BurntOrangeNation.com: First look at No. 2 Washington

DerekJohnson

https://burntorangenation.com/2023/12/4/23986802/washington-huskies-sugar-bowl-college-football-playoffs-michael-penix

CFetters_Nacho_Lover

Thanks Taft!

CFetters_Nacho_Lover

The defense ranks No. 50 in the country in scoring defense at 23.8 points per game while allowing opponents to convert third downs at a rate of 40.3 percent, No. 83 nationally, and have even more struggles in the red zone, allowing a touchdown rate of 70.3 percent, which ranks 118th.

The pass defense was a weakness for the Huskies last season and it’s only gotten worse this year, dropping from 100th in passing yards allowed per game to 122nd, but they have come up with 16 interceptions, tied with the Longhorns for fifth nationally, with 10 players recording at least one interception. Strangely enough, Washington also ranks tied for 25th in yards per attempt at 6.6 and allows completions on less than 60 percent of opposing pass attempts.

A couple thoughts on the bolder lines.

- I feel like DeBoer’s defense at Fresno had a similar improvement from year 1 to 2 regarding points allowed. In 13 games, UW gave up 24 or more 7 times. Exactly 24 to Arizona and Cal got 32 but 20 points were in complete garbage time. USC was the only team to put up more than 33 against UW.

- I didn’t realize the pass yards per game got worse at least in terms of rankings. I’m too lazy to go find what we? gave up last year vs this year but it doesn’t feel like we? got worse.

- The final bolder line might be the reason it doesn’t feel like things got worse. Obviously playing Oregon twice helps keep the YPA number down but I’d assume there more to it than just Bo the Checkdown Merchant.

Mad_Son

The problem with that article is that while all the facts are accurate (I assume) it misses the whole point about why Washington has won all year. There is no iciness metric and Washington leads the country in that.

Southerndawg

CFetters_Nacho_Lover said:

The defense ranks No. 50 in the country in scoring defense at 23.8 points per game while allowing opponents to convert third downs at a rate of 40.3 percent, No. 83 nationally, and have even more struggles in the red zone, allowing a touchdown rate of 70.3 percent, which ranks 118th.

The pass defense was a weakness for the Huskies last season and it’s only gotten worse this year, dropping from 100th in passing yards allowed per game to 122nd, but they have come up with 16 interceptions, tied with the Longhorns for fifth nationally, with 10 players recording at least one interception. Strangely enough, Washington also ranks tied for 25th in yards per attempt at 6.6 and allows completions on less than 60 percent of opposing pass attempts.

A couple thoughts on the bolder lines.

- I feel like DeBoer’s defense at Fresno had a similar improvement from year 1 to 2 regarding points allowed. In 13 games, UW gave up 24 or more 7 times. Exactly 24 to Arizona and Cal got 32 but 20 points were in complete garbage time. USC was the only team to put up more than 33 against UW.

- I didn’t realize the pass yards per game got worse at least in terms of rankings. I’m too lazy to go find what we? gave up last year vs this year but it doesn’t feel like we? got worse.

- The final bolder line might be the reason it doesn’t feel like things got worse. Obviously playing Oregon twice helps keep the YPA number down but I’d assume there more to it than just Bo the Checkdown Merchant.

The pass defense has not tackled well and that has led to some completely retarded gains and/or scores by opponents. They were absolutely clowned in the CCG near the end, turned a "sure" 10 point win into another 3 point "squeaker" (Huskies offense was El Hefe on the final drive, but still). With DeBoer at the helm I've become less concerned about that as the season has worn on, and getting some key players back has helped, but that is the kind of thing that could bite this team in the ass.

alumni94

Stats driven article. College football is not baseball, stats only tell half the story. Meh.

EsophagealFeces

alumni94 said:

Stats driven article. College football is not baseball, stats only tell half the story. Meh.

This team defies stats.

PurpleBaze

Stats are for losers.

Postal91

Southerndawg said:

CFetters_Nacho_Lover said:

The defense ranks No. 50 in the country in scoring defense at 23.8 points per game while allowing opponents to convert third downs at a rate of 40.3 percent, No. 83 nationally, and have even more struggles in the red zone, allowing a touchdown rate of 70.3 percent, which ranks 118th.

The pass defense was a weakness for the Huskies last season and it’s only gotten worse this year, dropping from 100th in passing yards allowed per game to 122nd, but they have come up with 16 interceptions, tied with the Longhorns for fifth nationally, with 10 players recording at least one interception. Strangely enough, Washington also ranks tied for 25th in yards per attempt at 6.6 and allows completions on less than 60 percent of opposing pass attempts.

A couple thoughts on the bolder lines.

- I feel like DeBoer’s defense at Fresno had a similar improvement from year 1 to 2 regarding points allowed. In 13 games, UW gave up 24 or more 7 times. Exactly 24 to Arizona and Cal got 32 but 20 points were in complete garbage time. USC was the only team to put up more than 33 against UW.

- I didn’t realize the pass yards per game got worse at least in terms of rankings. I’m too lazy to go find what we? gave up last year vs this year but it doesn’t feel like we? got worse.

- The final bolder line might be the reason it doesn’t feel like things got worse. Obviously playing Oregon twice helps keep the YPA number down but I’d assume there more to it than just Bo the Checkdown Merchant.

The pass defense has not tackled well and that has led to some completely retarded gains and/or scores by opponents. They were absolutely clowned in the CCG near the end, turned a "sure" 10 point win into another 3 point "squeaker" (Huskies offense was El Hefe on the final drive, but still). With DeBoer at the helm I've become less concerned about that as the season has worn on, and getting some key players back has helped, but that is the kind of thing that could bite this team in the ass.

I swear I heard a whistle when Bo and 3 broke his big run down the left sideline. 3 guys appeared to let up. Missed tackles have been brutal for us and I think the stats against us are misleading, and I’m fine with that.

theknowledge

A team with the third most All P12 players in 2023 has done something no P12 team has ever done, 10-0 in league and 13-0 overall. This group of kids and their coaches keep proving that this team is greater than the sum of its parts. Iciness, belief, clutch, brotherhood. Whatever you want to call it they make 2-3 plays more than their opponents and most importantly they always make the critical one at the penultimate moment. Winners win because that’s what winners do.

PostGameOrangeSlices

The Huskies play in a conference that has good QBs.

Texas doesnt.

Southerndawg

theknowledge said:

A team with the third most All P12 players in 2023 has done something no P12 team has ever done, 10-0 in league and 13-0 overall. This group of kids and their coaches keep proving that this team is greater than the sum of its parts. Iciness, belief, clutch, brotherhood. Whatever you want to call it they make 2-3 plays more than their opponents and most importantly they always make the critical one at the penultimate moment. Winners win because that’s what winners do.

I also think they are simply better than the stats indicate. For example, the pass protection and run blocking seen in @GrundleStiltzkin 's gifs. "Everyone" thought Oregon was going to out physical UW. Bullshit. The Huskies have better players who are more physical and better coached than the ducks. The same thing happened last year in the Alamo Bowl. The Huskies had better more physical players, despite the media narrative leading up to the game. At this stage of the season, the Huskies have the best OL, QB, WR, RB, and maybe TEs in the PAC 12. On defense, they have some nasty's on the edge and in the middle. Tackling has been a problem and the secondary is a question mark, but getting key players back is helping, especially with adjustments made at the LOS. Anything can happen, but I would be surprised if they lost to Texas.

FireCohen

Riley got his shit pushed in by the soft pac12 while he dominated big12.

TheRoarOfTheCrowd

The big plays are the difference, I haven't see the updated stats but even after struggling with key guys hurt for a long stretch of the season ~ including Penix, I'm guessing that they lead the nation or are top 2-3 in plays over 20 - 30 yards [whatever the metric for big plays is]. As everyone knows, with McMillan back and a chance for everyone to get healthier, this team is lethal and a real struggle for defenses to try to figure out how to adjust to. As they like to say in Texas, "we fucked" is what the Longhorn defensive coaches are thinking.

TheHB

Mad_Son said:

The problem with that article is that while all the facts are accurate (I assume) it misses the whole point about why Washington has won all year. There is no iciness metric and Washington leads the country in that.

Logic would lead one to believe that the iciness would have an inverse effect on the ballsiness.

In UW’s case ice in the veins and balls the size of basketballs go together.

whatshouldicareabout

CFetters_Nacho_Lover said:

- I didn’t realize the pass yards per game got worse at least in terms of rankings. I’m too lazy to go find what we? gave up last year vs this year but it doesn’t feel like we? got worse.

We were almost always up in every game, so teams passed more to catch up. Our D defends an average of 41 passes per game, 3rd most in the country.