Cal Football: 5 Questions For UW Huskies Beat Writer

For a closer look at Cal’s opening day opponent, we checked in with Washington Huskies beat writer Dan Raley of our SI sister site, Husky Maven.

Raley is a long-time Seattle sports writer with a substantial background following UW sports.

As we will do with a writer covering Cal’s opponent each week this season, we asked Raley five questions about the Huskies in advance of their visit to Memorial Stadium on Saturday night:

1. You projected late last week that grad transfer Kevin Thomson would be UW’s starting quarterback against Cal. Jimmy Lake has not named a starter, but do you still believe Thomson will get the call and why?

Kevin Thomson is a seventh-year senior after stops at UNLV and Sacramento State. Yes, you read that right -- seven years at the college level. Needless to say, he is experienced. Of the other three Husky QB candidates, they have no meaningful college snaps under pressure in a real college game. Thomson will make fewer mistakes than the others. He runs better than the others too.

2. What does new coach Lake bring to the table? How will the Huskies be different under Lake than they were with Chris Petersen?

Jimmy Lake raises the energy level significantly more than Chris Petersen, who was the studious, organizational-minded leader. Lake will have his defense and offense attacking more, going for the home run sack and the deep touchdown pass. The players will identify more with Lake than Petersen.

3. What will the Washington offense look like under new coordinator John Donovan, who spent the past four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars?

The two-deeps issued Monday showed three wide receivers and one tight end in the starting lineup. It's been two and two for several years. Washington's offense got a little conventional under Petersen. I anticipate Donovan's new Husky pro-style set will flood certain areas of the field more with those three wideouts and move at a no-huddle tempo at times.

4. Running back Richard Newton seemed to show good promise as a freshman in 2019. What are his strengths and how good do the Huskies believe he can be?

Richard Newton is not the starter coming into the Cal game, which is a shock to me. He gave way on the depth chart to senior Kamari Pleasant, who has never started a game at the UW or even been the back-up long. Newton, who is an NFL-style running back, did interviews last week, not Pleasant. It might be a Senior Day thing at the start of the season rather than the end where Pleasant gets a few snaps and sits down. Newton is an NFL player waiting to happen, someone who hits the hole hard and plays real physical. Bet he's the UW's leading rusher against Cal and the starter in Week 2.

5. The Huskies lost two talented defensive players when D-lineman Levi Onwuzurike and linebacker Joe Tryon opted out. How much will the Huskies miss them? How good will they be defensively? And who do you expect to emerge as the star of that unit?

No offense to Onwuzurike or Tryon, but the Huskies have star power moving into their positions in sophomores Tuli Letuligasenoa at DT and Laiatu Latu at OLB. Letuligasenoa, who flipped from USC to come to Washington, will be one of the best in the league with his low center of gravity and quickness. Latu played in every game as a freshman but if he lets up for even a second, the Huskies' top freshman Sav'ell Smalls will fly by him and take his job. Smalls is the UW's top player in the latest class. Big and fast. He won't be at the UW long.

*** Justin Wilcox talks about the unknowns of Washington's quarterback picture:

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page

Add us as a preferred source on Google