3 questions following Washington Huskies football falling on road vs Indiana Hoosiers
By Ethan Lee
Saturday afternoon’s game against the Indiana Hoosiers was certainly frustrating for Washington Husky fans. For the second consecutive game and the third time in the last four Washington Huskies football games, UW stumbled and fell apart on the road against a Big Ten team.
In Bloomington, Washington lost 31-17. Now, the Huskies sit at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten play. It’s not exactly a great place to be given how difficult the remaining games on Washington’s schedule seem to be. Especially if the Huskies hope to make it into bowl season this year.
Following this road loss, I have some questions I’d like answered. Quite a few questions. I’m sure other folks have questions, and there are a number that we could discuss, but let’s go through three questions that I have on the matter.
No. 1: Will Washington be able to produce a passing attack on the road against a strong defense?
The Washington Huskies have a pretty solid passing attack. It’s not exactly the best in the Big Ten, but it’s among the best in the conference. Will Rogers is productive and efficient and he’s been able to reliably connect with Denzel Boston (who leads the Big Ten in receiving touchdowns) and Giles Jackson (who is a top 10 Big Ten wide receiver in receiving yards this year).
But in Washington’s most recent Big Ten games, the Huskies really haven’t been able to get the passing game going. Rogers has struggled to move the ball down the field through the air. While he was efficient against Indiana, completing 19 of 26 passess, he only managed to throw for 202 yards.
And he didn’t throw a touchdown, but he did have two interceptions, including a pick six that put the Huskies behind early.
No. 2: How concerned should we be about Washington’s run defense?
To be completely frank about the situation, I’m really worried about the way the Huskies have been performing when it comes to trying to stop opposing rushing attacks. Michigan had success. Iowa had a ton of success. Rutgers had a ton of success. And now, against the Indiana Hoosiers, the Huskies were gashed once again.
It’s worth noting that 3.6 yards per carry really isn’t that big of a deal from an explosive play consideration standpoint, but it is far from great that Justice Ellison was able to run for 123 yards and a touchdown against UW.
As a team, Indiana gained 188 total rushing yards on 52 carries. It was methodical and it worked well. Washington needs to find a fix for this if the Huskies hope to even compete against teams like the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Oregon Ducks. Heck, the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins could also be pretty annoying to deal with in this regard.
No. 3: Will the Huskies find a way to fix their slow start problems?
Once again, I’d like to be fully transparent in saying that Washington’s inability to start games in a quick manner deeply concerns me. I’m worried about any time that Washington manages to fall behind and the Huskies sure seem to struggle in trying to mount a comeback against competent defenses.
Against the Indiana Hoosiers, the Huskies struggled because they put themselves in a hole very early on thanks to a pick-six. UW’s offense put the Huskies’ defense in a tough spot and there was no real answer for Indiana’s steady offense.
Will this, or any of the other issues get resolved this season? I have no clue. I hope so, but I really have no clue. Regardless, UW needs two more wins to make it to a bowl game. And while the bowl in and of itself isn’t that big of a deal, the extra practices that come with bowl eligibility are a pretty big deal, especially for a team that has intriguing young contributors that you’d like to see develop within your program.