5 storylines to watch when the Huskies host Arizona State
Washington (4-5) is set to host Arizona State (6-3) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
Here are five storylines to watch:
1. Much has happened on Montlake the past week. Here’s what to know ahead of the Arizona State game.
Here’s what has happened since the Huskies dropped another rivalry loss to Oregon last weekend:
Nine games into his second season with the program, offensive coordinator John Donovan was fired Sunday, after UW ended Saturday’s loss with a season-low 116 yards and seven first downs.
Monday morning, the university announced second-year coach Jimmy Lake has been suspended for this week’s meeting with Arizona State following the sideline incident during the Oregon game.
Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory is the Huskies’ acting head coach this week, and wide receivers coach Junior Adams will now call plays for the rest of the season as UW’s interim offensive coordinator, while offensive quality control analyst Payton McCollum will coach quarterbacks.
Gregory and Adams spoke with media members Monday as the program looked ahead to Saturday’s meeting with Arizona State.
“I think we lock our arms and we go,” Gregory said of the program’s opportunity to band together. “ ... Everybody’s good in the good times, right? I mean, we all know that. It’s how are we going to react in the tougher times?
“And this is a great challenge for all of us. It’s a great challenge for myself and for (Adams), all of our coaches, a great challenge for our players.”
This will be the first meeting between the Huskies and Arizona State since 2018 in Seattle. UW has won two of the past three meetings, but Arizona State has won 11 of the past 13 dating back to 2001.
“I think our guys are going to be energized and ready to go,” Gregory said. “We play a great opponent. And so there’s no quit in this football team. That is not happening. We’ve had a lot of adversity this year. We’ve had some tough times, but our team has fought the entire time.”
2. What will the Huskies’ offense look like with a new play-caller?
The Huskies are nine games into their 12-game regular season, so sweeping changes to the offensive scheme aren’t likely.
“For the most part we’re going to keep the schemes consistent of what we’ve been doing,” Adams said. “We’re going to do what we’re good at. We’re going to try to get the guys the ball that need the football, that are going to put us in the best position to be explosive and win this football game.”
Adams also noted “it’s too late in the season to go and reinvent the wheel” and trying to do that would not set the Huskies up for success.
“We’re just going to go back and look at the things that we did this season that gave us success, and we’re going to try to build on that,” he said.
Could there be some shakeups, though? Adams was also asked Monday if second-year quarterback Dylan Morris was still the Huskies’ starter.
“We’re going through game-planning right now and we’re going to see where we’re at with that,” he said. “But, Dylan … we’re going to put him in the best position that he can be for him to be successful.”
Morris debuted as the Huskies’ quarterback in their season-opener against Oregon State last November, and has started each game since, completing 60.6 percent of his passes for 2,817 yards and 15 touchdowns to 12 interceptions in his 13 career games.
This season, Morris is 171-of-283 passing for 1,920 yards and 11 touchdowns, while his nine interceptions lead the Pac-12.
Should the Huskies make a switch, they could turn to five-star freshman Sam Huard, who has played two series this season. Huard made his college debut in the Week 3 rout against Arkansas State, playing 11 snaps, and played seven more during the Week 8 win at Arizona. Huard can appear in two more games and still preserve his redshirt season.
UW has a third option at quarterback in graduate transfer Patrick O’Brien, who played four snaps in his one series against Arkansas State.
3. Can the Huskies find offensive rhythm against Arizona State’s defense?
A week after the loss to Oregon, the Huskies will have to try to regroup offensively against one of the conference’s toughest defenses.
Arizona State allows 20.2 points per game, which ranks second in the Pac-12 behind UW (19.7). The Sun Devils have allowed the fewest total yards to opponents (328.8 per game), rank third in rushing defense (130 yards per game) and fourth in passing defense (198.8). They also lead the conference in interceptions (13) and rank second in sacks (21).
“Their back end is really good … their linebacker corps is pretty good and their D-line is pretty good,” Adams said. “They’re a problem. And we know what we’re going up against, and we’re going to put our guys into the best situation to be successful.”
Meanwhile, UW ranks near the bottom of the conference in several offensive categories, including 10th in scoring (22 points per game), first downs (18.7 per game), total offense (332.1 yards per game) and rushing offense (115.3).
4. Can UW’s defense contain an Arizona State offense that ranks among the Pac-12’s best in most categories?
Arizona State ranks in the top five in the conference most offensive categories including points per game (fifth, 30.3), total yards per game (fifth, 429.8), passing yards per game (fifth, 225.4) and rushing yards per game (fourth, 204.3).
The Huskies rank second in the conference in yards allowed (336.7), but while UW has defended the pass well (allowing a Pac-12-best 141.4 yards per game), this Arizona State offense, like so many others, could test UW’s shaky run defense, which ranks 11th in the conference (195.2 yards per game allowed).
The Sun Devils average 5.4 yards per attempt on the ground, and lead the conference with 27 rushing touchdowns.
Rachaad White (114 carries, 685 yards; 29 catches, 286 yards; 13 total TDs) ranks fifth in the conference in rushing and has the most receptions and receiving yards of any running back in the Pac-12. He also posted a career-best performance against USC last week, piling up 202 rushing yards and three scores.
UW is also tasked with trying to contain Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels through the air and on the ground. Daniels is 150-of-223 passing this season for 1,879 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’s also the conference’s top rushing quarterback, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, 53.6 per game and has four rushing touchdowns.
5. Here are the players with Washington high school ties on Arizona State’s roster, and the players with Arizona high school ties on UW’s.
On Arizona State’s roster:
WR Junior Alexander, fr. (Kennedy Catholic)
WR Mekhi Metcalf, R-jr. (Garfield, Montana State)
On UW’s roster:
DB Jacobe Covington, fr. (Saguaro)
LS Jaden Green, fr. (Mesa)
DB Dominique Hampton, soph. (Centennial)
OL Matteo Mele, soph. (Salpointe Catholic)
OLB Bralen Trice, R-fr. (Sandra Day O’Connor)
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "5 storylines to watch when the Huskies host Arizona State."
