Halftime update

Published 2:22 pm Saturday, September 8, 2007

A huge crowd and sunny September afternoon have made for a great first-half environment as the Huskies jumped to a 24-10 lead. This has hardly been the dominant effort we saw in Syracuse last week, but that is to be expected against a much, much better opponent.

The Broncos are moving the ball, as is evident by their 197 yards of offense, but two turnovers—including an unlikely interception by defensive end Greyson Gunheim—have led to a pair of Husky touchdowns.

Like last week, the Huskies are getting the job done on the ground, rushing for 149 yards in the first half. Jake Locker has run the ball well, but also made a few mistakes we didn’t see last week. He was stripped of the ball for the Huskies first turnover of the year, and that led to a Boise State touchdown. Locker has also gotten away with a few ill-advised passes. But like I already said, he has run the ball well, and does have a 58-yard touchdown pass—the first of his Husky career—to his credit. Locker also had an impressive six-yard touchdown run on Washington’s first drive where he bowled over a Boise State linebacker to pick up the last three or so yards.

Surprisingly, it was the Huskies, not Boise State, capitalizing on some first-half trickery. Tailback Louis Rankin took a pitch from locker, then threw to Quintin Daniels for a 16-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Boise State starts with the ball in the second half, and it goes without saying that a stop by the Washington defense would be huge for second-half momentum.

d