The Washington Huskies offensive line has struggled against Washington State and Utah State after entering the season with Joe Moore Award expectations.
Jedd Fisch, for one, is not worried.
The Huskies head coach spoke at length about the offensive line on Monday, ascribing their issues to "all 11-plus coaching," telling the media that "we all need to take responsibility for the running game."
A running game that has, through two games, produced less than 3 yards a carry between Quaid Carr, Jayden Limar, Trey Cooley, Brian Bonner Jr., and Ansu Sanoe. Those five have combined for 125 yards on 42 carries while quarterback Demond Williams Jr. has led the team in rushing in both games, and Washington's 13 first downs on the ground are tied for 109th-most
in the FBS.
Carr and Limar are out until at least November - Fisch said both will be re-evaluated around November 1 - after suffering upper-body injuries in the Apple Cup. Jordan Washington, who was expected to contribute to the rushing game, will not be cleared to return to practice, let alone a game, until at least mid-October after suffering a neck injury in spring practice. That leaves Cooley, Bonner, and Sanoe, who took the carries for Washington against Utah State. Cooley started in that game, but Washington's depth chart has updated to list Bonner as the starter against Eastern Washington this weekend.
Fisch pointed out on Monday that Cooley, who was recovering from a knee injury and transferred to Washington late in the calendar, was not available until the summer and spent most of his time working behind a different offensive line this offseason. He also highlighted the fact that Sanoe did not take a single rep with the first or second team all spring or fall before being thrust into action and said that he knew Bonner fumbled against Utah State because "he saw an open A-gap and he was just looking at that touchdown."
But the calamities that have befallen the running back room don't fully explain why Washington is struggling so much on the ground against two theoretically inferior opponents. The Huskies are missing starting center Landen Hatchett, who will be out against Eastern Washington as well, but Fisch said Monday he hopes Hatchett will be back against Minnesota to start Big Ten play. In his place, Washington has moved Sam Houston transfer Kolt Dieterich, a career tackle, to center, where he's had to deal with an entirely new set of responsibilities - both in making calls and in defending a 0-tech nose tackle like the one Utah State employed last week.
"Making the calls is not the issue,” Fisch said about Dieterich. “I think he’s done a really, really good job of that. But the spacing you’re accustomed to at tackle is different than the spacing that you deal with at center. At center, there’s a guy immediately in your face, and after you pop the ball back, they’re there. At tackle, you can build some space off the line. He’s working through that. The good part is, he’s getting better each week, more and more experience. And while that’s happening, Landen is getting healthier each week. There should come a point in time where they intersect, where Landen’s at his healthiest and Kolt’s at his best, and then we can be able to figure out what we’re going to do over the rest of the season.”
At right guard, second-year player Champ Taulealea started the Apple Cup but rotated with seventh-year player Geirean Hatchett, who came in after Taulealea committed two holding penalties on the same drive. Hatchett then played every snap against Utah State and is now listed as a co-starter at the position, but Fisch said that both will play this weekend.
"I let that get away from me there. That was my mistake,” Fisch said. “We want both of those guys playing. We feel like both of them fresh is better than one of them playing the full game.”
Left tackle Kodi Greene is also new, considering he's a true freshman who has now played two games of college football. Greene has struggled to assert his physicality in two games, but the coaching staff is high on his potential, and the hope is that he rounds into form as the season reaches its more critical games.
Despite the youth between Greene, Taulealea, and second-year left guard John Mills and the inexperience of Dieterich at his new position, Fisch told the media on Monday that the offensive line's woes have more to do with "fundamental physical decisions" rather than mental ones.
"Stay on a combination block a little bit longer,” Fisch explained. “The last third down of the game, on the option play, blocking the read rather than coming down on a linebacker, and leaving a guy for the read. A lot of the wide-zone plays…we talked a lot about securing the first level before you get to the second level. I think there’s a ton."
Fisch was optimistic in saying that those types of issues are easily fixable, and quickly. Those returns will likely not be felt on Saturday with Eastern Washington in town (then again, the same thing would have likely been said about Washington State and Utah State). It'll be a late night on September 26 against Minnesota when Washington finds out what their offensive line is truly made of - the Big Ten announced Monday that the game will kick off at 8:00 p.m. PT.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Jedd Fisch optimistic about Washington football OL despite slow start
