Nick Holt has been coaching long enough to know that he and his defense have been the subject of plenty of speculation and criticism since Saturday’s 65-21 shellacking at Stanford.
While the Huskies were getting run over by the Cardinal’s rushing attack, the calls for Holt to be fired were exploding all over message boards and on Twitter. “Nick Holt” was a trending topic on Twitter in the greater Seattle area Saturday night, and not in a good way.
He was the subject of many calls on local sports talk radio Monday.
And it’s not the first time this season. Holt was criticized following the 51-38 loss to Nebraska.
Like most coaches, Holt isn’t into Twitter and doesn’t listen to sports talk radio.
“I rarely listen to the radio as it is, talk radio,” he said. “Other than country-western and NPR, I’ll listen to that.”
Holt reads the newspaper, but he tries not to read coverage of the Huskies.
“Yeah, I read the paper,” he said. “I do because I want to read about the other stuff other than ourselves.”
And yet he knows what’s being written and said about him and his defense.
“I guess you’ve got to have thick skin,” he said.
His players also need thick skins because it isn’t just Holt that’s being criticized.
“After a hard loss like that, there is going to be a lot of criticism and there is going to be a lot of negative things surrounding you,” junior cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “You just got to stay focused, keep working, and try to get better.”
And the criticism of Holt?
“He’s a great coach,” Trufant said. “At the end of the day, it’s about the players. The coaches can draw the perfect play, but if we don’t go out there and execute, you can’t really blame them. We’re the ones out there playing.”
Holt said he understands why the fans are being critical.
“I know you guys love us and want to us to do well – I really do,” he said. “And we want to do well. We are more disappointed than you guys, trust me.’’
The Huskies defense is giving up 33.7 points per game and is 10th in the Pacific-12 Conference in total defense (436.1 yards per game). Stanford rushed for 446 yards – a school record – and averaged more than 10 yards a carry.
“Painful,” Holt said. “I didn’t really need to watch the film because that just made it painful twice. It was kind of what it looked like out there.”
The Huskies on Saturday face an Arizona team that is averaging a Pac-12-leading 373.1 passing yards behind senior quarterback Nick Foles. The Wildcats are coming off a 48-12 pasting of UCLA.
The Huskies rank 11th in the Pac-12 in pass defense, surrendering 284.4 yards per game.
Two years ago at Husky Stadium, Foles threw for 384 yards and a touchdown in a 36-33 loss to the Huskies. He will also have a healthy Juron Criner, who has caught six touchdown passes this season.
“They got good athletes,” Trufant said. “They got Nick Foles at quarterback, he’s a great player, and the receivers are obviously good players, so it’s going to come down to us making more plays than them.”
Even if they do, Holt’s critics won’t be silenced any time soon. But Holt said the defense has improved each year since the staff took over, even if some of the results might not bear that out.
“Winning and losing and there are probably a couple of stats that are better. Wait until the end of the year and then let’s look at the numbers,” Holt said. “We are 5-2, and we haven’t been 5-2 in three years, either. And playing some good offenses, the wins and losses are the most important.’’
EXTRA POINTS
Safety Justin Glenn (foot injury) dressed out but did not participate in team drills. Will Shamburger saw plenty of reps in Glenn’s absence. Shamburger played almost the entire second half against Stanford. “That was a bright spot,” Holt said. … Sophomore backup middle linebacker Thomas Tutogi is familiar with one of Arizona’s better players. His brother Taimi Tutogi, a junior H-back for the Wildcats, scored two touchdowns in the win over UCLA. “My whole life, me and my brother have been on the same team, backing each other up,” Thomas said. “It will be a little different ’cause he will have a different jersey on.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
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