Although the Huskies had a winless season in 2008, there are some ways in which 2021 is the low point of the century. The Dawgs lost to Montana at home, Jimmy Lake smacked a player upside the head on his way to the unemployment line, and the Huskies lost game after game in the same agonizing way. Despite Lake’s professed love of the run game, the Huskies were a terrible running offense and an even worse defense against the run. Opponents quickly discovered that whatever their individual strengths,
they could simply run the ball 40 times against Washington, the Huskies could not get the defense off the field, and it would turn into a one-sided bloodbath. The Dawgs gave up over 190 yards per game on the ground. Michigan especially humiliated UW with two 150-yard rushers in their decisive win. UCLA, Arizona St., and even WSU ground the UW run defense to dust.
I don’t conjure these bad memories out of sadism. Instead, I bring them up because they gave birth to this annual preview post that we have used for the last four seasons. By the end of 2021, it was hard to watch UW because every game followed the same depressing script. We were all so tired of watching opponents maul our defensive line and linebackers that it almost required us to turn off the TV or stay at the tailgate outside the stadium. While I certainly hope there’s no narrative for the ‘25 Huskies as bad as the ‘21 run defense, I’m sure there will be a storyline or two we will be ready to ignore by the end of this year.
- Demond Williams is getting sacked too much
The first option is one we started to experience at the end of the ‘24 season. When Williams played against Penn State and Oregon, it was like the Huskies were playing touch football with a Zero Mississippi pash rush rule. Williams was swarmed immediately and didn’t have any good options for where to go with the football. Over his time under center, he was sacked 32% of the time the defense got pressure. Will Rogers, with significantly more experience, was sacked 15% of the time the defense got pressure behind the same bad offensive line. Fixing this problem will be a team effort. The line needs to protect Williams better to simply manage the number of opportunities for him to get in trouble. The coaches have spent nine months working with Williams to make his decisions faster in the pocket, whether it is to find a check-down or use his considerable skills as a runner. Most of all, Williams absolutely must show development at making quick decisions, throwing receivers open, and throwing the ball away safely rather than taking a sack. If we don’t see improvement across the board, the team is not going to get anywhere near its upside. 2
- The defense is not getting enough pressure on opposing QBs
Alfonzo Tuputala led the Huskies in sacks last year with a paltry 3.5. The pass rushers who have shown a penchant to get to the QB- Zach Durfee, Isaiah Ward, Russell Davis II- have not demonstrated a commensurate ability to stay healthy. The Dawgs have a new DC in Ryan Walters. Probably the biggest defensive acquisition was CB Tacario Davis, who will form a terrifyingly long pair of starting CBs with Ephesians Prysock. The talent level in the secondary should give the front more time to get to the QB and create negative plays, but they will also have to do their part. We do not yet know how much Walters will want to bring extra pressure. Steve Belichick blitzed a fair amount last year compared to what we have seen in other recent Husky defenses. Will the Dawgs try to contain QBs from running a la Pete Kwiatkowsi’s defenses, thus limiting the raw sack numbers? Even if the Huskies prefer the bend-don’t-break approach, it would help a great deal to get the likes of Durfee and Ward to create some negative plays individually.
- The schedule is putting Washington at a constant disadvantage
There is some truth in complaints about Washington’s schedule. The Huskies will play a whopping five conference games against teams coming off of a bye. The schedule disadvantage obviously doesn’t determine the outcome of the game, but with the amount of travel in the Big 10 schedule, any extra rest and prep time will help ensure health and readiness for an individual matchup. I don’t know if Washington would be likely to beat Ohio State regardless of the schedule, but games like Rutgers, Maryland, and Illinois are the types that could go either way and the Dawgs need every advantage they can get. If we get to the end of the season and can’t figure out why we got the absolute best version of so many of our opponents, we might look back at the schedule for a pretty good explanation.
What other storylines are you already dreading having to litigate and relitigate endlessly? Post your gripes in the comments.
