This took a long time to gather my thoughts. I looked at this from multiple angles. From a journalist covering the team he’s paid to write about, as a fan that has supported this team since I was three years old, and as a football fan, who’s devoted years of time and energy to learn everything I can about the game so that he can hold a conversation with anyone he might come across about the ins and outs of the game.

So with that being said, prepare yourself for a long, unfiltered read. Let’s start with the journalist in me:

I thought I would see a lot of things in the return to Husky Stadium. The last thing on that list was boos. They started to surface at halftime, continued to rain down as the game wore on. But what was more shocking than the game, was the fan reaction after the game. Now I’m not saying that a lot of the criticism was warranted, especially on the offensive end. Maybe not to the “fire everyone” extreme that I saw from some fans, but the disappointing thing to see from an unbiased perspective who took a more apathetic view.

The goal of every team is to win a national championship, right? So why does it feel that some of the fanbase seemed almost apathetic, and would rather make excuses for what happened on Saturday night? There are some things that can make things look worse, like for example the fact that the receivers were down their top four players. As Mike Vorel said in the Seattle Times, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and Ohio State wouldn’t lose to Montana even in those extreme circumstances. And Jimmy Lake said it himself, he believes that this team is talented enough to compete for a national championship right now.

And the thing is? I believe him, and you should too. They have the best cornerback in the country, and one of the best defenses even Washington has had in a long time. Normally, allowing 13 points to an FCS school should be more than enough for a ranked school to win handily, yet, they didn’t even gain 300 yards of offense on that FCS school’s defense. The issue is all about the offense, even though throughout summer camp it looked sharper and sharper as practices wore on. But to come out flat against Montana almost felt like it was something else.

And that leads into how I want to talk about how it felt as a fan. From the moment he was announced as taking over for Chris Petersen, I bought into Jimmy Lake. I bought into his energy, his passion, and his confidence. Yet, it almost looked like he was overconfident out there on the field. A lack of adjustments on both offense and defense reeked of someone who thought lesser of their opponent. I love confidence, but where it’s to the point where you won’t make adjustments while ranked as a top 20 team against an FCS opponent isn’t the message that any head coach wants to send. I want nothing but the best for this program, but saying it crushed me to watch that second half unfold would be an understatement.

The first game I attended as a Husky fan was in 2008, when Washington traveled to USC and lost 56-0 at the hands of the #6 Trojans. In that game, the team didn’t even record a first down until there were eight minutes left in the first half of the game. After walking down to field level on Saturday night, I would’ve much rather watched that game in the Coliseum all over again. At least by that point, there were no expectations for that team. I could see the shock that came over most fan’s faces as Dylan Morris threw his third interception. And while I knew that the team had their biggest non-conference matchup in years with Michigan just a week away, it felt like it didn’t matter.

All I saw was disbelief and disappointment on the faces of every player that ran by. I knew that they never wanted to see anything like that happen again, but it almost felt like the entire fanbase didn’t share that same goal. If they truly expected the most out of the team, you would’ve been able to hear a pin drop as you exited the stadium. And there are changes that can be made to even some of the fans that do expect the most.

Maybe this is a little bit of me knowing what it’s like to be in the know, and having this platform to share what I feel, but for the fans that do expect the most, sometimes they don’t act like it. What’s the difference between the hardcore fans at Washington, versus Alabama/Ohio State/Clemson, etc.? Not only do they expect the best, they know how to go about getting all the information to be as informed as possible on their favorite team. And let me be clear that the following is NOT an advertisement.

This is a call to the fanbase that expects the most to act like it. Pay for The Seattle Times, The Athletic, The News Tribune, Rivals, 247, or Realdawg. If you want to be in the know so bad? Don’t ask your friends to screenshot the articles for you, just pay for it. It’s anywhere from $1-10 per month, you can afford that. And it’s not just about making sure you get the best coverage for your team, it’s about being able to interact with other fans on message boards. It’s about learning about the recruiting world, and keeping up to date with everything that’s going on in the world of UW football. So show support to your favorite writer, whoever it may be, because they want to bring you the best, unfiltered coverage, but you have to be willing to pay for it.

Now that my personal rant is over, let’s transition into what I saw on the football field.

I’ve had to watch New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels run a play so many times in the same game that I, a former college baseball player, could point out motions and exactly what was going to happen before the ball was snapped. That play-calling performance was more impressive than Saturday’s on offense. After a flawless first drive, Montana’s defense did what any football team should, make adjustments to the game plan.

Washington’s offense, however, didn’t. It felt as if the entire game was scripted. I don’t recall a single attempt to run the ball outside the tackles, and the fact that Cade Otton had only two targets before the first half’s final drive, is almost criminal. Obviously, it was tough to be down four receivers, but there were ways to get the tight ends more involved as mismatches in the passing game. And on top of that, even with the targets they did have running routes, there was no spacing at all. And once they did find a play that worked, a play action naked bootleg with Dylan Morris rolling out to his left, they ran it into the ground.

Look, I’m no football genius, but it doesn’t take one to see that when two receivers are running routes right next to each other, it makes it much easier to defend with fewer players.  That makes it easier to send blitzes, get pressure on the quarterback, and stop the running game. The protection didn’t seem to adjust at all up front, and the interior of the offensive line seemed to let a rusher through on almost every play. What Jimmy Lake called one of the strengths of the team going into the year, almost felt like its biggest liability on Saturday.

Now, this coaching staff faces its biggest test for multiple reasons. Not only are they facing one of college football’s blue blood programs on the road, but they also need to rebound from a gut-wrenching loss. And on top of that, they need to put the concerns of this program’s most loyal fans and donors to rest. And it’s a simple fix. Make adjustments, spread the field, and learn from this loss. And if they don’t? Well, that’s going to be a much more difficult conversation to have.

I have faith that this staff knows what they’re doing and can make the necessary adjustments to go into a hostile environment and come out of Ann Arbor with a victory, because they’ve gotten this far as coaches, but they have a lot to prove. Now they need to prove why they’re being paid what they are by one of the top programs on the west coast.