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USC-Washington Preview: Q&A with UW Dawg Pound

Does Washington have the defensive players in its secondary to slow down Marqise Lee and Robert Woods? And can the Huskies pull off another win over a ranked opponent this season?

By trevor.wong
George Frey - Getty Images

Here is our Q&A with SB Nation's UW Dawg Pound. Here are their answers to our questions.

1. Keith Price, by many pundits, was thought to be the second-best quarterback in the conference behind Matt Barkley coming into this season. Why has he struggled so much this year?

Price's struggles have been largely due to the injuries of those around him. He's playing behind what is basically UW's second string offensive line and his #2 wide receiver hasn't played a down this year, and will probably redshirt. He hasn't had time to throw, and on the rare occasions that he has his guys arent getting open like they should.


2. Despite Price's struggles, he is still a dual-threat quarterback. Generally, 'SC tends to struggle against those types of players. Who else on the offensive side of the ball should USC be concerned about?

The two guys you have to look out for are Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who is perhaps the best tight end in the country, as well as Kasen Williams. Williams hasn't been as much of a downfield threat as they'd have liked because of the troubles on the offensive line, but they throw him a lot of quick hitters because he's a nightmare for corners to try to tackle in the open field.

3. Washington's defense has performed drastically different at home compared to on the road. Which players on that side of the ball can give USC's offense fits?

The Huskies are in possession of on of the top corners in the conference and probably the country as well in Desmond Trufant. If anybody has a shot at slowing down the Trojan wideouts, it's Trufant, who knocks away a ton of passes. You also have to look out for Travis Feeney. He's a linebacker, but as a converted safety he's got the speed to make plays and seems to find ways to be around the ball an awful lot.

4. Much has been speculated about Steve Sarkisian's job status after this season. Can and do you think he will be able head coach at Washington by the end of this year?

I'm not sure who is speculating about Steve Sarkisian's job, because he's pretty secure right now. The team has improved every year he's been at the helm. Many simply accepted that a 2-4 start this season was the reality regardless of how good the team was because of how the schedule set up, yet he's already bested that mark in spite of all the walking wounded on offense. If we're going to judge him on losing to Oregon and LSU, then we can go ahead and fire everybody but Nick Saban. Sark will be the coach at UW through the end of this year and next year no matter what, and probably beyond that barring some gigantic collapse in 2013.

5. Prediction on the game? Can Washington pull off another upset against a ranked opponent?

I think the Huskies will probably keep it close enough to cover the spread. They've been a much better home team than road team of late -- if the game were in the Coliseum I wouldn't like them much at all -- but I don't think their offense is where it needs to be to keep pace. I think USC will win by around 10.

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