Fisch Blocks for His UW Offensive Line, Fends Off Criticism

The coach thinks his blockers have been unfairly maligned so far.

Landen Hatchett provides pass protection for UW quarterback Demond Williams Jr. | Dave Sizer photo

The blocking was flawless, the protection immaculate.

Not by the University of Washington offensive line, but on behalf of it.

Asked if he was hopeful his blockers finally might soon come together as a cohesive unit, coach Jedd Fisch spent two and a half minutes staunchly defending this group, intimating that any rampant criticism of it or suggestion as such was misdirected.

"I would say it's an unfair attack on the offensive line in a lot of ways and I feel for them," Fisch said.

Of course, the counter argument here is these guys have opened only enough holes for a Husky rushing attack to average a barely there 90.3 yards per outing -- including an almost invisible -3 yards against Iowa -- and share a lot of responsibility for giving up a wieldy 18 sacks over the past three games alone.

Still, Fisch pushes back against those who would take his O-line largely to task.

"I think in terms of protections, its unfair to the offensive line in a lot of ways that they're getting kind of crushed regarding some of the sacks when sometimes we're sitting back there holding the ball for five seconds or four and a half seconds," Fisch said.

The coach intimated that youth remains a factor for any rough edges, too, with his coaching staff choosing to start the promising but not quite ready freshman Kodi Greene at left tackle from the beginning of the season.

Of course, the Huskies could have opted to open with sophomore John Mills, their best offensive lineman, at the all-important left tackle spot by moving him over from left guard -- which finally happened against Iowa.

Kodi Greene, left, chats up his fellow offensive linemen during the game against Iowa. | Dave Sizer photo

Or they might have done a better job of convincing part-time starting guard Paki Finau to stay put in Montlake rather than transfer to No. 8 and unbeaten BYU, where he's been a highly graded starting left tackle for the Cougars all season.

Against Iowa, the Huskies had their four returning starters from 2025 available for the first time this season with Landen Hatchett coming off a lengthy injury absence to start at center and Mills making the move to tackle. It wasn't immediately noticeable with the negative rushing number put up.

Through six games, the Huskies still haven't run the ball with any authority outside of freshman Brian Bonner Jr.'s 19-carry, 89-yard rushing performance against USC.

Fisch prefers to spread the blame around for the tepid Husky ground game, noting the inexperience of his running backs and/or the failure of his tight ends to fulfill their blocking assignments have contributed to the lack of rushing yards.

A rare moment of frivolity for wide receiver Chris Lawson and offensive lineman Kolt Dieterich during the Iowa loss. | Dave Sizer photo

"I think it's unfair to the offensive line in a lot of ways because the way we're defining straightening out the offensive line would saying running the ball better or taking less sacks," he said. "And I would say a lot of the play that has affected the offensive line is the other position groups along with the offensive line."

Fisch proved relentless as a blocker in defending his linemen's honor. Yet those guys are not blameless and still need to create some holes and have some positive rushing stats to show for their efforts.