Is CFP still the ceiling for UW Huskies? ESPN insider weighs in

The UW Huskies are 3-0 to start their third season under head coach Jedd Fisch, but the results to get to this point haven’t been all that encouraging.

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UW’s offense struggled to get much going offensively most of the day in its 24-10 win over the rival WSU Cougars in the Apple Cup. The offense was shaky again the following week when the Huskies avoided what would have been a disastrous upset against Utah State, a game they won 16-14. And finally this past week the offense got rolling in a 48-16 win over the EWU Eagles, but that comes with the major caveat that it was against an FCS opponent.

The Huskies were a somewhat popular pick as a dark-horse College Football Playoff contender entering the year in large part due to the return of dual-threat quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and talented defense led by revered coordinator Ryan Walters. But after three games and two largely disappointing showings, are they a true contender? ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg discussed the ceiling of this year’s Huskies squad when he join Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Wednesday.

For Rittenberg, Ohio State and Indiana are the clear upper-echelon in the Big Ten. He has UW in the second-tier group with the likes of Penn State, Michigan and Iowa.

“I think they have a good enough defense to enter playoff consideration,” Rittenberg said of the Huskies. “It’s just, are they going to score enough points at key times when you have, obviously, some challenges in running the ball?”

UW’s 129.7 rushing yards per game ranks 15th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten and 108th out of 138 FBS teams. Much of that production on the ground has come from Williams’ team-high 150 rushing yards. Non-quarterbacks have accounted for just 237 yards on 62 carries, good for just 3.8 yards per rush and 79 yards per game.

The Huskies’ issues running the ball have come as the team is without its top three running backs due to injury – Quaid Carr, Jayden Limar and Jordan Washington. They’ve also come behind a UW offensive line that hasn’t lived up to expectations early on. The team is hoping to get starting center Landen Hatchett back for Saturday’s Big Ten opener against Minnesota at Husky Stadium.

“This is a league where you have to run the ball and you can’t just rely completely on your quarterback to do so,” Rittenberg said. “So, I think the development of that running back room, along with the offensive line, is going to be really important. I mean, the good thing is you have a dynamic veteran quarterback who has a lot of respect around the conference. If they didn’t have Demond, we’d be looking at, OK, can they get to six wins?

“Because they have him and because they have an offensive-minded coach who’s had a lot of success in his career… we’re going to find out here in the next two, three weeks (if they’re) a second- (or) third-tier Big Ten team this year, or (if they’re) a team that can work its way into that top tier.”

If the Huskies can put together a strong start to conference play this weekend and next week when they travel to face 12th-ranked USC, Rittenberg does like their chances keeping themselves in the playoff conversation towards the end of the season.

“This is a big one this week, next week is also huge against (USC) on the road,” he said. “But then you have, I think, a stretch where they can navigate things, and they have their two toughest opponents at the end of the year with Indiana coming there and then going to Oregon. So, that’s when you want to be playing your best football. Ideally, you’re a little healthier at running back by then and you can be more of a complete team for the biggest games of the season.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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