Huskies notes: Fast-paced Arkansas State offense should test a UW strength – its secondary
The Washington Huskies secondary has surely been waiting for a game against an offense like this.
The past two weeks, UW played a pair of offenses that relied on the run — and had enough success with it to hand the Huskies two losses — in Montana and Michigan.
Montana didn’t exactly run over the Huskies, averaging only 3.7 yards per carry on its 34 attempts during Week 1’s stunning 13-7 upset, but controlled possession well enough to secure the win, and scored the game-winning touchdown on the ground.
Michigan did run over the Huskies, though. During the Week 2 trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan racked up 343 yards and four touchdowns on the ground on its way to routing UW, 31-10. Both Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins rushed for more than 150 yards.
UW had enough trouble with the run in both games that neither opponent had to rely much on their quarterback’s arm. Montana attempted 23 passes, completing 12. Michigan only attempted 15, and completed seven.
But, this week, the offense the Huskies are facing should look a bit different.
Arkansas State, which visits Montlake this Saturday afternoon, has run 175 plays in its first two games — which leads the FBS among teams that have played only two games. In their Week 1 win over Central Arkansas, the Red Wolves ran 77 plays. In their Week 2 loss to Memphis, they ran 98. They rank fourth among FBS programs this season in total offense with 596.5 yards per game.
Earlier this week, Huskies coach Jimmy Lake noted this will be “the fastest offense we’ve seen to date.”
“They are going to go extremely fast,” Lake said. “They have two quality quarterbacks. They have a solid run game, but they’ve thrown the ball a bunch. … They are extremely, extremely explosive on that side of the ball.”
On the ground, and even more so through the air.
Back in Week 1, Arkansas State tallied 39 rushing attempts for 194 yards and a touchdown, while also collecting 319 passing yards and four more scores through the air on 28-of-38 passing between their two quarterbacks, James Blackman and Layne Hatcher.
In Week 2, the Red Wolves aired the ball out even more, their two quarterbacks combining for 582 yards and five touchdowns on 42-of-66 passing. They added 98 yards and a score on 32 carries on the ground.
Through the first two weeks, Arkansas State’s offense has averaged 450.5 yards per game through the air, which ranks second among FBS schools. The program’s nine passing touchdowns rank third among teams that have played two games. The Red Wolves’ passing attempts (104) top the FBS through two games, and their completions (70) rank second.
They have three receivers — Jeff Foreman, Te’Vailance Hunt and Corey Rucker — who rank among the top 20 in the FBS in receiving yards per game.
“They’ve got some big, good receivers out there,” UW defensive backs coach Will Harris said. “It will be a good challenge for us.”
Should Arkansas State continue with its pass-heavy attack this weekend, this game would provide the first true test of the season for UW’s secondary.
“They like to throw the ball,” UW cornerback Kyler Gordon said this week. “We’re ready for that, and we’ve been waiting for that. It’s going to be a fun game.”
UW’s defensive backs haven’t had much opportunity to make a significant impact yet this season, considering their opponents have combined for 38 passing attempts in the first two games.
The Huskies defense has yet to force a turnover — on the ground or through the air — but playing an offense that has already run 175 plays in two games should certainly create more chances. Particularly an offense that has already attempted 104 passes — though the Red Wolves haven’t thrown an interception to this point.
“That’s our job, is score or get the ball back,” Harris said. “But, that’s going to be it right there, is we’ve got to be able to stop the run, and then we’ve got to be able to stop the pass after that, and it’s going to create opportunities.
“And I believe great defenses create turnovers, whether that is through the run or whether that is through the pass.”
The Huskies have had their starting cornerbacks — sophomore Trent McDuffie, who was a preseason All-Pac-12 first-team pick, and Gordon, who received a preseason honorable mention nod — locked in for a while.
McDuffie and Gordon have started both games, McDuffie has played 131 defensive snaps while Gordon has played 130, per Pro Football Focus, and they are considered one of the top cornerback duos in college football by PFF. Both have tallied eight tackles through the first two games, and McDuffie has a pair of passes defended, while Gordon has one.
Oklahoma transfer Brendan Radley-Hiles remains the starter at nickelback, and has five tackles and a pass defended through two games.
UW continues to rotate in players at safety. Kamren Fabiculanan and Julius Irvin were the two starters against Montana, while Alex Cook and Irvin started against Michigan. Cook — who leads all Huskies defensive backs with nine tackles and has a pass defended — and Cameron Williams are the listed starters against Arkansas State.
Irvin has played the most defensive snaps (71) through the first two weeks per PFF, while Fabiculanan and Williams have each played 59 and Cook 57. Asa Turner (22) is the fifth safety who has played significant snaps.
“Each week, we take it a day at a time,” Harris said. “ … Guys are going to compete every single day in that room.”
But, whoever is on the field, this much can be said about UW’s defensive backs ahead of this meeting with Arkansas State.
“Everyone’s just really excited to see the ball in the air,” Gordon said.
Freshman linebacker has one of few UW ties to Arkansas State
There aren’t many known ties between the Huskies and Arkansas State. The two programs have never played each other in their histories — and Saturday will also be the first time the Red Wolves have ever played a Pac-12 team.
But, one player on UW’s roster — second-year freshman outside linebacker Cooper McDonald — does have a significant tie to Arkansas State.
“That’s my dad’s alma mater actually,” McDonald said with a smile when speaking with media members Wednesday afternoon. “So, hoping we can put the smack on them.”
McDonald, a three-star recruit from Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, is also the only player on the current Huskies roster that was offered by Arkansas State during the recruiting process, per 247Sports.com.
After appearing in all four of UW’s games during the shortened 2020 season as a true freshman — and recording a pair of tackles — McDonald started at outside linebacker for the Huskies against both Montana and Michigan, in place of injured All-American and All-Pac-12 first-teamer Zion Tupuola-Fetui, and opposite sixth-year senior Ryan Bowman.
“I know I mentioned last year that the game did not seem too big for him,” Lake said during preseason camp. “He was out there as a true freshman making plays. He was out there in practice running with the ones. You could just see the look in his eye. He was ready to play some big-time football.
“And now he’s a better player now than he was last year. He’s made a bunch of plays. He’s going to make some more plays now that he gets to hit a quarterback.”
McDonald has five total tackles through UW’s first two games of the season, and has the Huskies’ only sack to this point, after dropping Montana quarterback Cam Humphrey for a 4-yard loss in the fourth quarter in Week 1.
McDonald is again listed as a starter at outside linebacker ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Arkansas State.
Extra points
▪ UW released its second depth chart of the season earlier this week (the Huskies did not release a depth chart ahead of the Michigan game), which looks mostly similar to the depth chart released ahead of the season-opener against Montana.
Here are the few changes that have been made since:
The Huskies continue to alter their wide receiver lineup, which is mostly a product of availability.
Terrell Bynum, Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan were the three expected to start for much of camp, but were eventually listed by Lake as week-to-week, and none of them played against Montana, despite Bynum and Odunze still appearing on the initial depth chart as starters.
Ja’Lynn Polk, who was also listed as a starter for that game, and backups Taj Davis, Giles Jackson and Sawyer Racanelli were the four wideouts that played against the Grizzlies. Polk was injured on the game’s first play, and Lake noted later the Texas Tech transfer will likely miss significant time.
Bynum returned against Michigan last week, catching the Huskies’ only touchdown through the air to this point, while McMillan also played a few snaps, but was not targeted.
Davis and Jackson started the game against Michigan, and are listed as starters this week against Arkansas State, with McMillan and Odunze listed as their backups. Bynum is also listed as a starter, with Racanelli as a backup.
The only other changes on the depth chart this week are at safety. Fabiculanan was a starter against Montana with Cook and Turner listed as backups, while Irvin also started with Williams as a backup.
Those have flipped this week, with Cook — who also started against Michigan — and Williams the projected starters at free safety and strong safety.
▪ Kickoff time has been set for the Huskies’ Pac-12 opener next week. UW will host California at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Husky Stadium. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.
Like the Huskies, Cal also enters its Week 3 matchup — the Bears host Sacramento State this weekend — with an 0-2 record after losses to Nevada and TCU.
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
