For the first five games of the season, the Washington defense deserved all the credit for helping the Huskies stay competitive. However, the floodgates opened on Friday night against one of the more predictable offenses in the Big Ten.
With Iowa turning to backup quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski in his first career start, the expectation entering Friday's matchup was that the Hawkeyes would look to establish success on the ground early and often, as coach Kirk Ferentz's team does. After receiving the opening kickoff, it didn't take long for that strategy to be put into place. Iowa's first four offensive plays from scrimmage were all runs, which totaled 32 yards before the drive ended with a field goal. The theme continued for the rest of the game,
as the Iowa rushing attack, led by running back Kamari Moulton, put up 263 yards on the ground, averaging just short of 7 yards per carry.
Not only could Ryan Walters not find an answer to stop the bleeding up front, but the secondary also struggled mightily. For a quarterback making his first career start on the road, Hecklinski couldn't have been more poised, tossing the rock for 202 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came on busted coverages.
Anytime there are two wide-open receivers pointing at each other for who's more open before the ball is even thrown, that's usually an issue.
After holding USC's dynamic offense to just 19 points, the hard-nosed, smashmouth style of football from the Hawkeyes proved to be too much for Washington's front seven. While Walters' unit certainly possesses the speed and athleticism to keep up with a spread-style offense such as the Trojans', a program like Iowa presents an entirely different challenge from a physicality standpoint.
While one poor performance, as bad as it was, likely isn't enough to sound the alarm on the defensive side of the ball, there has been one constant flaw throughout Big Ten play: missed tackles. Through the first three games of conference play, Washington has combined for over 60 missed tackles. Regardless of how talented or physical the opposition is, posting an average of 20 missed tackles a game makes it a struggle to get in the win column.
And what a struggle it has been.
As the Huskies have no other choice but to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and continue to trudge through conference play, next week presents a golden opportunity to regain momentum defensively, as they take on a Purdue squad that has also faced its fair share of struggles through the first half of the season.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Football's Defense Exposed by Hard-Nosed Iowa Attack
