Feather dusting

EUGENE, Ore. – Maybe now it’s time to worry about the offense.

Throughout the 2007 season, the biggest concern about Washington football was the abysmal defense that allowed a school-worst 446.4 yards per game.

On Saturday night, however, when the Huskies opened their season against Oregon, a sluggish offense was the biggest culprit in a 44-10 loss to the Ducks.

Throughout a breezy night at Autzen Stadium, Husky receivers struggled to get open or dropped passes when they did. Tailbacks found no room to run, and Jake Locker found himself getting knocked to the ground or missing his target more than he’ll care to remember when looking back on this game. The veteran line that was supposed to be the strength of the offense often couldn’t give tailbacks room to run, or Locker time to pass.

In the end, the Huskies finished with only 234 yards of total offense, and averaged just 2 yards per carry.

More often than not, the Huskies’ best play was the broken kind. With the pocket collapsing Locker improvised to have his biggest plays of the day.

Locker gave way to Ronnie Fouch in the fourth quarter once the game was out of hand. Locker completed just 12 of 28 passes for 103 yards and was sacked four times. He was also the Huskies’ leading rusher with 17 carries for 48 yards.

The defense was hardly spectacular, but did better, for three quarters anyway, than the Huskies have in recent years against the Ducks’ high-octane spread offense.

After scoring 55 points and piling up 661 yards against the Huskies last season, the Ducks were held to marginally more respectable 496 yards. That was hardly the effort Washington was hoping for, and coaches and players will still have plenty to be upset about when they look at the film of this one.

Oregon jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter. Jeremiah Johnson scored on a 4-yard run, one play after he gained 44 yards.

Johnson finished with a career-high 123 yards on 15 carries.