The Washington Huskies took care of a Northwestern team that will most likely find itself at the bottom of the 18 team Big-10 conference. The 24-5 drubbing was a welcome sign alleviate some of the sting from the loss the previous week.

After the first drive the offense found their rhythm and put the game out of reach. The Husky defense gave up just 112 total yards on the day and refused to give up a touchdown.

The offensive side of the ball showed off some explosive plays especially early to get on the board. Will Rogers connected with Denzel Boston for a 46 yard strike to put the Huskies up 7-0 on their first drive.

While the Huskies scored 17 points in the first half and the game was securely in their control, the offense sputtered in the second half. Their one turnover came in the 3rd quarter and they were only able to muster one more touchdown.

It wasn’t a situation where they were taking the air out of the football either. In the drives outside of the touchdown and the turnover on downs the Huskies only held the ball for about a minute and a half each possession.

While there are lingering issues that might plague the offense later in the season their must be some optimism as the Northwestern program has a quality defense.

Quarterback: Will Rogers was again efficient with the ball in his hands. He competed 71% of his throws with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He hit receivers deep as well as in the intermediate zones. What continues to haunt Rogers is some his mistakes are big. There was more mishandled snaps, and one was recovered by Northwestern. There are unanswered questions around the safety. While the screen pass in the endzone might not have been the right call the senior quarterback quickly chucked the ball out of bounds down the sideline for a grounding call resulting in the first 2 points of the game for the Wildcats. The two trains of thought are: first, giving up the two points on an uncatchable ball is better than a ball thrown at the feet of the running back that might be picked for a touchdown or second, he panicked and the grounding call resulted. Either way offensive execution needs to be better.

Grade: B

Running Backs: Jonah Coleman does something every week that does two things. First, he does something that lets the college football world know he is one of the best backs in the country. Second, Husky fans are left at times wondering why he hasn’t been used more when the game is in question. He didn’t see a rep in the first series then touched the ball on two of the first three plays of the second drive for 14 yards and a first down. Even with the 46-yard touchdown to Denzel Boston, Jonah Coleman had the biggest play of the evening when he bounded over a Northwestern tackler. Cam Davis and Adam Mohammed continue their excellent play cementing themselves as the deepest unit on the offense.  And, of course, Coleman jumped over another division 1 athlete.

Grade: A

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Receivers: Denzel Boston did what most around the program thought he would do- bounce back. After a week of analyzing the 3rd down play where many believed his lack of physicality resulted in a 4th down try Boston went out and dominated Northwestern. The Sophomore got the Dawgs on the board with a 46-yard touchdown reception. His second touchdown was a dart between two defenders where a hard hit could have been delivered, but Boston still elevated to make the catch. Jeremiah Hunter has still not been used to his skill set as much as the other receivers. The addition to the passing game of Keleki Latu gives this offense more stability when tough yards are needed. 

Grade: B

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Offensive Line: Communication has improved which led to less false starts, but at times O-line was beaten by the front seven of Northwestern. Maximus McCree was beaten on a few plays but also won a bunch of his assignments before going down with an injury. The line looks a little more stabilized when Landen Hatchett is in the game. Without the previous injury I believe that we would be talking about Hatchett as one of the best linemen in the program. Even as he works his way back to 100% his physical playstyle has benefitted this offense. From what I have seen I put less responsibility of the mishandled snaps on the D’Angelo Titalii.

Grade: C+