SEATTLE — Amid all the questions that surrounded the University of Washington football team heading into its 2010 season, there was only one known commodity.
UW’s high-octane offense would carry the team, while the defense would scramble to keep up.
And yet as the Huskies cling to a shred of postseason hope, it’s the UW defense that has been shining as of late and keeping the season alive.
The much-maligned Huskies defense has been playing its best football of the season in recent weeks.
“It’s the same thing as last year, these last couple games we’re firing on all cylinders as a defense,” safety Nate Fellner said. “We’re really coming along. We just have to take that momentum to Cal (this Saturday).”
Since UW quarterback Jake Locker suffered a cracked rib late last month, the Huskies have scored just three offensive touchdowns while averaging a paltry 230.3 yards per game. Over that same stretch, the defense has gradually found its way after a horrid start to the season.
The Huskies were the first team all year to hold Oregon’s No. 1-ranked offense scoreless for the first quarter of a game, and UW’s defense kept the Huskies in that game until midway through the third quarter.
Eleven days later, in a nationally-televised Thursday night game against UCLA, the Huskies put on their finest 60 minutes of defensive football while holding the Bruins to 163 yards and seven points.
“We’ve definitely stepped our game up,” middle linebacker Cort Dennison said. “I think (cornerback) Quinton Richardson has really stepped his game up, and I think it definitely shows.”
Richardson’s play seems to have reflected that of the Huskies defense all season. When he was struggling early in the year — Richardson got benched during the course of games against USC and Arizona — UW’s defense got run over. Since the opening drive of the Oregon game, when Richardson shed a blocker and dropped Ducks receiver Jeff Maehl for a four-yard loss, the junior cornerback has been playing some of his best football. In the past two games, he has a forced fumble, two pass breakups and an interception that he returned for a touchdown to clinch the win over UCLA.
“He’s probably our most improved player on defense,” defensive coordinator Nick Holt said. “He’s come a long way. He started off shaky (this) year, but he kept battling. He’s been coachable. We kept giving him a lot of opportunities, and now it’s paying off.”
The Huskies have also gotten improved safety play, a steady pass rush and stout run defense from interior d-linemen like Alameda Ta’amu and Semisi Tokolahi in recent weeks.
This marks the second year in a row that UW’s defense has started to show signs of life in the month of November. Last season, the Huskies closed out the month with the first Apple Cup shutout in 45 years, then followed that up with a season-ending, 42-10 win over Cal.
“I think that happens naturally,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said of his defense coming on late in each the past two seasons. “Hopefully, as the years go here, they grow together as a unit quicker than they have these first two seasons. But it’s similar to what happened last year. We got better as the year went on, and we are seeing it again this year.”
For UW’s defense, the cliche that suits the Huskies best is: better late than never.
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