Washington Huskies: Game 1 vs. Oregon State – injuries, weather, odds, and more
Ed Stein
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Washington Football hopefully starts the 2020 season as the Huskies host PAC-12 North rival, Oregon State. Pacific Northwest Sports has all you need to know.
PNWS presents what you need to know to enjoy the Washington Huskies 2020 season opener against the Oregon State Beavers. UW fans won’t be able to attend the game due to COVID-19 restrictions. Instead, the Huskies faithful will see the new era of UW football begin on television; we have you covered.
Who: Oregon State Beavers (0-1) at Washington Huskies (0-0)
Where: Husky Stadium – Seattle, Washington.
When: Saturday, November 14, 2020 – 8:00 p.m. PST.
TV: FS1. Announcers: Alex Faust, Petros Papadakis.
Weather: It will be a little chilly in Seattle at kickoff with temperatures in the low-to-mid ’40s. The forecast calls for rain beginning in mid-afternoon and continuing throughout the game. Expected winds are light (weather.com).
Line: Washington -14. Over/Under: 52 (Odds Shark).
Injuries: Washington: No significant injuries were reported. Oregon State – On Thursday, Oregon State announced one player tested positive for COVID-19, and three others were in quarantine as part of contact tracing.
Interesting Trends: Washington is on a roll at Husky Stadium, going 18-2 in their last 20 home games. They have also won five straight in Seattle against OSU. The total has gone under in eight of UW’s last 11 games, including five of the last six against PAC-12 teams.
Oregon State lost 15 of their last 20 conference games. They are, however, 9-3 against the spread in their last 12 games.
A New Day at UW
Saturday begins the Jimmy Lake era at Washington State. He replaces Chris Petersen, who hung up his whistle after last season.
Petersen is gone, but his fingerprints are all over this team. Most of the players and coaches are tied to him. To begin 2020, there shouldn’t be much change in the way UW plays on either side of the ball. As Lake gets more comfortable in his role, more changes will happen.
Less than 24 hours before kick-off, Lake still hasn’t named a starting quarterback. Whoever the new signal-caller is can expect protection from a mammoth offensive line. Also, the Huskies ground game with Richard Newton, Sean McGrew, Kamari Pleasant will lead the way and take some of the pressure off the QB and under-experienced receivers.
Washington has one of the better secondaries in the country, led by Elijah Molden. The Cougars won’t be able to throw the ball down the field like they did last week. Running back Jermar Jefferson has 21 games of experience and gained 2,467 total yards with 25 touchdowns in that time. Stopping the Beavers big weapon will go a long way to minimizing Oregon State’s offense.
Oregon State looked to be on the upswing after a few awful seasons recently. Last week against WSU, the Beavers showed some signs of improving, but Jonathan Smith’s team, especially the defense, still has a ways to go before they reach mediocrity.
Catch up with PNWS on Sunday when we present our biggest takeaways from the game.