04 September 2010

Washington at BYU prediction


It's tough to predict what will happen in the first game of the season. There are new starters at many positions, and even if you return your quarterback, running back and tight ends (as BYU did last year), things can be very different than you expected.

And this year? When BYU has not one, but two new starting quarterbacks? New tight ends? New running backs and linebackers? Good grief; I have no idea what this team will look like today.

The one thing I'm reasonably sure of is that if BYU's defense can contain Locker and force him to be a pocket passer, I like the Cougars' chances. In last year's game, the final drive for Washington was essentially Locker running all over BYU's defense and making one or two passes. It reminded me of Vince Young against USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl... Vince Young would beat every Trojan defender and pick up 10-15 yards whenever he wanted.

From my untrained eye, it didn't appear either BYU or USC devoted a linebacker to spy on Locker or Young, but maybe they did and the running quarterbacks were just that good.

Regardless, I'd like to see BYU's Jordan Pendleton or freshman Kyle Van Noy waiting for Locker every time he tries to scramble.

Do that, and I predict BYU wins 24-17.

If Locker runs at will, I predict Washington wins 31-21.

Go Cougars!

1 comment:

Matt Gibb said...

Pretty good prediction, but points deducted for not making up your mind. I didn't get to see the game, but good to know that they started off OK.