It was yet another slow start that lead into a Washington victory by a comfortable margin. How did the Huskies grade out?
Passing Offense – 9/10
Quarterback – 9/10
Offensive line – 7/10
Receivers/tight ends – 8.5/10
It was a record
setting night for Demond Williams, with his 538 total yards were a school record for a single game, 402 which came through the air. Washington pass catchers helped quite a bit, with 202 yards after catch, a season high. Tight ends Quentin Moore and Decker DeGraaf had productive games with four catches between them. Dezmen Roebuck had another excellent game (4 catches, 108 yards), showing off some run after the catch ability to go with his typically reliable hands. The offensive line allowed eight pressures, but Demond was sacked just once.
Rushing Offense – 7.5/10
Quarterback – 8/10
Running back – 6/10
Offensive line – 6/10
The only blemish on Demond Williams record setting night was his fumble deep in the red zone which came on a zone read keeper. The Huskies had a chance to go up 14-10, but instead Rutgers turned the Washington mistake into a field goal and a 13-7 lead. But, he was otherwise brilliant. His 136 yards were a career high, not to mention his two rushing scores. He forced six missed tackles (per PFF) and had five rushes of more than 10 yards. Jonah Coleman and Adam Mohammed didn’t get a ton of opportunities, just 16 combined carries for 52 yards (though Coleman did punch it into the end zone on the goal line). The offensive line wasn’t getting push and the holes just weren’t there consistently for the running backs.
Passing Defense
Defensive backs – 5/10
Pass rush – 6.5/10
Despite the issues with the pass defense, the defensive line does seem adept at batting down passes, following up three bat downs against Maryland with another three on Friday night. The pass rush also showed some signs of life, converting 18 QB pressures into three sacks. Pass coverage however, was a mixed bag. Rutgers QB Athan Kaliakmanis threw for a 386 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 31/50 passing. In fact, his 386 yards were a career high for the quarterback in his fourth season as a starter. For a defense that tries to limit explosive plays, six passes of greater than 20 yards won’t cut it. That being said, 7.7 yards per attempt for Kaliakmanis is does not reflect horrible on the UW defense.
Rushing Defense – 7/10
Antwan Raymond ripped off a couple big runs – 51 and 17 yarders, to be specific – but other than that, the Huskies kept him mostly bottled up, as 11 of 15 of his rushes went for four yards or fewer. Xe’ree Alexander had three stops (play that constitutes a failure for the offense), per PFF, and lead the team with eight total tackles. Rutgers wasn’t exactly trying to run it down the Huskies throats in the second half, but Washington’s defense tightened up and allowed just 17 second half rush yards. Rutgers running backs finished with 16 carries for 96 yards.
Special Teams – 7/10
Grady Gross missed his first field goal of the year, and it felt like it could be a repeat of last year’s disaster agains the Scarlet Knights. But, he rebounded by nailing his other attempt for three points. There were no major miscues, but the Huskies did not win the field position battle in the early part of the game, which certainly aided Rutgers jumping out to a 10-0 lead.
Coaching – 6/10
The coaching staff needs to
