Grading the Game: Oregon

UW just signed one of the best classes in school history, and we’re all probably wondering what warm weather location they will play in for their bowl game. But, the Huskies still played a game last weekend, which means we grade.

Passing Offense – 4/10

Quarterback – 4/10

Offensive line – 5/10

Receivers – 4/10

Coming up against an Oregon defense that was one of the best in the country, the passing offense struggled. Demond Williams ultimately finished 15/30 for 129 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which was particularly bad. The fact good offenses stall against Oregon is obviously what makes them an elite defense, but it felt like there was more meat on the bone for the Huskies in this one. Arguably the biggest weakness in Williams’ game is holding onto the football too long, and his 3.81-second time-to-throw (per PFF) was the highest he’s posted all year, and it led to unnecessary sacks. Especially in the first half, he just flat out missed open receivers even when he wasn’t under pressure.

The receivers were pretty locked down by Oregon’s secondary, though the two touchdown passes to Denzel Boston were nicely drawn up and executed plays. Dezmen Roebuck made a couple nice plays too, taking a slant to the goal line to set up a Boston touchdown, and absorbing a massive hit after making a catch over the middle.

Per PFF, the offensive line allowed 13 pressures, which is third most in a game this season. Oregon has a very active defensive line and the performance wasn’t terrible, but four sacks is too many. In terms of total pressures by the defense, Williams faced 20, second most in a game this season.

Rushing Offense – 7/10

Running backs – 7/10

Offensive line – 7/10

This is basically the Adam Mohammed section as Jonah Coleman was pretty ineffective, working his way back from a knee injury (9 carries, 22 yards). Mohammed on the other hand took 14 carries for 105 yards, consistently finding running lanes, making guys miss in the open field, and finishing runs with physicality. He was decisive and averaged over seven yards per carry, plus took two passes for 18 yards. This was obviously the best game of his career and it’s perplexing why he didn’t get the ball more.

Passing Defense – 3.5/10

Pass rush – 4/10

Secondary – 3/10

Despite Washington sacking Oregon’s Dante Moore twice, they only pressured him five times (per PFF), their lowest total of the season. Freshman CB Dylan Robinson (playing for an injured Tacario Davis) had one of the sacks on a nicely executed corner blitz, but also let Oregon receivers get open on him more than a few times. Moore finished 20/29 for 286 yards (9.9 YPA) and a touchdown. It wasn’t a monster day by any means, but whatever Oregon needed through the air, they got with little resistance from the Washington secondary. The back breaker was Moore’s 3rd and 9 completion over the middle to WR Malik Benson, who ran 64 yards through the Washington defense for a touchdown. It extended the lead to 12 points with under ten minutes left in the game, and the way Washington was playing offense, it might as well have been 1,200.

Rush Defense – 7.5/10

This was certainly the bright spot defensively, as Washington largely bottled up Oregon on the ground. Oregon’s three running backs rushed 32 times for exactly 100 yards and no touchdowns (Dante Moore got Oregon’s lone rushing score on a zone read keeper). They hardly got loose for big gains, with Noah Whittington’s 17 yard run the longest run of the day. Not only when watching the game did the run defense pass the eye test, the advanced stats paint a good picture too. Per PFF, Washington had 19 “stops” on defense (a play that constitutes a failure for the offense), the second highest total of the season.

Special Teams – 6/10

Punter Luke Dunne was called upon for six punts and I think there was only a single shank, so improvement. Adam Mohammed had a long kick off return of 36 yards, but this unit still needs better discipline and execution.

Coaching – 5/10

Overall, this game went about how you could have expected, given Washington’s other performances this season. The offensive struggles are frustrating, but the defense under Ryan Walter’s showed some reason to be excited about the future. I’m not sure the difference in winning and losing this game was simply giving the ball the Adam Mohammed more, but it sure seems like Jedd Fisch wants to avoid playing an ugly game where Washington plays keep-away by running the ball and winning field position on special teams. He believes in his quarterback, but if Demond Williams is supposed to be the difference maker in these types of games, he doesn’t seem entirely ready to take on that responsibility. Fisch should have recognized this more this season and adjusted. Perhaps after this year of starting experience, and another full off season, we’ll see the growth from Demond Williams we all want, but that is for another article.