A tough night in Tucson, Arizona wasn’t quite enough to take down the Washington Huskies who came away with a 31-24 victory Saturday night.

A lot was learned about the character of the Huskies: What they did well, what wasn’t so great, and what we should expect to see more of in the future.

In fact, the final score hardly told the story as the Huskies lead wire-to-wire. Sure, the Wildcats gave UW a run for their money but at the end of the day the number seven team in the nation held on.

Here’s what we learned from the Huskies’ first real test of the 2023 campaign:

Takeaway 1: The Huskies Need the Run

The Huskies were well aware of Arizona’s strategy of taking away the long ball as UW started the game with back-to-back Dillon Johnsons runs.

After the game, Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer noted Johnson’s “workhorse”-type performance.

Arizona was clearly looking to contain Michael Penix  so the Husky running backs had to pick up some of the offensive work. Dillon Johnson stepped up for the Huskies, running downhill all night long.

In fact, this game is exactly the reason Washington pursued him in the off-season.   He used all of his 6-0, 218-pound frame to bully his way to extra yards after contact.

He finished the game with 91 yards on 16 carries and two TDs.  He was also impressive in the passing game, tallying 48 receiving yards with 40 of those yards after the catch.

Will Nixon had a huge pickup wiped out from what appeared to be a normal pancake block by Sophomore offensive lineman, Geirean Hatchett.  He finished with 8 yards rushing.

Germie Bernard had 12 yards on the ground, but he would have had more if not for a blown blocking assignment that produced an 8-yard loss. He added a touchdown run, and Nixon had eight yards plus the score.

This was the game we’ve been expecting for the UW backfield. And the game we needed to see. If teams continue to do everything in their power to slow Michael Penix, then Dillon Johnson will be asked to step up. And last night he did. Stepping up and getting the ball on the final four plays to seal the game for Washington.

Takeaway 2: The Secondary is Emerging

Maybe the single best-tackling unit last night was the secondary. They made plays, stayed tight in coverage, and most impressively made tackles.

Seven Huskies, between the linebackers and the secondary had five or more total tackles. Dominique Hampton led the team with 12.

Elijah Jackson had multiple big tackles in open field late in the game, stopping the ball short of the line to gain and forcing 4th downs. The defense kept up on the turnovers as Vincent Nunley had his first of the season to set up the Huskies in Arizona territory.

That was Washington’s 8th interception of the season.

Had UW converted the turnover into points it may have been lights out in Tucson. Instead, the Wildcats got the ball back on the Bernard fumble.  After that the Huskies defense started to look tired.

Unable to stay with receivers for an extended amount of time, when the pressure wasn’t arriving Fifita started to look comfortable at the end of the game. Despite the finish, the secondary looked the part for most of the game and should be a force in the Pac-12 the rest of season.

Takeaway 3: Miscues Will Cost Games

It never really felt like Arizona had a chance until the last few minutes. But the game wasn’t over until Dillon Johnson converted on 4th and 1. Arizona played a good game, no discredit to them, but the Huskies could have ended this game far earlier. 12 penalties were called on the Huskies, and most of them were sloppy.

Between late hits, unnecessary roughness, and losing yardage to holds the Huskies cost themselves a total of 125 yards. Plays like that keep dangerous teams like Arizona close, but against top level opponents those will change the outcome of games, change the outcomes of the season.

Germie Bernard’s fumble feels like one of those plays. Not so much a mistake on Bernard but a good play by Arizona. But the timing and the location was a breath of life to the Wildcats. The Huskies need to avoid plays that help opponents stay in games.

If UW can clean up those areas there is no reason they can’t beat anybody on any given Saturday.

Takeaway 4: Michael Penix Appears to be NFL ready

That might sound like a weird statement after his first touchdown-less game as a Husky but the maturity and composure the Penix showed all night stood out. Arizona was clearly not going to get beat by the big plays, and Penix took that and ran with it.

The Huskies shortest scoring drive was 7 plays, while they consistently had drives in the double digits. For a team that has been so good at using big plays and quick strikes to beat teams the ability to slow things down on offense, while maintaining the ability to put up points is a huge confidence boost.

Germie Bernard had the best day at this, catching strings of 10 yard gains until the Huskies could run the ball into the end zone. Bernard finished with 98 yards leading the team.

The one big play was to a surprising target as Josh Cuevas was the open man for a 57 yard gain, the longest of the game. Last night simply proved that there is no out scheming this offense. No matter what a defense does the Huskies have the talent and the game plan to beat it.

Takeaway 5: The Huskies are Human

A 7-point game against the Arizona Wildcats is not ideal for the number seven team in the nation. The Huskies won, and showed a lot of positives. But the Wildcats definitely had a plan on how to slow the Huskies.

Focusing more on coverage than presence at the line of scrimmage got them beat early but as the game went on and players became tired there where rewards for their defensive efforts.

Offensively they seemed slow early on as the Huskies were in control, but into the second half the pressure showed up less and less and Wildcat receivers got more and more open. The Huskies definitely have answers to these problems.

Dillon Johnson to take away some of the work load from Penix, Jalen McMillan recovering from injury to add even more offensive weapons,

Bralen Trice had his best game of the year, getting his first sack, but the pass rush needs to step it up going forward. The blueprint to knock off the Huskies is there. They know it. Now it’s about beating it.

In all, a test like this before the gauntlet of top 25 teams, is a good thing. After a month of blowouts, Washington’s need to self-scout sits before before them– two weeks ahead of number 8, Oregon’s arrival.