's impact and force a young QB to try to beat them, Washington takes a close one. W

Oct. 8 @ Oregon: Rough stretch here as Washington's most important portion of the year takes place in 8 days. They haven't beaten Oregon in a while, so until they get over that hump I'm picking Oregon. L

Oct. 22 Oregon State: Washington pummels Oregon State for an easy win. W

Oct. 29 @ Utah: This proves to be a low scoring game but Washington edges out Utah for the win. W

Nov. 5 @ California: Washington makes Cal's air raid offense uncomfortable in this game and they win this one easily. W

Nov. 12 USC: Washington puts up another big performance by taking down USC. W

Nov. 19 Arizona State: Arizona State has absolutely had Washington's number for several years now, I'll follow this trend again here. L

Nov. 26 @ Washington State: I may regret this pick, home team has won the past few matchups between these two, I flipped back and forth between these two but decided on Washington. W

Predicted Record: 9-3(6-3)