ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

SEATTLE -- It was a postcard perfect day Friday in Seattle. Today? Not so much. That might favor Washington, but will it be enough to lull USC into another massive early-season letdown game?

My guess here is no.

But early returns are these Huskies are nothing like last year's 0-12 vintage, and we really don't know just yet what we've got with the third-ranked Trojans.

Heck, we don't even have a complete grasp of their quarterback situation.

All signs point to sophomore Aaron Corp making his first career start, which he might have done in the opener vs. San Jose State if not for a leg injury that opened the door for true freshman Matt Barkley.

Barkley is nursing a bruised shoulder. He threw for the first time on Friday. He could be available or it might only be Corp.

Corp, while not as gifted a passer as Barkley, is an outstanding runner. He's not afraid to break out of the pocket, and the Trojans probably have a few designed runs for him in the game plan.

And, if Corp turns in a strong performance, the college football world will be gifted with another run of "Who's the Trojans quarterback?" stories next week, though odds are the job remains with Barkley.

Washington has no such issues at quarterback. Jake Locker might be the best one in the Pac-10. Pegged as a run-first guy early in his career because he was, well, a run-first guy, Locker presently leads the Pac-10 with 287 yards passing per game and is the conference's third-most efficient passer, with five touchdowns and just one pick.

Still, as great a player as Locker is, he doesn't play defense. That's a bigger issue.

The Trojans skill players are way faster than the Huskies defense, but an even bigger mismatch figures to be the Huskies D-line vs. the Trojans O-line, which is veteran and talented and probably a little unhappy with how it played at Ohio State.

A half hour ago, the Huskies did their new "Dawg Walk" into the stadium, and the drizzle may have scared off some fans -- the walk was sparsely attended.

Husky Stadium used to be the toughest ticket in town, particularly with USC visiting. But word is the the 72,000-seat stadium will be 10,000 or so short of a sell-out.

Steve Sarkisian has injected new energy into the program, but some fans are still taking a wait-and-see attitude. They've had their hopes for a program rebirth crushed before.

Will today become that red letter date that signals a new era? Or just more disappointment in the drizzle.