By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – If the 10th-ranked Washington Huskies are to beat No. 7 UCLA today, they have much to overcome.
The Huskies (4-0, 2-0 in Pacific-10 Conference play) will be without their starting quarterback, their preseason All-America tight end, their second-leading tackler and are coming off two straight performances that can be charitably called “uneven.”
The biggest obstacle, however, is UCLA (4-0, 1-0), a fearsome defensive team unlike recent Bruin squads.
“They have a bunch of All-Americans over there,” UW center Kyle Benn said. “It’s one of the best defenses in the nation. They’re big, fast, agile. They’re the total package.”
The change has come under Phil Snow, the Bruins’ third defensive coordinator in four years. Snow, fired with the rest of last year’s Arizona State staff, has been given great credit for turning a passive, weak UCLA defense into a juggernaut.
“I was very frustrated with what had happened here in the last couple years, so I felt I needed to make a change,” UCLA coach Bob Toledo said. “I just felt it would be a great fit. He also coaches the secondary, which was an area of concern for us. Obviously, it’s paid off very well.”
Under Snow, the Bruins have become a more aggressive, more of an attacking unit than they’ve been in recent years. Taking advantage of the astonishing athletic talent it annually recruits, UCLA is allowing 11.8 points a game and has yielded just 13 points in its last two games.
“We like to attack the quarterback and get into his head,” linebacker Robert Thomas said. “We want him to think about what he’s doing.”
Protecting its quarterback will be Washington’s foremost objectives. Backup Taylor Barton makes his first collegiate start in place of the injured Cody Pickett. While Barton was impressive (11-for-20, 197 yards, two TDs in just less than three quarters) in the Huskies’ 27-24 victory against USC a week ago, he has had little experience in the big time.
And if the Huskies lose Barton to injury, his replacement, true freshman Casey Paus, has even less. But UW coach Rick Neuheisel talks the talk of a man who wants to handle just one crisis at a time. Besides, Neuheisel doesn’t want to completely alter his offensive scheme.
“The first and foremost thing we will discuss is how to best attack UCLA, rather than how to protect our quarterback,” Neuheisel said. “You knock on wood that your quarterback will stay healthy during the game, but if you are not fortunate enough to have that happen, then you have to have somebody step up for you in a backup capacity.”
Speaking of health, the Huskies’ is perilous. Besides Barton, Washington will play its third straight game without standout tight end Jerramy Stevens (broken foot) and its second straight game without outside linebacker Kai Ellis (arthroscopic surgery on both knees).
“I am a little concerned about the health of the team, given the injuries we have sustained,” Neuheisel said. “But we are not going to make any excuses. We will go down there and line up, play as hard as we can for as long as we can and when the dust settles, we will see how it all turns out.”
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