Not Bad

Published 9:00 pm Friday, September 8, 2006

The first half is over, and Husky fans can’t complain about a 13-13 score. The game has been about as even as can be, with Oklahoma with 172 total yards and Washington with 175. Of course, the Huskies have gotten most of the yards on two plays.

The Washington base defense has been good against the run, holding Adrian Peterson to 58 yards on 12 carries. Paul Thompson is 12-for-22 for 102 yards but doesn’t look great at quarterback. The Sooners defense is clearly focusing on stopping Isaiah Stanback, which means someone else is going to have to step up as the UW’s top play-maker. The Huskies haven’t been able to get around the outside on offense – a testament to Oklahoma’s speed on defense – so the offensive line is going to be a big key in the second half opening up holes.

The UW nickel defense is not good. It was bad against San Jose State and it hasn’t been good today. It would seem Washington would be better off staying in the base as much as possible – which I imagine it will do – because the nickel doesn’t seem really able to stop anyone.