Washington Prepares For Stingy Arizona Defense

Offensive tackle Bob Sapp and wide receiver Fred Coleman are looking at the same Arizona defense on film this week and they see different challenges, but similar opportunities.

“This game is our chance to shine and show that we can run against the best,” said Sapp, who has helped lead the Huskies to a league-best 4.6 yards per rushing attempt this season. “We’ve got the kind of running game that we think we can run on anybody.”

Coleman wasn’t talking about running the ball.

“Arizona looks like they’ve got really good corners and safeties,” said Coleman, who sparked the Huskies with two spectacular catches on long passes in the 38-28 victory over Stanford. “They play a lot of press - bumpand-run coverage, like Stanford.

“When a team does that, you have to hit some big passes on three-step drops. We’ll have to make some big plays again.”

The problem, Sapp and Coleman acknowledge, is that Arizona (3-3), has the toughest defense they have faced this season. Arizona leads the Pac-10 in total defense and has allowed opponents to complete only 48.7 percent of their passes.

They might need all of the wide-open playbook that they took into the Stanford game, Coleman said.

“The coaches keep telling us that they’ll be coming to us more and more,” he added. “But I’m a Saturday guy. I’ll wait ‘til Saturday to see that.”