Coaches Poll Mentions Washington, But Needs to See a Quarterback
The coaches have spoken.
They just didn't have much to say about the Washington Huskies.
Releasing their first top 25 college football ranking, the FBS coaches selected three Pac-12 entries among their best bets, but the Huskies weren't one of them.
Oregon ranked ninth, USC was pegged 17th and Utah earned the No. 20 slot.
The Huskies turned up seven back in the also receiving votes category, which would have made them 32nd had the poll extended that far. They accumulated 65 votes.
You can view the coaches' poll here.
While the UW appears extra talented in many places for the coming season — three defensive players have received preseason first-team All-American attention — Jimmy Lake's first team as a head coach is lacking in one key area required of a top 25 team.
It doesn't have a proven quarterback.
The line of replacement candidates runs deep with sophomore backup Jacob Sirmon, redshirt freshman Dylan Morris, true freshman Ethan Garbers and senior transfer Kevin Thomson, but these have zero starts and three pass attempts among them as Power 5 QBs. Thomson joins the competition from Sacramento State.
Until that gets sorted out, the Huskies really can't argue whether they're better or not than last season's 8-5 finish with Jacob Eason at the helm.
Clemson edged out Ohio State for the No. 1 position by a measly 34 votes. If there's a program resurgence represented among these rankings, it comes in the Lone Star state — Texas A&M and Texas are 13th and 14th, respectively.
Had the Huskies kept their original schedule intact, replete with non-conference games, the would have opened up against No. 15 Michigan.
Arizona State, with 88 votes, fell three spots out of the rankings and four ahead of the UW. Washington State with 6 votes and California with 5 were the only other Pac-12 schools mentioned.
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