What a win that was! While the first couple minutes may have looked a little scary the Huskies righted the ship and dominated the following 55 minutes of football as they beat Eastern Michigan 30-9. Here’s what we saw from the Huskies:
Standing Strong:
From the first time they got on the field the Huskies defense was asked to step-up. With Eastern Michigan starting their first possession at the Husky 32, there wasn’t much room for error and the defense came up big.
The first stop of the day was a harbinger for the night as shades of Death Row Dawgs began to appear. The defense kept bailing out the offense in the first quarter.
In fact, the defense kept coming up with big stops as they held Eastern Michigan to 4-17 on third and fourth downs. It was contributions from everyone on the defensive front.
The defensive line was getting upfield almost every play generating nine tackles for loss. Carson Brunner, Alphonso Tupatala, Cameron Broussard led the defense with six tackles each. Zach Durfee had himself a huge game notching 2.5 sacks along with 5 tackles. A defensive front putting up is looking like a pleasant surprise for the Huskies this season.
Certified Dawgs: After two games a clearer picture of who “the guys” are going to be this season. After week one praises were sung for both running back Jonah Coleman and receiver Giles Jackson.
Coleman backed up the hype with another 100+ yard rushing game and while Jackson looked just as explosive, his one touchdown was called back meaning he finished the game second in receiving.
The leading receiver however, was Jeremiah Hunter. The Cal transfer was a big addition with 14.4 yards per catch against Eastern Michigan he might just be the third piece that the Huskies need to be a dangerous offense this year.
No Fly Zone?: After the departure of many key secondary pieces there were questions about what this Huskies secondary would look like this season. Well so far it has been lights out. We are yet to see a team score a TD on the Huskies and I really hope that continues this weekend. All four of the corners (Shaw, Jackson, Prysock, and Dixon) were great in coverage and played the ball well. Cameron Broussard was all over the field and finished the night with six tackles. This really highlights the depth that exists in the defensive backfield for Washington. Something that will be important to match-up with the big guns in the Big 10.
Starting the Engine (faster): While the final scoreline looks great, the Huskies have been in close games for the first few moments against Weber State and Eastern Michigan. It easily could have been 7-0 to Eastern on Saturday and this game would have looked different. Obviously the Huskies have figured out how to win and to dominate in doing so.
But those slow starts aren’t going to cut it against Michigan and Oregon. this is something that I am sure will be fixed, but if its not, watch out.
