Portland State coach: I'd mortgage my house to bet on Washington title

Washington was a popular pick to make the leap from a middle-of-the-bunch Pac-12 squad to a possible playoff team this year, and you can certainly count Portland State coach Bruce Barnum among those believing in the Huskies.

Barnum, whose program plays Washington this Saturday in Seattle, doesn't just think the Huskies are playoff contenders, he likes them to win the national championship this January.

"I wouldn't be shocked at all," Barum told Adam Jude of the Seattle Times. "I don't know what the odds are in Vegas because I can't gamble because I'm a head coach in college football, but if I was in front of a tote board right now...I'd mortgage my house and put it on the Huskies."

The Huskies have looked strong through two games of coach Chris Petersen's third season in charge, beating Rutgers and Idaho by a combined 107-27 scoreline. At the forefront of their resurgence is quarterback Jake Browning and receiver John Ross, but Barnum is quick to point out that Washington is loaded all over the field.

"Everyone's talking about Browning and the 'Folsom Flash' and all that hoopla, and No. 1 (John Ross) is probably faster than Usain Bolt, but their defense right now is lights out," he said. "(Coaches) Pete Kwiatkowski and Jimmy Lake and Ikaika (Malloe), they have those guys playing like you're supposed to play the game."

For an FCS program like Portland State, a trip to play Washington is the most exposure it'll receive all season, but Barnum is hoping for some luck to help the cause.

"They're intimidating, they're fast, and they play the game how it's supposed to be played," said the 2015 FCS coach of the year. "It's a huge challenge for us. We're going to go up there and try to run the football and keep them off the field and punt and hopefully they fumble and we win."