SEATTLE — After watching Alex Brink and the Washington State offense shred the Huskies for 509 yards and 42 points in Saturday’s Apple Cup, it became evident that Washington needs some of its players to step up their games if the Huskies hope to have a chance against Hawaii and its explosive offense.
For Washington to hang with the Warriors this weekend, the players on one side of the ball are going to have to elevate their play. Of course, I’m talking about the Washington offense.
What, you thought I meant the defense?
If 12 games isn’t a sufficient sample size for college football season, I’m not sure what is. And in those 12 games, the Huskies have allowed more than 500 yards and 40 points five times. They rank 94th nationally in scoring defense, and 98th in total defense.
To borrow from former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green, they are who we thought they were. The Husky defense is young in places, and just lacking enough playmakers in other areas. Washington has looked good on defense at times, but has been bad a lot more often than good this year.
But I digress. This column isn’t about ripping Washington’s defense or defensive coordinator Kent Baer. Both have taken more than their share of abuse, and piling on at this point won’t do any good anyway.
“I think it will get better,” Baer said after Saturday’s loss. “We’ve got a lot of good young kids. I think we’ll get better.”
And the defense will eventually get better. Guys like linebackers Mason Foster, E.J. Savannah and Donald Butler, and defensive end Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, will all be back and, one can only assume, improved next year. Most of the secondary aside from Roy Lewis — a big loss by the way — will be back. It will be a better defense next year. The Huskies just can’t realistically count on huge improvement between games 12 and 13.
Instead, let’s just assume that Hawaii and quarterback Colt Brennan will put up some crazy numbers in Honolulu on Saturday evening (I’m going to put the unofficial over-under on Hawaii passing yards at 600. Anybody want the under?). So how the heck can Washington win if unbeaten Hawaii is throwing the ball around and scoring with ease?
Well, that’s where the offense comes in. Let’s say Jake Locker, Louis Rankin and company can put together a game reminiscent of their better efforts this year. Picture 500-plus yards of offense and 45-55 points. That just might be enough to do it, especially if the rushing game can get going and keep Brennan off the field for large chunks of time.
Is a 500-yard, 50-point day too much to expect out of an offense? Absolutely. Is it the only way the Huskies can win? Most likely.
Sure there is talent on the defensive side of the ball. Washington defenders have made big plays this year, just not enough of them. When they have chances to make momentum-changing plays, too many defenders are dropping easy interceptions, watching receivers run past them, or whiffing on tackles. That’s something they can’t afford to do against Brennan, who doesn’t make mistakes often (he’s fourth in the nation in pass efficiency).
Brennan has been intercepted 14 times this year, the same as Locker, so turnovers aren’t out of the question, but he has attempted 111 more passes than Locker.
“We just need to make plays,” said Savannah, who admitted he has work to do in pass coverage. “They threw us a couple that we could have picked, and didn’t get them. Those would have changed the game all around.”
Weak schedule or not — the Huskies are Hawaii’s first opponent from a BCS conference this year — the Warriors are scary on offense. Behind Brennan, Hawaii averages 47.18 points per game, which leads the nation. The Warriors also rank second nationally in passing yards (450.9) and third in total yards (528.45).
And while Hawaii’s defense isn’t bad on paper — the Warriors rank 31st in total defense and 42nd in scoring defense — the Huskies should still be able to move the ball. I’ll go out on a limb and say that the likes of Northern Colorado, Charleston Southern and Idaho don’t have running duos like Locker and Rankin, who have 2,059 rushing yards between them. That schools like New Mexico State and UNLV don’t have the big-play capabilities the Huskies have shown with Locker, Rankin, Marcel Reece and Anthony Russo.
So the Huskies should be able to move the ball and score on Hawaii. Is it fair to ask the offense to do it to the tune of 50 points? No.
Fair or not, however, that just might be the Huskies’ only hope.
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
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
