The Washington Huskies are looking to come off of bye-week stronger than ever and get an upset under the Friday night lights. Realdawg’s Kaila Olin gives her three keys to how the Huskies can go into rivalry week against Oregon with a win on Lake Washington against the Oregon State Beavers.
Spread the Wealth Amongst Receivers
Washington is going up against one of the better secondaries that they have seen and will see on the season. Oregon State has 14 takeaways on the year so far with 10 interceptions, makes them second best in the Pac-12. One interception was run back for a touchdown, two players account for three INTs and two have two INTs. This puts the Beavers tied for 15th in all of FBS for team interceptions on the season. The best way to keep this defense honest and not lock down on one specific receiver to get those takeaways is to spread the wealth amongst all the talented receivers that Washington has on their roster. Jalen McMillan, Ja’Lynn Polk, and Giles Jackson has proven to be outstanding receivers next to Rome Odunze. You utilize your receiver room and not only will it make Oregon State’s defense need to stay locked onto multiple WRs, but it also makes the Oregon Ducks game planning for next week more difficult.
Defense Needs to Create Takeaways
The Husky defense only has eight takeaways total on the season, six interceptions and two fumble recoveries off of three forced fumbles. All of Washington’s close games have been a result of the lack of takeaways. If you look at what a “down season” is for the Huskies, you can look at 2021 and see that they accounted for 10 interceptions and six fumble recoveries. But if you go back at look at 2019 and a successful defense that held their opponents to lower scores, Washington racked up 13 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries. With the secondary being fully healthy going into this game, there is no reason the defense can’t create any takeaways, especially when going up against a backup quarterback with Ben Gulbranson.
Shutdown Oregon State’s RB1
Oregon State has a couple of solid running backs but the go-to guy is freshman, Damien Martinez. On 79 carries, Martinez has 517 rushing yards, averaging 6.5 yards per carry, five touchdowns, and a long of 50 yards. Martinez constantly gets better as the game progresses as well. For instance, in the first quarter he averages 4.3 yards per carry, but by the fourth quarter, he averages 9 yards per carry. While there aren’t many threatening receivers on the Oregon State roster and the Beavers starting QB, Chance Nolan, being out due to a prolonged injury, there has been a huge spike of run plays for OSU. That being said, if Washington can shutdown Oregon State’s RB1, Damien Martinez, then the Huskies should be in good shape to come away with a win.
