PREMIUM
Rogers' 10* NCAAF Playoff PAYOFF >> SIZZLING 11-4 Bowl Run!
(NCAAF) Washington vs. Alabama,
Point Spread: 14.50 | -118.00 Washington (Away)
Result: Loss
Point Spread: 14.50 | -118.00 Washington (Away)
Result: Loss
The set-up: The 12-1 Washington Huskies earned the 4th and final CFP playoff spot and their reward is a Peach Bowl matchup with 13-3 Alabama, the nation's top-ranked season every week since opening the year as No. 1 in all polls. Alabama takes 25-game winning streak into the national semifinals, as Nick Saban looks to win his fifth national championship in 10 seasons as the Tide's head coach. The Huskies have ascended quickly under third-year coach Chris Petersen and are enjoying their best season since the 1991 Don James-coached unbeaten squad shared the national championship with Miami.
Washington: QB Jake Browning completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 3,280 yards with 42 TDs and just seven INTs. RB Myles Gaskin is over 1,300 yards for a second straight season (1,339 on 5.9 YPC with 14 TDs) and his backup Lavon Coleman sports a 7.8 YPC average while rushing for 836 yards and seven TDs for a rushing attack averaging 210.0 YPG (36th). WR Ross totaled 76 receptions for 1,122 yards and 17 TDs for the Huskies, who average 44.5 PPG (4th). The defense allows 17.2 PPG (7th) on 316.2 YPG (11th) and features standout junior free safety Budda Baker (65 tackles, two interceptions) and senior outside linebacker Psalm Wooching (team-high six sacks). However, it remains without two of its top players in senior outside linebacker Joe Mathis (foot) and junior middle linebacker Azeem Victor (leg).
Alabama: The superlatives surrounding the Crimson Tide are almost too many to mention. I'll start with a defense led by DEJonathan Allen, who won the Nagurski Trophy as the national defensive player of the year. The unit is No. 1 in points allowed (11.8 PPG), rushing yards (63.8 YPG) and total yards (248.2 YPG). Those numbers go just fine for a well-balanced offense averaging 247.2 YPG on the ground (5.7 YPC) and 224.1 YPG through the air, scoring 40.5 PPG (13th). Alabama QB Jalen Hurts is a multi-faceted player who runs nearly as well as he throws. Browning, a sophomore, passed for 3,280 yards and a school-record 42 touchdowns, while Hurts accounted for 34 scores (22 passing, 12 rushing) and is striving to join Oklahoma's Jamelle Holieway (1985) as the only true freshmen QBs to lead a team to a national title. "I'm a firm believer in age being nothing but a number," the 18-year-old Hurts told reporters. "And I feel like if you step up to any situation and you're able to play your game, be confident, have the poise you need to have, you'll be alright."
The pick: It seems like a foregone conclusion that Alabama is headed for the championship game and if the numbers provided above weren't enough, the Crimson Tide totaled 14 non-offensive TDs, matching Southern Mississippi (2011) for the most in FBS since 1996. However, while the Pac 12 didn't garner much respect this season, I will not overlook what Chris Peterson has done at Washington in just his third season. He also led Boise State to a bowl game in each of his eight seasons there, although he did not coach in that final one, leaving for the Washington job. Few will ever forget his 2006 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma (43-42 in OT) or his 2009 Fiesta Bowl win (17-10) over then 12-0 TCU, completing a 14-0 season. No upset here but I'm taking the points and making Washington a 10* play.
Washington: QB Jake Browning completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 3,280 yards with 42 TDs and just seven INTs. RB Myles Gaskin is over 1,300 yards for a second straight season (1,339 on 5.9 YPC with 14 TDs) and his backup Lavon Coleman sports a 7.8 YPC average while rushing for 836 yards and seven TDs for a rushing attack averaging 210.0 YPG (36th). WR Ross totaled 76 receptions for 1,122 yards and 17 TDs for the Huskies, who average 44.5 PPG (4th). The defense allows 17.2 PPG (7th) on 316.2 YPG (11th) and features standout junior free safety Budda Baker (65 tackles, two interceptions) and senior outside linebacker Psalm Wooching (team-high six sacks). However, it remains without two of its top players in senior outside linebacker Joe Mathis (foot) and junior middle linebacker Azeem Victor (leg).
Alabama: The superlatives surrounding the Crimson Tide are almost too many to mention. I'll start with a defense led by DEJonathan Allen, who won the Nagurski Trophy as the national defensive player of the year. The unit is No. 1 in points allowed (11.8 PPG), rushing yards (63.8 YPG) and total yards (248.2 YPG). Those numbers go just fine for a well-balanced offense averaging 247.2 YPG on the ground (5.7 YPC) and 224.1 YPG through the air, scoring 40.5 PPG (13th). Alabama QB Jalen Hurts is a multi-faceted player who runs nearly as well as he throws. Browning, a sophomore, passed for 3,280 yards and a school-record 42 touchdowns, while Hurts accounted for 34 scores (22 passing, 12 rushing) and is striving to join Oklahoma's Jamelle Holieway (1985) as the only true freshmen QBs to lead a team to a national title. "I'm a firm believer in age being nothing but a number," the 18-year-old Hurts told reporters. "And I feel like if you step up to any situation and you're able to play your game, be confident, have the poise you need to have, you'll be alright."
The pick: It seems like a foregone conclusion that Alabama is headed for the championship game and if the numbers provided above weren't enough, the Crimson Tide totaled 14 non-offensive TDs, matching Southern Mississippi (2011) for the most in FBS since 1996. However, while the Pac 12 didn't garner much respect this season, I will not overlook what Chris Peterson has done at Washington in just his third season. He also led Boise State to a bowl game in each of his eight seasons there, although he did not coach in that final one, leaving for the Washington job. Few will ever forget his 2006 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma (43-42 in OT) or his 2009 Fiesta Bowl win (17-10) over then 12-0 TCU, completing a 14-0 season. No upset here but I'm taking the points and making Washington a 10* play.
