The Huskies are just a few plays away from 5-0, a national ranking, and Game Day at Husky Stadium. This should not bring any solace to the Husky faithful. The Huskies failed in the biggest spots of the year to wind up at 3-2 with a schedule that will put bowl eligibility into question.

Even with the tough schedule there is plenty of factors that point in the favor of the Huskies making drastic steps forward in the remaining two months of the season.

Bone-Headed Plays: One of the most impactful plays from Friday night’s loss was the penalty on Lance Holtzclaw’s blocked field goal. Vincent Holmes ran onto the field while the play was still live which led to a Rutgers touchdown before the half. While it is a painful lesson, it is still a lesson. A renewed focus on using your brain will be taught this week. I expect less unforced errors.

Coaching Introspection: Jedd Fisch had one of his best press-conferences Monday afternoon. He talked about the issues in the red zone and back tracked on some of his previous remarks about the Apple Cup play of 4th and goal. He went away from blaming execution and discussed wishing another play was called. The missteps in the red zone are plentiful, but from the talk of the play caller these should improve. 

Grady Gross: Jedd Fisch stood behind his kicker on Monday calling him “one of the best kickers in the country” and he is correct. Gross has been nearly automatic as the Husky starter in 2023 hitting 18-22 kicks last year. His 55-yard miss was the first true game winning or tying kick he has missed. His two misses earlier in the game and the missed 52-yard field goal at Northwestern are an outlier in his career. Of course there is a fear that this will shake his confidence, but my bet is on Grady getting right and being a huge advantage for this program.

Will Rogers: Rogers has to stop fumbling. Everything else he is doing for this program is enough to win. He takes care of the ball, he is making every throw, and he is spreading the ball around effectively. If he could avoid the fumbled snaps Washington would be sitting at 5-0. 

Offensive Line: The entire off-season discussion was around the O-line. Every week this line has looked better and better. They are communicating and opening massive lanes for the running backs. The right side of the line is becoming elite. Gaard Memmelaar is the best player on the line and is again showing the genius of Chris Petersen. The miscues that were highlighted this week were on aggressive behavior. Both of the unnecessary roughness calls on D’Angelo Titialii and Drew Azzopardi were subjective at best. 

While the issues at hand are still question marks, but there is evidence that shows attainable improvement.