Past 2 Opponents Shut Off Husky Sack Spigot to Barely a Drip

The University of Washington edge rushers, the new coaching staff concluded in spring football, had the potential to be really special, disruptive, game-changing.

The new guys backed up their observations by choosing Jeremiah Martin and Bralen Trice as the starters once the season rolled around, leaving past All-Pac-12 selection Zion Tupuola-Fetui and one-time 5-star recruit Sav'ell Smalls to come off the bench.

The coaches seemed to get all the validation they needed for their personnel moves by welcoming 15 sacks over the first four games this season, with 10 piled up against Stanford alone in a 40-22 victory at Husky Stadium.

For the past two weeks, however, the well of Husky edge-rushing heroics inexplicably has gone dry.

The UW picked up a solitary sack against UCLA when Martin slipped into the Bruins' backfield shortly before halftime at the Rose Bowl and dropped Bruins quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson for a 7-yard loss.

Against Arizona State, a far lesser team, and against a short-handed Sun Devils offense, one forced to use a back-up quarterback for more than a half, the UW pitched a disturbing shutout.

Zero sacks. Zip. Nada.

"We've had a bad percentage for awhile now," Trice said. "We're working to change that. We're going to change that."

Yes, but what happened to create the problem in the first place?

At ASU, Martin in a postgame interview said opponents were "chipping" at them, as if to suggest that the other teams were doing something nefarious.

Holding? Tripping? Blackmailing?

Co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell, without really explaining chipping, said the Husky sack spigot got shut off for two main reasons.

He cited more blocking resources devoted to the edge as one countermove to his guys.

"Coming off the Stanford performance, there definitely has been an adjustment that teams have made in terms of not letting those guys run off the edge," Morrell said. "We have seen them run a little more protection."

Arizona State took it one step further by using more of a hurry-up approach on offense, something the Huskies even do themselves to keep opponents honest. The tempo is such that defenders don't get a chance to come anywhere near the signal-caller.

"Quarterbacks are not sitting back there hanging on to the ball very long," Morrell said. "The ball is coming out really fast. I think [our] guys are still winning at the line of scrimmage, but the ball is coming out very quickly."

Without question, the lack of a Husky pass rush had an effect on the outcome for two consecutive games. It's been a big reason the youthful and patched-up secondary has suffered so much, too.

Still, everyone's been available. No one's been injured. Everyone brings pedigree. No excuses are palpable..

Sounds like the UW coaches, as they prepare for Saturday's visit by Arizona, got played a little and will need a better plan to set their guys loose again.

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