Huskies Almost Never Fumble, But Lately It's Been a Problem

In 2022, the UW finished tied for the fewest bobbles nationwide.

One thing Kalen DeBoer's University of Washington football teams typically don't do is beat themselves They don't make glaring mistakes. Practice repetitions are conducted at a high level. Fundamentals are drummed into these guys.

In fact, in DeBoer's first season in Montlake in 2022, the Huskies lost just two fumbles over 13 games — which tied them for the fewest nationwide with USC, San Jose State, Northern Illinois and East Carolina. 

Which is why it's more than a little disconcerting to DeBoer's offensive staff the Huskies already have coughed up the ball five times in just eight games, turning it over once in each of the past three outings.

Not only have they given up the ball with more frequency, the giveaways have come at the Tulsa 15, Arizona 5, Arizona State 7 and Stanford 17, each time squandering potential red-zone points.

In last weekend's game in Palo Alto, UW wide receiver Rome Odunze caught a short pass and had the ball stripped from his grasp early in the fourth quarter as he entered the red zone. Two series later, Odunze watched as a pass intended for him was intercepted by Cardinal cornerback Zahran Manley in the end zone.

On Monday, Husky offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb expressed his notable displeasure with the sudden offensive sloppiness, which made the UW's 42-33 victory more of a challenge.

"I told the guys on Sunday I thought we had a good game, not a great game," Grubb said candidly. "Two red zone turnovers is horrific. We could have helped the defense by staying out there doing that and scoring points, and getting 50 some points instead of 42, and leaving it a close football game when it shouldn't have been."

The roll call of lost Husky fumbles, all by different players this season, goes like this:

1) Against Tulsa in the fourth quarter, wide receiver Jalen McMillan caught an 18-yard pass to the Golden Hurricane 15, but gave up the football, which was returned 43 yards the other way.

2) At Arizona, receiver Germie Bernard tried to rush for a fourth-quarter score but got sandwiched by multiple players at the 5 and he put the ball on the turf. 

3) Trying to run for a second-quarter score, Penix lost possession of the ball against Arizona State at the 7 and watched another scoring situation nullified.

4) In the same game, receiver Ja'Lynn Polk caught a 7-yard pass on the second play of the second half but inexplicably lost the handle and ASU recovered at the UW 40.

5) In the fourth quarter at Stanford, Odunze caught a short pass only to have edge rusher Tevarua Tafiti conduct a well-executed strip play to enable the Cardinal to gain possession at the 17.

Consequently, the UW let those miscues enable the two worst teams in the Pac-12 — ASU lost 15-7 and Stanford got beat 42-33 — to hang around rather than get blown out. 

While the aforementioned players normally are sure-handed, with Polk scoring twice against Stanford and Odunze once on pass receptions, concentration levels either are not where they should be at the moment or the Huskies are trying too hard to make a big play. Either way, the UW needs to fix the situation before consequences are dire.

"Right now it's not good enough, not the standard," Grubb said of the fumbles. "We have to make it more important."

---

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published. Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.