Instant Reaction: Huskies Trampled by Buffaloes

Sports Illustrated/Husky Maven's Mike Martin offers an instant reaction to the Washington Huskies 20-14 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes Saturday night.

Instant Reaction

After going 3 and out on their first drive the Huskies seemed to have things going their way as they drove 64 yards in 13 plays to the Buffalo 11 yard line.  That's when ESPN flashed the stat that the Huskies were scoring TDs on just 55% of their trips into the Red Zone.  Virtually as soon as the graphic faded from the screen Washington QB, Jacob Eason threw an interception.  

There were so many problems at so many levels that a midnight flight from Boulder to Seattle and a short week will be tough to fix.  Colorado looked like a rested team coming off of a bye week.  Washington looked worn down, disjointed.  If it could go wrong for the Huskies it did.  

What We Saw  

With a the Buffs backed up on their own goal line and a jail-break blitz to sack Colorado's QB, Stephen Montez but Josiah Bronson jumped off sides.  

A few plays later Montez injured his non-throwing wrist and went out for a play.  The snap was miss-handled by his understudy for minus 8 yards. On 3rd and 18 Montez escapes and keeps the drive alive. 

Washington Punt Returner Aaron Fuller looked to have a go-ahead return with a blockers in front of him nobody slowed down to take care of back-side pursuit and he was caught from behind and was credited with a 52-yard return.  Washington was unable to convert good field position into points.

Key Stats

Washington got over 1/4 of their total yardage in the game on their second series. 

Either Colorado did a good job of protecting the ball or the Huskies couldn't come up with a turnover...either way Washington was -1 in turnover margin

Jacob Eason had a 19 yard run in the game even with that UW averaged 1 yard per carry.

Edefuan Ulofoshio was in on 21% of the defensive stops for Washington (11 of 52)

 Turning Point

Washington had many opportunities at turning points but couldn't turn the corner.  The tide began to turn when Jacob Eason threw a red zone interception.  Washington was never out of the game but they also didn't appear to be emotionally in the game either from that point on.

Where Do They Go From Here

A late-night flight back to Seattle to play a the Apple Cup Friday at 12:30.