Normally we go by a 24-rule before making any snap judgements on how the Huskies played over the weekend, but since the Utah game didn’t end until almost midnight lastnight, I didn’t want to wait until midnight tonight.
Get used to it Husky fans — those late games are going to keep coming.
When looking at the early line against Arizona State and the Huskies are favored by 19.5 points, the first thing that came to my mind was “will they score that many points?”
Going against Auburn’s and Utah’s, the Husky o-line has been (predictably) tested. But…they haven’t played with the same starting five from one week to the next.
The wheels began falling off early with the loss of Trey Adams, but then Nick Harris became “week-to-week” and “day-to-day” and etc, etc.
What I see is Scott Huff trying to get less experienced players better experience when under fire — like Henry Bainivalu and Henry Roberts.
You cannot replicate the experience of being on the road in a hostile environment against a very good defense in practice — no matter how much they may try to simulate that, it just can’t happen until it happens.
But let’s consider this: Washington has not had the luxury of playing two or three easier non-conference games.
For the laymen out there (or the casual football fan), the offensive line is like the engine — eight pistons (even though there’s five guys up there). An engine has to have eight cylinders all running in sync — and that’s about the best way to describe the extreme importance of the offensive line.
You have five players — and they all need to be on the same page.
As Hugh Millen said following last night’s game, “It’s like symphony”.
But if this isn’t happening, it sounds like a one-man marching band that’s out of tune — and if you were watching the Utah game you’d see things like two OL’s blocking one guy — while another guy is able to make a b-line to Jake Browning.
Washington also had a tough time picking up blitzes. So if communication breaks down it’s a mess. Everything needs to be done in concert and what we witnessed last night was complete confusion.
This is why Jake Browning has had many of his issues. The scouting report on Browning now is this: If you pressure him enough he will make mistakes.
We all know that Browning isn’t that big, he may not have that strong of an arm…etc, etc.
But actually his biggest weakness is also his biggest strength: He tries too hard.
“Those are hard plays”, Chris Petersen said last night following the Utah game regarding the interception of Jake Browning, “That hurts, but I’m just telling you it’s not all on (Jake). We’ve got to look to at the tape and have got to give him some quick answers to get rid of the ball. Sometimes throwing a little crossing route when it’s third and 15…and you throw it for four yards…and you see what a receiver can get. It’s not a bad play — so we’ll look at that and we’re going to help him out.”
What I’m getting out of this is that Petersen is talking about blitzing and finding a hot receiver; a one-step drop, throw the ball in one second on a crossing route to a hot receiver.
If Washington could consistently start doing this then they could break one.
The Fix
Clearly, this is just one writer’s opinion and coaches get paid big bucks — but what I would do (if I was a coach) is spend a majority of the practice on Monday doing one-on-one’s with live tackling (but not the quarterback) with a hot receiver against multiple defenses, until Browning gets it right and the offensive line gets it right.
If Browning makes that mistake during practice, then he should run the stadium stairs — and if the offensive line misses blocks? Wind sprints.
Keep doing this until Browning can throw a four-yard slant with his eyes closed.
The offensive line also needs to be more about zone-blocking, meaning you take that space and block that space and protect that space instead of leaving any open spaces.
Washington has the opportunity to be a good running team and play more power football; double tight-end and big body at fullback (maybe a second string d-lineman?). And run to the right side.
Some have called it a “jumbo package”, but it’s been done.
With Myles Gaskin’s ability they need to be pounding on that and, yes, it will relieve Jake Browning.
In Summary
Washington did come away with a very hard-fought victory against Utah despite the offensive woes. These games are always slugfests (look at the scores the last three meetings).
Coach Petersen said that Utah would field the best defense in the Pac-12 against the Huskies — and their front four was definitely wreaking havoc against the Huskies’ o-line.
While most teams are hitting their stride with their offensive linemen playing in sync, Washington’s is still sputtering and clearly hasn’t gelled yet. That doesn’t mean they won’t — but they haven’t yet.
Opening against Auburn was a very physical game — then traveling to Utah in the third game (which is always a slug-fest and very physical brawl) — the Huskies did show their grit in getting this win.
There are no easy games coming up — Arizona State next week, and then week after that a tough and physical BYU team that went in and knocked off #6 Wisconsin in Madison — so this will continue to be a work-in-progress for the Huskies in terms of getting their offense uncorked.
And let’s face it — Washington will get every opponent’s A game this season. Washington has to atleast play their B game in order to win out. Most teams this week are playing with the same starting five on the o-line.
Will Washington?
