Why Huard doesn’t see UW Huskies as a playoff team in 2023
Jun 17, 2023, 8:53 AM | Updated: 8:56 am
UW Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer during the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29, 2022. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman is as high on the UW Huskies for the 2023 season as anybody.
“I think it’s a legit playoff contender right now,” Feldman told Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Wednesday. “I got a chance to spend some time around the program at the end of the spring and was impressed by what I saw. I think Kalen DeBoer has been a fantastic hire … I think all signs are really good with the direction of Huskies football right now. It’s an amazing flip of where it was a year ago at this point.”
Why a top college football insider thinks UW Huskies are playoff contenders
“I do (think they can contend for a playoff spot),” he later added. “I mean, look, if they win the Pac-12 and they can run the table, why not? I mean, last year, you saw how good that team was.”
Brock and Salk host Brock Huard, a former UW Huskies quarterback, isn’t quite as high on his alma mater as his FOX Sports colleague, as he explained on Thursday.
“This is one I had a harder time with, even with my Husky-flowered glasses,” Huard said. “… I just don’t see 12-1. If you come out 12 -1 and win the Pac-12 this year, you’re gonna make the playoffs. I don’t see 12-1.”
A big difference between the UW Huskies’ 11-2 season last year and a potential playoff berth this year is the schedule.
“I see Boise State at home, I see at Michigan State, I see at Arizona that has been an absolute nightmare for you and they are much much better with Jedd Fisch, I see Oregon at home and then I see a three-week stretch of at USC, Utah at home and at Oregon State. I just have a hard time saying 12-1,” Huard said.
Brock and Salk have talked about the “Goldilocks Zone” of things being “just right” a lot this week, mainly with the Seahawks. Huard thinks UW’s Goldilocks Zone was last year rather than this upcoming season, due largely to the schedule.
“The Goldilocks zone was, ‘Hey man, I’ve got this this young gun, super talented guy (in quarterback Michael Penix) and he was a mess at Indiana and we’re gonna grow this thing together we’re going to develop together and we’re going to believe in one another together. I’ve got some enough talent around it and we have a favorable (schedule),”‘ Huard said. “Looking back, the most favorable possible schedule ever. Didn’t play Utah, didn’t play USC last year. Now, guys have gotten paid. Some guys have gotten paid a lot … This is not going to be a Goldilocks year. I’m not saying gloom and doom, but 12-1 to me feels like a strong reach.”
