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Colorado Buffaloes vs. Washington Huskies: Enemy Intel with UW Dawg Pound

Get to know the Huskies with the help of a Q&A with UW Dawg Pound.

By Jon Woods
Otto Greule Jr

To get a Washington point of view on Saturday's match-up against the Huskies in Seattly we sat down with UW Dawg Pound for a quick Q&A.

After a fast start and three disappointing losses how are Husky fans feeling about the season to date? Is Husky Nation still happy with Steve Sarkisian?

For the most part, the season has gone about as expected it would coming in. Everybody knew that the Stanford/Oregon/Arizona State portion of the schedule was going to be a bear, and even though the Huskies couldn't get a victory in any of those, they still appear poised to break through the seven win plateau they've reached.

The fanbase is largely divided about Steve Sarkisian. Some people saw the Arizona State game as evidence that he's definitely not the guy, while others are willing to look at the entire season to evaluate his performance. The one thing that's really helping him out is that this year's team -- the first in which he's had a roster built entirely out of players he himself brought in -- is easily the best one he and his staff has put on the field.

Which team is closer to the real Washington Huskies, the one that won four straight or the one that lost three in a row?

I'm not really sure that those two teams are all that different. Even in the three game losing streak, they were a questionable review away from perhaps beating Stanford in Palo Alto and they played Oregon tough for three quarters. The Arizona State game seems like an aberration. This is a team that while it may not be ready to beat the nation's elite, has the talent to overwhelm the teams that fall in the middle and below.

Most Buffs fans know Price, Sankey and Seferian-Jenkins, who else should they know on offense?

With Kasen Williams going down for the season due to injury, the focus at wide receiver is going to fall on Jaydon Mickens and Kevin Smith. Smith has come on as an explosive player averaging nearly 17 yards per catch, while Mickens has been a terror catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage and turning it up the field and is leading the team in receptions, yards, and is tied with ASJ for the lead in receiving TD's.

Outside of the losses to Oregon and Arizona State the Husky defense has looked to be much improved. Who are the leaders on this defensive unit?

Marcus Peters has stepped right in where Desmond Trufant left off as a lockdown corner. He has shut down receivers game after game and done a fantastic job of locking up his side of the field.

Hau'oli Kikaha had missed the past two seasons with knee injuries, but has returned and picked up right where he left off as a pass rushing defensive end with six sacks on the year.

The linebacking corps of John Timu, Shaq Thompson, Travis Feeney, and Princeton Fuimaono is as good as there is in the conference. Thompson is the star: one of the top recruits in the country out of high school who has lived up to his billing. Feeney is a rangy sure tackler who they'll line up at safety in big packages, Timu is the quarterback of the defense, and Fui is a senior who seems like he's been around for about eight years and is having a breakout season.

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