3 alarming stats from Washington Huskies' frustrating Apple Cup loss to Washington State
By Ethan Lee
Why on earth was Washington so bad on third downs?
The Huskies struggled so much on third downs. So, so much. And that is absolutely going to be a problem in Big Ten play when Washington gets to face defenses that are known for being a bit more robust, especially when it comes to looking at their front seven.
Against the Washington State Cougars, Jedd Fisch and Brennan Carroll fielded an offense that went and converted just 30.8 percent of its third down attempts. Oh, and it’s worth noting that Washington’s average distance to go on third downs was 9.1 yards!
That’s bad! That’s really bad!
Like the whole deal with penalties, that’s just not something you can do if you want to win a game. The Huskies managed to convert on just four of their 13 third down conversion attempts. The Huskies’ inability to move the chains on third down is really worrisome, especially when you consider that the Huskies gained a total of 452 yards of offense. Are we going to see the Huskies find a way to get more third down attempts and sustain more drives?
Washington did well to get some big plays in this game and Will Rogers looked great on the deep throw opportunities he got, but the Huskies really struggled on third down attempts. That has to get resolved. Get shorter third down situations. Convert more. Maybe win more?