The Washington Huskies face the Auburn Tigers in a marquee matchup for week 1 of the 2018 season. Here’s what you need to know about this top-10 clash.
Any college football fan wanting to get the 2018 season started off with a bang should look no further than the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta, GA. While this is always a big game, that’s certainly no different this year as fans will be treated to a top-10 matchup between the No. 6 Washington Huskies and the No. 9 Auburn Tigers.
Washington looks to be the heavy favorites to win the Pac-12 this season and may have one of their best teams in recent memory with Jake Browning returning at quarterback along with running Myles Gaskin. It’s clear that head coach Chris Petersen still has this program quietly among the best in the country.
As for Auburn, head coach Gus Malzahn is hoping to play spoiler once again this season in the SEC after winning the West division last season. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham is the best they’ve had as a signal-caller since Cam Newton, and the defense is one of the fiercest in the country, so it’s certainly in the cards for the Tigers to do just that.
However, both teams want to get the 2018 campaign started off with a high note, which knocking off a highly ranked opponent would certainly qualify as. With that, let’s take a look at what we need to know about this matchup.
Broadcast Details
Date: Sept 1, 2018
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Atlanta, GA
Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
TV Info: ABC
Live Stream: WatchESPN, FuboTV
Radio: LINK
Keys to Victory
Washington — Washington has strengths on both sides of the football that should allow them to have success in this game. The Huskies defense has the ability to move sideline-to-sideline and cover the whole field against both the run and the pass. Meanwhile, Jake Browning is a proven veteran quarterback with an elite running back in Myles Gaskin behind him. Even better, they have a high-caliber offensive line leading the way ahead of them.
For this game though, Gaskin will clearly be the biggest force for the Huskies. While the Auburn defense is most definitely stout, the Washington defense can certainly have success in stifling the Tigers offense. As such, when the Huskies move the ball, they need to be controlling the game in the process. That happens if they can establish any kind of presence in the run game, which they are more than capable of doing.
Auburn — Given what’s already been said about Washington, it figures that the Auburn defense also needs to show up in this game. However, given the effect that Gaskin and the Huskies rushing attack could potentially have on Saturday, the more specific detail might be to say that the Tigers run defense, which may be a step behind their pass defense, needs to be at their best right out of the gate this season.
As for Jarrett Stidham and the offense, the quarterback is key. We know that he has the arm and athleticism to make plays. But against a talented Huskies defense in a game that should be both low-scoring and close, what the Tigers can ill afford is a costly turnover from the quarterback from trying to do too much. He has to be a leader and the coolest head on the field for 60 minutes.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Auburn -2.5
Moneyline: Auburn -135, Washington +115
Over/Under: 48
All odds courtesy of Odds Shark.
Prediction
There is no doubt that Washington has the talent to compete with any team in the nation. And, at the same time, they also could come out victorious in this game. However, as they have to travel to the east coast for this game and play a viciously physical Auburn team in the first game of the season, it just seems as if the Huskies might come up a hair short on Saturday, starting the season 0-1.
Final Score: Washington 13, Auburn 17