Washington is the only offense in the Big Ten to boast two wide receivers among the top ten in receptions entering Week 10. Penn State brings its conference-best pass defense to Seattle this Saturday in a battle of best-on-best with a chance to clinch bowl eligibility at stake for the Huskies.
Dezmen Roebuck, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound second-year slot receiver, is No. 4 in the conference with 53 catches through eight games, while the 6-foot, 185-pound ascending star Chris Lawson, off back-to-back 100-yard receiving outings in road victories at Purdue and Nebraska, is tied with Northwestern fourth-year veteran Griffin Wilde with 44 and showing no signs of slowing down his production.
Only USC’s Trent Mosley and Tanook Hines managed to put up 80-plus
receiving yards and hauled in at least one touchdown against the Nittany Lions this season, the third of four straight losses for first-year coach Matt Campbell in a 31-23 home defeat to the Trojans on October 10.
However, in PSU's conference defeats to Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin and USC, the issue hasn't been what opposing offenses have done through the air against its defense.
It's been dominant rushing attacks that have got the better of Campbell's defense, something that hasn't been in UW's offensive DNA this season. Yet, third-year coach Jedd Fisch could be forced to utilize his standout receiver duo Saturday to open up the offense and maximize their impact against one of the best defenses the team faces this season.
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Penn State @ Washington
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In UW's 38-26 road victory over Purdue two weeks ago, both Lawson and Roebuck ripped off 9-yard runs on the first touchdown drive of the game.
Roebuck added another 5-yard carry on the Huskies' third touchdown drive of the first half, sandwiched in between Lawson hauling in 32-yard and 11-yard receptions, that led to a 24-17 UW lead at halftime and laid out a potential blueprint for Fisch to refine against PSU in search of the sixth win this season and the school's first-ever victory in five meetings against a longtime Big Ten football power.
The decision to start third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr., a true dual-threat signal-caller who had four carries for 28 yards on top of his 99 passing yards and a touchdown against the Huskers, or backup transfer Elijah Brown will loom large for the Huskies offense given the Nittany Lions' struggles stopping the run from both running backs and quarterbacks.
The difference proved decisive in PSU's 21-18 road loss at Michigan in mid-October, with Wolverines freshman Tommy Carr using his legs to score a 12-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to send PSU home with its fourth conference loss. Equally in earlier road conference defeats at Northwestern and to Wisconsin at home, both Aidan Chiles and Colton Joseph found the end zone on the ground despite combining for 2 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions.
With enough talent and the right, timely usage of the Huskies’ emerging second-year receiver duo, Fisch has the pieces on offense to give Campbell and the Nittany Lions all they can handle at Husky Stadium or find out how far the unit still has to grow against some of the Big Ten’s best.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Football to Face Strong Test From Penn State's Pass Defense
