WASHINGTON JUST GETTING STARTED
Before focusing on the immediate — Washington has made the College Football Playoff — let’s consider the long-term implications. In three seasons, Chris Petersen has reversed a decade and a half of futility. The Huskies are back. The rest of the Pac-12 should be very concerned.
This Washington team is welldrilled, as we’ve come to expect from Petersen-coached teams. It’s also talented — the Huskies weren’t operating at anything close to full capacity Friday when they easily beat Colorado 41-10 to win the Pac-12 championship. With a 12-1 regular season complete, Washington is one of the nation’s four best teams.
But in a larger sense, the Huskies might just be getting started.
On a mild early October evening in Oregon, Petersen took a couple of moments to talk before leaving town. Washington had just ended a 12-year losing streak to rival Oregon and done it by scoring 70 points on the road, and as much as the story was how far the Ducks had fallen, it also was about how quickly the Huskies were rising.
A reporter noted that Washington and its players passed the eye test, that the Huskies looked like some of the elite teams in other parts of the country. Petersen agreed — but then said the program had a long way to go and a lot more work to do to fill out the roster.
If the goal is to get all the way back and then stay there, he’s probably right. Another couple of years of recruiting feeding winning feeding recruiting, the cycle rolling ever faster — and who knows what’s possible?
But anything seems possible right now, too.
The gap between Washington and its Pac-12 North rivals seems pretty big. In the Pac-12, only Southern California, which handed Washington its lone loss in mid-November, seems immediately capable of matching up with the Huskies.
And never mind those questions about whether Washington can hang with Alabama, its 13-0 opponent in the national semifinal in the Peach Bowl.
First, can anybody? Second, the old line, “Give Chris Petersen a month to prepare, and then watch out,” is a little overcooked.
In the Playoff, all of the coaches know how to get their teams ready. But it’s true that his teams routinely squeeze out every ounce of talent, producing nearly flawless execution and have often outperformed more talented teams.
Quarterback Jake Browning and the Huskies offense was held to fewer than 31 points once this season, in the loss to USC. In its last two games, Washington defeated top 25 opponents Washington State and Colorado by a combined 86-27.
Meanwhile, the Huskies defense ranks fourth nationally in yards allowed per play and tied for eighth in points allowed per game. On both sides of the ball, and even on special teams, the metrics suggest the Huskies can make a strong run at the Crimson Tide.
So anyone trying to compare this Washington team in the Playoff to something like Boise State vs. Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl a decade ago is shorting the Huskies considerably. They’re a lot more talented than Petersen’s best Boise State teams. And while the building project is still underway, they’re already talented enough to match up with almost any team in college football.
“It’s real,” junior receiver Dante Pettis said that night in October, after beating down the Ducks. “It’s not just hype. It’s real.”
Seven games later, who’s arguing? Certainly not Petersen. After Friday’s game, before he knew the committee’s decision, he was asked whether Washington belonged in the Playoff.
“I think there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
There’s very little doubt about these Huskies, either, and they might just be getting started.