The Washington Huskies dug themselves into another big hole Saturday afternoon only to see a furious and determined comeback bid fall short resulting in a 31 to 26 loss to the Stanford Cardinal. The Cardinal showcased a dominant rush attack that scored three rushing touchdowns and a 42 yard field for a 324-3 lead halftime lead. Here are quick takes from the Huskies first loss of the season.
STANFORD RUN GAME
The Cardinal entered the game against Washington averaging 120.7 yards again. The Huskies were the top ranked run defense in the Pac-12. Cardinal running back Austin Jones finished the game with 31 carried for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Back up running back Nathaniel Peat had 7 carries for 44 yards and one touchdown. Stanford finished the game with 191 rushing yards. The visitors offensive line simply dominated the Huskies defensive. The Cardinal’s ability to dominate the trenches resulted in 10 of 13 third down conversion rate.
No Vertical Pass Game
The Husky offense was missing wide receivers Terrell Bynum and Puka Nacu who were not suited up for the game. The loss of an outside threat true freshmen Jalen McMillan , Rome Odunze got their first collegiate starts. McMillan finished the game with six receptions for 69 while MacMillan had one reception for 16 yards. Ty Jones was the lone starting receiver from last game and he finished the game with two receptions for 79 yards.
STANFORD DEFENSE
Give credit to the Stanford defensive line for a stout defensive effort.
Although the Huskies rushed for 117 yards the Husky run game averaged a mere 3.4 yards per carry. Coming into the game Washington was averaging 196 rushing yards per game.
Stanford first punt of the game came with 23 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. Like their offensive counterparts the Stanford defensive line dominated the Huskies offensive line and made for a difficult day for Husky quarterback Dylan Morris. While Morris was 15 of 23 for 254 yards he spent most of the day moving around the pocket trying to avoid the Cardinal rushing defensive linemen.
BIG TAKE AWAY
The Husky team gave it a gallant effort as expected . No Jimmy Lake coached team will ever give up. The perplexing question for the coaching staff is how to get the players mentally ready to execute from beginning of the game and all the way to the end. The Huskies have yet to play a complete four quarters of solid football in the same game. It takes time to build continuity between players and coaches. In that process losses every so often are just as valuable as the wins
