Pac-12: Washington Huskies Defense Looks to Rebound Against Cal Bears Saturday

One thing that we know for sure following Washington’s 51-38 loss to Nebraska last Saturday—no one can doubt the Huskies’ offense. Even while residing in the pass-happy Pac-12, there has to be some surprised eyebrows when noting UW’s ranked 18th nationally in passing efficiency and 35th in scoring offense.

This is especially true when further considering that the Huskies currently are helmed by a first-year starter at quarterback, Keith Price. Having lost four-year starter Jake Locker to the NFL, the Huskies were assumed to have some growing pains in transitioning the baton to Price.

Well, at least offensively, the Price has been right so far for Washington.

In spite of the impressiveness, it’s defense that wins championships—at least according to the old adage. In the case of the Huskies, the poriferous defense is what led to their trouncing at the hands of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln last Saturday. The self-afflicted “meltdown” is what led to 31 second-half points, largely on the ground. Nebraska galloped their way to a whopping 309 yards on 55 carries, in stark contrast to the 91 yards on 41 carries by the ‘Huskers in their 2010 Holiday Bowl loss to Washington last December.

Regarding the UW defense, what gives?

After three games, the Huskies’ defense currently ranks 108th nationally in total yards allowed, and 107th in points allowed per game. These are alarming rankings considering they are about to embark on the toughest portion of their season—the conference schedule.

Starting this Saturday, against the California Bears, Washington will face nine of the Pac-12’s most prolific offenses. The Huskies will need to bear down against California in order to get off on the right foot to begin the conference season. Cal comes to Seattle with a 3-0 record and an offense ranked 11th in the nation, scoring 45.0 points per game. How can the Huskies slow down the Bears’ offense?

During the Pac-12 conference call on Tuesday, UW head coach Steve Sarkisian stated simply that his team is not playing with enough tenacity. He added, “We are playing with some hesitation and not letting loose and letting go, afraid to make a mistake, and you can't play defense that way.''

That’s an understatement for a squad that is surprisingly not a new litter. The Washington defensive corps consists of four seniors and three juniors to go with one returning sophomore starter. So it’s not as though the Huskies are a bunch of young pups. They have a decent pedigree with some blossoming experience, especially on the defensive line, led by defensive end Everrette Thompson and defensive tackle Alameda Ta’amu.

Unfortunately, this unit hasn’t been able to produce as effectively as one would expect. Much can be attributed to the defensive front line that acted like a sieve in giving up a staggering 309 yards to Nebraska on the ground.

However, they also need to improve on their pass-rush, as they have only tallied five sacks in three games—including only one sack in nearly 70 pass attempts by Eastern Washington in the season opener.

If the Huskies are to halt the Bears, and junior quarterback Zach Maynard, they will have to apply pressure on the quarterback by knocking him down a few times. Maynard is certainly less comfortable on the road, so Washington must hurry him into making rushed throws to get the Seattle crowd excited and warmed up. Maynard is quite mobile, so the linebackers must be on their toes too in order to keep him from scrambling for big yardage.

The defense will need to get the Bears off the field quickly and often. One bright spot on the defensive side from the Nebraska game was the fact that the ‘Huskers were held to only four conversions on 12 third-down attempts. Yes, most of their damage was done on first and second downs, but the defense versus Nebraska was much improved from the previous two games, as Eastern Washington and Hawaii combined to convert 21 out of 30 third-down opportunities. This has led to seven total punts by Washington’s opponents over three games. The Huskies will look to continue the success of stopping opponents on third-down against a Cal team that has a relatively modest 45.25 percent conversion rate for the season.

More important than third-downs is clamping down in the red zone. In 15 red zone opportunities, opponents have scored 14 times, including 10 touchdowns. Holding the Bears to field goals is imperative for the Huskies at home. Otherwise it’ll be a high-scoring shootout that could come down to Washington’s defense controlling Cal, not Cal’s defense controlling Washington. Trying to out-gun the 11th-ranked offense in the nation should not be the game plan—stopping them should be.

For the Huskies, as good as their offense has been, it all starts and stops with their defense.