UW Huskies’ grades for blowout win over Cougars in Apple Cup
Here are grades for the Huskies from their 59-24 victory over Washington State on Saturday at Martin Stadium in Pullman.
Offense
On the Huskies’ first play from scrimmage, the Cougars sacked UW quarterback Demond Williams Jr., but it didn’t take long for the Husky sophomore to prove that was just a rare blip for the offense.
Williams completed a 25-yard pass to Denzel Boston and completed the drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Boston.
On UW’s next drive, Williams had a run for 26 yards, then scored on a 23-yard run. Whether Williams was running or passing, the Cougars could not stop him and that theme continued.
Williams completed 16 of 19 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns and rushed 13 times for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Washington State could not cover Boston, who hurt them with several big plays, finishing with six receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
Running back Jonah Coleman continued his great season, rushing 12 times for 59 yards, catching six passes for 104 yards and scoring three total touchdowns (one rushing and two receiving).
Grade: A
Defense
The Cougars were able to move the ball alarmingly easily (at least for UW fans) for three quarters, looking much better on offense than they had in their first three games, particularly against Idaho or North Texas.
Some, and maybe much, of that might be attributed to WSU quarterback Zevi Eckhaus getting his first start of the season. But even with him, this doesn’t figure to be a high-powered offense.
Fortunately for UW, WSU’s first drive ended on an interception after the Cougars had driven into Husky territory. The Cougars weren’t stopped often after that until the fourth quarter.
On their next drive, they went 75 yards on 11 plays and took 6:42 to do it while converting all three of their third-down attempts.
The Cougars drove down the field again on their next drive before settling for a field goal. They were even better in the third quarter, scoring touchdowns on their first two drives of the second half.
Eckhaus found open receivers over and over against the Husky secondary, which had its worst game of the season.
Washington did have a pick-six and a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory, but overall, it wasn’t a good day for the defense.
Grade: C-minus
Special teams
Grady Gross kicked a career-high 51-yard field goal in the first half, continuing his reliable kicking this season.
Washington also got a big play in the return game when Dezmen Roebuck alertly fielded WSU’s onside kick after the Cougars had pulled the game to 24-17, returning it 10 yards to the WSU 35-yard line to help set up a Husky touchdown.
It was another boring day for UW punter Luke Dunne, who hasn’t had to punt since the season opener.
Grade: A
Coaching
The Huskies defense didn’t seem prepared to face Eckhaus, and they didn’t make successful adjustments to stop him.
On the plus side, UW coach Jedd Fisch saw most of the plays he called on offense work quite well.
Grade: B