By Steve Schaefer

After a win on the shores of the Mighty Cuyahoga, the young Orange of Syracuse head to the Upper Northwest this week to take on the U-Dub Huskies in the vicinity of Puget Sound.

A few of us here at Otto’s Army tagged this game as a potential upset a few weeks ago. I pointed out the possibility that Washington could be looking ahead to more high-profile tilts with Nebraska and USC in the weeks ahead, but given the events of last weekend – U-Dub’s loss to BYU and the SU win over Akron – it’s likely that Steve Sarkisian is drumming into his players this week that they can not overlook the Orange.

That brings us to the first key matchup this week, and it’s on the sidelines.

As Tom Sullivan pointed out Tuesday, Sarkisian and Marrone are following similar career paths. Both are savvy offensive minds fighting to raise once-proud programs from the pits of despair. There’s one big difference though…Marrone doesn’t have a potential Heisman winner in his back pocket. It will be interesting to see if Marrone’s strategy to establish the run will persist if Washington is able to race out to an early lead.

That brings us to our second matchup – Syracuse’s defense versus Jake Locker’s Heisman campaign.

Locker turned in a representative first game, but not going home with the W has got to sting. You can bet he’ll be looking to repeat his performance from 2007; this clip captures the bulk of the carnage. Chandler Jones needs to follow-up his solid play in the Akron game with an even better showing in Seattle if the Orange are gong to have any chance to contain the Husky offense. Given Locker’s mobility the linebacking crew needs to stay home and the secondary needs to cover long enough to let Jones and the D-line get penetration.

The advantage on this point is clearly to Locker and the Husky offense, but if the Akron game was a starting point, and not a high-water mark, this Syracuse defense might be able to compete.

Washington’s run defense was solid against BYU, but they allowed the Cougars QBs to complete passes at a 60% clip. Barring a shift in strategy, the matchup of U-Dub’s defensive backs against Syracuse’s receivers will be equally as crucial as the first two we’ve considered.

Now I wasn’t able to watch any of the Syracuse opener live on Saturday, but in post-game viewing it was clear that Van Chew and Aaron Weaver were a huge part of the offense. In what has been a common theme, the wideout corps needs to build on the Akron game, not celebrate it.

The final key matchup we’re looking at today is Syracuse versus themselves. Anybody that saw the Akron game knows what I’m talking about. As our own Tim Schlittner pointed out, two blown PATs is flat-out unacceptable.

Locker and the Huskies are in the untenable situation of having a whole lot to lose on Saturday and not much to win, but if the Orange have any shot at a victory it’s likely going to come in a close game. Rob Long’s leg is a huge weapon, but even that won’t overcome failures elsewhere on special teams that cost the team points.