What a difference a year makes in Seattle.
This time a year ago, Washington lost 1-2 to FCS Montana and Michigan, in which the Huskies scored 17 points. On Saturday, the Huskies scored 39 points in a win over Michigan State, which ranks No. 1 in the world. Ranked 11th in an Associated Press poll. The game wasn’t as close as the final score of 39-28. Washington totaled 503 yards and averaged 9.9 yards per pass.With victory going 3-0, Huskies move into top 25 in this week’s edition sports 131.
Washington’s 4-8 fall off a cliff last season under former head coach Jimmy Lake was shocking because it happened so quickly. It’s a project that won 32 games between 2016 and 2018, led by Chris Petersen. Recruitment has gone relatively smoothly and is one of the most resource-rich programs in the West. But the offense became sluggish.
Enter Kalen DeBoer and Michael Penix Jr. DeBoer wins basically everywhere he goes. As head coach, he is 82-9, including a 67-3 at NAIA Sioux Falls from 2005 to 2009. He helped turn Indiana and Fresno State around as offensive coordinator before returning to Fresno State and going 9-3 in his second season as head coach.
Penix was electric as Indiana’s quarterback when healthy, but he dealt with several injuries. He reunites with DeBoer in Seattle, and Washington football is fun again. In three games, he completed 66 percent of his passes for 359.7 yards, 10 touchdowns and 1 interception.
After week 1, everyone has written off the Pac-12, but we may need to reassess. Washington is the biggest reason.
Here is the latest version sports 131.
The only change in this group was USC’s rise to No. 1. 8th after a 45-17 victory over Fresno State. The Trojan Horse now looks like the best-case scenario under Lincoln Riley. Offense is electric. There were holes in the defense (81st in yards per game), but it was fourth in the nation with 10 takeaways. This week’s trip to Oregon will be an interesting test.
Michigan is 3-0 up but playing against the three worst teams in the country. This week’s home game against Maryland will be the first time we really start evaluating the Wolverines.
The poll results put Georgia at No. 1. 1. After the Ducks outscored BYU, its Week 1 win over Oregon looked even better.
11-25
| rank | team | Record | previous page |
|---|---|---|---|
|
11 |
3-0 |
13 |
|
|
12 |
3-0 |
25 |
|
|
13 |
2-1 |
twenty one |
|
|
14 |
3-0 |
20 |
|
|
15 |
2-1 |
15 |
|
|
16 |
2-1 |
16 |
|
|
17 |
2-1 |
18 |
|
|
18 |
2-1 |
11 |
|
|
19 |
2-1 |
19 |
|
|
20 |
3-0 |
49 |
|
|
twenty one |
3-0 |
twenty two |
|
|
twenty two |
2-1 |
26 |
|
|
twenty three |
2-1 |
twenty four |
|
|
twenty four |
3-0 |
27 |
|
|
25 |
3-0 |
29 |
Penn State’s 41-12 victory at Auburn quickly changed perceptions of the team’s possibilities. Auburn may not be a good team, but the Nittany Lions can run for 245 yards on a good frontcourt. The aforementioned 41-20 Oregon State victory at BYU suddenly makes the Pac-12 look much better now, joining USC, Washington State and Utah in a 35-7 victory over San Diego State.
Texas, Wake Forest and Miss Ole also rounded out the top 25. The Longhorns avoided Alabama’s hangover and left UTSA in the second half, Wake Forest held off the Liberty and the Ole Misses beat Georgia Tech 42-0.
Polls put Utah ahead of Florida, Baylor ahead of Brigham Young, and coaches’ polls put Michigan ahead of Washington State. Why? I have no idea. In these rankings, the winner of the head-to-head game gains the advantage when the two teams are close, especially three weeks into the season.
Last week I saw a lot of comments about the Minnesota rankings. Its ranking was little changed as it played against the two worst teams in the country and one FCS team. The same goes for Miss Michigan and Ole. This is neither negative nor positive. Sometimes you get excited if someone else has a more impressive win. Minnesota ranks first. 39th in my preseason ranking and still sitting there. Beat MSU and it’s likely to make the top 25.
North Carolina’s win over Appalachian State continues to look better, with the Mountaineers’ Hail Mary win over Troy, plus a Texas A&M win over Miami as a boost. Maryland’s 34-27 victory over SMU was outstanding.
Kansas and Syracuse! KU is in the top 35 with a 3-0 start after victories over West Virginia and Houston. Syracuse defeated Louisville and Purdue 3-0. It’s not hard to see a 5-0 Orange start heading into North Carolina’s game. Duran had the biggest gain this week, moving from No. 110 into the top 50 after a 3-0 win over Kansas State. Notre Dame’s close escape from Cal and Marshall’s loss to Bowling Green put both teams down. Arizona State’s 31-28 victory over North Dakota State was impressive, and as an underdog, the Wildcats are officially a pretty good team.
A few teams fell into this group due to losses — Purdue, Texas Tech, Houston, UTSA and Auburn — but otherwise there wasn’t much movement. Indiana narrowly escaped Western Kentucky and Rutgers narrowly avoided Temple, but both sides were 3-0. Wyoming beat the Air Force 17-14 and the Cowboys lost 3-1 to Illinois.
Vanderbilt’s comeback victory at Northern Illinois with a 3-1 win was a real sign of progress in the program. Rice’s 33-21 victory over Louisiana was one of the most surprising results of the weekend. Eastern Michigan wins at Arizona State, becoming the first MAC school to win the regular season against the Pac-12. Northwestern’s home win over Duke and FCS Southern Illinois follows Ireland’s victory over Nebraska.
Over time, South Alabama gave UCLA a field goal win over time, while Troy gave App State a Hail Mary. lost heavily. San Diego State is now 2-1 against the Pac-12 teams twice. Soon, this doesn’t look like the old Aztecs.
(Top photo by Michael Penix and Kalen DeBoer: Joe Nicholson/USA Today)