Since 1948 only two UW head football coaches have beaten UCLA in their first year. On Friday, Kalen DeBoer aims to add his name to that shortlist.
For that to happen the Huskies will need to contain Bruins redshirt junior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
The former Bishop Gorman product leads the Pac-12 Conference in rushing yards (170) for quarterbacks to go along with a pair of rushing touchdowns. Thompson-Robinson has also held his own through the air completing nearly 75 percent of his pass attempts (80 of 107) for 896 yards and eight touchdown passes with just one interception.
“DTR is as good as anybody in the country at alluding the pass rush,” UW co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Chuck Morrell said of the Bruins quarterback.
According to Pro Football Focus, when Thompson-Robinson has been pressured this season he’s completed just over 52 percent of his throws (11 of 21). In a clean pocket that percentage jumps significantly to just under 80 percent.
Fresh off a nine-sack game at home against Stanford last Saturday the defense once again will be called upon to pressure and contain the elusive Bruins quarterback.
“We’ve got to try to force incompletions. Try to get him to throw off the schedule. Try to make him feel uncomfortable. At the end of the day you don’t want to give up an explosive quarterback run late,” Morrell said.
One way to help the defense is getting an early lead, which UW has done each game this season.
The Huskies have outscored opponents 51-7 in the first quarter and 108-31 in the first half. But the team has struggled in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter, despite being unbeaten heading into Friday night.
While the offense has slowed up in the final 30 minutes one element that hasn’t changed is junior quarterback Michael Penix Jr. being kept clean. Through the first four games this season Penix is one of just two quarterbacks to have at least 100 drop backs without being sacked.
“First (it) comes from the o-line,” Penix said. “Those guys have been working their tails off each and every day. It shows every day in practice how much they work. It shows on Saturday’s. This Friday, it’ll show.”
Washington leads the Pac-12 as a team with 15 sacks, but UCLA has the individual sack leader, a familiar face.
Junior linebacker Laiatu Latu, a former four-star recruit out of Sacramento, California who played one season at UW in 2019 before injuries derailed his career in Purple and Gold, leads the conference with five sacks entering week five.
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UW is expected to get senior cornerback Jordan Perryman back after missing the previous three games due to injury. Sophomore cornerback Mishael Powell has been ruled out for the road game while junior safety Asa Turner could return for the first time since week two against Portland State.
