3 losses of 30 or more points last season
Last season featured both highs and lows for the Washington football season, but some of the lows were really low. Three times, the Huskies got embarrassed on the road, losing by 38 at LSU, 31 at Oregon, and 35 at Arizona. The latter two losses were to teams who primarily ran a no-huddle, high-tempo offense against the Huskies. During those two games, the Huskies gave up 1,030 combined yards of offense, and the opposition scored on 16 of 29 drives (including 14 touchdowns). So, this offseason, the UW coaching staff decided to turn the Huskies into what they couldn’t stop. Since spring camp, head coach Steve Sarkisian’s staff has installed a fast-paced, up-tempo offense. While plenty has been written about the effect of the no-huddle on the offense, an underrated subplot is what is does for the defense. The defense has been going up against the no-huddle every day. Sarkisian is hoping that practicing against the no-huddle will better prepare the defense to face high-flying offenses like those from Oregon and Arizona. So far, the Huskies are liking what they're seeing. “It’s really helped us,” linebacker Travis Feeney said. “It’s helped us conditioning-wise; it’s helped us prepare more to get the plays faster and be able to adjust to those quick tempo teams. Now we’re way more comfortable than we were last year.” But the trarnsition hasn't come easily. Feeney and defensive tackle Danny Shelton said the most difficult part of their adjustment has been communicating. “The point of these high tempo offenses is to eliminate communication,” Shelton said. “We’ve really made that communication important. It’s going to be loud on the field, so we really need to get our hand signals in to communicate to everybody and stay focused.”Advertisement
