Here are three instant impressions from Washington's 70-10 victory over UC Davis on Saturday night at Husky Stadium.
Credit UW for dominating from the start
The Huskies were 28 1/2-point favorites against FCS school UC Davis, so they were expected to win easily, but it wasn't supposed to be this easy.
It's not uncommon for better teams to play down to the level of their opponent and struggle to win, but the Huskies never gave the Aggies a chance, taking a 28-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Then, when UC Davis scored a touchdown, the Huskies answered with a touchdown -- their fifth in five drives. Can't do better than that, and that was just the start of the rout.
Run defense was much better
With the exception of one 35-yard run, the Huskies gave up little on the ground to the Aggies, who had 56 rushing yards through three quarters.
Colorado State had good success running against the Huskies in the first half of the season opener, so the improvement in that area was certainly a good sign for UW.
The question is how much of the improvement was because UC Davis doesn't appear to be as good as Colorado State?
We still don't know how good the Huskies are
Washington did what it was supposed to do against UC Davis, just like it did the week before against Colorado State. The offense has had two great weeks, but the challenges get much tougher, beginning in two weeks against Washington State in Pullman after having next week off.
The Husky defense was outstanding against UC Davis after an up-and-down performance against Colorado State. The improvement was certainly encouraging, but can the unit hold up against the physical units that it will face in conference play?
That question will soon get answered, but in the meantime, Husky fans can savor two easy victories to start the season.