UW Grade Report

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, September 20, 2003

Report card

The Herald’s assessment of Washington’s performance against Idaho.

Rush offense: B-plus.

A season-high 231 yards, highlighted by Rich Alexis, with 116 yards on 22 carries and a pair of TDs.

Pass offense: B.

Cody Pickett threw for a decent percentage and hit Reggie Williams with a bomb, but consistency isn’t what it was last season. The interception Pickett threw in the third quarter was a terribly thrown ball.

Rush defense: D.

Who’s Zach Gerstner? The Huskies made him look like Jim Brown. Twenty-one carries for 104 yards shouldn’t happen against this defense.

Pass defense: A.

Can’t argue with 86 yards on 9-of-30 passing with an interception and three sacks.

Special teams: C-plus.

Punter Garth Erickson nailed one on the Vandals 1-yard line. Kickoffs were, on the whole, deep. Coverage was fine. Charles Frederick’s fumbled punt return that led to an Idaho touchdown wasn’t.

Coaching: B-minus.

What’s troubling is the Huskies’ habitual slow starts. In this particular game, they also had three mindless personal fouls, which boils down to a lack of discipline. It’s not all the fault of the coaching staff, but it has to bear significant responsibility.

Miscellaneous: C.

On the whole, an uneven performance that left the crowd in a stupor for too long, until Alexis unloaded on linebacker Patrick Libey. The offense produced a TD and a field goal in the first half, when it should have had so much more. The play can’t remain at this level when the Pacific-10 Conference season rolls around Saturday against Stanford.

John Sleeper

Herald Writer