The Washington Huskies are on the road for their last game of the regular season with hopes to make to the Pac-12 Championship game. Last season the Huskies got their hearts broken at home by the Washington State Cougars and are looking for some payback, plus getting their win column into double digits. Realdawg’s Kaila Olin breaks down how they can do just that.

Offense Needs Big Chunk Plays

The Huskies have been most successful in games this season when they were able to produce big chunk plays on offense. By big chunk plays, I’m meaning a gain of 10 yards or more when running the ball and a gain of 15 yards or more when passing/receiving the ball. In Washington’s two most recent games, against Oregon they had five big rush plays the longest of 16 yards and one for 13 yards going for a touchdown. Then against the Ducks they had 10 big passing plays for a total of 295 yards in those plays alone with two being for 62 yards or more and both for TDs. Against Colorado, the Huskies had six big run plays, the longest going for 57 yards and then 10 big passing plays with half of them being for 20 yards or more. If the Huskies can get down the field on big chunk plays like they did the last two weeks, the Cougar defense won’t stand a chance against such an explosive offense and the leading passer in all of FBS with Michael Penix Jr.

Get to the Quarterback

Another time the Huskies have had the most success was when the defense was putting pressure on the quarterback and getting into the backfield. If you look at the two upsets that Washington was handed on the season, they only came away with one sack in both of those two games against UCLA and ASU combined. WSU quarterback Cameron Ward has had a decent season, especially as a starter. The Cougars relying heavily on the passing game as well, with over 2,700 yards through the air and 21 passing touchdowns. Washington State is pretty bad in rankings in terms of sacks allowed on the season, being tied at 112^th in all of FBS with 32 of them and giving up 225 yards as a result. If the Husky defense can get into the backfield and making Ward comfortable by either forcing him to throw the ball away or take a sack and lose yards or potentially take them out of field goal range, Washington has a great shot at the Apple Cup trophy.

Secondary Needs to Step Up

The Washington defense has given up big plays and been burnt by opponents during the season, no position more than the secondary. While the Huskies have the 49^th best defense in the country in terms of yards allowed per game, they are 78^th in passing yards allowed per game and an embarrassing 3^rd worst in all of FBS in passing touchdowns allowed. The majority of the big plays by opponents have come from the opposing teams’ passing game and have been the reason teams score on the Huskies with 23 of the 36 opponents touchdowns coming in the air. Looking at Colorado for example, while the Buffs scored in “garbage time,” it was 69-yard pass on 2^nd and 10, when a defensive back got burned and Colorado was able to avoid a shutout. Big plays like that have happened many times throughout the season, and the way WSU QB, Cameron Ward, can throw the ball and way his receivers get open, the top six averaging more than 10 yards per reception, I won’t be surprised if the Cougars try and take full advantage of a struggling secondary. If the UW players downfield can step up, make big plays, read the routes, tackle, and hopefully create takeaways, Washington should win.