Huskies make the grade at mid-term exam

The hand-wringing around Montlake about the Washington Huskies’ inconsistencies isn’t happening without good reason.

When the offense hits on all cylinders, as it did against Oregon State, the defense takes a siesta. When the defense rises – see Colorado – the offense goes south. And special teams. Ugh.

Yet, the Huskies are 4-1 at roughly the midpoint of the season. Before the season, if someone predicted the Huskies would be 4-1 at this point, considering games against Miami, Colorado, Oregon and Oregon State, who wouldn’t have wanted that?

The fact that the Huskies haven’t put it all together yet is both good news and bad. Good, because this team could be very, very attractive once it corrects some issues. Bad, because the question of ‘will it?’ hangs.

So in the interest of higher education, let’s issue a mid-term report card.

Quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo’s numbers are down, but he hasn’t gotten much help. The running game, save for the Oregon State game, has been spotty, receivers are dropping balls and there’s a tendency to rely too much on tight end Jerramy Stevens.

Still, the Huskies lead the Pacific-10 Conference in total offense, so how tragic can it be? Tuiasosopo is a magnificent leader, and there are signs that the run game is coming around. Todd Elstrom is emerging as a fine receiver. This grade figures to ascend quickly.

Nose tackle Larry Tripplett looks to nail down a first-team all-conference berth, as do free safety Hakim Akbar, cornerback Anthony Vontoure and linebacker Derrell Daniels. Pay no attention to the team’s last-place standing in rush defense. That happens when you face Miami, Oregon, Colorado and Oregon State. Still, Washington has just one interception. OSU showed the Huskies were vulnerable against the deep pass. And the rest of the line has to step up to relieve pressure on Tripplett.

Young coverage teams have yielded masive yardage. After an early-season spate of forced turnovers, there’s been nothing. After a great freshman year, placekicker John Anderson has missed three PATs, although he’s made five of seven field goals. Ryan Fleming is last in the Pac-10 in punting, although he has stuck six kicks inside the 20. Freshman returner Derrick Johnson is brilliant one moment, a freshman another moment. This is an area that figures to improve, considering the athletic talent and youth. It had better.

So what’s it all mean? Washington should be favored in the rest of its games. Say the Huskies falter in one. Hey, 9-2 isn’t bad. It isn’t rosy, but it isn’t bad.

Few should be surprised with a return trip to the Holiday Bowl. And considering the team’s obvious holes, nor should they be disappointed.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s games.