Way too early bowl predictions for the 2023 college football season
By John Buhler
Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Washington Huskies
Again, as with the Cotton Bowl between Alabama and USC, Ohio State and Washington will enter the season as major College Football Playoff contenders. The good news for Ohio State is that the Buckeyes win 11 games. Unfortunately, that one loss comes against … Michigan. As for U-Dub, the Huskies win the Pac-12 but may have had the one regular season loss they could not afford to.
Still, I think this matchup between the Buckeyes and the Huskies will be compelling enough to draw a rating in The Valley of the Sun. We know that Michael Penix Jr. is the real deal under center for Washington, as he is my pick to win the Heisman Trophy playing for Kalen DeBoer. In time, either Kyle McCord or Devin Brown will have emerged as the next star quarterback for Ohio State.
Where I think this game is won and lost is on defense. It is improving in Columbus, but I think the Huskies’ offense proves to be a bit too explosive for the Buckeyes to contain. I am not saying Ohio State head coach Ryan Day deserves to be put on the hot seat, but going 11-2 with back-to-back losses to Michigan and Washington is going to taste even worse than the ending to last season.
As for Washington, we’re just going to be kicking ourselves about that awful loss from October…
Prediction: Washington over Ohio State