5 storylines to watch when the Huskies host UCLA
Washington (2-3) is back from its bye week, and hosts its first Pac-12 South opponent of the season in UCLA (4-2) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Husky Stadium.
Here are five storylines to watch:
1. Where is this UW team at after five weeks, and what will the Huskies look like coming back from their bye week?
The Huskies headed into last week’s bye with three losses in their first five games for the first time since 2010, when they also opened 2-3 with losses at BYU, at home against then-eighth-ranked Nebraska and at home against Arizona State.
That UW team rallied for a bowl appearance that December, despite three more losses to ranked conference opponents, eventually topping Nebraska in the second meeting between those two teams in the Holiday Bowl.
Can the 2021 edition of the Huskies also make a run after a slow start? After opening the season with back-to-back losses to Montana and Michigan, responding with consecutive wins against Arkansas State and California, and losing on the road at Oregon State in the final seconds two weeks ago, UW has seven conference games remaining. The Huskies likely need to win at least four to advance to a bowl game.
There is no runaway leader in the Pac-12 North to this point, though. Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State each have a pair of conference wins, while Oregon and the Huskies each have one, and Cal is still looking for its first Pac-12 victory. So, much could still happen for the Huskies in the next seven weeks.
“You guys see the chaos of college football right now — and in our conference — but you look across college football, teams are taking on losses where maybe people thought they weren’t going to take a loss” UW coach Jimmy Lake said early this week. “A lot of twists and turns in the top 25. And then you just look in the Pac-12, and you look in the Pac-12 North especially, there’s a lot of football to be played.
“We know this last game (against Oregon State) didn’t go the way we wanted it to. We know we played a really good football team, and a couple plays here or there, we’re atop the Pac-12 North. We’ve got a lot of football left to play, and a lot of things can happen. And so our team is hungry and we’re ready for this next opportunity.”
As far as what the Huskies took away from evaluating their first five games during the bye week?
“We learned a ton,” Lake said. “It was breaking down all five of those games, all three phases, the good things that we’re doing, but also maybe the good things that we’re doing that we know our opponents will catch up to, so now we have to make some tweaks and fix those things. “But, then also the things that we’re not doing so well and how we can correct those, and so now we’ve got to make sure we’re correcting that.”
2. Who will the Huskies have available this week?
Some good news after the week off — Lake has noted more than once this week UW’s roster is in a better place after some injury shake-ups early on.
“This is probably the most healthy our team has been all year long,” he said.
On offense, previous weeks have included the returns of three of the Huskies’ top receivers in Terrell Bynum, Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze. All three started against Oregon State last week for the first time this season after missing various amounts of time early on.
Lake noted tailback Richard Newton, who started UW’s first three games, but didn’t appear against Cal or Oregon State, “is as healthy as he has been since training camp.”
“He was banged up there for a couple weeks, and now he’s full strength,” Lake said.
Newton rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown on 39 carries before missing the past two contests.
Lake noted last week tight end Cade Otton had returned from COVID-19 protocol. Otton piled up 138 yards and a touchdown on 13 catches during the Huskies’ first three games before missing the Cal and Oregon State games.
On defense, the Huskies have nickelback Brendan Radley-Hiles back after he left the Cal game early and traveled to Corvallis with UW, but did not play.
Perhaps the biggest question this week, though, is if All-American outside linebacker Zion Tupuola-Fetui will make his season debut. He has been recovering from an Achilles injury since the spring, but Lake said earlier this week he has participated in full padded practice.
“It’s just really astounding how he has been able to overcome such a devastating injury,” Lake said. “I think I told you guys this way back when — you could just see it in his eyes the day it happened that he was going to be determined to come back quicker than the experts thought. And it looks like that’s the case.
“He is still week-to-week. But, to see him in full dress and going full go was impressive, and I’m so proud of his work ethic, and obviously our training staff and our medical staff of getting him back this quick from such a devastating injury.”
3. UCLA has the top rushing offense in the Pac-12 South. Can the Huskies contain the run?
UCLA is averaging 217 yards per game on the ground this season, which not only tops the Pac-12 South, but currently ranks second in the conference.
The only team rushing for more yards per game in the Pac-12? Oregon State, which piled up 242 yards and three touchdowns on the ground against the Huskies two weeks ago. UW has given up 181.2 rushing yards per game during its first five contests, which ranks 10th in the conference.
Meanwhile, UCLA has rushed for 200-plus yards in five of its six games so far, including a season-high 329 against Arizona last week.
“It’s definitely going to be a huge challenge for us defensively,” Lake said. “They’ve been able to churn out a lot of yards.”
UCLA has two running backs who rank in the top five in the conference in rushing yards per game in Zach Charbonnet (94.3 yards per game) and Brittian Brown (73.5 yards per game). Both average more than 6 yards per carry.
Charbonnet’s carries (89), rushing yards (566) and rushing touchdowns (seven) are second in the Pac-12 only to Oregon State’s B.J. Baylor, who tallied 111 yards and a pair of scores against the Huskies.
And the Bruins have another rushing threat in quarterback in Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who adds another 40.2 yards per game on the ground and has rushed for four touchdowns.
“This is three weeks in a row now we’re facing a quarterback that can hurt you with his arm and his legs,” Lake said. “It’s always a very tough circumstance that we have to deal with when we’re facing quarterbacks like this. … It’s definitely going to be a challenge for our guys on Saturday.”
4. The Bruins also have the conference’s top rushing defense. Can UW’s offense establish the run?
Here’s a look at how UCLA’s first six opponents have fared on the ground:
Hawaii: 26 rushing yards, 1.2 yards per carry, no rushing touchdowns
LSU: 48 rushing yards, 1.9 yards per carry, no rushing touchdowns
Fresno State: 114 rushing yards, 3.1 yards per carry, three rushing touchdowns
Stanford: 67 rushing yards, 3 yards per carry, no rushing touchdowns
Arizona State: 177 rushing yards, 5.4 yards per carry, three rushing touchdowns
Arizona: 122 rushing yards, 2.9 yards per carry, no rushing touchdowns
Put all of this together and the Bruins have the top rushing defense in the Pac-12, allowing 92.5 yards per game. That also ranks 15th among all FBS schools.
UCLA has outgained every opponent on the ground so far, and every time they’ve held an opponent out of the end zone rushing, they’ve won. Fresno State and Arizona State account for the Bruins’ only two losses.
Will this trend of controlling the ground game continue against the Huskies? It very well could.
UW currently ranks ninth in the conference in rushing offense (116.6 yards per game), and has only surpassed 100 yards rushing as a team twice this season against Arkansas State (200 yards) and Oregon State (176). The other three contests, the Huskies finished with 65 rushing yards against Montana, 50 against Michigan and 92 against Cal.
Sixth-year tailbacks Sean McGrew (38 carries, 188 yards, six TDs in three games) and Kamari Pleasant (24 carries, 149 yards in three games) are currently listed as the starting options for the Huskies in the backfield after leading UW’s rushing attack the past two games.
5. With their top receivers back, will the Huskies have the edge against UCLA’s secondary?
The three receivers projected to be UW’s starters during camp — Bynum, McMillan and Odunze — have each returned to the field in recent weeks after missing time early on.
All three missed the Huskies’ season-opener, but Bynum returned the following week at Michigan, hauling in five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. McMillan played limited snaps that week, then had a career performance in his first full game the following week against Arkansas State, with 10 catches for 175 yards and a score. Odunze made his season debut against Cal with three catches for 56 yards. Each of those performances led UW in receiving that week.
“We were very excited about obviously going into the season with the youth and the talent in that room,” UW wide receivers coach Junior Adams said. “Getting guys back healthy, I think the guys that were out, one of the things that I really emphasized with those guys that were out was how are we going to get better while we’re hurt, and while we’re injured?
“And what those guys did, they took advantage of it. They came in early, they prepared like they’re still playing. And so when they got back, we pressed go, and there wasn’t a drop off.”
Taj Davis (20 catches, 262 yards, TD) remains the Huskies’ leading wideout through five games, followed by Bynum (16 catches, 256 yards, three TDs in four games), McMillan (15 catches, 221 yards, two TDs in three games), Giles Jackson (eight catches, 87 yards in five games) and Odunze (six catches, 76 yards in two games).
With much of the wide receivers group, as well as Otton, who led the Huskies in receiving las season, back this week, UW should have opportunities to make plays through the air.
UCLA has allowed a conference-worst 307.8 passing yards per game through its first six contests, which is also the fifth-worst mark among FBS teams. The Bruins are just ahead of Arkansas State in that category, and the Huskies piled up 398 yards passing against the Red Wolves in Week 3.
