Halftime Thoughts

Published 9:00 pm Friday, September 15, 2006

For as many yards as Washington is giving up on the ground, it’s pretty impressive that its only allowed 7 points. Fresno’s passing game doesn’t seem that good and the Huskies are getting stops when they need to. Dwayne Wright has 82 yards on 14 carries but Fresno has just 139 total yards, and quarterback Tom Brandstater is 4-for-9

Offensively, Washington isn’t running the ball well but Isaiah Stanback is running an efficient offense. The Bulldogs are clearly trying to take away the Huskies’ run game, especially the inside run game. Stanback has 51 rushing yards and is 10-for-14 for 102 yards passing. Washington is also 5-for-8 on third downs and 1-for-1 on fourth downs.

Of course, the first half hasn’t been the problem for the UW the last few years. It’s what happens after halftime that has been the issue. Look for the Huskies to try to break Louis Rankin and Stanback loose on the outside, where they have had some success. Washington’s receivers must do a better job of catching the ball. I’m curious to see what adjustments the Fresno offense makes. Will it continue to try to pound the ball with Wright? I’d expect to see some quick screens and hitches to the receivers, a ploy that has worked for opponents of the Huskies in the past.

One difference between this second half and the second halfs of the previous two games: This is the first game where it hasn’t been extremely warm on the field, so perhaps fatigue will be less of an issue this time for Washington.