5 takeaways from Washington football victory over Oregon State

In a game of two halves, the Washington Football team overwhelmed the Oregon State Beavers. But in a game of big scores and big plays, there are five takeaways from this victory

The Washington Football team entered their second Pac-12 contest on the road.  It was bound to be a recalibration of emotion. The team beat back the Colorado Buffalo last week. This week the Huskies had a less than intimidating opponent in the Oregon State Beavers. But, these Beavers had two weeks to prepare to face the Washington Huskies.

There is a risk in judging a team on an intermediate basis. So far this season, the Washington Huskies have played the second half far better than the first half.  Husky fans tend to focus on the second half, while national media and fans of other teams focus on the first half.

But there is more to the story than a tale of two halves.  So far, the Washington Huskies are undefeated. Undefeated teams paint bullseyes on their backs. Every team facing an undefeated team “amps up” to try knocking them out of the ranks of no losses. And that weekly escalation of competition can wear a team down over time.  Take the USC loss to Washington State.

Regardless of the level of competition, the fact is that any given game can yield an upset. (just ask LSU about Troy) The game with Oregon State had all the makings of a huge trap game for the Washington Football team.  Washington won.  Now what does that victory tell us?

Takeaway one: The Washington Huskies have a great defense

The strength of the Washington Huskies this season did not include defense in the preseason scouting reports. This team had eight returning players on offense, and was poised to win shootouts.

But the team did not read the script.

This 2017 version of the Washington Huskies is all about defense. Serious defense. On one hand, they have not allowed a 100 yard rusher.  On the other hand, they have not allowed a 200 yard passer. As a matter of fact, they have surrendered passing yards in the amount of 178, 123, 98, 171 and 74 yards respectively.

Remember their names

And then you factor in their takeaways, and you begin to get the picture. It starts up front. You the names: Vita Vea, Greg Gaines, and two new names Jaylen Johnson and his backup Levi Onwuzurike.

It all starts up front. The Washington defensive front seven is on of the nation’s best. Blessed with size, strength, speed, and expertise, the defense is outstanding so far five games into the season.  While both Gaines and Vea have been outstanding, Onwuzurike has been impacting each game so far. The linebackers of Azeem Victor, Keishawn Bierra, Ben Burr-Kirven, and walk-on Ryan Bowman have been outstanding as well.

Takeaway two: Jake Browning may not throw many 300 yard games, but he’s a very good quarterback

After last season’s runaway TD tossing season, Jake Browning became a name mentioned on the short list of possible Heisman trophy candidates this year. Since that time, he has heard plenty of chatter over other quarterbacks, but not much buzz about his season so far.Which stands to reason, because Jake Browning only throws touchdown passes.

He has the school record for consecutive games with touchdown passes. He is now up to 19 consecutive games with touchdowns.  That may not seem like many, but that is incredibly difficult to accomplish. In the NCAA, that involves a number of strong defenses faced, and a wide variety of receivers.

Jake Browning establishing himself as premier Pac-12 quarterback

Now, the buzz of national media is upon the likes of Sam Darnold, Luke Falk, Josh Rosen, Justin Herbert, and even Manny Wilkens. And so far, that’s okay, because Jake Browning is content to just throw touchdowns. Touchdowns mean points on the board. Right now, the Pac-12 passing offense checks in this way:

• Team                                  Quarterback                 Passing TDs
• Washington State          Luke Falk                                      19
• UCLA                                  Josh Rosen                                   17
• Washington                     Jake Browning                             12
• USC/Arizona St/Oregon/California                                      9

The Washington offense is alive and well folks. And one of the biggest contributors is Jake Browning. But there are others to thank as well.

Takeaway three: The Washington running game is Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman

I have been expecting freshman running back Salvon Ahmed to light up the scoreboard with a breakout game. But the Washington Football team appears to be content with the rushes of Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman.

The Viking Age

Content or just more effective. Who can tell?   Entering the Oregon State game, I am on record predicting a huge game for the freshman Ahmed. Six rushes and two receptions for a total of 12 yards doesn’t meet the threshold of breakout game.

The problem is simple. Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman are too effective.  Myles Gaskin rushed 13 times for 113 yards.  Lavon Coleman rushed nine times for 70 yards. That is just 19 rushes, and 183 yards in the running game.

That’s a great day.

The Huskies have committed to the running game now, and it’s coming to life.

Yes, I may have been premature in handing the baton off to freshman Ahmed.

Neither Gaskin nor Coleman appear to be willing to share the load just yet.

Takeaway four: Washington makes great adjustments at halftime.

The Washington football coaches under head coach Chris Petersen make outstanding adjustments at halftime. Seriously. The Huskies dominate in the second half (until they begin rotating in the bench), and that falls upon offensive coordinator Jonathon Smith and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.

Adjustments are so undervalued by media, but show up in the game results.

Second half Husky owned

The first half of three of five games found Washington with a lead of seven points or less.  In all but one contest, the Huskies have come out to score 20 plus points in that second half. Only Fresno State scored more than seven second half points.

That is a result of coaching adjustment.  That type of second half dominance is testimony that the Washington Football coaches understand what they are seeing. But even moreso, they are effective at countering what they observe.

Takeaway five: the Pac-12 championship is Washington’s to lose.

Yes there are other undefeated teams in the Pac-12, but the ranks are thinning. Right now the competition includes Utah and Washington State. In the ranks of one loss teams you find USC, Stanford, Oregon, Arizona State, and UCLA.  And Washington will face many of those teams coming up.

But the Huskies have been improving each week. This is not a team content to ride the wave of last year’s reputation. This is a team that is tough and getting tougher each week.  The struggle with the team is the schedule.  Until now, the team has not faced nationally recognized teams.   Colorado was close, but two consecutive losses have hurt their reputation.

Built to negate Pac-12 strengths

The team currently has Utah (number 20) and Washington State (number 11) on the current schedule.  The rankings change each week though.  Will they be ranked when Washington faces them?

Next: Washington Football DT Vita Vea makes havoc seem easy

In either case, the Huskies match up well. They  have the strength up front to out-physical teams. They also have the speed and durability at skill positions to out-finesse.  The team has a great rush defense to stop the running backs of the Pac-12 (such as Stanford’s Bryce Love and Oregon’s Royce Freeman).

Yes, Washington is the defending Pac-12 champion. But that is simply the reputation of last year’s team.  This team is earning each win. And right now, they are on the inside track to winning the Pac-12 championship.