Greg McElroy Names Utah A Possible 'Giant Killer' Against Washington

The Utah Utes have a chance to shake up the Pac-12 standings and College Football Playoff rankings

When it comes to the Pac-12 title and College Football Playoff, No. 5 Washington is expected to be a major player in both.

The task at hand for them is quite simple in theory, you win out, and you are in. However, winning out is much easier said than done, especially when you consider that they have meetings with No. 18 Utah and No. 12 Oregon State this week and the following week.

Their Week 11 matchup with Utah is one that ESPN analyst Greg McElroy views as a possible disaster for the Huskies, as he named the Utes to be one of his three "giant killers" of the week on his newest episode of Always College Football.

"Utah is on the road at Washington," said McElroy. "Would feel better if this game was in Rice-Eccles but I think Washington coming off the performance last weekend, a gutsy performance on the road, didn't get a lot of stops in the process that defense might be reeling and Utah they can affect the opposing quarterback. Anytime you have a defense that can affect the opposing quarterback it gets concerning."

McElroy touched on the fact that while the Utes struggled against another top Pac-12 team in Oregon, they possibly could have learned from that moment moving forward.

"I know it didn't work against Oregon, but maybe it works with a little more success against Washington now they've seen the bright lights and there's maybe not as much pressure on them...play freely, and go up there and throw haymakers against a giant right now that is ranked in the top five."

Washington comes into the game as 9.5 point favorites according to ESPN, with ESPN's Matchup Predictor giving them a 69.3% chance of winning over the Utes.