Huskies 2-0, But Still Scratching the Surface: Explosive Plays Fuel 30-9 Win Over EMU

Washington Huskies Move to 2-0 with 30-9 Win Over Eastern Michigan, Yet Offensive Consistency Remains a Concern as Apple Cup Looms

Photo Courtesy of Monte Murray

Two and O. After a 30-9 victory on Saturday against Eastern Michigan, the Huskies are 2-0. I always start from a place of positivity and then tamper down the positivity to see areas of growth (the more positive way of saying: weaknesses). Not every team in the country is undefeated. Michigan, Iowa, and Northwestern all lost games this past weekend. The Huskies have not lost yet this season.

The best part about all of this?

The Huskies are not even close to maximizing all of its talent. The team’s identity is still emerging. There’s stuff to work on (mostly on offense). The season is going as well as it could and after two weeks, the team has yet to give up a touchdown, and is now 2-0 headed into the Apple Cup.¹

What I Liked: Explosive Plays

The offense took a long time to get going. But once it got going, it got going.

One important aspect of offensive success is a team’s ability to make explosive plays on offense.² In the NFL, when an offense converts on an explosive play it nearly quadruples an offensive drive’s scoring expectation. In other words, an offense is much more likely to score when it has at least one explosive play during its drive. The Huskies offense had a handful of explosive plays on Saturday. These were my three favorite explosives from the win:

Second Quarter: Will Rogers play-action bootleg pass to Giles Jackson for 29 yards

The Huskies were close to having their first four offensive drives ending without any points. Backed up on their own thirty-yard line, Jedd Fisch decided to go for it. The play-action bootleg pass to Jackson netted the Huskies 29 yards, put them into EMU territory, and sparked the Huskies’ offense. The next play Will Rogers found his favorite tight end target, Decker DeGraaf for a 41-yard touchdown. Rogers noted after the game that the play to Jackson is one of his favorite plays of Fisch’s offense. Jackson is emerging as one of the top playmakers on this offense. It is fun to see him shine after a 2023 campaign impacted by injury.

Second Quarter: Jonah Coleman 64-yard rush

Coleman is special:

I counted at least three EMU defenders that had a shot to tackle Coleman on this play. Coleman was just too fast and none of those defenders had a shot to stop him until the tail-end of the play. While the team’s offensive identity is still being established, I think it’s safe to say that Coleman is the engine to the Husky offense.

Third Quarter: Will Rogers 24-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hunter

Have no fear, Jeremiah Hunter is here. One of my worries after the Weber State game was the fact that Hunter was absent in the box score. As one of the key transfers into Washington, the Huskies need Hunter to be a threat. In the Huskies’ first second-half drive, Hunter caught a short pass up the middle and ran it all the way into EMU territory for 21 yards. Then, after two short passes to Jackson, Rogers found Hunter again in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown. Rogers’ pass to Hunter could not have been better. Opposing secondaries will have their hands full if Hunter and Boston can continue to produce and improve their rapport with Rogers.

Who Impressed: Will Rogers

Rogers and the Washington offense looked putrid in the first quarter. Like last week’s game, it seemed like Rogers was playing mistake-free football, but not really taking any chances. This is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, Rogers has taken care of the football and not thrown an interception yet. On the other hand, by not taking chances down field, Rogers and the offense risk slow starts. EMU wasn’t able to make the Huskies pay for its inept start on offense, but things may change with the Apple Cup against a potent WSU offense.

One way to avoid the slow start? Establishing the run and getting big plays early on. Rogers showed off impressive throwing ability (see Boston touchdown above) in the second and third quarters. So, we know he has that in his toolbox, it’s just a matter of getting him in a rhythm earlier in the game, which just may take some more game experience.

I was also impressed with Rogers red-zone execution. Besides the explosive touchdown passes to DeGraff and Boston, Rogers threw for two more touchdowns in the third quarter to Boston in the red zone. Rogers finished with 21-for-26, with 261 passing yards and four touchdowns. Not bad.

What Needs Fixing: Bad Starts

For the second week in a row, against an inferior non-conference foe, the Huskies failed to score in the first quarter. All of the team’s first three drives against EMU ended in punts.

The first drive was a three-and-out that culminated in a blocked punt which gave EMU the ball at Washington’s 32-yard line.

The second drive had four positive plays before the drive stalled when Cam Davis was tackled for a 1-yard loss on a 2nd and 1 and then Rogers failed to connect with Keleki Latu on 3rd and 2.

The third drive got off to a rough start with Rogers tripping on a rollout for a seven-yard loss, and then a bad snap two plays later on 3rd and 3 which forced the Huskies to punt the ball again to EMU.

There are a few upsides here. Washington’s defense was staunch this entire time, including a first-quarter fourth-down stop when EMU’s offense was at UW’s three-yard line. The defense only surrendered three points after these stalled drives. We have only seen the Husky offense click in the second and third quarters of the past two games. In this sense, the team has room to grow before Big Ten play and Fisch has preserved much of his playbook for the thick of the season.

1. I’m trying out a new recap format. This format is inspired by Jeff Nusser at Podcast vs. Everyone.

2. Explosive plays are passes 20 yards or more and rushes that gain at least 10 yards.