If you watched Stanford's defensive front seven push USC around, you probably would surmise that it will take a very good offensive line to win the battle with the Cardinal.

Washington, which plays host to Stanford on Thursday, therefore, is picking a bad time to lose another starting O-lineman.

Coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday that guard Colin Tanigawa is out for the season, presumably due to a previously reported knee injury.

When the 2011 season ended, the Huskies thought they'd welcome back four starting offensive linemen. The starting five for Thursday's tilt now will only feature one -- senior center Drew Schaefer.

Guard Colin Porter was forced to retire due to shoulder problems. And guard Erik Kohler is also out with a knee injury. When you toss in new starting tackle Ben Riva, who broke his forearm in the opener against San Diego State, you get a line that is mixing and matching a lot of young players.

Mixing and matching young players on an offensive line is typically not a good thing.

The starting lineup is unclear. There's an "OR" at both spots on the right side, between sophomore James Atoe and true freshman Shane Brostek at guard and sophomore Mike Criste and redshirt freshman Dexter Charles at tackle. In fact, Charles is listed as the backup left tackle AND starting left guard.

The good news is the Huskies O-line already knows what it's like to face an A-list D-front having visited LSU. The bad news there, of course, is things didn't go well.