Well, that was annoying. Last night, the Huskies lost 24-14 to the Sun Devils of Arizona State. It was a wet, rainy night that produced a somewhat sloppy game from the Dawgs. The Huskies moved the ball, only one three and out, but had too many mistakes to ever keep the drive alive. It was like the Arizona State 35 yard line had a stop sign on it. One drive would stall because of a dropped pass, the next would be a holding penalty and so on throughout the night. It was frustrating, especially considering the outbreak the offense had last week.
So, what went wrong with the offense? Several factors came into play. First off, we need to give Arizona State credit. Their defense is solid and may have finally showed what people were raving about before the season began. Their front 7 caused a lot of problems for the line and the secondary was quick to the ball all game long. They were attacking and looked a step faster all game long.
Then there was the health issue. Erik Kohler was out for the game with mono. Devin Aguilar was out with a hip flexor injury. Jake Locker was sick and at about 70% strength. These are players that are vital to the offense. With Aguilar out, Jordan Polk got more snaps than he had all season long. He was okay, but Aguilar is so much better. Why James Johnson or Cody Bruns didn’t get some of J. Polk’s snaps is a mystery to me. Erik Kohler might be the second best offensive lineman the Huskies have. That’s saying something about Kohler, a true freshman, but it’s saying more about the offensive line. His backup, Greg Christine, gives great effort but just doesn’t have the talent to be an every down player. He was called for 2 holding penalties last night and was bad in most aspects. Sark said that Jake being sick affected how he called the game because he couldn’t catch his breath after running games. I saw him on the bench after one drive and he looked gassed. That was in the first half. He didn’t look nearly as explosive as he usually does. With these 3 not at the level they usually are, our offense is not near the weapon it was against USC. These guys need to get healthy, and fast.
Still, the Dawgs were in the game and just couldn’t take advantage of any opportunities. Jermaine Kearse had more drops. Nate Fellner dropped an interception that he could have run back quite a ways. In the first half, there were 3 or 4 “almost” fumbles by Arizona State that came on backwards passes or passes that were dropped. If any of those close calls were ruled the other way they could have been defensive touchdowns. Unfortunately, they didn’t and the Huskies lost a game they desperately needed to win. The schedule doesn’t get any easier and a bowl becomes much less likely. This weeks game against Oregon State becomes a must-win. But, we can hope that offense that showed up for the USC game comes back. If they do they can play with just about anyone. For now, they’re nothing but an inconsistent football team.
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