SEATTLE — The offensive coaches for the University of Washington football team spend countless hours poring over a game plan to come up with a script for the first 15 plays of every game.
They could save a lot of time by compacting it down to two words: Just score.
That’s exactly what the Huskies have been able to do on their opening drives of both games this season, helping to prove the theory that new head coach Steve Sarkisian has a knack for offense.
In the season opener against 11th-ranked LSU, the Huskies surprised not only the Tigers but also a national television audience by marching 85 yards in 10 plays on their opening drive. Freshman James Johnson’s 17-yard touchdown reception capped it off, giving notice that this might not be the same old UW team that won 12 games over the past five seasons.
In last Saturday’s game, which would go down as the first Huskies’ victory in 16 tries, the UW’s offense made some early noise by going 97 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive and following that up with four more touchdowns on the next four possessions.
“They prepare us really well during the week,” senior fullback Paul Homer said. “So anything that happens, we’re going to be ready for.”
Every play on Sarkisian’s 15-play scripts has not been perfect. The results of the combined 30 plays have included 10 incomplete passes and an interception as well as two runs for negative yards. But they’ve also included a 51-yard pass play, a 33-yard run, seven third-down conversions and two touchdowns.
“We’re showing different personnel groupings; we’re showing different formations,” Sarkisian said about what the Huskies have done well in scripting the game plan this season. “There are completions for the quarterback in there; there are solid runs for our run game. And then there’s some ability in there to throw touchdown passes and to take our shots. There’s been a good mix.”
The Huskies didn’t score a touchdown on a single opening drive last season, so the fast starts have been a welcome change.
“Anytime you can score right away,” Homer said, “it puts pressure on their defense — and their offense. Anytime you can do that, you already have the upper hand in the game.”
The Huskies have used several different looks on offense, whether they’re spreading out both running backs wide or using two tailbacks on the field at the same time. The team features almost as many empty backfields as two-back looks.
Just about everything has worked to some degree.
But the UW coaches aren’t resting on their laurels.
“We’ve got a lot of improvement to do,” offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said of the long drives early in games. “We’ve still got a lot of assignment mistakes; we’re still not technique-sound. We’ve still got a long way to go.”
The UW coaching staff isn’t as hard-headed about the script as some. The down and distance, and field position, affect what they do. Sarkisian and Co. have shown an ability to adjust on the fly, as evidenced by the Huskies’ perfect third-down conversion rate of seven-for-seven during the first 15s. UW’s overall third-down conversion rate of 66.7 percent (22 of 33) ranks second in the nation.
“It is an important stat to us,” Sarkisian said, “but it’s early in the year, and we’ve got a long way to go.”
Sarkisian has been impressed by what his offense has been able to accomplish already this season, particularly on opening drives.
But he’s not satisfied.
“The challenge is that we’re not going to score on 13 straight opening drives,” he said. “So (on) the ones that we don’t, the challenge is to let our guys know that it’s just one drive of many in the ball game and let’s regroup and go play.”
Of Note
While it continues to look like USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley (shoulder) won’t be available for Saturday’s game, Sarkisian said he is preparing for both Barkley and Aaron Corp this week. … Sarkisian said he had not yet decided whether defensive end Darrion Jones (knee) would start Saturday. … Safety Nate Williams and guard Gregory Christine took practice time off to rest injuries this week, but both are expected to start Saturday. … The Sept.26 game against Stanford will now be televised, the school announced Thursday. The 6 p.m. game will be shown on Fox College Sports.
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