Can Washington’s statistically confusing pass rush break through against Stanford?

SEATTLE – The statistics speak for themselves.

But which statistics?

Through seven games, the Washington Huskies’ pass rush has produced seven sacks, tied for 132nd out of 133 teams nationally (ahead of only East Carolina’s five). Last Saturday, it failed to sack an Arizona State offense that had surrendered 22 sacks in its first six games (116th in the nation). Some might reach the inevitable conclusion that the pass rush has underperformed.

But UW co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell doesn’t see it that way.

“I’m going to go to this stat again. Go look at our opposing quarterback completion percentages. That’s all I can say, and just watch,” Morrell said. “Everybody’s hungry for the stat of sacks and everything else, but I want you to watch what quarterbacks are having to do.

“Bralen Trice, barreling down on you, hits you early in the game. The rest of the day, you are thinking about nothing but, ‘How fast can I get the ball out of my hands?’ Bralen’s having a huge impact. (Zion Tupuola-Fetui) is having a huge impact, and people are literally trying to have the ball come out of their hands as fast as they can. Again, I don’t remember exactly what the stat was from Saturday, but it was hovering around 50% completions. And I think if you can walk away from any game where they’re in the mid-50s (in completion percentage), I’ll take that all day long.”

So, about those Huskies statistics …

UW ranks third in the Pac-12 and 34th in the nation in opponent completion percentage (57.6%).

Last Saturday, ASU quarterback Trenton Bourguet completed 26 of 47 passes (55.3%), throwing for 196 yards with zero touchdowns and an 89-yard pick-six. UW’s pass defense has certainly improved, statistically – sitting seventh nationally in passes defended per game (6.0), 14th in interceptions (nine), 16th in opponent yards per pass attempt (6.0), 18th in opponent pass efficiency rating (113.45).

Of course, that’s a credit to UW defensive backs Jabbar Muhammad, Elijah Jackson, Mishael Powell, Dominique Hampton, Kamren Fabiculanan and Asa Turner.

But is UW’s pass rush winning in less obvious ways?

That’s what the Huskies would have you believe.

“I’m not really frustrated at all, to be honest,” said Trice, the junior edge who has two tackles for loss and one sack this season after snagging 12 tackles for loss and nine sacks in 2022. “It’d be good to have sacks, but it feels good that the rest of our defense is out there and able to eat. We’re playing our tails off.”Stanford (2-5, 1-4 Pac-12) – which hosts the Huskies (7-0, 4-0) on Saturday – has surrendered 55 tackles for loss (118th) and 25 sacks (119th) in seven games.

Perhaps, come Saturday, stats will be stuffed.

About those uniforms …

Someone – or something – has to be the scapegoat.

Uniforms: You’re up!

Washington underperformed against ASU while wearing adidas’ “Husky Royalty” alternates, somewhat of a recent theme. Last fall, UW also struggled in white adidas alternates in a 28-21 win at California.

More broadly, the Huskies have a checkered history with helmet color changes.

Before Saturday, UW last wore purple helmets in a 12-10 upset loss at Cal in 2018. Its only regular-season loss in 2016 (a 26-13 disappointment against USC) came while wearing black matte helmets with an American-flag-emblazoned ‘W.’ White helmets also haven’t treated the Huskies well.

Of course, uniform deviations are also considered a recruiting tool.

But does fashion impact focus?

“When we see what happens Saturday and you’re wearing a different uniform, I guess you start drawing conclusions. But I really don’t believe in that,” UW coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. “A couple things: I do fall in line with being the traditional [team], the history and all that. That’s what we are here at Washington. But I’m not a superstitious guy, so I don’t feel like it falls in line with anything as far as your production or the results.

“It really wasn’t that big of a deal for our guys to go and wear a different uniform. We’re proud of what we wear. The traditional gold [helmet], purple [jersey], gold [pants] is something our guys love wearing, and it represents not just this team but decades of great football played at UW.”

The fly-sweep fail

When it works, you’re a genius.

When it doesn’t, you become a notebook note.

Trailing 7-3 with 13:10 left in the fourth quarter Saturday, UW faced a third-and-10 from the ASU 27-yard line. Rather than put the ball in the hands of Heisman Trophy contender quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the Huskies handed it off to wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk for a 3-yard loss.

So … why a fly sweep on third-and-10?

“The fly sweep down inside the red zone had shown up numerous times in numerous ways against them, getting a little pick crack [block] on the outside and getting the ball around the edge,” said UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. “So I felt two things. No. 1, it was third-and-10. We were going for it on fourth down as long as we got 2 yards. I felt really good that 2 yards was the minimum [result], if not maybe [a] score.

“With so much interior pressure, especially in that part of the football field, there was a really high [probability] that we would have been able to get the ball around the outside. Unfortunately the [defensive] end played super wide on [left tackle Troy Fautanu] and [tight end Jack Westover], and we just couldn’t get the play started.”

UW sophomore kicker Grady Gross proceeded to convert a career-long 47-yard field goal in the eventual 15-7 win.

But, per Grubb, the play-call criticism is warranted.

“If somebody’s watching the game, and you’re in the red zone, you’re losing, it’s third-and-10 and you run a frickin’ fly sweep, what the hell are you doing?” he said. “I get it. We take some calculated risks at times. We’ve been right on some of them. That one we certainly weren’t.”