How in the world do you go about grading a game like this?
I guess if your offense scores 56 points in a single game you have to give them an A. When your defense gives up an unthinkable 67 points you have to give them an overall F.
We all knew Baylor was going to move the ball but giving up nearly 500 yards on the ground with the majority of that happening via big plays in the second half is simply inexcusable.
Quarterback
Keith Price was simply magnificent in a record breaking performance for a Husky QB. He was 23-37 for 438 yards, 4 TD passes, 0 interceptions, 39 yards on the ground, and 3 TD runs. This is what Keith is capable of when he is healthy. He wasn't perfect but he was able to put together big play after big play all night until late in the fourth quarter when the Husky offense stalled on a fourth down which basically ended the game with a little over three minutes left to play. Grade A Plus
Running Back
Chris Polk had 30 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers are pretty good but this wasn't one of his best games. Give Baylor credit for making some great one on one shoe string tackles to contain him in the second half. His fumble deep in Baylor territory in the third quarter reversed the entire fortune of the game. It basically resulted in a 14 point turnaround that the Huskies never recovered from. Grade A Minus
Receivers
I thought the receivers did a great job last night. How many dropped balls did you see? I can't really remember any as of this morning. Price spread the ball around the entire field. Seven different Huskies caught the ball. ASJ, Kearse, and Aguilar caught five apiece. Kearse who was knocked out of the game with an apparent concussion had 198 total receiving yards and a touchdown. I think the loss of Kearse in the fourth quarter was a contributing factor in the loss of this game. Having him on the field for the final drive would have made a big difference. Grade A
Offensive Line
It is tough to rip the offensive line when your offense puts 56 points on the scoreboard and generates 620 total years. That being said they didn't get it done in crucial situations in the second half when the game was on the line. Chris Polk needed a little more help last night and he didn't get it. Keith Price needed a little more protection on the flanks and he didn't get it. That was really the story of the track meet/game. Grade B
Defensive Tackles
I am going to break out the tackles from the ends this week because it is only fair. These guys were surprisingly gassed by the first series of the game. Conditioning is a huge problem here because our tackles were unable to keep up with the tempo that Baylor was playing at.
On a lot of plays these guys couldn't even get completely set in their stances because they were so winded and tired. Baylor makes it difficult to substitute but I didn't see anything last night that made me think their offense was better than Oregon's.
Did Alameda Ta'amu spend his entire December chugging down gallons of egg nog? You can't make plays when you are standing up and these guys were voluntarily standing up the entire evening which is just pathetic.
The Washington defense yielded 482 rushing yards with the majority of that happening in the second half when the entire UW defense was too tired to tackle.
One positive note to take from all this is that Danny Shelton (if he keeps his conditioning on track) has the potential to be an All Pac 12 player in the future. Grade F
Defensive End
I thought we did a pretty good job getting after the quarterback last night. Josh Shirley sacked Robert Griffin III three times and Andrew Hudson got to him once. Both of these guys have great potential and all they really need is another year in the weight room. All that being said they (like the entire UW defense) were terrible against the run. Grade C Minus
Linebackers
Cort Dennison finished his Husky career the way he started it and that was by giving a supreme effort in his last outing as a Husky. He was in on 15 tackles and played the game sideline to sideline the entire evening trying to make up for other guys mistakes. Washington gave up 482 rushing yards so you really can't give the entire unit anything but a big fat F even though the line in front of the was collapsing from the very first series. These guys missed way too many tackles when it counted in the second half. Grade F
Defensive Backs
With the exception of a bomb given up at the expense of Quinton Richardson the secondary kept everything pretty much in front of them for the majority of the night. They held RG3 to under 300 yards passing and only one TD pass. Run support was just terrible from the safety positions...but you can say that about the entire winded and gassed team. Grade F
Special Teams
Erik Folk finished his Husky career with a miss that cost the Huskies three badly needed points. The punting...what little there was of it on both sides of the ball was fine. Kasen Williams finally broke a punt return for a big game that put the Huskies is a position to seemingly put the game away early in the third quarter. Sankey and Callier did a nice job returning kicks.
Danny Shelton's kick off return and subsequent fumble while entertaining cost UW the chance to rally for another TD and try an on sides kick. I have no idea of what the hell he was thinking when he jumped in front of a UW up back to steal the ball and do his best Chris Polk imitation. Grade B Plus
Coaching
I have seen Sark call better games but I have never sen hm put 56 points on an opponent before. Even though the Huskies lost that is a legendary offensive performance that will not soon be forgotten. That being said he got too cute at times and didn't attack the Bears enough North/South to my liking with Chris Polk. I would give the offensive staff an A minus if I was rating them separately.
Nick Holt gave all the little "Holt Haters" out there plenty of ammunition heading into the off season. Statistically it was the worst defensive performance in Washington history. Sark and Woody will stand by him for another year but this mess isn't getting any better. I think it is probably best for all concerned that a change is made.
Most of the problems on defense last night were attributable to the fast tempo of the game and the defense just being too fatigued to finish. Baylor was running plays before our guys were even lined up correctly...it was pretty pathetic.
Is Baylor that much faster than an Oregon or Arizona?
Grade C