Husky ‘D’ gets one last chance

Published 12:01 am Saturday, December 1, 2007

HONOLULU — In a season that has been not just bad, but historically so for the Washington defense, tonight’s game against Hawaii offers an opportunity for redemption.

Of course, it also offers a pretty good chance at further embarrassment. One of the Huskies’ worst defenses in history, statistically speaking, is taking on one of the country’s most prolific offenses.

Somewhere on Oahu, Colt Brennan is smiling.

But where most observers see an impossible task for the Huskies, the defense sees one last chance to show what it is capable of. One last chance to show that it is better than the numbers would indicate.

“Proving (the doubters) wrong would be a good thing,” safety Darin Harris said. “Especially in the secondary. They say we’re the weak point of the defense and that kind of stuff. So it’s a great challenge for us, and we accept the challenge.”

Challenge might be an understatement. The Warriors bring the nation’s second-ranked passing offense (450.9 yards per game) and the top-ranked scoring offense (47.18 points). The Huskies, meanwhile, counter with … let’s just say some less lofty rankings. Washington is 85th in the country in pass defense and 94th in scoring defense. The Huskies, who earlier this year gave up 510 passing yards to Arizona, are fresh off allowing 399 passing yards to Washington State, and are on pace to allow the most yards per game in team history.

Brennan has run Hawaii’s run-and-shoot offense with precision, completing 69.9 percent of his passes this season for 3,732 yards and 33 touchdowns. His job is made easier by a talented group of receivers who do a lot of their work after the catch. Three Hawaii receivers rank in the Top 20 nationally in receptions per game and receiving yards per game. All three could end up with 1,000-yard seasons by the end of tonight. Ryan Grice-Mullen (1,214 yards, 11 touchdowns) and Davone Bess (1,164 yards, 12 touchdowns) are already there, while Jason Rivers is close behind with 902 yards and nine touchdowns.

“The passing game is all about timing and spacing, and their timing and spacing is excellent,” Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. “Also, don’t ever underestimate the speed of the Hawaii receivers.

“Oregon’s a good football team with very good receivers. Hawaii might not be as big as their receivers, but I felt they were a lot faster. They can really run.

“That’s the thing about them. Those receivers can run, they know what they’re doing, they’ve been together for two and three years, and they’ve stayed healthy. Colt’s got a great release. It’s very hard to get to them, because they get the ball out so quickly. They have got big-time speed.”

And while the biggest spotlight will be on Washington’s secondary, the front seven also will play a big role if it can make Brennan uncomfortable.

“We plan on getting to that quarterback, because he obviously throws the ball pretty well,” defensive tackle Jordan Reffett said. “We’ve got to get to him, we’ve got to take some shots at him and see if we can get him rattled.

So Brennan and company must love the idea of facing the Huskies, right? Well when you’re putting up 450 yards and nearly 50 points per game, you look forward to playing just about anybody. Also, Brennan is convinced, like Washington’s defenders, that a turnaround is possible for the struggling unit.

“We’re licking our chops every week,” Brennan said when asked about the UW defense. “That could be one of two things. That means that there’s a good chance that they could give up some big yards to us, or it could mean that they’re going to tighten all the nuts and bolts and play us really tough this week.

“They’re very talented, they’ve got all the athletes, they just haven’t put it all together yet as a team. Being the last game of the season, hopefully they don’t come out and do that, but they just might.”

The Huskies are certainly hoping to show Brennan that they’ve put it together.

“It is a chance for us to prove a lot of people wrong,” safety Nate Williams said. “For the whole year people have questioned the secondary, and that’s always been something that we’ve tried to do: prove all of the critics wrong. This is definitely a good week for us to do that.”

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog.