Instant Reaction: Inconsistency Catches Up with Huskies Against Stanford
The game that unfolded Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium was not unexpected for Jimmy Lake. The University of Washington football coach said earlier in the week he knew what was coming from Stanford.
But on Saturday, it wasn't clear which team would show up for the Huskies: the one that punished teams for their mistakes or the one that couldn't get out of it own way.
Both showed up.
Again.
Once more, Washington's opponent took an 21-point lead into the locker room at the break. After intermission, the Husky defense finally came up with some stops and turnovers.
However, Lake's team dug itself too deep of a hole to avoid a 31-26 defeat.
In reality, a loss in this manner was weeks in the making. The pattern had been developing over the course of the shortened season in which the Washington offense and defense have been inconsistent.
Edefuan Ulofoshio backed up his 14 tackles against Utah with 18 stops against Stanford. The 32 tackles in two games is tops for a Washington defender since Ben Burr-Kirven's 34 against Colorado and Oregon in 2018.
Ulofoshio's gaudy numbers were, in part, the result of Washington's interior defensive front being neutralized. Apart of Tuli Letuligasenoa's 5 stops, Josiah Bronson, Sam Taimani, and Faatui Tuitele combined for 3 total tackles.
Additionally, Sav'ell Smalls and Zion Tupuola-Fetui were non-factors, combining for a single tackle when Smalls ran a Stanford ball-carrier out of bounds after a 4-yard gain.
In all, 61 of Washington's 68 total tackles were issued by second- and third-level defenders.
The Huskies played fairly mistake-free ball with a couple of notable exceptions that loomed large in the outcome.
Stanford scored on the game's opening drive and on Washington responded with unforced errors to kill its first series.
Facing third-and-5, the Huskies broke the huddle with 12 players and were penalized five yards. They followed with a delay-of-game penalty, moving the ball back another five yards. Washington punted.
The Huskies weren't penalized again until the fourth quarter.
After Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie stripped the ball from Stanford running back Austin Jones, linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio had it bounce into his arms and he raced to the Stanford 11-yard-line.
On the next play, quarterback Dylan Morris found Ty Jones in the end zone to seemingly pull the UW within two — but the Huskies were called for holding, wiping the touchdown off the board. After another holding penalty, the UW settled for Peyton Henry's 45-yard field goal with 7:47 remaining in the game.
The Huskies were forced to play from behind again. Stanford scored on its first five drives to go up 24-3.
The UW touched the ball three times in the first half, settling for a field goal and punting twice.
The Cardinal's ability to hold the ball for the final 7:47 of the game salted it away.
