SEATTLE -- In the midst of getting his team ready for the Holiday Bowl a year ago, Washington coach Steve Sarkisian couldn't help but notice what was happening on the other side of the state.
Eastern Washington's run to the Football Championship Subdivision title brought the Eagles plenty of attention and a few more fans.
"This isn't the biggest state, so you have to support one another," Sarkisian said. "A lot of those are in-state kids and kids that we've had in camp or known through the recruiting process, and you wish them the best of luck. They earned it. They deserved it. It's good for the state of Washington that they did what they did."
Sarkisian would prefer that Eastern's 11-game winning streak ends today when the Huskies open the season hosting the Eagles, the first time Washington has dropped down to play a team from the FCS division. The Huskies also will seek their first season-opening victory since 2007.
When Washington added Eastern to its schedule, the Huskies didn't expect the Eagles to be the defending national champs and the preseason's top-ranked FCS team in the country. But all those accolades make it difficult for the Huskies to even consider looking past Eastern -- or so they say.
"I don't think you can overlook a team that won a national championship," Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant said. "Plus, I know a lot of these guys, and they're good athletes. We respect every team, every opponent we go against. We're definitely not going to overlook them."
Eastern has been down the road of being decided underdogs stepping up in competition. In the last decade, the Eagles have played 15 FBS teams and nearly pulled off an upset at Colorado in 2008, losing 31-24, while winning at Idaho in 2003 (8-5) and at Connecticut in 2001 (35-17).
It will be a homecoming for dozens of Eagles as well, with 41 players on Eastern's roster from the Puget Sound region.
While no one will go so far as to claim that upsetting Washington today would be any bigger than what Eastern accomplished a year ago, the Eagles understand the special opportunity.
"We're not going there to stay injury free. We're not going there to play a quarter or two," Eastern defensive back Matt Johnson said. "We're going there with the mind-set of winning the game."
What makes Eastern at least threatening to the Huskies is the amount of skill talent that returns from last year's team. Running back Taiwan Jones is playing for the Oakland Raiders, but quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell returns after throwing for nearly 3,500 yards and 37 touchdowns.
"A couple of things jump to mind, his calmness and his smoothness and his ability to make that big play. He's not afraid of any situation," Eastern coach Beau Baldwin said of Mitchell. "When the big moment is in front of him, he shines his brightest. ... His game elevates whenever time gets tougher."
Mitchell's top target, 6-foot-5 receiver Brandon Kaufman, is back after catching 76 passes for 1,214 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. He will go against a UW secondary that could be without starting cornerback Quinton Richardson because of a lingering ankle injury.
Today will be just the second start for UW sophomore quarterback Keith Price. His only other start came last season at Oregon, but that was as a fill-in for Jake Locker. This is now Price's team.
"They could come in here and put a whoopin' on us if we're not in the right state of mind," Price said. "We're going to make sure we're ready."
Price's task could be a little more difficult with uncertainty about whether star running back Chris Polk will play. Polk had a knee scope a couple of weeks ago and has been practicing. By the end of the week, there had been no determination if Polk would play, but Sarkisian announced freshman Bishop Sankey would not redshirt and would play today.
Jesse Callier is expected to start if Polk can't go. Callier averaged 5.6 yards per carry as a freshman.
