Washington vs Arizona Game Awards

Player of the Game: Sean Parker. The senior safety was all over the field all game. He started the game by getting a pick, had a big breakup later, while all the while getting his nose in on tackles and providing crucial run support to slow down Ka'Deem Carey.

Goat of the Game: Jaydon Mickens. Mickens didn't have a horrible game, but he didn't have the kind of game we've come to expect from him this season, finishing with just one catch for 15 yards. He was also Keith Price's target on the interception he threw, and there seemed to be a miscommunication between the two indicating that Mickens may have been in the wrong spot when the pass arrived at its location.

Who Stepped Up: Shaq Thompson was Sean Parker's partner in crime in this game, as it seemed like if Parker wasn't making a tackle, then Thompson was. He finished with 13 total tackles, and was instrumental early in getting Arizona off the field as he had tackles on 4 of Arizona's first 6 plays.

The Game Tipped When: The Husky defense didn't let Arizona get anything going early. Arizona's first eight drives went like this: Interception, Punt, Punt, Punt, Safety, Punt, Punt, Punt. Except for a couple of series in the middle of the game, the UW defense gave up nothing, and Arizona was never a true threat.

It Was Over When: The Huskies came out in the second half and went 185 yards on their first two drives, culminating in two touchdowns. The Wildcats couldn't keep pace with the Huskies, and the defense was able to suffocate the Arizona attack, allowing UW to put the game well out of reach by the time the final whistle blew.

Surprise of the Game: The defense. At this point, it's apparent that the Huskies have a very good defense. I don't think that it was expected that they'd shut down Arizona's offense in the manner that they did. Yes, Carey gained 132 yards, but he needed 30 carries to get there, and he was never explosive with his longest carry going for 13 yards. B.J. Denker became the lastest victim of UW's secondary, as all four opposing QB's have been unable to do much of anything against the Husky back end. Marcus Peters is quickly becoming one of the top corners in the conference.

WTF Moment of the Game: I understand that Steve Sarkisian wanted to ride his bell cow in this one. I don't understand why he did it to the extreme that he did. 40 carries is too many for Bishop Sankey. It is especially ridiculous when you consider that Jesse Callier was (and has been over the last few games) equally effective and doesn't drop off UW's production at the position much at all. There are other bodies that the offense can go to; there's no reason to run Sankey into the dirt.