Every week, SB Nation Seattle will be compiling predictions from the local blogosphere that follows Husky and Cougar football. We'll include score predictions with a short explanation on each.
John Berkowitz (UW Dawg Pound)
Washington St. 41, UNLV 15
Cougs served up a tough break with the injury to Jeff Tuel but the possibility of a 5-0 start isn't down the drain with the "Lobster" at the helm.
Washington 34, Hawaii 27
Sark and his staff have been successful after every bump in the road since he arrived and there is no reason to doubt that he won't be successful after this one. ... Defensively Washington will shut down the run. They still will give up more yards in the air than they should but they will create enough turnovers to help negate that. Alameda Ta'amu is going to dominate the inside of the trenches. Quinton Richardson's return is going to revitalize the secondary.
Kevin Cacabelos (SB Nation Seattle)
UNLV 28, Washington St. 21
Sure the Cougars beat the crap out of Idaho St. But does Idaho St. really count as a good opponent? I'm giving UNLV the edge here based solely on the fact that they faced better competition last week against Wisconsin.
Washington 36, Hawaii 30
This is a scary game for the Huskies, and I'm picking this game against what my head tells me. I'm banking on Quinton Richardson's return to help out the Huskies secondary and the UW coming out with fire because of last week's disappointing performance.
Brian Elsner (Wait For It Seattle)
UNLV 27, Washington State 21
Everywhere I look people are picking Washington State to win this game. True, UNLV got destroyed by Wisconsin last week. True, UNLV was awful last year with a 2-11 record. But the Cougs won five games in three years before beating Idaho State last week. And Jeff Tuel is out for at least six weeks. Homefield advantage? 22,000 people at Martin Stadium when the weather is still nice doesn't seem like any advantage to me. I think Bobby Hauck gets it done just because he was a Husky coach and Montana coach. He will hate the Cougs. Always pick gambling over cows. UNLV wins.
Washington 34, Hawaii 28
I don't like this game. I don't like this pick. I don't like anything about the Huskies facing a good quarterback after giving up over 450 yards passing last week to Eastern Washington. So why would they win? The return of Quinton Richardson will help the pass defense. And Chris Polk is going to run for 150 yards. Mostly because if the Huskies don't win, they will struggle to reach a bowl game this year.
Brian Floyd (SB Nation Seattle)
Washington St. 35, UNLV 28
This game should be closer than the spread indicates, but defense is clearly optional.
Washington 45, Hawaii 42
Again, defense is optional here. Bryant Moniz can wreak havoc on the UW secondary, but the Huskies should be able to move the ball in a shootout.
Erik Kariya (SeaTown Sports)
UNLV 26, Washington State 18
Where the heck did that Marshall Lobbestael performance come from? Well, it came from Idaho State. They're the Washington State of the FCS. UNLV is also abysmal, but don't think WSU has a shot against a real(ish) team sans Jeff Tuel.
Hawaii 56, Washington 42
The Huskies could have beaten Eastern by 30 with a midseason mindset. They'll get closer to 100 percent this week, but it won't be enough. Hawaii's system can replace nine offensive starters with few ill effects and Greg Ducre is awful.
Jeff Nusser (Coug Center)
Washington St. 41, UNLV 34
The final score at Wisconsin was misleading - the Rebels moved the ball, at times very efficiently. Their defense, however, is horrible - especially the secondary. The Cougars, led by Marshall Lobbestael, score early and often to win a shootout.
Washington 31, Hawaii 30
I think Washington's corners hold up a lot better in this one because Hawaii's receivers aren't as big as Eastern's. And Bryant Moniz, for all his electricity, can be erratic. Huskies win another squeaker behind the home crowd.
Craig Powers (Coug Center)
Washington St. 34, UNLV 27
UNLV's defense is really bad. The Cougs should be able to put some points up on the Rebels. Their offense fared pretty well against Wisconsin, and Caleb Herring running the read-option has me concerned. All signs points to a shoot-out.
Hawaii 31, Washington 28
If EWU can throw the ball all over the place on the Huskies, why not Hawaii?
James Satterberg (SeaTown Sports)
UNLV 28, Washington State 20
UNLV is hardly a powerhouse, but the Tuel-less Cougars offense will struggle to put points on the board playing a D1 team for the first time.
Washington 38, Hawaii 35
Once again, the spread offense will have no problems moving the ball against the Husky defense. However, in the end, turnovers and a loud home crowd will deny Hawaii their second straight win against a Pac-12 team.
Husky and Cougar fans, head on over to UW Dawg Pound and Coug Center respectively for in-depth pre-game analysis leading up to Saturday.