As is often the case when Washington plays Arizona State, things got weird. It wasn’t pretty, but with a win, this team’s larger goals are still solidly on the table. There was marked improvement in some areas, shocking regression in others, and frustrating factors outside of the team’s control.
The Good
The Crowd: Considering Arizona State entered the game with a record of 1-5, it would have been understandable if a chunk of the fanbase took a game off, especially in the wake of a historic showdown against the UW’s premier rival.
The 3-7 record in the last 10 against ASU could have played a part, or perhaps it’s the lofty preseason goals coming closer to fruition. Either way, Husky Nation showed up in full force. Down the stretch, the crowd noise clearly affected ASU QB Trenton Bourguet’s ability to communicate and stay focused during key drives.
The Defense: If this article was published at halftime, this may have said the pass defense rather than the entire defense. In the last 13 minutes of the Oregon game, the defense held Oregon scoreless. In this game, they held ASU to 7 points on a short field. Arizona State was 2-6 on 4th downs and Oregon was 0-3. That stats speaks to the growth of a team that struggled to get off the field at times last season. It also speaks to “The Crowd” as noted above.
If the defense can continue to make big plays and play fundamentally sound in the secondary, an offensive rebound would mean this team looks more complete than it has at any other point under Kalen DeBoer, at a crucial point in the season.
Credit Ralen Goforth with two pass breakups in the last two minutes of the game, as he may have played his best game as a Husky Saturday. He showed tremendous athleticism on his deflection near the Husky sideline with 1:38 remaining in the 4th.
The Uniforms: This may draw the ire of some Husky fans, as the traditional gold helmets are a preference for a good portion of the fanbase. But the reaction on social media has been overwhelmingly positive, and the players seem to love them. Still waiting for the 91′ throwbacks to make their return, but in the meantime, these will do.
The Grit: Against Oregon and ASU, the Huskies had fewer offensive yards and lost the turnover battle in both and found ways to win both. Winners win, as Kalen DeBoer likes to say.
The Bad
Injuries: Playing a football game without WRs Jalen McMillan and Germie Bernard, plus DL Tuli Letuligasenoa and OG Julius Buelow. A reshuffled offensive line is never going to be ideal. Combine that with the season-ending injuries to Davon Banks, Cameron Davis, and Matteo Mele, and the Huskies are plugging holes in key positions.
The absence of Letuligasenoa seemed to hurt the interior D-Line badly in the first half, but the reconfigured line seemed to gel, as Arizona State did most of its damage on the ground in the first half.
The Offense: The standards for this offense are high. Michael Penix throwing for 275 yards is viewed as a subpar performance, even before taking into account the interceptions and completion percentage.
With that being said, the offense has never looked like this. Yes, there were injuries. The Huskies are coming off the most anticipated game at Husky Stadium in years. Despite that, it is bizarre to see the team fail to score an offensive touchdown against a team that was allowing 28.3 points per game before Saturday night.
The previous lowest point totals under DeBoer? 24 against Oregon State last November in volatile winds, and 27 against Texas in a game where the Huskies did not score in the last 13 minutes of the game. Both were against very good defenses. Neither were anywhere near as bewildering as the Pac-12 After Dark output Saturday.
3rd Down Offense: A big reason the scoring was so low? The Huskies went a paltry 3-11 on 3rd downs. That explains why, despite 275 passing yards by Michael Penix, Jr., it felt the whole game as if the Huskies couldn’t move the ball.
I’m sure the coaching staff wants to see more out of the run game in these circumstances. 13 rushing attempts for 13 yards will tend to make a 3rd down offense as inefficient as the Huskies’ was.
The Ugly
The Refs: We get it–classless. Blaming the refs while playing against a 1-5 opponent is pitiful. However, the refs made a few egregious calls that had a huge impact on the game.
Does that mean the game should have been this close, despite that? No. But plays like a phantom PI call against Ralen Goforth, followed by a no-call in which Ja’Lynn Polk got tackled before he touched the ball are unacceptable (yet expected with Pac-12 refs). Later, on a Rome Odunze comeback route, he was hugged at the top of the route. All pass interference calls, but no standard set by the refs.
The Huskies may have gotten a makeup call later in the game with Jabbar Muhammad and Troy Omeire getting physical down the stretch, but two bad calls don’t make a good one.
Missed tackles: For the second consecutive game, the defense struggled to bring down ball carriers upon first contact. This may be the only thing keeping this game from being remembered as one of the best defensive performances in years. The 341 total yards allowed could have easily been 30 or 40 fewer, had multiple Husky defenders been able to corral a lone Sun Devil on a few separate plays.
The defense allowed a salty 4.4 yards per play, with the ASU totals being a bit inflated by the fact that the Sun Devils ran 78 plays compared to the UW’s 55.
Turnovers: Giving away four turnovers is almost impressive. Almost. Only allowing 7 points off those turnovers is actually very impressive. Winning any game with a -3 turnover margin is rare, and contextualizes just how abysmal the offensive performance was. If the turnovers flow this freely against any of UW’s last 4 opponents, look out. Any of those teams have the ability to capitalize in a way that Arizona State was unable to.
