Around the region

Hornets at Huskies

Kickoff: 11 a.m., Husky Stadium, Seattle

Records: Sacramento State (1-0), Washington (0-1)

TV/Radio: Pac-12 Washington/107.1-FM

Overview: The Huskies’ biggest priority against the Hornets should be simple: run the ball. Washington didn’t do that with any kind of success in its season-opening loss at Boise State – 22 attempts for 29 yards – but it seems the Huskies should be able to establish that part of their offense against a Big Sky team. If they can’t, that would be a major concern. … After an up-and-down collegiate debut, true freshman Jake Browning will make his first appearance at Husky Stadium. He completed 20 of his 35 pass attempts for 150 yards and an interception against a veteran Boise State defense, but better numbers will be expected against Sacramento State. … The Hornets won their season opener 41-20 over NAIA Eastern Oregon. They finished last season 7-5 and 4-4 in Big Sky play, good for seventh place in the conference standings (out of 13 teams). Third-year sophomore Daniel Kniffin takes over at quarterback after the graduation of Garrett Safron, who threw for 3,490 yards and 34 touchdowns last season. Kniffin was mentored for a time in high school by Folsom High School coach Troy Taylor, who coached Browning during his highly successful three-year career. … Sac State returns its leading rusher (Jordan Robinson) and one of its two 1,000-yard receivers from last season (Nnamdi Agude). … The Hornets allowed 36.1 points per game last season, which ranked 12th out of 13 teams in the Big Sky.

The pick: Washington, 38-10.

Christian Caple

Vandals at Trojans

Kickoff: 5 p.m. Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles

Records: Idaho (0-1), No. 8 USC (1-0)

TV/Radio: Pac-12 Networks/590-AM, 1080-AM

Overview: USC is a prohibitive favorite with good reason against the Vandals, who gave up 489 yards in a home loss to Ohio last week. “We all know that they are not the heck of a group that we are going to see from here on out, but we can’t look at them like that,” USC safety Chris Hawkins said. “We have to look at them as if they are the best, as if we’re playing Ohio State or Alabama, so that we can do our jobs and create turnovers.” Hawkins made an interception and recovered a fumble in the Trojans’ 55-6 win over Arkansas State last weekend, yet the defense also gave up 208 yards rushing. Idaho will make a reported $1.1 million to line up against USC, but the Vandals also will get to test their passing game against a Pac-12 secondary. Matt Linehan threw 15 of his 36 completions last week to Dezmon Epps.

Associated Press