PLAYERS TO WATCH
–RB Sean McGrew worked his way into Washington’s running-back rotation Oct. 6 at UCLA, and his workload increased significantly at Oregon. McGrew carried eight times against the Ducks and caught two passes — one of which converted a late fourth down. Both Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed sustained injuries at Oregon. With the severity of both uncertain, McGrew and fellow rotational RB Kamari Pleasant could see a considerable increase in touches this week.
–WR Ty Jones has been Washington’s big-play threat in the passing game for much of the season, averaging 20.1 yards per catch with a team-high five touchdowns. Colorado’s secondary struggled mightily against deep passing plays last time out, surrendering passing touchdowns of 27 and 65 yards.
–LB Tevis Bartlett played his best game of the season at Oregon, recording a career-high 12 tackles. Bartlett also made his first sack of the season, which could help jump-start a Washington defense struggling to get into opposing backfields at the torrid pace of the previous two seasons, when the Huskies ranked in the Top 15 nationally for sacks.
–S Taylor Rapp’s ability to converge on pass-catchers and move up to stop the run comes in handy for Washington this week, should the Huskies see Colorado WR Laviska Shenault. Shenault plays a variety of positions for the Buffs, including as a deep-threat pass-catcher and ball-carrier out of the Wildcat formation. He was pulled late against USC due to injury, however, and his status for this week is uncertain.
SERIES HISTORY: Washington leads the all-time series, 11-5-1, which includes a 6-0 mark since Colorado joined the Pac-12 Conference in 2011. The two teams met in the 2016 Pac-12 Championship — which the Huskies won, 41-10 — and again last year in a 37-10 decision in Boulder.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I couldn’t be more proud of Jake Browning: Second play, has a bad throw, and then just locks in and plays nails, makes big-time throws. … Our guys on defense, too. Ben Burr-Kirven, that guy needs a cape. Taylor Rapp, he’s as good as they come. You put that tape on and watch these kids plays, there’s some impressive football going on.” — Chris Petersen, on standout performances from the loss at Oregon.
