Quarterback
When Jake came out wearing a flack jacket you might have had some foreshadowing on how the night was going to go. Word came out after the game that he was playing with a broken rib. You try running and throwing with a broken rib...ouch!
Jakes numbers weren't bad but he wasn't able to make big plays when he needed them. I am not going to put that all on him because he was under constant pressure all night. Once UW fell behind Arizona was able to tee off on him. The Huskies were only 4-13 in third down efficiency and you aren't going to win doing that.
Grade C Plus
Running Back
Chris Polk as usual ran hard but UW had to abandon the running game in the second quarter when they fell behind by double digits. Jessie Callier continues to impress and he looked pretty good running the Wildcat. Too bad Washington couldn't keep duplicating the balance that they had in the first series of the game. Polk and Callier combined for only 22 carries.
On a side note Zach Fogerson picked up 10 yards on 2 carries in his debut as a rushing fullback.
Grade B
Receivers
I didn't see a lot of drops out there and seven different guys had receptions last night. That being said when it really counted like on third and long our guys were having problems getting open. I noticed some sloppy routes at times but I think that had a lot to do with the Arizona defense. Make no mistake about it...this is one of the best defenses we will see this season.
Grade C
Offensive Line
The Huskies were held to under 300 yards and Jake was under constant pressure. On a night when Jake really could have used some extra help this unit was overwhelmed after the first quarter. Arizona seemed to make adjustments and we couldn't counter. I can see Schaefer moving back to center this week and Kohler moving out to right tackle. Christine is just getting clown stomped. I don't care how well he can direct people around. If he can't block he is useless.
Grade F
Defensive Line
Where was the pressure? Why did Scott have all day to throw in the pocket? Taamu had some good stops early but as the night went on the middle opened up like a freeway for Arizona. We missed Talia Crichton tonight. I never thought I would say that. His absence definitely limited what we could do. Jamora is going to be good but as you saw tonight he isn't an every down player at this point. The Wildcat offensive line owned these guys from start to finish.
Grade F
Linebackers
I think Princeton Fuimaono has a lot of potential but like Jamora he isn't strong enough to be an every down player yet. Vic Aiyewa came in for him in the third quarter. Interesting that Vic was a scratch at game time but they still put him in the game for an extended period of time. Cort Dennison was part of that big hole in the middle. Tough to blame him because everything around him was collapsing. You can say the same thing for Mason Foster. He is our best defensive player but this wasn't his best night.
Grade D
Secondary
Scott was 18-22 for 233 yards and threw two TD's. Put a lot of blame for that up front because there was no pass rush. Way too many pass interference penalties. Quinton Richardson has had some bad games but this had to be his worst. Trufant continues to regress on the other side. The safeties once again were contributors to that freeway Arizona built through the middle of our defense.Nobody in this unit really played well. The only way they could prevent a reception was by hanging on to the receiver before the ball arrived.
Grade F
Special Teams
Our return team had a decent game. Jessie Callier had 151 return yards with a long of 43. Rasp had a great night punting but the defense couldn't take advantage of it. Coverage was very adequate when you consider that Arizona is the best return team in the conference.
Grade B
Coaching
Offensively this teams goose is cooked when Jake isn't up to par physically. We saw the exact same thing happen last year at mid season. I though Sark did OK calling the game within the parameters imposed upon him. When we fell behind by double digits we had no choice but to air it out. He can't go out there and block.
I thought the defensive scheme sucked. You can't give the Arizona receivers a 15 yard cushion all evening. There was absolutely no pass rush. Sark said they were limited in what they could do because of injuries. I can buy into part of that but this defense wasn't properly prepared to play last night. Washington didn't make Arizona punt until there was 4:39 left in the third quarter.
Jessie Callier said it best after the game when he commented that the team seemed to have a lack of urgency going into the game. You would think that there would be plenty of reasons for urgency such as a bowl invitation. If the kids aren't up for the game that is all on the coaches.
"The worst-case scenario of what could have happened, happened tonight," coach Steve Sarkisian said.
Grade D Minus