This prediction bag isn't as easy as it seems, especially when it's difficult to know what version of the Washington Huskies will show up on game day. It's not as hard to determine what UW's identity will be on offense as it was last season, leaving Death Row out there to try and win the game on their own. That's not a recipe for success.

And if you thought it was hard to figure out what John Donovan was trying to get accomplished on that side of the ball, you don't have to wonder any more. Donovan was let go shortly before Jimmy Lake and Washington mutually went their separate ways, opening the door for Kalen DeBoer, Ryan Grubb, and their offensive wizardry to move north from Fresno to Seattle.

It may feel like Bulldog Country instead of Husky Territory, but don't get caught up in the semantics. This new-look Washington attack has shades of Chris Petersen to it, as well as Steve Sarkisian. They'll run, they'll pass, they'll do whatever it takes to move the chains and put points up on the board. And they did that to great effect in their week one 45-20 victory over Kent State. But what about Portland State? The last time Washington faced a Big Sky team in Husky Stadium...well, we won't talk any more about that. 

The usual suspects are back to give their week-by-week game predictions, including the famous UW DB WALTER BAILEY as he offers his wisdom, wit, and insight to our motley crew. We hope you enjoy hearing from Walter every week, and it makes sense considering Washington is honoring the 1991 National Championship team, and Bailey was a starting cornerback on that historic team.

We also have one more addition to this year's predictions; our new intern JOSH WODKA! We promise we'll be nicer to him than we were to Jack and Luke (even though they've decided to keep picking games for us, for some unknown reason. That's sarcasm, by the way.)

Kalen DeBoer and company will keep the momentum from week one and continue to build on it. I expect the offense to stay hot and capitalize off some Portland State turnovers.

Realistically, the opener to the Kalen DeBoer era couldn’t have gone much better. Yet, the tale of the tape from last season against a Big Sky opponent will haunt Husky fans in 2022 still. However, with an offense that is now proven at humming along at a high volume pace, a loss shouldn’t be a concern come this Saturday. Michael Penix, Jr. will yet again look like the playmaker he did last Saturday. With an obvious size difference between the two teams, Washington’s defensive and offensive line should come out and make a big impact come kickoff. Thus, I think running backs Wayne Taulapapa, Will Nixon, and Cameron Davis will have monster days on the ground as well as the 4 defensive ends. One of Bralen Trice and ZTF will record 2 sacks and Sav'ell Smalls will record his first sack as a Husky. Washington rolls The Vikings before meeting a tough Spartan team from East Lansing.

Washington's passing offense looked great in week one. They will have another chance to impress against the Portland State Vikings, an FCS opponent that gave up 40+ points five times in eleven games last year.

Also, I expect the Dawgs will put in the work needed to take a step forward with their run offense next week, especially with the return of Jaxson Kirkland.

The Vikings have a dynamic playmaker at quarterback. Washington's pass rushers regularly got into the backfield but struggled to seal the deal last week. I expect the Husky tackling to be more efficient in week 2. Still, I think Dante Chachere will make a few plays and likely throw together a scoring drive or two. Those will be small blips on an otherwise smooth sailing Saturday.

This game should be a blowout. I believe Portland State will score less than 20 and our Huskies ought to be able to score more than 45. I base that off the belief these Vikings are not as talented as Kent State. Our offense looked prepared and played for the most part efficiently. The defense I think still needs some work, but I suspect they will improve as the season progresses. I hope a lot of the roster gets to play. That experience on the field is so valuable later in my opinion.

The Vikings were competitive against San Jose State last week, but unless Neil Lomax and Mouse Davis are on the sidelines I don’t think this should be much of a game. All eyes will be on the defense that somewhat surprisingly left us with the most questions last week and deserve some scrutiny. The offense will look to keep things humming and hold nothing back so they’re running on all cylinders before Sparty comes to town.

This week will be a tune up before the battle against Michigan State on September 17th. The Huskies will come out offensively and try to establish a firm rushing attack with Wayne Taulapapa, Cameron Davis, and Will Nixon. I see the Huskies rushing for four touchdowns and getting the ground game established. Michael Penix Jr. will come out firing on all cylinders and throw the ball all over the field, taking advantage of his plethora of receivers and tight ends. I see Penix playing a solid three quarters and throwing for five touchdowns and I believe Devin Culp gets his first score of the season. I believe the receivers will have a monster day led by Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, Taj Davis and Ja'Lynn Polk. I also see Giles Jackson getting his first touchdown of the season and we should get the chance to see Sam Huard and Dylan Morris get reps in this ball game as well. Defensively, I want to see the Huskies come out and dominate from the beginning of the game and clean up the contain issues from the Kent State game last weekend. I see the defense getting three sacks led by Bralen Trice, Sav'ell Smalls, and company! The secondary did well last week, but I think they can clean up a few deep balls that were completed by Kent State. I see the secondary coming up with two interceptions led by Asa Turner and I believe Dominique Hampton gets his first pick of the season. On special teams, I am hopeful that Jackson gets his first touchdown on a kickoff return and some meaningful punt returns as well. Kalen DeBoer and staff will have the Dawgs ready to roll.

Portland State presents some unique challenges this weekend, but they also will provide some opportunities for the Huskies to make some plays. I expect Washington will be able to score quite a bit in the game, but the big concern is the PSU QB and whether the defense can limit his impact. Dante Chachere is a special athlete and he'll hurt you with his arm as well as his legs. The Husky corners will be tasked with keeping their wideouts blanketed so that the linebackers and EDGEs can worry about containing him. Offensively, the wideouts should have a big day as they will face a lot of man coverage. The Huskies must keep Michael Penix Jr. upright and hopefully they can get the running game going a little bit more. I think Washington scores a lot of points this week, but they will surrender more points than the Husky Faithful would hope.

Portland State comes into this game fresh because they've had over a week to prepare and they supposedly came out of their close loss at San Jose State completely healthy. But the Huskies look to be in pretty good shape physically other than Jordan Perryman, and it sounds like he's not far away from coming back. And then Jaxson Kirkland comes back after having to sit out the Kent State game. Will he start? Will it matter? It shouldn't. Michael Penix, Jr. was in full flow against the Golden Flashes and he will be going up against a Portland State defense that gave up 8 yards per pass attempt and nearly 16 yards per completion against SJSU. As long as UW executes at the same clip they did against KSU - and there's no reason they shouldn't - the Huskies will roll. PSU has some weapons on offense, and I think they'll score probably more than they should because they'll be going up against UW's backups for at least the 4th quarter.

I think people will look back at the end of the season and realize Kent State was actually a good team. Think they'll also look back and realize Portland State was horrible.

The biggest intrigue for the game is when it becomes a blowout and it's time to pull Penix, will they send in Morris or Huard?

Lots of things to work on after Kent State, especially on defense. It won't matter.

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