The Washington Huskies are the least favorites to win the College Football Playoffs despite their 13-0 record coming into the tournament.
Bookmakers place them fourth among four teams, with Michigan Wolverines having the best odds to win.
This is not a new territory for the Huskies. Their coach, Kalen DeBoer, has great faith in his team, who have always been together when things get rough and come out on top as one when adversity arrives.
"I think, again, can you go back to one game and learn from it? You can go back to all of a sudden two or three," he said.
"Everything has happened in a different way. We've won it in different ways. Man, we got a brotherhood in that locker room that is super proud, wants to continue to showcase who they are collectively and how hard they play, how much they love each other. It shows. It shows," DeBoer said.
They were a 9.5-point underdog to Oregon in Pac-12, and in the Final Four against the Texas Longhorns, they are again the underdogs.
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Despite the odds, the Huskies can still win the national title. They just need to take care of these three things to make it easy for themselves.
1. Protect Michael Penix Jr.
Heisman Trophy runner-up Michael Penix Jr. has the talent to lead the Huskies to a victory, but like many other quarterbacks, he, too, can be neutralized by an interior pass rush.
Penix will have his hands full against Texas's interior punch of defensive tackles T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, who earned All-American citations.
These two form the best interior defense in college football this 2023 season. Sweat recorded 40 tackles, 16 solo tackles, and eight tackles for loss. He also had two sacks and broke four passes. His partner has 26 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and five sacks.
The Longhorns take the defense department, but the Huskies' offense is better. Penix Jr. needs to be unlocked for them to have a chance.
2. Get Jalen McMillan more involved
The star wide receiver, who posted 1,098 yards last season, was back a few weeks ago after battling injury for most of the season. He is Penix's most reliable third-down option, and that showed in the Pac-12 title game, where he had nine receptions for 131 yards.
McMillan creates a mismatch against the Longhorns or other teams in the CFP. He is too fast for defenders and too wise to read the game, as he can create separation from defenders. He can stretch the field vertically or go one-on-one to take advantage of vertical passing.
Together with Rome Odunze, they can form the best 1-2 receiving punch in college football. The Texas Longhorns will have their hands full in an offense spearheaded by the Penix-McMillan-Odunze triumvirate.
3. Pass defense
The Huskies are 13-0, but opponents will find ways to exploit their weakness in a win-it-all game. That is their pass defense.
They were bad in this department last season but have gotten worse, dropping from 100th to 122nd.
This weakness showed in the win against Oregon Ducks, where Bo Nix had a field day finding his runners.
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