Peach Bowl 2016: Washington vs. Alabama Latest Odds, Live-Stream Schedule

How can the Washington Huskies do the unthinkable and upset the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide?

Well, more than a few folks would probably tell you that they can't—Alabama is just too good. And, honestly, that's probably true. But below, along with taking a look at the schedule and odds for the game, we'll try to construct a winning game plan for the Huskies.

Date	Time (ET)	Odds	Watch	Stream	Pick
Dec. 31	3 p.m.	Alabama (-14)	ESPN	WatchESPN	Alabama

First and foremost, Washington has to keep quarterback Jake Browning clean. In the two games that the 20-year-old was pressured the most this season, the Huskies struggled to move the ball through the air, as you might expect.

Against Utah, he was pressured on 43.5 percent of his dropbacks, per Chantel Jennings and Alex Scarborough of ESPN. Washington largely gave up on the pass game in that matchup, throwing just 20 times. The Huskies won, but just by a touchdown.

Against USC, though, when Browning was pressured on 36.6 percent of his dropbacks, Washington lost, 26-13. And Alabama has a slew of future first-round picks in Jonathan Allen (8.5 sacks), Tim Williams (8.5 sacks) and Ryan Anderson (6.5 sacks) that will be attacking the quarterback.

If Washington's offensive line isn't stout, the Huskies won't stand a chance.

One way to protect Browning would be to run the ball, and the Huskies must establish a running game, even a modest one, against Alabama. That won't be easy against the nation's best run defense (63.4 rushing yards allowed per game), but Washington can't afford to be unbalanced on offense—and they really can't afford to find themselves in a number of obvious passing downs.

Alabama's defense is too big, too athletic and too smart to be beaten if they also have a pretty good idea of what's coming. Washington must remain unpredictable and balanced. It's a tall task, but it isn't impossible.

The Crimson Tide, for example, gave up 43 points this season to Ole Miss, in part because the Rebels ran for 101 yards in the game. Of course, 43 of those yards came from quarterback Chad Kelly, who also threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns. But Kelly's play and Ole Miss' balance—they threw the ball 40 times and ran 33 times—kept Alabama guessing.

Arkansas was the only other team to have much offensive success against Alabama, posting 30 points. Like Ole Miss, they had balance, throwing 48 times and running on 36 occasions. They had less success on the ground, however, posting just 73 rushing yards, though that was still more than Alabama gave up to most teams.

But Austin Allen did throw for 400 yards and three touchdowns. See a pattern here?

There's another pattern, however. Arkansas, despite moving the ball on Alabama, had five turnovers and allowed two defensive touchdowns. Ole Miss, despite moving the ball on Alabama, had two turnovers that both resulted in defensive touchdowns and also gave up a special-teams score.

So, how else do you beat Alabama? Win the turnover battle and don't give up defensive or special-teams touchdowns. Which may seem easier than done, but again, Alabama is stacked with future NFL talent that pounces on every mistake you make and has scored 14—yes, 14—non-defensive touchdowns this season.

OK, so thus far Washington needs the offensive line to control the line of scrimmage, Browning likely needs to have his best game of the season and Washington must win the turnover battle. Wideout John Ross probably needs to reel off a few big plays, too. Anything else?

Well, there's the matter of stopping Alabama's offense. The Crimson Tide rush for 245.0 yards per game, 14th in the nation, and Jalen Hurts has plenty of weapons in the pass game to beat you as well.

Hurts is a freshman, so at times he struggles against pressure (shockingly, this is an issue for many quarterbacks). But he also rushed for 841 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, so if you sell out to get him and he slithers away, you're in trouble.

Still, taking away Alabama's run game early is tantamount. If the Crimson Tide have success running the ball on you early, they'll wear out your defense on the ground. And if they can control the clock and beat you up on the line of scrimmage, keeping their defense fresh in the process, you're sunk.

So, to slow them down, you have to be stout against the run and take your chances against Hurts and the passing game. Washington has a strong secondary led by corner Sidney Jones and safety Budda Baker, so they should be able to match up against Alabama's talented pass-catchers. But it only takes a few big plays for the Crimson Tide to break a game open, too.

No matter what you do, Alabama has a potential answer. So, basically, to beat Alabama you need to play your best game and hope the Crimson Tide are having an off day. 

Good luck with that.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.