The Good, The Bad & The Unknown: Georgia State

The Good

The second half... obviously - No need to break this down too much. The Huskies showed that they can turn it on when they need to and obliterate a very overmatched team. Overall, not that great considering expectations going into the game, but with how dire the situation looked at the half, seeing the Huskies rip off 45 unanswered was sweet relief.

Dante Pettis - The spark plug, Pettis was the guy who gave the Huskies the sparks to turn the game around. He looks like the first, and best, punt returner that the Huskies have had since Charles Frederick and his first big return was the first big offensive play of the game.

Marcus Peters back (and not just from suspension) - Peters' suspension drew a lot of attention, but honestly, I was more concerned with how strangely ineffective he looked in the first two games of the season. The competition wasn't top notch, but Peters looked a bit like his old self Saturday, grabbing two picks while rarely being thrown against.

DANNY SHELTON - Shelton is looking like the closest thing to Steve Emtman that the Huskies have had since #90 was on the field. He had another stat line that looks like it should belong to an All-Pac-12 linebacker - 13 tackles, 2 for-loss and a sack - as a 330+ defensive tackle. If he can maintain these performances against Pac-12 teams, it will take the Huskies a long way. My favorite thing about Shelton making all of these tackles is his size and nasty wearing out opposing ball carriers and quarterbacks.

Non-conference is over - Even though they are 4-0, with expectations considered, this was probably the most frustrating non-conference run I have ever seen from the Huskies. I am terrified of seeing what this struggling team is going to look like against a good Pac-12 team, but at the same time I don't think I can sit through another confounding game against a heavy underdog.

The Bad

The first half... obviously - Don't need to go into much detail. With expectations and talent considered, the first half was probably the worst half of football I have ever seen Washington play.

Offensive line - The Huskies once again seemed to get little to no push at all in the running game against what was supposed to be an inferior opponent. The offensive line looked slow again and incapable of opening up very many holes in the running game, which is especially concerning considering the Huskies don't look to have much of a passing game either.

Cyler Miles - Speaking of that struggling passing game, I just don't know if Miles has it in him to a be an effective quarterback in the Pac-12. Miles looked lost against a team that is barely FBS, missing wide open receivers and throwing soft balls that hung in the air. He also doesn't have the speed to where he can take off and run as much as it appears he likes to. I think there is still hope (and he played a bit better in the second half), but in this day and age of college football, third-year quarterbacks are expected to be a lot more ready than he has appeared thus far in their third start of the season.

Young secondary/coverage - You can hide one struggling young defensive back, but three is pretty impossible as evidenced in every game this season. The defensive backs after Peters are still really struggling and opponents are going to continue to pick them apart until that changes. It is scary to think what passing offenses like Oregon, Arizona, Cal and Washington State might do to these guys.

Explosion - Take John Ross out of the lineup and it looks like the Huskies have pretty much no big play capabilities on offense. The Huskies need to find a way, other than Ross to not only beat teams deep or on long plays, but to also make them think that it is a possibility that they can or opponents will sell out hard to the run and blitz Miles with no relent.

The Unknown

Cyler Miles - To me at least, Miles is a questionable Pac-12 quarterback until proven otherwise. I think he is fine as long as the offense if rolling around him, but that is very difficult to do week after week and it is very hard to win in the Pac-12 with a quarterback who is just a game manager unless you have the talent and scheme of Oregon or Stanford. Can Miles step up against Stanford and show that he can be a difference maker against a Pac-12 opponent when the Huskies need him to be?

Scoring ability - Going along with the Miles questioning, are the Huskies going to be able to put up 40 or 50 points when they need to against the prolific offenses of the Pac-12? The Arizona/Cal and Oregon/Washington State games showed that there is a good chance that you are going to have to have an offense that can easily rip off touchdown after touchdown and hold its weight if you are going to win in the Pac-12, unless  you are showing up with Stanford's defense. Does the Husky offense have this ability?

Pac-12 - About the Pac-12... I don't have the slightest clue of what to make of it. Almost every team has had a game where they looked really bad considering their expectations, no one looks invincible and defenses look nowhere to be found outside of Palo Alto. I honestly could look at the majority of the Pac-12 schedule and flip a coin to pick who will win and feel just about as confident as I would actually picking the game.

Injuries - The Huskies escaped the off-season and the non-conference slate very well in regards to injuries, but there are still a couple key lingering ones that could be concerning. The Huskies cannot afford to have Ben Riva out for Pac-12 play as the offensive line looks lost without him and not having John Ross appears that it can limit Washington's big play ability. The question that remains is just how injured these two guys are.

Expectations - I think going into the season most expected the Huskies to win around 10 games and maybe compete for the North title if a lot of things went their way, but now, after a below average at best non-conference performance, I don't know what the hell to think.