Washington Auburn halftime report: passing defense

At the halfway point, let’s look at Washington Football team is defending the passing game of that Auburn offense

Well here we are at the halfway point. Nervous? Confident? The emotions are at their peak right now. While the images of the first half are still fresh in your mind, let’s break down some important factors in today’s game. In this article, we’ll look at how well the Washington Football team is defending against the Auburn passing game.

In the minutes leading up to the game, Huskies fans weighed in on our Twitter poll with more than expected confidence. Aligning with the bold proclamation of Roman Tomashoff in a recent article touting the Huskies’ defensive secondary, when asked “What is your take on Washington’s passing defense today?” the votes distributed this way:

Great job – 70%
Not bad – 20%
Needs to improve – 10%
Yikes! – 0%

But by halftime the optimism had reason to retreat.

Auburn Tiger’s quarterback Jarrett Stidham was nearly flawless in tossing the ball for 12 of 16, 176 yards passing and a touchdown.  Auburn clearly planned to come out fast and furious. The passing game hinged upon quick snaps and precision route running. The passing game worked at first, moving the ball and the chains at will and leading to the first touchdown of the game in a nearly flawless corner route pass to Auburn wide receiver Sal Canella for 10 yards.

But the Auburn passing attack began to deliver diminishing returns. Washington’s zone pass defense struggled with assignments early in the game. But safety Jo Jo McIntosh came up huge to defend a pass and force the Tigers into a fourth down.  From that moment, Washington’s defense stiffened up enough to bend, but not break.

Still, nobody expects Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidholm to compete for the Heisman trophy this season. Washington’s pass defense allowed him to appear to be in the running this year. Hopefully Washington’s pass defense will stiffen up in the second half. If not, this will be a long game for the Huskies.