Washington defensive back Mishael Powell may have saved the Huskies shot at the College Football Playoffs with his interception returned for a touchdown.
Offense:
The Offensive Line Uncharacteristically Struggled: The line looked great until Saturday against the Sun Devils but Penix was under pressure every other snap save for 2 runs, Dillon Johnson was getting hit before he even received the hand-off.
Without Julius Buelow DeBoer was forced to rework move center Parker Brailsford to right guard and true freshman Laden Hatchett to center while sitting Geirean Hatchett. While they didn’t give up any sacks Penix was clearly flustered by ASU pressure.
If nothing explains it better, the Huskies rushed for a grand total of 13 yards. And Will Nixon was the leading rusher with just one single carry.
If the Huskies are going to stay in the national title hunt then the O-Line needs to clean things up. They’ve proved they can, they just need to do it.
Two Out of Three Weren’t Bad: What would this game would have looked like had the Huskies defense and special teams not stepped up in the way that they did?
Grady Gross hit all three of his field goal attempts, and ASU had zero punt return yards.
And then there’s the pass defense. Seven Huskies had a pass break up, and Elijah Jackson and Ralen Goforth each had two, coming in some of the biggest moments of the game.
Jackson prevented a late TD and Goforth had two breakups on ASU’s last possession of the game. Edefuan Ulufoshio, Jabbar Muhammad, and Dominique Hampton each had an impressive seven tackles.
Tackles that where being made when they were needed most. If the numbers don’t tell the story, I will. The Husky secondary was on point.
Making huge tackles in open space, breaking up key passes, and most importantly, when Arizona State had a chance to put a nail in the coffin, Mishael Powell, the hometown kid, made the play.
Taking his interception 89 yards to the house, putting the Huskies in front despite everything that led up to that point.
Special Teams: With the offense struggling, other players were required to step up, and for the most part the special teams did. With Germie Bernard out, Daniyel Ngata was handed the kickoff return duties. He had a good night, he averaged 21 yards per return on two opportunities.
Grady Gross had probably the best game from any Husky player offensively. Gross was a perfect 3 for 3 on field goals, including a long of 47 yards. Gross ended up scoring 9 out of the Huskies 15 points.
Maybe the biggest play of the night was Elijah Jackson’s block of ASU’s second field goal attempt. The Sun Devils had a chance to make the game 10-3 before the end of the third quarter. But Jackson got free off the edge and got his hand on the kick and keeping Husky hopes alive.
Sloppy: There’s no other way to say it. Coming into this game it was well-known that the Sun Devils were going to keep it close, it’s just what they do against the Huskies and everybody else this season.
But no one could have foreseen the ugly display the Huskies were going to put out on the field. It started on the first drive as Michael Penix Jr.’s pass was intercepted on third down, ASU’s first all season and first since playing Washington last season.
That wasn’t the end of the mistakes for the Huskies. Inopportune penalties plagued both sides of the ball while the turnovers continued.
Penix and Johnson lost the ball in a handoff, Penix had a red zone pass deflected and picked, and Polk lost the ball on a pinch out (although his forward-progress had been stopped).
The Huskies got absolutely decimated in the turnover battle. They are just lucky that the one turnover they got was the biggest play of the game. Maybe you can blame the rain, but it looked like the Sun Devils showed up to win, and the Huskies showed up thinking a win was in the bag.
Thee Greatest Setting: They call it that for a reason. The Husky faithful made themselves heard on homecoming night. The added pyrotechnics and upgraded LED made Misheal Powell Pick-6 a welcome to the end zone like Aerosmith lead singer Stephen Tyler coming onto stage during their farewell tour.
Despite nothing going well for their Huskies the fans kept things rocking—bringing the energy on every snap the Sun Devils took. They earned two delay of game penalties and forced a time out to be called.
In the pouring rain, in a game where their team was struggling to make anything happen, one might have expected some fans to leave, Husky Stadium was just as full from opening kick-off, as when Mishael Powell crossed the goal line to give UW their first lead of the game.
It’s an advantage the Huskies are lucky enough to enjoy, and one they ended up needing. The fans were the most consistent part of the Washington game plan on Saturday.
Bringing pressure on every snap the Sun Devils took. With a slate of big games left at Husky Stadium the fans could make a big difference in the college football playoff race.
Final Thought: As Washington head coach likes to say, “winners win”. During UW’s 15-game winning streak the offense garnered much of the headlines— deservedly so. However, on an odd night, it was the Washington defense that rescued the offense.
