Washington moved into the top four in both the Associate Press and Coaches poll after No.2 Ohio State lost this weekend. With ESPN's College GameDay as the backdrop coach Chris Petersen knows the Huskies upcoming matchup with Utah is its toughest yet.
"I think their record proves out," Petersen said Monday. "Going on the road, that’s a really great environment to play in, all those types of things across the board. This will by far be our toughest test so far.”
Utah has allowed just 17.3 points per game at home this season, fourth best in the Pac-12 behind Colorado, Washington and USC. Washington counters with the second-highest scoring road offense this season, averaging 52.5 points per game away from Husky Stadium.
A big portion of that 52.5 average comes from the Huskies 70-21 route of Oregon in Eugene just two weeks ago. The Utes had a similar skewed scoreline in their 52-45 victory over UCLA this past weekend. Running back Joe Williams racked up 332 yards and four touchdowns on the Bruins' 44th-ranked defense.
But Petersen isn't letting a single breakout performance alter the Huskies' approach.
"I think especially when you get this deep into the season, you study their tape and you see where their strengths are and how they play," Petersen said. "One game, I think you can read too much into those things."
In UW's only two road games this season - allowed 28 points vs Arizona and 21 vs Oregon - the Huskies have surrendered 442 yards per-game and almost two more yards per play at 5.85.
Adding to the challenge for defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski is the loss of senior defensive end/BUCK Joe Mathis, who leads the team with five sacks. As Rivals reported back on Saturday, Petersen reiterated there is no timetable for Mathis to return but it's not expected to be a season-ending injury.
In his place will be junior Connor O'Brien, who made his presence known against Stanford early and has since continued to progress.
"We were really pleased with him and he’s been coming on," Petersen said. "He’s been getting in there and he’s been getting significant playing time and certainly he got much more."
O'Brien is listed as the Huskies' starting defensive end in the depth chart released Monday. Mathis is still listed in the two-deeps, but behind O'Brien and Benning Potoa'e.
