The Washington Huskies are coming home for senior night after their biggest win over Oregon in program history. Colorado has recently given the UW upset losses in the last two meetings and with the Huskies needing to win-out to try and make it to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Championship game, it’s crucial they get this win. Realdawg’s Kaila Olin breaks down how they can do just that.
Control the Time of Possession
If this game is closer than experts are predicting, controlling the time of possession your offense has will be important. In Washington’s shocking loss to Colorado at home in 2019, the Buffaloes controlled the time of possession and ran out the final five-plus minutes to ensure Washington couldn’t get another chance at scoring. The Huskies barely got away with the massive win over Oregon last weekend and it didn’t have to be that close if Washington had better control over the time of possession, as they allowed the Ducks’ offense to have almost 10 minutes more of time on the field. The Colorado defense gives up an average of 227.8 rushing yards per game and if the Huskies can get a comfortable lead and eat up the clock by running the ball, it will be easier to control how much time your offense gets compared to theirs. Keeping the UW’s offense on the field and ensuring less time Colorado’s is on the field will make Washington’s day that much easier while guaranteeing the defense stays well rested.
Limit Big Plays by Minimizing Yards After Catch
The Huskies have been giving up more big plays of runs of 10 yards or more and passes of 15 yards or more this season than they have seen before the Chris Petersen era. Aside from giving up the big passing plays, they have allowed a large number of yards after catch. If you go back to their most previous game, Oregon had six passing plays that went for 15 yards or more, one being for 46 yards and another being for 67 yards that totaled for 185 yards between all six big plays. The Huskies allowed the Ducks to tack on 133 yards after catch. Those can be the biggest difference maker between either a first down for the offense or bringing up fourth down and forcing them to punt. That wasn’t the first time the Huskies have allowed a team to add over 100 yards after catch and doing just that will be critical against the Colorado Buffaloes.
Avoid the Missed Tackles
Missed tackles caused the Huskies to give up multiple first downs and even convert third down and long situations. There were times that other defenders would need to come up to help a teammate due to a missed tackle or times when the Husky defense could have a sack in the backfield or tackle for loss and ended up missing the tackle. Wrapping up has also been an issue for a few this season which contributes to missing tackles. Not only does the missed tackles result in extending drivers for opponents, but it’s resulted in short yardage situations where a team can easily pick up the first down instead of making it a down and long situation. If Washington can clean up the tackling, the sooner the defense can get off the field and get the ball back in Michael Penix Jr.’s hands.
