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FACTS & STATS: Site: Husky Stadium (72,500) -- Seattle, Washington. Television: ROOT Sports. Home Record: Hawaii 1-0, Washington 1-0. Away Record: Hawaii 0-0, Washington 0-0. Neutral Record: Hawaii 0-0, Washington 0-0. Conference Record: Hawaii 0-0, Washington 0-0. Series Record: Hawaii leads, 2-1.

GAME NOTES: The Washington Huskies put a five-game win streak on the line this weekend as they host the Hawaii Warriors in non-conference action in Seattle.

Washington, which closed out the 2010 campaign with four straight victories, scored a narrow 30-27 win over in-state rival Eastern Washington in the 2011 opener on Saturday.

As for the Warriors, this is the first of back-to-back games on the mainland, with a meeting against UNLV awaiting them in the Silver State next weekend as well. On Saturday night Hawaii ran over the Colorado Buffaloes in non- conference action, claiming a 34-17 win at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, Hawaii has won two of the previous three encounters with the Huskies, including a 35-28 triumph in Honolulu in the most recent matchup back in 2007. The Warriors won the only meeting on the mainland, 10-7, in 1973.

The top passing offense in the nation a year ago, averaging close to 400 ypg, the Warriors instead turned to the running game in order to take down Colorado last weekend. In fact, it was quarterback Bryant Moniz who did the most damage with a career-high 121 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The yardage total by Moniz were the most by a Hawaii signal-caller since Glenn Freitas tallied 122 yards in a meeting with UTEP back in 1995. Moniz, who had a career-long 57-yard TD run in the second quarter, passed for a mere 178 yards which snapped a string of four straight 300-yard passing efforts. In 2010 Moniz, who won WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first week, was first in the nation in total offense with 367.3 ypg, but probably no one saw his emergence as a running quarterback coming and that could easily confuse the Huskies as they prepare for this weekend's affair.

The Hawaii defense shutout Colorado in the first half, but then the unit got a little sloppy by allowing a pair of passing touchdowns between Tyler Hansen and Paul Richardson in a span of just over 10 minutes in the third frame. Hansen was allowed to throw for 223 yards, but the Warriors made sure he knew they were always in pursuit as they nailed down a total of seven sacks and intercepted one pass. Paipai Falemalu was second on the team with six tackles, making three of them behind the line of scrimmage while logged two of the team's sacks. Liko Satele made the most of his three stops, two coming behind the line and one on Hansen. The seven sacks are the most for the Warriors since posting eight against Western Athletic Conference foe San Jose State last season in a 41-7 romp. In 2010 Hawaii averaged a modest 2.2 sacks per game, ranking them 45th in the country, so already they are off to a quick start in that department.

The big news for the Huskies on offense was the effort put forth by running back Chris Polk who, just two weeks after having arthroscopic knee surgery, stepped up and carried the ball 23 times for 125 yards in the win over Eastern Washington. In addition to Polk's remarkable comeback effort, Washington also got an encouraging effort from quarterback Keith Price who, despite suffering an ankle sprain in the second quarter, ended up throwing for 102 yards and three touchdowns in the close call. With as many as 16 players making their major-college debuts in the opener, it was important for the returning starters for the Huskies to keep it all together, but unfortunately the offense lost an important piece in receiver Jermaine Kearse who sprained his ankle in the first quarter and never returned, his availability against Hawaii left in question.

While it is certainly better to begin the season with a win, the Huskies are keenly aware that they have a lot of work do to when it comes to their pass defense, even though Desmond Trufant's interception in the end zone with 29 seconds remaining saved the day. Washington allowed a pair of 100-yard receivers for just the 11th time in program history, while the 473 yards in the air versus the Huskies were tied for the fourth-most in school history as well. Granted, the run defense for the Huskies limited Eastern Washington to only 31 yards on 17 attempts, but the Eagles recognized that their best plan of attack was over the top anyway, so Washington should not assume that its run defense is in any way ready to match up with the best in the business. In fact, last season the Huskies ranked eighth in the conference and 97th in the nation with 190.5 ypg allowed on the ground, a better indication of just how much improvement the team needs in that area.

If the Warriors are smart, they'll let Moniz loose again and let him make plays with his legs since the Washington run defense is still a work in progress. However, Hawaii has to make sure that its quarterback also finds a groove passing the ball in order to find a more balanced attack and keep Moniz from taking unnecessary hits down the field.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Hawaii 31, Washington 27