Huskies Turn Sack Into An Endangered Football Species
The last time it happened, the University of Washington football team was down to three offensive plays in the 2021 season. Sam Huard was the quarterback. Washington State edge rushers Brennan Jackson and Quinn Roff were responsible.
Near the end of the Apple Cup, the pair of Cougars came charging off the corners, beating tight end Devin Culp and right tackle Victor Curne in the process, and they dropped Huard in a panicked retreat for a 13-yard loss.
They registered what's known as a sack.
It's a play where the quarterback gets tackled for negative yardage, thrown down hard and often humiliated by it all.
It's also a bag that supermarkets are now charging for, which means no one wants one.
Jackson and Roff's tag-team effort was noteworthy because it stands as the last sack permitted by the Huskies when their starting quarterback was involved. The Cougars were so committed to this play Roff got shaken up as he landed on Huard's legs to bring him down.
Entering Saturday night's game against Stanford, the Huskies have given up no sacks when it comes to their starter, not allowed anyone close enough to breathe on their new leader, Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr., who has thrown for 1,079 yards and 10 touchdowns. The UW has been guilty of mop-up sacks of reserve QBs Dylan Morris and Huard in games long decided.
Left offensive tackle Troy Fautanu, a 6-foot-4, 312-pound sophomore from Henderson, Nevada, took a bow for everyone who wore a purple shirt up front when he was named Pac-12 Lineman of the Week after the offense generated 503 yards of total offense in a 39-28 victory over Michigan State.
And permitted zero sacks — against a team leading the nation in sacks (12).
"Regardless of who it was who was out there, we were out there to play our game," Fautanu said on Tuesday. "At the end of the day, the stats said zero sacks and it wasn't just me who who did that. It was the other four next to me, too."
Last weekend, the challenge for the Husky tackles — redshirt freshman Roger Rosengarten on the right and Fautanu — was to neutralize Michigan State edge rusher Jacoby Windmon, who came into the game leading the nation in sacks with 5.5. Of course, he left with 0.0 and that was the game plan, according to Husky offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.
"I'm not saying this in an overconfident way, but I totally expected that, I did," Grubb said. "I would have been disappointed if they couldn't have handled him, just because they knew we had worked and drilled so hard. He had two specific moves in his pass rush and I thought we drilled into them. I thought they did a great job of defending those two moves."
And how so?
"They knew what he was — he's a speed player with great athleticism," Grubb said. "You just have to know what his one advantage is and take it away from him."
A year ago, with a different overall staff though the same line coach in Scott Huff, the UW offensive line handed out sacks like they were candy on Halloween.
After three games a year ago, the Huskies had allowed 8 for 49 lost yards, including 4 against Michigan. They even gave up 4 in a 23-13 victory at Arizona. By the season's end, the UW had permitted 23 sacks for 139 lost yards, nearly two a game.
Their most costly sack from last season happened when Oregon State cornerback Rejzohn Wright came off the right edge untouched as Curne blocked an inside man and the Beavers defensive player smacked Dylan Morris for a 7-yard loss early in the fourth quarter of a 27-24 defeat in Corvallis.
The real damage, however, was inflicted when Wright and Morris crashed into the blindside of a pass-blocking Jaxson Kirkland and tore up his ankle in the process.
Kirkland hasn't been the same since, needing surgery and sitting out those first three sack-less games this season.
The 6-foot-7, 340-pound sixth-year senior, a two-time All-Pac-12 player, could make his long-awaited season debut against Stanford if that troublesome ankle permits.
This might mean that Fautanu has to play guard, this after being named the league's best lineman, which typically means you can choose wherever you want to play. Or maybe Kirkland has to play guard.
It's a nice situation for the Huskies to have — too many linemen, but no sacks.
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