The Top 10 Storylines from UW vs Arizona According to The Howlin’ Husky
Storyline 10
It might go down as the speech that righted the season. Heading into the locker room at the half, Washington QB Jacob Eason sensed that his offense needed a spark. So Eason challenged his team to step up their level of energy and execution in the second half. Jacob backed up his tough talk with action as he marched the Husky offense 75 yards on the first 10 plays of the third quarter and put 6 points on the board for the Dawgs.
Eason found tight end Jack Westover coming out of the backfield for a 3-yard touchdown beginning what may be a season-defining comeback victory. In the 10 previous times that Chris Petersen’s Dawgs have trailed at the half they’ve not come back to win. So far this season the Huskies offense is averaging 36.4 points per game exactly 10 points more than the 2018 season and 0.2 points ahead of the 2017 season.
Storyline 9
Speaking of Jacob Eason, the Wildcats sacked him only once - making it 9 times that Eason has been sacked on the year. The Washington offense did not turn the ball over and the only Washington turnover was a muffed punt by Aaron Fuller. Eason has thrown 3 interceptions through 7 games while throwing 13 TD passes.
Storyline 8
Ryan Bowman and Joe Tryon are beginning to emerge as a pretty good pass rushing tandem for the Huskies. They were in Khalil Tate's face bringing pressure for much of the game. Tryon had the first sack of the night, and late in the game Bowman not only batted down a pass, but was somehow able to complete the unbelievably athletic play by hauling it in with a diving interception.
It was the defense's 8th interception of the season - good enough for 11th in the country. They are also ranked 12th in the country with 13 forced turnovers.
Storyline 7
Converting on third down has been a struggle for the Huskies offense as they’ve converted just 19% of them into first downs (7 for 37 in the past 3 games). The defense has fared much better at holding opponents to a 35% conversion rate, which is right around their season average. Here are the 3rd down conversion percentages for the past 3 games:
Husky Offense
- 3-12 against USC
- 2-12 against Stanford
- 3-13 against Arizona
Husky Defense
- 4-13 against USC
- 6-14 against Stanford
- 5-16 against Arizona
Storyline 6
The saying, “It’s not how you start, but rather how you finish” was never more true than in the desert Saturday night. Washington was unable to fully take advantage of great field position as they settled for 2 early Peyton Henry field goals to take a 6-0 lead. Once again Henry was perfect on the night hitting on all six extra points and all 3 field goal attempts.
On the year Henry is one of 6 kickers in the nation to not miss a kick...hitting all 43 attempts (14 field goals and 29 PATs). He checks in at 9th in the country in scoring at a whisker over 10 points a game.
Storyline 5
On the next offensive drive following their 10-play drive to start the 3rd quarter, Washington was forced to punt. After that, they scored on their final 5 meaningful possessions including 3 rushing TDs from Salvon Ahmed. Overall, the Dawgs converted all 7 of their trips into the Red Zone into points. On the other side of the ball Washington's defense is 5th in the country with two defensive TDs.
Storyline 4
Peyton Henry isn’t the only special-teamer with a high national ranking. Punter, Joel Whitford has punted 21 times and has zero touchbacks. As a team they are 4th in the country with the 1 touchback belonging to….wait for it….Jacob Eason.
Storyline 3
Bush Hamdan took a lot of heat in the post-Stanford loss...most notably from Chris Petersen. Petersen stated that against Stanford he felt that they abandoned the ground game a bit early. With Richard Newton sidelined, Sean McGrew showed his ability to get tough yards and be explosive. In fact, he demonstrated that explosiveness on his first carry of the night bursting through the Wildcat defense for 44 yards.
Mr. McGrew had 3 carries for 50 yards in the first quarter and finished with 13 carries for 106 yards. His stablemate, Salvon Ahmed, chipped in with 95 yards and 3 TDs. Together they piled up 201 yards and 3 TDs on 33 carries.
Storyline 2
Arizona’s QB, Khalil Tate had no idea where the pressure was going to be coming from. That led to about 10 throw-aways and an inexplicable off-hand, throw-away/fumble that Washington LB, Brandon Wellington returned 15 feet for the score. The TD gave the Huskies a 13-3 lead
Wellington is now sixth on the team in scoring behind Peyton Henry, Richard Newton, Aaron Fuller, Salvon Ahmed, and Andrea Baccelia. His two scoop and scores are 4th most in the country. Death Row has scored 16 points (2 TDs and a safety)
Storyline 1
Washington fans were Googling the name “Jack Westover” whose 3-yard TD helped reclaim the lead that they would not relinquish. It was his first touch of the ball joining Richard Newton and Puka Nacua who all scored on their first ever touch as a Husky this season. Newton did it against Eastern Washington, Puka Nacua did it against Hawai’i, and now Jack Westover has done it against Arizona.
Mike Martin is the executive producer and co-host of Dawg Thoughts Radio
