Washington Huskies

Jim Basquil and the ESPN.com College Football team deliver the highlights, analysis, and interviews from an exciting Week 2 of College Football.

No. 3 LSU's home date with Washington was one of the biggest nonconference games on the docket for Week 2 of the 2012 season. Unfortunately for football lovers it didn't live up to that billing, as the Tigers steamrolled the Huskies in a 41-3 white-washing. Here's the quick gist from Baton Rouge, La.

It was over when: LSU running back Kenny Hilliard dove into the end zone early in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 27-3 lead. The score gave LSU a lopsided scoreline to go along with what was an absolutely dominating box score. The Tigers outgained Washington 437 yards to 183 and limited the Huskies to a startling 26 yards rushing. Red zone woes forced the Tigers to settle for two field goals in the second quarter, holding them to a modest 20-3 lead at halftime. Hilliard's touchdown broke that open.

Game ball goes to: Alfred Blue continued his strong start to the season with a 101 yards on just 14 carries. On LSU's second possession of the night, he coasted untouched through the Washington defense for a 21-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead that the Tigers would not surrender. It was Blue's second straight 100-yard game, making him the first LSU back to open the season with two 100-yard games since Charles Scott in 2008.

Injury bug: Washington had already lost starting right tackle Ben Riva and starting running back Jesse Callier in the season opener. Those injury woes continued early on Saturday night when the Huskies lost another offensive tackle, Erik Kohler, to a re-aggravated knee injury. The Huskies' ability to protect quarterback Keith Price was already an issue, and the loss of Kohler only exacerbated that. Price was on the run for his life all night and finished with just 157 yards and an interception.

Dropping the ball: LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger had a solid night in his second outing. He completed 12 of 18 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown. That said, the Tigers' receivers did him no favors by dropping five passes on the night. LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had an especially forgettable night, as he dropped several passes in addition to fumbling away the kickoff that led to Washington's lone field goal.

What it means: Not much we didn't already know. The Tigers took care of business with a 38-point win despite some sloppy mistakes, but this was never supposed to be a major test on the schedule. The Huskies look like they'll go as far as their quarterback can carry them this season -- but that won't be far if they can't find a running game to keep defenses honest and off Price's back.

Washington traveled to SEC country Saturday, looking to upset third-ranked LSU at Tiger Stadium. But, despite forcing a turnover on the opening kickoff, the Huskies haven’t generated much momentum against a program looking to extend an 18-game home winning streak.

Stat of the half: The Huskies were out-gained by 161 yards in the first half, after being held to 70 yards on offense, while surrendering 231 yards to LSU.

Player of the half: Tre Watson. The former walk-on continues to be a valuable asset on the Huskies’ defense. He broke up a pair of first-half passes and totaled three tackles.

What’s working for Washington: Little has gone right for the Huskies so far, but kicker Travis Coons seems to be healthy -- he had been dealing with a leg issue -- booting both kickoffs into the end zone and hitting a 34-yard field goal.

What’s not working for Washington: The offense. Dealing with drops and a non-existent ground game, the Huskies were unable to get much going early. Washington was limited to five first downs and negative-11 rushing yards.

Turning point: Taz Stevenson forced a fumble on the opening kickoff that was recovered by Thomas Tutogi to give Washington some early momentum. However, LSU forced the Huskies to settle for a field goal, so that momentum was short-lived.

Washington is facing LSU in Tiger Stadium and is attempting to knock off the No. 3 Tigers.

Watch the game live here or follow on GameCast by clicking here.

Dave Hooker and the RecruitingNation regional writers deliver all the latest news and notes from around the nation in this week's edition of The Verbal Commitment podcast.

Here are some of the storylines to keep an eye on in Week 2.

1. Who can rebound? Washington State, Cal and Colorado will all look to get in the win column this week after disappointing debuts. Each has something specific it needs to work on in Week 2. The Bears need to find a way to get off the field on third down, Colorado needs to find a running game, and Washington State needs to find a little confidence (positive rushing yards wouldn't be bad, either). And even though Stanford won last week, there was a vibe around the team that a 20-17 against San Jose State isn't going to cut it. And they are right. After this week's game against Duke, USC comes to town and then a big road trip to Washington. Cal has its big matchup with Ohio State looming as well. A lot needs to be sorted out for these four teams in Week

2. Super schedule: Some huge measuring-stick games this week against out-of-conference, BCS-conference foes (seven total). UCLA will see what they really have in Brett Hundleywhen he sees a Nebraska defense that won't be as generous as Rice. And we'll see if Arizona State and Arizona are the real deal when they take on Illinois and Oklahoma State, respectively. While it was nice to see all three win in Week 1, the big question now is whether they can all sustain it with the competition level being increased dramatically. And there are a couple more nonconference games we should mention ...

3. What about the Beavers? Mike Riley joked that so far this season feels like the training camp that would never end. As last week's game against Nicholls State was re-routed because of Hurricane Isaac, we're still not sure what we're getting with Oregon State. We know they want to run the football, and Storm Woods is the guy to do it. At question is whether they'll have success against Wisconsin. It's tough to open the year against a ranked opponent, and Riley called this one of the biggest nonconference games in school history. Also eager to see how much progress Sean Mannion has made and how OSU's passing attack led by Markus Wheaton stacks up against the Badgers. By the way, big ups to OSU, which will have volunteers from the American Red Cross at Reser Stadium to take donations that go to victims of Hurricane Isaac. Classy gesture.

4. What about the Huskies? Grrr ... the SEC. They win national championships. They dominate the rankings. Their fans come to our blog and troll with impunity. Grrr. How well will the Huskies represent the conference when they travel to Baton Rouge? Washington showed a lot of inconsistency against San Diego State, particularly on offense. And losing running back Jesse Callier for the season certainly doesn't help the situation. But when the Huskies were clicking, it was Keith Price connecting with Austin Seferian-Jenkins (nine catches, 82 yards) and Kasen Williams (six catches, 75 yards, 1 touchdown). That trio will have to have a monster game to pull off a shocker against the No. 3 team in the land.

5. Desert defense: Some interesting matchups when you look at Arizona and Arizona State's competition -- particularly at the quarterback spot. How will the Wildcats fare against Oklahoma State freshman quarterback Wes Lunt, who actually saw less field time last week than Marcus Mariota? The Sun Devils might or might not face Illinois starting quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, who has been out with an ankle injury. Head coach Todd Graham said they are prepping to face Scheelhasse, though there's a good chance (depending on which update you read at any particular hour) the Sun Devils could be seeing Reilly O'Toole.