The Washington Huskies gave up a season-high 28 points in the first half in their 28-25 loss to Penn State, but not because of schematic deficiencies.
According to head coach Jedd Fisch, trailing 28-6 at the half, the Huskies didn't make any schematic adjustments during the break on either side of the ball as they came out and outscored the Nittany Lions 19-0 in the second half. While that wasn't enough to complete the comeback, the Huskies have shown, on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense, the ability to tighten up in the second half.
In the second half, Walters' unit allowed just 46 yards outside of the final drive, 36 of which came on a one-handed grab by wide receiver Chase Sowell, but was still able to catalyze Fisch's team
and keep the game from getting out of hand.
"Throughout the course of the first half, with the iPads now, where you can look at plays between series and see what the issues and problems were, and it was literally just...we didn't have success on a down; you could usually point to a technique error, or eyes in the right spot, or not dominating their responsibility," Walters said on Tuesday. "So at halftime, we're talking as a defensive staff like, what are some calls we can get to? What do we need to adjust? I was just like, man, we spent all week coming up with a game plan that we thought was going to be effective, and, really schematically, I didn't see things in the first half where I was like, oh man, they got us there, and so I went to the defensive unit in the locker room and, you know, just emphasized like everybody used to commit to owning their job, just doing your 1/11. If we do that, then we'll have success, and so I asked them, like, can we all commit to doing so?"
"Obviously played the second half, how I felt like we should have played in the first half. It's obviously extremely frustrating; all the guys are frustrated. You want so badly to perform at a high level, especially at home and in this conference; if you dig yourself that type of hole, it's just, it's hard to come back from. I know that they're chomping at the bit to go compete again, albeit on the road. But really want to play our brand of ball and do it on a consistent basis, and that's something that we'll be preaching this week: can you do your job consistently at a high level? And if you do that, then yeah, we've got a chance to win."
Now, Walters' unit will look to get off to a faster start against a Michigan State offense that ranks last in the Big Ten in scoring and total offense, averaging 19.3 points and 292.1 yards per game.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Ryan Walters opens up on Washington's defensive strategy vs. Penn St.
