Washington Defense Preview

Washington Defense (^ indicates fifth-year senior)
Probable Starters vs. USC:

DE 66 Daniel Te’o-Nesheim 6-4 245 Jr.
DT 95 Jordan Reffett 6-6 295 ^Sr.
DT 74 Wilson Afoa 6-3 290 ^Sr.
DE 7 Greyson Gunheim 6-5 265 Sr.
OLB 34 Dan Howell 6-1 225 Sr.
ILB 57 Trenton Tuiasosopo 6-2 240 Sr. -- OR --
9 Donald Butler 6-1 240 So.
OLB 22 E.J. Savannah 6-2 228 Jr.
FS 26 Jason Wells 6-2 210 Jr.
SS 23 Mesphin Forrester 6-2 205 Sr.
CB 6 Vonzell McDowell, Jr. 5-9 176 Fr. -- OR --
18 Byron Davenport 5-11 195 Jr. -- OR --
19 Matt Mosley 5-11 190 So.
CB 28 Roy Lewis 5-11 187 ^Sr.

Best Defensive Player: Defensive Line Unit (All 4 starters returning) has registered 9 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups, and an INT.

Defensive Line -- The strength of the Huskies' defense is the d-line. These guys are disruptive, as seen by their numbers above, but they have given up some yards this season. The Huskies are allowing 403 yards per game, 175 of those on the ground. Their smallest starting lineman weighs in at 245, so they can be overpowered in the running game. The key will be for them to generate pressure to better help their inexperienced secondary. Ends Te'o-Nesheim (3 sacks, 3 TFL) and Gunheim (2.5 sacks, 2 TFL) lead the way up front.

Linebackers -- The LB's, led by junior weak-side LB E.J. Savannah (team-high 42 tackles) are inexeperienced, but very athletic. They have great speed, fly to the ball carrier, and are good in pass coverage. Senior strong-side LB Dan Howell (13 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 INT) is the veteran of the group, having started 10 games last season. Savannah and middle LB's Trenton Tuiasosopo and Donald Butler had never started a game before this season.

Defensive Backs -- The pass defense continues to be a weakness for the Huskies, ranking among the nation's worst during each of Ty Willingham's first two seasons. This year the problem apparently hasn't subsided after seeing what Ohio State did to them a couple weeks ago. They are replacing two starters from last year and lack size at the cornerback position. So far this season, CB Roy Lewis and SS Mesphin Forrester rank 2nd and 3rd on team in tackles with 31 and 28, respectively. Lewis and fellow CB Vonzell McDowell, a true freshman, have each recorded and INT. They allow too many big plays in the secondary and don't create enough turnovers. Of the Huskies 4 defensive INT's, only 2 have come from the secondary.

Still to come Friday:
(1) Key Matchups
(2) What to Expect / Game Plan
(3) Predictions

Fight On!

Washington Offense Preview

PROBABLE STARTERS vs. USC:
^ indicates fifth-year senior

WR 5 Anthony Russo 5-11 185 ^Sr. - and -
18 Corey Williams 6-2 195 ^Sr. (may start as 3rd WR in place of TE)
LT 79 Ben Ossai 6-6 300 Jr.
LG 65 Ryan Tolar 6-5 310 So.
C 58 Juan Garcia 6-3 315 ^Sr.
RG 72 Casey Bulyca 6-6 340 Sr.
RT 75 Chad Macklin 6-8 300 ^Sr.
TE 86 Michael Gottlieb 6-5 245 Sr.
QB 10 Jake Locker 6-3 225 So.
TB 9 Louis Rankin 6-0 205 ^Sr.
FB 30 Paul Homer 6-0 222 So.
WR 3 Marcel Reece 6-3 240 Sr.

Best Offensive Player: QB Jake Locker

Quarterback -- Redshirt freshman Jake Locker, a.k.a. "The West Coast version of Tim Tebow" is the player that makes this offense go. He leads the team in rushing yards as well as passing yards out of that "Shotgun Spread" formation. This, however, is not your typical dual-threat QB, as seen by the comparisons to Tebow. He's very physical when running with the ball. Locker will often times choose to run through defenders, rather than sliding or stepping out of bounds. He has gotten better every week in the passing game, and growing more and more comfortable with the offense. He is still young though, and will continue to make mistakes as he develops as a passer. In their week 3 loss to Ohio State, Locker threw 3 second half INT's after Washington entered the half with a 7-3 lead. Last week against fucla, Locker threw 2 more INT's in a 44-31 loss. In their two losses, Locker has completed less than 50 % of his passes (33-69) along with his 5 INT's. In the 2 wins, Locker completed 27 out of 44 passes and surrendered just one INT. It will be interesting to see if Locker takes care of the football on Saturday, because his rushing has been consistent. Locker's season low in rushing yards is 83 in the opener against Syracuse. He is averaging 90 rushing yards per game and has 3 rushing TD's.

Running Game -- Clearly, the Huskies' rushing attack revolves around Locker. Locker leads the team with 393 rushing yards, followed by tailback Louis Rankin's 291. These two players are the most frequent ball carriers (Locker 55 carries, Rankin 62 carries), and account for 159 of Washington's 175 rushing yards per game. They can do a variety of things out that shotgun formation they run. Locker is deadly with the "zone read option" play, where he can choose to either hand the ball off to Rankin, or keep it himself if the defense over-pursues. They also like to use him on designed QB runs and draws when the defense is spread too far out. Their goal is to spread out defenses with their formations, and then run it between the tackles. USC must maintain its discipline and play assignment football against Washington. If they get you to over-pursue or rush up-field, it will open up running lanes.

Passing Game -- For being a first year starter, Locker seems pretty composed in the pocket. He is coming off of a 216 yard and 4 TD performance in the loss to fucla, although he did throw those two INT's. USC is banged up in the secondary, so this might be the game for him to make a name for himself if the Trojans can't genereate any pressure up front. The Huskies have given up six sacks in 4 games. When given time to throw, Locker has made some big plays. His two favorite targets have been Anthony Russo (18 catches, 240 yards, 3 TD's) and Marcel Reese (17 catches, 279 yards, 2 TD's), no one else had double-digit receptions. Russo longest catch on the year has been 63 yards, while Reese has a long of 58 yards.

Thursday night we'll look at the Washington defense...

Fight On!

Washington Huskies: First Look

USC travels to Seattle, WA this weekend to take on the University of Washington in yet another nationally televised game on ABC Primetime. Huskies' third-year head coach Ty Willingham is no stranger to the Trojans. He was on the receiving end of one too many blowouts when he was the coach at Notre Dame. His Irish teams were major contributors to the Heisman campaigns of eventual trophy winners Carson Palmer ('02), Matt Leinart ('04), and Reggie Bush ('05). The inability to compete with USC ultimately led to his firing. Now, he is trying to resurrect his career in the Pacific Northwest after enjoying previous success in the Pac-10 Conference as the head coach at Stanford. Remember, Ty Willingham is the last opposing coach to emerge from the Coliseum victorious. In 2001, Pete Carroll's first season at USC, the Trojans fell to the Cardinal 21-16. Fast forward to 2007. Carroll has built a dynasty at USC, while Willingham rebuilds what was once a very good Husky football program. He almost turned Washington around last year. The Huskies got off to a (4-1) start entering the USC game, but the season took a downward tailspin when star QB Isaiah Stanback suffered a season ending leg injury. Stanback led Washington into the Coliseum last season and played the Trojans right down to the wire. He simply ran out of time on what would have been the game-winning drive, as USC escaped with a 26-20 victory. Hell, if Mike McDonald doesn't hit Steve Smith for a TD on that fake FG attempt earlier in the game, Washington might have pulled off the upset. The Huskies finished a respectable (5-7), but a victory over USC would have carried them to greener pastures last year.

How will the Huskies fare against the Trojans this year? In discussing preparations for this Saturday's game at his weekly press conference, it is obvious that Ty sees something all to familiar in these Trojans...

"They are obviously the best team in the country," Willingham said Monday. "They are better than a year ago in every aspect."

The Trojans are the #1 team in the country, but what kind of team does Ty have this season? The Huskies opened up with two very impressive wins over Syracuse (42-12) and a then 22nd ranked Boise State team (24-10). Freshman QB Jake Locker became a national phenomenon, and was even referred to as the west coast version of Florida QB Tim Tebow. In week 3, they became a very popular pick to upset a 10th ranked Ohio State Buckeye team in Seattle. The Huskies played them tough, leading 7-3 at the half, but their immaturity and lack of experience was evident as the Buckeyes scored 24 consecutive 2nd half points en route to a 33-14 win. The next game was the Pac-10 opener for the Huskies on the road against a lowly fucla squad that was coming off a 44-6 pasting courtesy of Utah. The bruins, led by backup QB Patrick Cowan, put up 44 points of their own in a 44-31 victory over the Huskies. They have clearly taken a couple of steps back after getting off to such a fast start. Is the team improving? Given that their starting QB Jake Locker is still just a freshman, the Huskies have nowhere to go but up. Washington has shown that they are capable, but the question remains, "Which UW team will show up?" Can we expect to see the team that played with a level of confidence in the first 2 1/2 games of the season, or will we get the Huskies that carried over a very poor second half against Ohio State into the loss at fucla last week? We'll find out on Saturday...

Tomorrow: Preview of Washington's Offense
Thursday: Preview of UW's Defense
Friday: Key Matchups / Predictions

Fight On! Beat the Huskies!