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Washington Huskies 2019 Final Thoughts Open Thread
DoogCourics
Member Posts: 5,739
For the non-WAM members of HH, I'll be poasting an edited down version Caple's day after final thoughts here as the season goes on. Consider it my gift to the pours.
It's the most in depth and intelligent recap of the Husky writers. Likely why it's a subscription.
Game 1: VS Eastern Washington Eagles - 47-14 Victory
A final word on Jacob Eason
I’ll admit it: I anticipated UW taking a more conservative approach with its passing game in the opener, figuring Bush Hamdan would keep things simple and plain, emphasizing quick screens and short, safe throws.
There were a few of those, but there also were plenty of shots downfield, and maybe that’s a sign of just how different things can be with Eason at quarterback — and how much confidence coaches already have in him, even if Chris Petersen seems hesitant to toss his starting quarterback even the faintest bit of public praise.
As I wrote Saturday, there is no slowing the hype train now, not after Eason put up 349 yards, four touchdowns and no turnovers in his first game as a Husky. No UW quarterback ever threw for more yards in his debut. Eason averaged a robust 9.7 yards per pass attempt without ever putting the ball at risk. He looked poised and decisive, taking advantage of what usually was a relatively clean pocket, standing and scanning and dealing like a veteran.
Eason’s arm talent probably made that plan easier to put together because there is no part of the field he can’t reach. Even what appeared to be a relatively easy, 10-yard touchdown pass to Chico McClatcher looked different with Eason throwing it: He saw McClatcher come open underneath and put a laser right on his hands, which allowed him to gather it and cross the goal line before the nearest defender even had a chance to bother him.
Nick Harris goes down, but for how long?
That Harris returned to the sideline after halftime, still in full uniform and pads, suggests that UW probably doesn’t believe the injury to be major or season-threatening, but it’s always hard to know for sure. Harris seemed in good spirits throughout the rest of the game.
The Huskies truly need him: Harris is a key leader on offense, a preseason All-America pick by some outlets, and his experience and IQ are invaluable at such an important position. The Huskies knew they lacked depth behind Harris, so they spent the last month giving reps to Matteo Mele and Henry Roberts, and Mele began the season listed No. 2 on the depth chart. He took over after Harris went down, and aside from a few iffy snaps, seemed to handle himself OK.
If this had been the Rose Bowl, or the Apple Cup — or, heck, Week 2 against California — there would have been a greater chance that Harris might try to play through the injury. But with the Huskies already ahead and rolling, there simply was no reason to risk it, and Harris’ absence did allow Mele to gain some valuable experience.
“Playing football, you get used to playing dinged up. I haven’t been healthy since eighth grade.”
New faces, similar results on defense
Actually, the results weren’t totally similar because the Huskies tallied four sacks in this game — one-sixth of their 2018 season total. Benning Potoa’e had two of them in his first game as an interior lineman; he notched just one last season as an outside linebacker. Josiah Bronson and Ryan Bowman had the other two sacks.
Barriere mostly had trouble finding receivers open downfield. He was 21-of-35 for 211 yards, an average of 6.0 yards per attempt. His lone touchdown came when he completed a pass to Andrew Boston, who slipped between the duo of Cam Williams and Keith Taylor before covering the remaining distance for a 64-yard touchdown.
Otherwise, nothing came easy for the Eagles, who averaged only 4.2 yards per play and 2.1 yards per rush. The Huskies finished with nine tackles for loss, including Laiatu Latu’s suplex of running back Isaiah Lewis for a safety in the fourth quarter.
Get used to Richard Newton
I figured Newton would have a role this season because coaches gave him a lot of reps during spring and preseason camp, and he looks like a tough, natural runner. But I’m not sure I envisioned the debut performance that he put forth, as Newton finished with a game-high 91 yards on 12 carries.
“He came off the field smiling, going, ‘This college football is kind of easy; can I roll out and throw a pass next time?’ One thing at a time. We’ll slow that down,” Petersen said. “We just have seen him and his running style — put his pads down and go forward and keep his legs going. There’s not a lot of dancing around. It’s kind of a straight-ahead, try to hit air pockets and run guys over. …
This wasn’t the best game for Salvon Ahmed, who had 15 carries for just 44 yards, with a long of 9. He did score on a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but found little room to run throughout the game.
And what’s more …
• I didn’t agree with Petersen’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-6 at EWU’s 27 leading 35-7 in the third quarter with Peyton Henry still awaiting his first field-goal attempt of the season. The game had been decided at that point, and that seemed like the perfect opportunity to let Henry try to extend his range — his career long, remember, is 41 yards.
• In addition to John Clark and Josh Calvert, I counted three other scholarship players who were not in attendance: Henry Bainivalu, Devin Culp and Trey Lowe. Petersen said afterward that Bainivalu and Culp were suspended for this game and that Lowe has “an infection going on that’s set him back a little bit.” Bainivalu will miss two more games, Petersen said, while Culp will return next week. Lowe’s status remains unclear.
• Ty Jones attended the game but did not suit up, and he had a small cast covering the thumb on his left hand. A Seattle Times report indicated Jones could miss most of the season. If there is a position where the Huskies might be able to absorb an injury or two, it’s probably receiver, where they return every player who caught a pass last season and have added four four-star recruits in their past two classes.
• How about MJ Tafisi? The linebacker made his presence felt in the most extensive action of his career, finishing with five tackles, four of them solo. He’s a special teams contributor, too, and a big hitter, and seemed to be around the football quite a bit. “He’s an instinctual player,” Petersen said of Tafisi. “We felt that all last year. On the scout teams, you could tell, even when he wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, he would make plays, he could slip blocks and he’s a really physical player. It was awesome to get him in there, and Jackson Sirmon. Those guys are going to play a lot for us.”
• Most of the 2019 class suited up, and 10 of them played: K Tim Horn, DBs Cam Williams (who started), Trent McDuffie and Asa Turner, ILB Alphonzo Tuputala, Latu, DLs Faatui Tuitele, Jacob Bandes and Noa Ngalu, and WR Puka Nacua. Williams and Horn seem like locks not to redshirt, and McDuffie and Turner are on the depth chart, too. I also would be surprised to see Latu redshirt, especially after his debut. Coaches always are searching for playmakers at the pass-rushing positions, and Latu flying in for an emphatic safety in the fourth quarter will not go unnoticed.
• Horn had eight kickoffs in his college debut and five went for touchbacks. The three that didn’t: A kick to the end zone that EWU returned to its 16, a kick to the 3 that EWU returned to its 16 and a kickoff out of bounds in the first quarter.
• This season’s defensive player who subs in as a fullback in goal-line packages is Sirmon, who did just that on the drive that resulted in Ahmed’s touchdown run. The media saw him take some reps at that spot in the spring.
• One thing defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake is sure to address: two defensive holding penalties against Kyler Gordon, who otherwise had a solid starting debut.
• With UW’s tight end depth thinned by an injury to Jacob Kizer and Culp’s suspension, Hunter Bryant and Cade Otton had little relief. Bryant led the team with six catches (for 81 yards), and Otton caught one ball for 15 yards.
• McClatcher caught five passes for 57 yards and a touchdown on six targets. Think it’s safe to say he’ll be a big part of UW’s offense again this season.
• A nice moment for walk-on Malik Braxton, who ripped off a 34-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
• The Huskies were 5-of-6 in the red zone. Their one empty trip? The game’s final possession, when Sirmon took three knees to run out the clock from the 10-yard line.
• Ex-Husky Jusstis Warren finished with two tackles for EWU. He stuck around on the field for a bit afterward, greeting and chatting with former teammates.
• This already is making the rounds on social media and should add some extra spice to UW’s preparations for Cal: After the Golden Bears’ 27-13 victory over UC Davis, Cal linebacker Evan Weaver said “we’ll beat ’em” in reference to Cal’s trip to Washington. Weaver helped beat the Huskies last season by returning an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
It's the most in depth and intelligent recap of the Husky writers. Likely why it's a subscription.
Game 1: VS Eastern Washington Eagles - 47-14 Victory
A final word on Jacob Eason
I’ll admit it: I anticipated UW taking a more conservative approach with its passing game in the opener, figuring Bush Hamdan would keep things simple and plain, emphasizing quick screens and short, safe throws.
There were a few of those, but there also were plenty of shots downfield, and maybe that’s a sign of just how different things can be with Eason at quarterback — and how much confidence coaches already have in him, even if Chris Petersen seems hesitant to toss his starting quarterback even the faintest bit of public praise.
As I wrote Saturday, there is no slowing the hype train now, not after Eason put up 349 yards, four touchdowns and no turnovers in his first game as a Husky. No UW quarterback ever threw for more yards in his debut. Eason averaged a robust 9.7 yards per pass attempt without ever putting the ball at risk. He looked poised and decisive, taking advantage of what usually was a relatively clean pocket, standing and scanning and dealing like a veteran.
Eason’s arm talent probably made that plan easier to put together because there is no part of the field he can’t reach. Even what appeared to be a relatively easy, 10-yard touchdown pass to Chico McClatcher looked different with Eason throwing it: He saw McClatcher come open underneath and put a laser right on his hands, which allowed him to gather it and cross the goal line before the nearest defender even had a chance to bother him.
Nick Harris goes down, but for how long?
That Harris returned to the sideline after halftime, still in full uniform and pads, suggests that UW probably doesn’t believe the injury to be major or season-threatening, but it’s always hard to know for sure. Harris seemed in good spirits throughout the rest of the game.
The Huskies truly need him: Harris is a key leader on offense, a preseason All-America pick by some outlets, and his experience and IQ are invaluable at such an important position. The Huskies knew they lacked depth behind Harris, so they spent the last month giving reps to Matteo Mele and Henry Roberts, and Mele began the season listed No. 2 on the depth chart. He took over after Harris went down, and aside from a few iffy snaps, seemed to handle himself OK.
If this had been the Rose Bowl, or the Apple Cup — or, heck, Week 2 against California — there would have been a greater chance that Harris might try to play through the injury. But with the Huskies already ahead and rolling, there simply was no reason to risk it, and Harris’ absence did allow Mele to gain some valuable experience.
“Playing football, you get used to playing dinged up. I haven’t been healthy since eighth grade.”
New faces, similar results on defense
Actually, the results weren’t totally similar because the Huskies tallied four sacks in this game — one-sixth of their 2018 season total. Benning Potoa’e had two of them in his first game as an interior lineman; he notched just one last season as an outside linebacker. Josiah Bronson and Ryan Bowman had the other two sacks.
Barriere mostly had trouble finding receivers open downfield. He was 21-of-35 for 211 yards, an average of 6.0 yards per attempt. His lone touchdown came when he completed a pass to Andrew Boston, who slipped between the duo of Cam Williams and Keith Taylor before covering the remaining distance for a 64-yard touchdown.
Otherwise, nothing came easy for the Eagles, who averaged only 4.2 yards per play and 2.1 yards per rush. The Huskies finished with nine tackles for loss, including Laiatu Latu’s suplex of running back Isaiah Lewis for a safety in the fourth quarter.
Get used to Richard Newton
I figured Newton would have a role this season because coaches gave him a lot of reps during spring and preseason camp, and he looks like a tough, natural runner. But I’m not sure I envisioned the debut performance that he put forth, as Newton finished with a game-high 91 yards on 12 carries.
“He came off the field smiling, going, ‘This college football is kind of easy; can I roll out and throw a pass next time?’ One thing at a time. We’ll slow that down,” Petersen said. “We just have seen him and his running style — put his pads down and go forward and keep his legs going. There’s not a lot of dancing around. It’s kind of a straight-ahead, try to hit air pockets and run guys over. …
This wasn’t the best game for Salvon Ahmed, who had 15 carries for just 44 yards, with a long of 9. He did score on a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but found little room to run throughout the game.
And what’s more …
• I didn’t agree with Petersen’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-6 at EWU’s 27 leading 35-7 in the third quarter with Peyton Henry still awaiting his first field-goal attempt of the season. The game had been decided at that point, and that seemed like the perfect opportunity to let Henry try to extend his range — his career long, remember, is 41 yards.
• In addition to John Clark and Josh Calvert, I counted three other scholarship players who were not in attendance: Henry Bainivalu, Devin Culp and Trey Lowe. Petersen said afterward that Bainivalu and Culp were suspended for this game and that Lowe has “an infection going on that’s set him back a little bit.” Bainivalu will miss two more games, Petersen said, while Culp will return next week. Lowe’s status remains unclear.
• Ty Jones attended the game but did not suit up, and he had a small cast covering the thumb on his left hand. A Seattle Times report indicated Jones could miss most of the season. If there is a position where the Huskies might be able to absorb an injury or two, it’s probably receiver, where they return every player who caught a pass last season and have added four four-star recruits in their past two classes.
• How about MJ Tafisi? The linebacker made his presence felt in the most extensive action of his career, finishing with five tackles, four of them solo. He’s a special teams contributor, too, and a big hitter, and seemed to be around the football quite a bit. “He’s an instinctual player,” Petersen said of Tafisi. “We felt that all last year. On the scout teams, you could tell, even when he wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, he would make plays, he could slip blocks and he’s a really physical player. It was awesome to get him in there, and Jackson Sirmon. Those guys are going to play a lot for us.”
• Most of the 2019 class suited up, and 10 of them played: K Tim Horn, DBs Cam Williams (who started), Trent McDuffie and Asa Turner, ILB Alphonzo Tuputala, Latu, DLs Faatui Tuitele, Jacob Bandes and Noa Ngalu, and WR Puka Nacua. Williams and Horn seem like locks not to redshirt, and McDuffie and Turner are on the depth chart, too. I also would be surprised to see Latu redshirt, especially after his debut. Coaches always are searching for playmakers at the pass-rushing positions, and Latu flying in for an emphatic safety in the fourth quarter will not go unnoticed.
• Horn had eight kickoffs in his college debut and five went for touchbacks. The three that didn’t: A kick to the end zone that EWU returned to its 16, a kick to the 3 that EWU returned to its 16 and a kickoff out of bounds in the first quarter.
• This season’s defensive player who subs in as a fullback in goal-line packages is Sirmon, who did just that on the drive that resulted in Ahmed’s touchdown run. The media saw him take some reps at that spot in the spring.
• One thing defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake is sure to address: two defensive holding penalties against Kyler Gordon, who otherwise had a solid starting debut.
• With UW’s tight end depth thinned by an injury to Jacob Kizer and Culp’s suspension, Hunter Bryant and Cade Otton had little relief. Bryant led the team with six catches (for 81 yards), and Otton caught one ball for 15 yards.
• McClatcher caught five passes for 57 yards and a touchdown on six targets. Think it’s safe to say he’ll be a big part of UW’s offense again this season.
• A nice moment for walk-on Malik Braxton, who ripped off a 34-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
• The Huskies were 5-of-6 in the red zone. Their one empty trip? The game’s final possession, when Sirmon took three knees to run out the clock from the 10-yard line.
• Ex-Husky Jusstis Warren finished with two tackles for EWU. He stuck around on the field for a bit afterward, greeting and chatting with former teammates.
• This already is making the rounds on social media and should add some extra spice to UW’s preparations for Cal: After the Golden Bears’ 27-13 victory over UC Davis, Cal linebacker Evan Weaver said “we’ll beat ’em” in reference to Cal’s trip to Washington. Weaver helped beat the Huskies last season by returning an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Comments
even yogi was taking shots at brownsox.
Keep them coming, just want to shoot all that brownsox hate into my veins
- Disappointing defense. Only allowed 20 points to a conference opponent, 311 yards, 5.4 yards per play, four sacks, 3-of-11 on third down. But most of that came in the 3rd (Rushing) and 4th (Passing) quarter. Of Cal's 192 yards rushing, 124 were in the 3rd quarter during which they averaged 8.9 yards on 14 attempts. Chase Garbers entered Cal’s final possession 8-of-16 for just 67 yards. On the final drive, he threw for 46 yards, got a pass interference on Kyler Gordon (who also gave up a 19 yard catch that drive). On Crawford's 27-yard catch to UW’s 3 — this was Molden and Taylor at the point of the catch:
- Bush Hamdan spoke this week about the “deep dive” he conducted into UW’s 12-10 loss at California last season, concluding that, “We’ve certainly got to take more chances. I really felt that we were just reacting. Our biggest push this year, really, is to be on the attack.” Did this look like an offense on the attack? The passing game was unimaginative and timid. Eason was 18-of-30 for 162 yards. No touchdowns. Sacked three times. Threw a pick and fumbled. WR's dropped four balls in the 1st half and another two to three in the 2nd half. Only two passes gained more than 15 yards. Washington has a veteran offensive line, a former five-star recruit at quarterback, a bunch of seniors at receiver and one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the country...... *and no idea what to do with all that* (DoogCourics add-in)
- Peyton Henry can make field goals! Henry is 5-of-5 on field goals this season, and now has shown in-game range from nearly 50 yards. That should be a huge confidence boost — both for Henry and for Petersen the next time he’s faced with a decision to go for it or try a long-ish field goal.
- Petersen again facing clock management questions after a loss. Was UW’s best chance of winning the game by forcing a turnover or blocking a chip-shot field goal, or by driving the length of the field for a touchdown with about 1:10 on the clock and two timeouts at its disposal? UW probably loses at least nine times out of 10 in the let-them-score scenario, anyway. But allowing Cal to kick a go-ahead field goal with eight seconds left is a 10-out-of-10 proposition, which leads me to wonder again whether Petersen did everything he could to put the Huskies in the best possible position to succeed.
- 9 points off three redzone trips, same as last year (105th nationally in TD percentage in the red zone). Two of those redzone trips got inside the 5-yard line. The second was stalled by a false start on Luciano. The first, Baccelia somehow caught this out of bounds:
- Good: Eight sacks in two games (24 last season). Bad: Zero #turnoversalmons (20 last season).
- Laiatu Latu forced a hold and got a sack. Play this man.
- HamdanFS calling a passing play on Jacob Sirmon’s one snap, a play fake or RPO that Cal destroyed Sirmon for a 6-yard sack. 2nd-and-16 at Cal’s 33, and the Huskies wound up settling for a field goal.
- UW played 52 guys, but despite the receivers dropping balls, you didn’t see the Huskies roll many guys through there. Only Terrell Bynum, Austin Osborne and Nacua played (outside starters), and Osborne and Nacua didn’t see many snaps.
- Pete aggravating quote of the night: “We really have caught the ball pretty well in practice,” Petersen said. “We’re such a practice-oriented team. … It’s always about competition, and if guys aren’t doing what they need to do — but it wasn’t any one guy. We kind of spread it around a little bit. Those young guys, they’ll keep developing. They’re working hard. We plan on getting them in the games more as we go, but sometimes early in the season when they’re still pretty young, you’ve got to grow them a little bit.”
- Salvon Ahmed, Sean McGrew and Richard Newton had eight carries apiece, combining for 175 yards and four touchdowns.
- Newton rushed for only 28 yards but accounted for three of those scores, and he’d have had four touchdowns if not for a holding penalty that negated a 4-yard score in the second quarter.
- Jacob Eason threw 3 touchdowns, had 0 turnovers, a sack on a scramble out of bounds, completed 72 percent of his passes, he averaged 10.48 yards per attempt.
- Bryant caught five passes for 115 yards. Through three games, he leads the team with 15 catches for 236 yards.
- UW played 6 DB's most of the game, giving Trent McDuffie his first start, and Dominique Hampton liberal rotation. Lake even sent a seventh DB into the game in certain third-and-long situations.
- Hawaii's McDonald’s final line: 22-for-35, 218 yards (6.2 Y/A), one touchdown, three interceptions. He had passed for 799 yards in Hawaii’s first two games.
- Holding Hawaii to 20 points qualifies as decent. The Rainbow Warriors scored 45 against Arizona and 31 against Oregon State. Hawaii averaged only 4.9 yards per play, which compares well to UW's average last season (4.67).
- On two third-quarter scoring drives, Hawaii converted 4 of 5 third downs; the one time it didn’t, it picked up fourth-and-10 on the next play.
- Hawaii ran 81 plays to just 57 for the Huskies. UW had six plays of at least 20 yards in this game. Hawaii had one play longer than 20 yards. UW allowed five such plays last week against Cal.
- True freshman defensive lineman Sama Paama got some run in the fourth quarter and became the 22nd player to see his first college action for the Huskies in 2019.
- Nacua and Newton have scored touchdowns on their very first college touches this season
- UW’s three leading tacklers were defensive backs: Kyler Gordon (nine), Keith Taylor (nine) and Elijah Molden (six).
- Just as everyone expected, the Huskies will face BYU next week with the Cougars coming in off victories against Tennessee and USC.
It’s times like this that I’m reminded I’m super slow strategy.
- With Ahmed out, McGrew had 18 carries for 110 yards — career-highs — and an 18-yard catch while lowering his shoulder, initiating contact, picking up extra yards, and finishing runs falling forward.
- Newton carried the ball 16 times for 80 yards and his conference leading fifth touchdown, on top of a 17-yard touchdown reception.
- McGrew and Newton combined for 5.6 yards per rush and 12 first downs on 34 carries.
- Fuller had returned 31 punts in his college career. His career-long return was 28 yards. He finally got an 88 yard TD return.
- Fuller also had eight receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown — on eight targets.
- McDuffie made his first career start against Hawaii, but against BYU, McDuffie remained in the starting lineup, supplanting redshirt freshman Kyler Gordon at cornerback. McDuffie forced a fumble and then recovered it.He also had four tackles. He has already started over both Gordon and Hampton, who Lake raves about.
- “I think Coach Lake and Co., it’s just all about competing,” Petersen said. “Certain guys earn it, they play well, they do well in practice, he’s going to rotate guys in there. Trent’s been one of those guys. Since we got him, he has been locked in. It’s hard to describe. You can just tell, the stage is not too big. He’s ready to compete and ready to go. He understands what we’re doing."
- With Tryon out for the first half of USC, expect Ngata to start and Latu to get a heavy rotation.
- Then again UW could run with 6 DBs and just 2 DL, 1 OLB, and 2 ILB.
- In four games Eason has completed 73.1 percent of his passes for 1,063 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions.
- Jax crushing fools:
- Asa Turner has not played linebacker for UW despite Notre Dame experts saying it was his best positions. Instead, he has played in three of UW’s four games now, and since he’s listed as the backup to Elijah Molden at nickel, he won't be redshirting or switching to LB.
- The definitely-not-redshirting crew includes Latu, Williams, McDuffie, Horn, wide receiver Puka Nacua and probably Turner. Faatui Tuitele played in his third game Saturday.
- Molden posted four tackles and four pass breakups and forcing a fumble. He leads the team with seven pass breakups — nobody else has more than two.
- Potoa’e picked up another sack — his team-leading third — and Bowman added his second, jarring the ball loose from Wilson to spark Brandon Wellington’s 69-yard fumble-return touchdown.
- After giving up two touchdowns each in the third quarter of games against Cal and Hawaii, UW scored 21 points and only gave up a score on the final play of the quarter.
- The Huskies are outscoring opponents 63-3 in the 1st quarter.
- The ill-fated fake field goal “should not have been run,” Petersen said, and resulted from a miscommunication.
- Nacua, who starred at Orem High, just four miles from LaVell Edwards Stadium, made his first college start, but was never targeted and didn’t play more than a handful of snaps after the first series.
- Huskies opened as 8.5-point favorites over USC. Transitive property: Washington beat BYU (by 26), which beat USC (by 6), which beat Utah (by 7), which beat BYU (by 18).
- Was this the most difficult road atmosphere the Huskies will face this season? They have four road games left — Stanford, Arizona, Oregon State and Colorado. Purely in terms of hostility and decibel level — and certainly in terms of crowd size — UW already might have faced its greatest road test.
- Despite covering the spread, this didn’t feel like a dominant victory.
- Despite being in control, they tried to fuck it up unnecessarily by calling a trick play early in the fourth quarter.
- This seemed like a particularly egregious instance of getting too cute, as coaches like to say. The Huskies didn’t need cute. They had the ball at midfield in the fourth quarter of a two-score game at home.
- The Huskies’ goal was to limit big passing plays, and that’s exactly what they did. Against the Huskies, Fink completed only three passes longer than 9 yards, and didn’t notch a double-digit gain until his touchdown to Pittman in the third quarter. He finished 19-of-32 for 163 yards, an average of 5.1 yards per attempt.
- It was a lesson, too, in why recruiting is so important. The Huskies mostly featured a dime package with six defensive backs. Of those six, five were four-star prospects out of high school, with Bryant the lone exception. Four — Williams, Molden, Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon — had scholarship offers from USC. Three were freshmen.
- McDuffie, in particular, is establishing himself as Lake’s next great cornerback. The true freshman has started three consecutive games, and finished with a team-high nine tackles Saturday.
- Ahmed returned to lead the Huskies with 17 carries for a career-high 153 yards. Through two league games, Ahmed has rushed for 272 yards — more than any Pac-12 player who has played two games — and is averaging 7.2 yards per rush. He leads all conference rushers in yards per game overall with an average of 99.8.
- Aaron Fuller made a crucial error Saturday, fair-catching a ball at UW’s 5 that he should have let bounce into the end zone.
- Hunter Bryant's four receptions went for gains of 11, 20, 10 and 8 yards, and he moved into seventh place on UW’s career list for receiving yards by a tight end (903). Barring injury, he almost certainly will finish this season in second place on that list (Dave Williams currently occupies that spot with 1,133 yards).
- Sophomore tight end Cade Otton caught Eason’s longest completion, a 36-yarder on which he dragged a defender for the final 10 yards or so.
- Eight of Eason's 16 completions gained at least 10 yards, but only three went for 20-plus. Eight of Eason’s 16 completions were to Fuller and Baccellia. Bryant, Otton, Ahmed and McGrew accounted for the other eight catches. Fuller and Baccellia were the only wide receivers targeted with a pass, accounting for 15 of Eason’s 26 targets.
- Peyton Henry has yet to miss a field goal. He made kicks from 28 and 35 yards Saturday, and is 9-of-9 this year with a long of 49 yards.
- Here’s Lake on USC’s version of the Air Raid, after the Trojans rushed for 212 yards and 6.4 per carry: “Regardless, they’re going to run the ball. That’s what makes this offense completely different than a true Air Raid offense. This is just a cousin of the Air Raid offense. It makes it very difficult because they have three talented running backs, (and) they have a talented offensive line. You can’t just sit back there and say, ‘Hey, I’m just going to play the pass all day.’ They can grind you and run the ball. They hit us on the long run and had some rushing yards against us, which we’ve got to clean up, but thankfully it wasn’t a bunch of explosion runs into the end zone.”
- Molden said after 2017's game, “was a close game, but it didn’t feel like a close game. It kind of felt like a time warp.”
- Saturday was the same. Stanford held the ball for 39 minutes and change, moving it at a 6.5-yards-per-play clip. Cameron Scarlett had 151 yards rushing on 33 carries. Davis Mills was 21-of-30 for 293 yards and a touchdown,
- Mills completed two passes to receiver Simi Fehoko directly over Molden’s head,
- Stanford took advantage of a coverage bust between cornerback Keith Taylor and safety Cam Williams for a 42-yard touchdown.
- Stanford committed to running the ball, and that’s a bad matchup for a defense whose weakness is at linebacker. Scarlett regularly broke tackles and pushed piles, and Stanford mixed in its passing game at the right times — with virtually no pass rush from UW.
- “They do that. They hold the ball,” Petersen said of Stanford. “They keep you on the sideline, (and you) kind of start pressing a little bit. You’ve really got to be efficient on offense, and we certainly weren’t. I thought special teams was a stalemate, and we probably didn’t tackle well enough on defense, and we certainly didn’t get anything done on offense that was what we needed to in terms of running the ball or explosive plays or anything like that.”
- For all of the defensive issues the Huskies still allowed only 23 points, thanks in part to two goal-line stands in the first half.
- Has there been a worse offensive performance under Petersen at Washington? Saturday was an offense near full strength that repeatedly failed to move the ball against a defense that had shown little ability to stop anybody on its schedule.
- Puka Nacua has played in every game. He can’t redshirt. Maybe it’s time to let him learn on the job, accept the accompanying growing pains and try to get the ball in the hands of someone capable of creating explosive plays. Perhaps the same can be said of Osborne and Spiker, neither of whom has seen any significant action this season.
- UW’s offensive approach was puzzling with no misdirection, no fly-sweep action, no testing the edges. After rushing for 153 yards against USC, Salvon Ahmed touched the ball only six times.
- Peyton Henry remains steady. He made two more field goals to maintain his perfect season and now is 11-of-11. The 11 made field goals is tied for second nationally, and he is one of two kickers who have made more than 10 field goals with no misses.
- Eason was 5-of-5 for 56 yards on UW’s opening possession. Eason’s line the rest of the game: 11-of-31, 150 yards, an interception and two sacks.
- No more debate: It’s Puka time. Three catches for a team-high 97 yards, including gains of 49 and 28.
- On the 49-yard gain in the fourth quarter, it looked as if Eason had Andre Baccellia and Chico McClatcher wide open underneath for an easy first down on third-and-6. But he put it up deep for Nacua instead, and that decision paid off.
- Hamdan last week: “I think we’ve got to rely on what we can do up front, and our tight end play, and those guys and the ability to run it, and create explosives on the outside."
- Saturday: 45 rushes vs 22 passes. Eason’s 15 completions netted 243 yards, including gains of 17, 22, 20, 28, 19, 14, 39, 22 and 49.
- Eason after speaking up at halftime:8-of-10 for 178 yards and two TDs.
- Myles Bryant last week: said he watched the Detroit Lions play the Kansas City Chiefs two weeks ago and saw a play he liked, “A guy broke a tackle, and he was trying to stumble and get up, and the guy from the Detroit Lions was waiting and punched the ball out.”
- Myles Bryant this week: blitzed from the right side of the formation, and followed the ball to the opposite side of the field. Joiner slipped through Asa Turner’s tackle attempt, but Bryant caught up to him, punched the ball out and Trent McDuffie recovered it at Arizona’s 36.
- After failing to force a turnover and managing only one sack in last week’s loss at Stanford, the Huskies tallied four of each Saturday.
- Asa Turner started finished with four tackles and a tackle for loss. He missed a few tackles but didn’t have any glaring assignment errors.
- Ariel Ngata played inside linebacker, Laiatu Latu played more than usual in the first half, and redshirt freshman outside linebacker Zion Tupuola-Fetui saw quite a few snaps, too.
- Salvon Ahmed rushed for three touchdowns, doubling his season total. He can credit walk-on tight end Jack Westover with a big assist on the first of those scores, pushing him into the end zone.
- Westover also caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from the same formation on UW’s first possession of the second half. Quite the game for him.
- Khalil Tate had eight carries for minus-28 yards. Anyone see that coming?
- Peyton Henry is 14-of-14 on field goals this season, and hasn’t missed an extra point. He leads the nation in field goals.
- The Huskies were 7-of-7 in the red zone, though only four of those scores were touchdowns. Through seven games, their red zone touchdown percentage is 53.1 percent, which ranks 102nd nationally and is better than only Colorado, Arizona State and Stanford in the Pac-12.
- It’s obvious Petersen isn’t thrilled about playing an 8 p.m. road game the week before hosting an Oregon team coming off a Friday night home game: “I really don’t, except for we’re probably going to be really tired tomorrow because we’ve got to get back and game plan for those guys, and they’re resting for an extra day. So how’d that work? Can you ask somebody that?”