SEATTLE — A year ago, the University of Washington suffered through a 4-8 season largely because of a defense that gave up 446.4 yards (a school record) and 31.6 points per game. Those numbers were a big reason the team fired defensive coordinator Kent Baer after the season.
The Huskies were supposed to be better in 2008 under new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. But through two games Washington has yielded 971 defensive yards (485.5 average) and 72 points (36 average).
More importantly, the Huskies have two defeats in two outings. Saturday’s 28-27 loss to 15th-ranked Brigham Young at Husky Stadium followed last week’s 44-10 blowout against then-21st-ranked Oregon.
“There’s no question, we’re not happy (defensively) these first two weeks,” Donatell said after Saturday’s game. “Nothing close to that. We’re still looking at what can we do better to teach these guys, what can we do to help them.”
The quality of opponent has something to do with those grim defensive statistics, of course, but there’s no relief in sight for the Huskies. Next week’s guest at Husky Stadium, Oklahoma, is ranked No. 4.
Against BYU, Washington gave up 137 net yards on the ground, including 136 on 23 carries by powerful 6-foot, 239-pound halfback Harvey Unga. More costly was the Cougars’ air attack, which scorched the UW secondary for 338 yards. BYU quarterback Max Hall was 30-for-41 with three touchdowns.
Also telling, the Cougars converted on 12 of 14 third-down plays and punted just twice.
And with the game on the line, the defense failed to hold the lead, again reminiscent of 2007. After Washington went in front 21-14 midway through the third quarter, BYU had touchdown drives on two of its next three possessions. The third possession should have been a touchdown, too, but Unga fumbled just inside the 1-yard line and the ball was recovered in the end zone by Washington for a touchback.
“We needed to be maybe just one series better,” said UW head coach Tyrone Willingham. “Just to get one more stop in there to give us a chance to get this thing done.
“Once again we had a few of those missed tackles at the wrong time,” he said, adding, “There were some good things, but we’ve got to continue to get better.”
“I definitely feel that we made changes and proved that we were better (than a week ago),” said UW linebacker Mason Foster. “But we didn’t get the W. A loss is a loss.”
One obvious area for concern is Washington’s pass rush. On Saturday the Huskies had no sacks for the second straight week, and neither did they come particularly close to a sack. Hall generally had as much time as he needed to find his receivers, much like Oregon’s quarterbacks a week earlier.
“I think they blocked us pretty good,” Donatell said. “They have a very experienced line that can block us up pretty good. Those guys did a nice job of protecting their quarterback all day.
“We thought we could do more,” he said. “We didn’t do enough to win the ballgame, there’s no question about it. … We gave up too many points.”
The Huskies used different defensive schemes against BYU, showing a 4-3 front on one series and a 3-4 the next. “We were trying for the most part to keep them off guard,” Willingham said, although the Cougars seemed to handle both without much trouble.
On the scoreboard, Washington fared better in Saturday’s game than a week ago, but “I didn’t see what I wanted to see from Week 1 to Week 2” in terms of improvement, Donatell said.
“The kids are working hard,” he went on, “but I just don’t have them in the right positions enough yet. That’s all I can tell you. But they’ll work hard and we’ll find a way for the talent to be utilized.”
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