3 thoughts on Washington Huskies’ weird road loss to the Indiana Hoosiers

Will Rogers' weird season continued as he remained accurate but still struggled to produce

Look, as someone who has watched pretty much the entirety of Will Rogers’ collegiate career, it’s weird trying to evaluate someone who is as productive and efficient as he is while also trying to consider the way he sometimes struggles in games like this.

And while it’d be easy to say that it’s just a system issue, I’m not entirely sold on that notion at the moment because he did have a few games kinda like this even when he played in Mike Leach’s Air Raid. 

In 2020, as a freshman, Rogers completed 19 of 30 attempts for 148 yards and a touchdown against Tulsa in a weird weather bowl game. In 2021, against Alabama, Rogers threw for 300 yards, but it took him 35 completions on 55 attempts. And he also threw three picks. In 2022, on the road against the LSU Tigers, Rogers went 24 for 42 for 214 yards, one touchdown, and one pick. Later that season, against the Kentucky Wildcats, Rogers completed 25 of 37 passes for 203 yards, one touchdown, one pick. The following week in 2022, against Alabama, Rogers went 30 for 60 passing for 231 yards.

He’s had weird games before and this one is another example of that. He was efficient, completing 73.1 percent of his passes, but going 19 for 26 really isn’t all that remarkable. And on top of that, he threw for just 202 yards, his second-lowest total of the season, and tossed a couple interceptions. It just wasn’t a good game. 

For much of this season, Rogers has been pretty good in a thankless position. Following up Michael Penix Jr. while helping a team that is in a complete rebuild with a brand new coaching staff, a roster that was pieced together in a hurry, and a brand new-to-him offense is a daunting thing. Rogers hasn’t been the best QB in the Big Ten, but he’s been decent. Solidly above average in most statistical categories, actually. 

And still, weird games like this happen. He was efficient. He made mistakes. And folks are restless. Whether that’s fair to him or not, I don’t totally know. All I know is he’s in a tough spot and Washington needs to get two more wins to make it to a bowl game this season. Rogers can’t afford to have more weird games like this.

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