The impact that Jimmy Lake and John Donovan had on this Husky team was already pretty apparent, but after two drives on Saturday, it was obvious where the problems in this team were. While the offense slowed down tremendously after opening the game with two straight touchdowns, bad field position and weather played a factor. However, even on some of the tough drives, there was a reason for optimism.
The run defense, on the other hand, showed no reason for optimism. The Sun Devils were able to put up 286 yards on the ground, and looked a lot like the Tennesee Titans against the Seattle Seahawks in Week Two of the NFL season. Even when they were down by multiple scores, they didn’t abandon the run, and were able to exploit Washington’s weaknesses. It’s worth noting that the Huskies are now 0-4 in games this year where they hold the opposing quarterback under 100 yards passing.
Even though the spotlight should be on the defense, all eyes were on the offense. In Junior Adams’ first game as acting offensive coordinator, he showed off a concept foreign to the now-former OC, an offense fit for college football in 2021. RPO’s, tons of plays from the shotgun without a running back, bootlegs, and other concepts that other college teams are actually using in 2021. The rain definitely seemed to hinder what Adams wanted to do on offense, and a bad fumble from Cameron Davis in the third quarter where the toss hit him in the chest before falling to the turf, might’ve been the nail in the coffin, even though the Huskies were still winning at the time.
Rome Odunze was a huge factor in the offense today, and to an extent he was force-fed by Adams. He got 15 targets on the night, and ended his day with eight catches for 82 yards, and two carries for 13. Young guys were the biggest highlight of the night on both sides of the ball. Offensively, Odunze and Cam Davis were the sparkplugs, especially on a night where Jalen McMillan was shut down, and Cade Otton left the game just before the half with an apparent ankle injury.
Defensively, while the defensive line still needs to work on run fits, the pass rush has a bright future. Even without Faatui Tuitele, the Huskies were able to create four sacks of Jayden Daniels. Two came from redshirt freshman Bralen Trice, and another came from Voi Tunuufi, who has superstar written all over him. With just two games left this season, it’s crucial that those guys get as much time on the field as possible to learn and grow their game. As for the coaching situation, we’ll see what happens next…
