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Seattle, WA - The Arizona Wildcats are coming to town this weekend, on Halloween night of all nights, after suffering a loss in a shootout against Washington State last week, while the Huskies are also returning to Seattle, after an awful loss to the Stanford Cardinal. As both teams are trying to right their respective ships, they will have to wait the entire day to play their game, and nobody is going to get to go trick or treating, unless The Zone makes it happen.
Where: Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium, Seattle, Washington
When: Saturday, October 31, 2015
8:00 p.m. Pacific Time
TV Info: Fox Sports 1, with Jon Anik (play-byplay) and Petros Papadakis (analyst) providing the commentary.
Radio Info: KOMO AM-1000/FM-97.7; Sirius (137) and XM (197)
Game-Week Previews: Our Game Week Coverage; and their Game Week Coverage for the game
(Just about everything you'll need to read before you catch the game.)
How to Watch and Listen to the Huskies:
Audio Stream: TuneIn Radio
Video Stream: Fox Sports Go
History
The Huskies and Wildcats met for the first time, all the way back in 1978, in the inaugural season of the Pac-10 Conference. Washington was coming off of a Pac-8 championship, complete with a Rosebowl victory over #4 Michigan, and finished the season ranked #15 in the country. Arizona, on the other hand, had just switched conferences with Arizona State, getting out of the WAC and running to the Pac-8. They had finished their 1977 campaign with a middling 5-7 record.
In what was most definitely a forgettable game for Arizona QB Jim Krohn, who threw for 34 yards and one interception, the Huskies beat the Wildcats 31-21 at Husky Stadium. The Huskies were up 17-7, thanks to a couple of touchdowns in the the second quarter, one of which was a halfback pass from RB Joe Steele, for 29 yards. At the end of the third quarter the Dawgs padded their lead with an additional 7 points. They were able to hold off Arizona in the final quarter, and came away with a comfortable win.
Since 2008, UW and AZ have exchanged wins, with the home team winning each time. As it stands, the Dawgs are sitting on a 1 game losing streak, but still have the edge in the series outright, by a margin of 19-11-1. In that loss last year, which is still painful to some Husky fans, the Dawgs had the lead, and just needed to keep the ball to win the game. However, after a fateful Deante Cooper fumble in the final 2 minutes, the Wildcats were able to get into field goal range and win the game on a last second field goal, by a final score of 27-26.
Numbers
2.55 - The number of yards the Huskies are giving up per rush attempt at home this season.
3.63 - The number of yards the Huskies are giving up per rush attempt against conference foes this season.
4 - The number of times Arizona has finished the season with a top 25 ranking in the Coaches Poll (1993, 1994, 1998, 2014).
5.75 - Arizona's rushing yards per attempt against Pac-12 teams.
11.02 - Arizona QB Jerrard Randall's average yards per rushing attempt this season.
23.5 - The over/under for spam comments on this article.
34 - Arizona's average points per game against Pac-12 teams.
42 - Arizona's average points per game against all competition this season.
78.5 - Arizona's average plays per game on offense.
138 - The number of rushing yards the Huskies are giving up per game this season.
181.93 - Jerrard Randall's QB rating against Wazzu last week.
282.85 - The number of rushing yards Arizona is racking up per game this season.
1941 - The last year Arizona won a conference championship outright.
Questions Needing Answers
Offense:
Does this team even know what the word "offense" means? Will someone other than Miles Gaskin have a good game? Can we see more than one pass that goes over 20 yards in the air?
Defense:
Will the defense be able to contain Jerrard Randall? Can we finally see a healthy front 7? Who is going to lead the team in sacks? How will the defense handle another elusive QB?
Miscellaneous:
Who's getting the targeting call this week? Will there be any special teams magic? How many times are the announcers going to mention USC?
Conclusion
If the Huskies can contain Randall, they will win this game. The defense has hopefully learned from the Oregon game, and will be able to contain the QB much better this time around, and hopefully the secondary won't get beat over the top. Look for the defense to load the box and force the Arizona QB to make plays with his arm.
You should also see the Huskies look much more competent on offense this time around, as they aren't facing Stanford. Hopefully it's enough. I am scared that the offense won't be able to hurt the Wildcat defense enough, but the run game should provide enough spark to open up the play-action game, and some long Husky passes over the top. This game is going to be another one of those "last drive" games, and I think the Huskies will come out on top this time around.
More Info
Pre-Game Dots
- Check out what happened this week in Husky History. In case you're wondering, it involves Marques Tuiasasopo and the Arizona Wildcats.
- Here's another article talking about Jerrard Randall needing to start this game, staying he deserves his time in the limelight. I seem to recall him getting the nod at Stanford, which was supposedly a much brighter limelight, and not being all that productive.
- It looks like the weather this weekend is going to do its best to imitate last year's late October game against Arizona State. Look for high winds and rain that is blowing sideways.
Vegas Odds
Washington is currently sitting as a 4.5 point favorite, according to VegasInsider, with the line sitting at 58. As of late, the Dawgs have been having issues against the spread, going 1-3 over their last games. That brings their season total to 4-3 on the season.
Gamethread
Check out the gamethread if you dare this week. I imagine it will be an entertaining ride, as fans debate the ability of Jonathan Smith to tie his own shoelaces, let alone run an offense. There's sure to be plenty of Halloween references, and lots of cuss words to boot. Come on over and join the usual suspects, in what is sure to be a rousing game!