Here are my takeaways from Washington’s 35-7 win over BYU……
1. Huskies put together a full 60 minutes
Everyone has been waiting for a performance like this all season. Against Auburn, UW had a bad start but finished strong. Against North Dakota, UW just didn’t play well. On the road vs Utah, Washington’s offense went cold. Last week, UW couldn’t put away Arizona State early. But tonight was the night it all came together.
The only thing BYU really won tonight was the coin toss. After that it was all Washington. The Huskies used great defense and great offense to run over the Cougars. It was a game everyone leaving the stadium could say “that’s a really good football team.”
2. Jake Browning on target and into the record books
The senior completed his first 11 passes of the ball game. And during the streak he also became UW’s all-time passing leader, passing Cody Pickett. Browning after tonight has 10,347 career passing yards.
Browning was almost perfect on the night, completing 23-25 passes for 277 yards and one TD. Jake Browning also ran for a 9-yard TD on a designed QB keeper. Incredibly Browning was one completion short of tying the NCAA record for completion percentage in a game.
Jake Browning seems to have found his form in the last two weeks. If the senior can keep playing like this, the offense has a lot of potential to be very good the rest of the year.
3. Offensive line controls the game
Washington’s offensive line took a huge hit this season after preseason All-American left tackle Trey Adams had to have back surgery. Coming into tonight, UW’s offensive line has been inconsistent. But tonight everything seemed to click in both run blocking and pass protection. No better example of this came when the Huskies faced a 3-and-1 in the second quarter, UW’s offensive line got so much push, Browning got four yards on a QB sneak up the middle. Another example, Washington’s offensive line was so engaged that after running back Salvon Ahmed fumbled after gaining 37 yards, it was center Nick Harris that recovered it.
If Washington’s offensive line can play like they did tonight, expect Jake Browning and the rest of the Huskies to average around 35-40 points in conference play.
4. Offense holds their own
Coming into tonight, UW was averaging just 27.2 points per game. BYU was allowing just 17.0 points per game. Against a very good defense, Washington had no problem moving the ball. UW racked up 464 yards and scored 35 points on the night. It was by miles the Huskies’ best performance of the year.
Washington averaged 7.5 yards per play. Most impressive, UW was 9-12 on third downs. If it weren’t for two missed field goals the offense would have been over 40 points.
All in all, it was one heck of a performance by the offense. They had the run game and pass game clicking.
5. Can we say enough about this defense?
I’m going to keep this short and sweet. We’ve said enough about how good this defense is but once again they deserve the recognition. Washington’s defense should have gotten the shutout tonight but a late muffed punt changed things.
It was another dominating performance by the defense as they held BYU to only 194 yards and seven points. BYU converted just 5-14 third downs. Most impressively, UW held the Cougars to 1.2 yards per rush.
Through five games, UW’s defense is allowing just 11.6 points per game. What more is there to say?
