SEATTLE — Less than 11 minutes into last Saturday’s game against USC, another season was beginning to run away from the University of Washington football team.
The mighty Trojans were gashing UW’s run defense for chunks and chunks of yardage, piling up 111 rushing yards on the first two drives alone. Five of USC’s first six rushes resulted in first downs, and by the end of the second drive the Huskies were staring at a 10-0 hole on the scoreboard.
Not only was the game slipping away, but also the season. With a remaining schedule that includes games against five of the nation’s top 18 rushers — Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, Notre Dame’s Armando Allen, Arizona’s Nic Grigsby, Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers and Cal’s Jahvid Best — the UW looked about as likely to stop an opposing runner as it did to go to a bowl game.
And yet, with an upset win over USC in the books and a date with Stanford this weekend, the Huskies (2-1) aren’t feeling all that panicked about their run D anymore.
“I think we’ve been sound,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday night. “It was a little unfortunate last game that (the Trojans) got going the way they did. It’s not like they executed great; it was, we made mistakes.
“It’s a credit to Nick Holt and our defensive staff getting those things rectified, making a couple defensive substitutions. And we locked in.”
After giving up 111 yards on the Trojans’ first eight carries of Saturday’s game, Washington made some adjustments that allowed the Huskies’ defense to maintain some sense of respectability. While USC had 250 rushing yards in Saturday’s game, just 97 of those came after halftime.
“We made some personnel changes because guys weren’t doing some things right, whether it was physical or mental — or both,” defensive coordinator Nick Holt said. “And we just settled down and played.
“… We still need to correct some things. If we can eliminate some of the mistakes mentally, we have a chance to be really solid.”
The Huskies’ run defense still has a ways to go, and Saturday’s game would be a good time to show some improvement. Stanford’s Gerhart is a 235-pound wrecking ball who ranks 18th in the nation in rushing (316 yards). The Cardinal also have an offensive line that averages 297 pounds among five starters who all stand 6-foot-3 or taller.
“They’re a committed running team,” Holt said. “… And they’re good at it. So you’ve got to be solid and get ready mentally — mentally — to be physical.”
That didn’t appear to be the case early in last Saturday’s game, when the USC runners were breezing through holes the size of Lake Washington. Three of the Trojans’ first six runs went for 25 yards or longer, and the UW defense was getting blown off the ball.
After two series, Holt moved three-technique defensive tackle Cameron Elisara to the nose guard position, put converted defensive end Everette Thompson at the three-technique, moved true freshman Desmond Trufant into the lineup at cornerback and liberally subbed Cort Dennison at linebacker for E.J. Savannah, who was nursing a broken hand.
While the moves didn’t necessarily turn this UW defense into the 1991 unit, they helped the Huskies contain USC and earn the victory. After rushing for 111 yards on the first eight carries of the game, the Trojans had 139 rushing yards on the final 25.
“I think we adjusted well,” defensive end Daniel T’eo-Nesheim said. “The first two series were really bad.”
The Huskies are hoping to get off to a better start this Saturday, despite the formidable opposition. Gerhart has gone over 100 rushing yards in nine of his past 12 games — one of the three sub-100-yard games came when he got hurt against the Huskies one year ago — and he is the focus of Stanford’s offense.
“He’s a shining star on our team, there’s no question about it,” Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said this week.
Gerhart is also one of the bigger backs the UW will face. Safety Nate Williams shrugged off the significance of size, pointing out that the Huskies faced a big back — LSU’s 234-pound senior Charles Scott — in the 2009 opener.
“It’s not like we’ve never seen a running back like that in the past,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep playing on ball like we know how to.”
The Huskies still have a ways to go in terms of run defense. Their opponents’ average of 154.0 yards per game ranks 79th among 120 Division I teams and ninth in the Pacific-10 Conference.
“It’s really about just coming out and playing sound football,” senior linebacker Donald Butler said. “Guys got a little amped up (on Saturday), it being (USC), and started doing some things.
“It’s all about going out and doing what we do. That’s all we can control.”
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