EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Washington defense had to play its game of the season to give the Huskies a chance on Saturday afternoon.
A quarterback making his first start did his best not to wilt under the pressure.
But when it came down to facing No. 1 Oregon at Autzen Stadium on Saturday, the Huskies’ special teams units couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
The Ducks averaged 31.8 yards per punt return and 36.8 yards per kickoff return against UW on Saturday afternoon, continually putting the Huskies’ defense in tough positions en route to a 53-16 Oregon victory.
“It’s hard not to give up points to the No. 1 offense in the country when you have short fields,” UW defensive coordinator Nick Holt said afterward.
The big returns seemed to come in bunches. After Oregon scored the go-ahead touchdown and added a two-point conversion for an 11-3 lead midway through the second quarter, UW punted and allowed return man Cliff Harris to break a 30-yard return. Two plays later, the Ducks’ lead had swelled to 18-3.
The Huskies’ next kickoff was returned 47 yards to the UW 43-yard line just before halftime, and Oregon added an 80-yard kickoff return early in the third quarter.
That one, which came after an Oregon turnover and Huskies touchdown had put UW within 18-13, seemed to break Washington’s collective back.
“That kickoff return really took the wind out of our sails,” said Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian, whose defense gave up a touchdown one-play later. “That really spun the game back in their favor and got their mojo going. And when they get rolling, they were hard to stop.”
The Huskies’ special teams struggles spilled over into their defensive play in more ways than one.
In addition to putting the UW defense in some precarious positions, the long returns wore out several starters who are a part of the special teams units.
“The thing that got me was having to chase people down on special teams and then having to play defense,” starting middle linebacker Cort Dennison said. “That’s what got me, personally, and I know I could say the same thing about some of the other guys on our defense.”
The Huskies would prefer not to use starters on special teams units, but the lack of depth on the current roster has put the coaches in a tough position.
“When you have some of your good players on special teams, that can happen,” Holt said. “That’s unfortunate that we don’t have the depth yet to feel good about some other guys going out on special teams. That’s just where we are in the program. That will change here in the next year so that we’ll have some depth, so that the starters won’t have to be on special teams.
“That’s unfortunate. We’ve got to get the backups ready to go.”
Linebacker Mason Foster, who is one of several defensive starters that play on special teams, couldn’t figure out what was going wrong for the Huskies’ kick coverage.
“I really don’t know,” he said. “They just have some great athletes who can make plays in space. They’re the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason, and you’ve got to give them credit.”
Sarkisan was also giving the Ducks credit Saturday.
“It wasn’t a secret” that Oregon had solid special teams units, Sarkisian said. “We tried a variety of kicks, but they’re going to take advantage of that because they’re good at it.”
For UW, the performance wasn’t a one-week slip. Even before Saturday’s game, the Huskies ranked 104th in the nation in opponents’ kickoff return average, which was at 24.5.
“That’s definitely one of the major things that we need to clean up,” safety Nate Williams said.
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