Washington football’s offense looked as good as ever in their 44-28 rout of the Wildcats!
The score is not a very good indicator of how Washington football looked on Saturday night against Arizona. Through three quarters, the Huskies held a 37-0 lead before letting mainly true and redshirt freshmen take snaps in the fourth quarter. Dylan Morris was impressive, the running game was working, and the defense was as good as ever. This is exactly what head coach Jimmy Lake envisioned in the off-season, and Washington showed why they should be ranked in the AP’s Top 25.
The top takeaway from last night should be John Donovan’s offensive scheme, and that he and Jimmy Lake seem to have a plan for everything. After 51 rush attempts last week, Arizona came out and stacked the box on almost every single play, daring the Huskies to throw the ball, so that’s exactly what they did. Morris went 15/25, throwing for 230 yards and two touchdowns. He easily could’ve hit the 300 mark, but a few bad drops and missed opportunities kept him from that number.
The running game didn’t take a backseat to the passing attack either, as the Huskies ran it 45 times for 233 yards and four touchdowns. That was capped off by a 54-yard scamper by Richard Newton. Early on, the offense has done a great job splitting carries among their four talented running backs. Sean McGrew led the team with 11 rushing attempts, and Newton’s 81 yards and two touchdowns were the best in the group.
On defense, Zion Tupuola-Fetui should be in the conversation as an All-American. He’s wreaking havoc in the backfield on almost every play, and he recorded two more sacks to bring his season total to four through two games. With the secondary playing as well as it ever has, ZTF has all the time he needs to collapse the pocket.
Edefuan Ulofoshio has also been incredible so far this season. He recorded five tackles on Saturday including a sack of Grant Gunnell, and is coming along very quickly in pass coverage. As he continues to progress, he deserves to be recognized as one of the best linebackers in the country.
As great as this win looks, it wasn’t perfect. There are always things to clean up, and one thing that reared its ugly head was dropped passes. Between that and Morris trying to figure out his deep ball, the Huskies played as close to a perfect game as you could possibly ask for. Basically all of Gunnell’s yards and both of his touchdowns came in the fourth quarter when 90% of the snaps were going to true and redshirt freshmen playing soft coverage.
The Apple Cup, which was supposed to be Washington’s next game has been canceled, but the athletic department is currently in the process of scheduling another game for the weekend after Thanksgiving. Rumors are swirling that Washington would prefer to play #8 BYU, and if that were to fall through, San Diego State is the next option unless another Pac-12 game gets canceled early in the week.