Five Keys to Victory For Washington vs Arizona State
SEATTLE – Entering Saturday, Washington has only one win over Arizona State in the last 14 meetings between the two Pac-12 schools.
The No. 10 Huskies (2-1, 1-0) lost their first game of 2018 to the Sun Devils in Tempe, a 13-7 result that, and two juniors, left tackle Trey Adams and cornerback Jordan Miller, for the remainder of the season due to injury.
UW is still without Adams after the senior had surgery two weeks ago. Adams spent the spring and fall recovering from knee surgery before a separate injury forced his latest procedure.
Miller, who suffered a sever leg injury in final seconds against ASU last season, is back and expected to play a key role for UW to slow down a talented Sun Devils offense.
Five Keys to Victory for Washington vs Arizona State
1 – Force ASU QB Manny Wilkins to be one dimensional and control the game on defense. With Byron Murphy and Miller outside, and Myles Bryant at nickel, the Huskies have the players to match N’Keal Harry, Kyle Williams and Frank Darby.
However, UW has to be able to make ASU pay when the secondary provides blanket coverage. If Wilkins can find yards on the ground against the Huskies will be more susceptible to their second defeat in 2018.
That means Ben Burr-Kirven, Tevis Bartlett and the various linebacker parings have to be alert, and not allow Wilkins to beat UW with his legs.
2 – The Huskies have to find a second receiver for Jake Browning and it doesn’t matter who or how it comes about. UW hasn’t had two players with a 100-yard game this season and it hasn’t been close.
Junior Aaron Fuller has had two so far, against Auburn and North Dakota, but the support needs to come on a more consistent basis. Ty Jones leads the team with three touchdowns but has yet to record a 100-yard game in 2018.
Quentin Pounds, Andre Baccellia and an assortment of tight ends have also added to the Huskies numbers this season but UW needs more from it’s passing game. If they can establish a credible passing game early, allowing the run game to find more holes with play-action, then UW should have an easier route to their third victory of the season.
3 – Keep the Points off Turnover numbers where they are and don’t force the offense to play from behind. UW has not paid for the mistakes Browning has made this season allowing just a field goal against Auburn in the season opener.
For a defense being asked to do a lot, it’s going to take another standout performance. The Huskies have only forced one interception (Jordan Miller vs Utah) this season, but the secondary has been within inches of several more and should add at least one if not two against the Sun Devils.
3 – Keep ASU offense under the Evergreen bar set against Auburn in week one. UW allowed 420 yards against Jarrett Stidham and the Tigers in Atlanta, the most an opposing offense has totaled in a single game this season.
The Huskies defense is built to bend but not break. So the Sun Devils will get their yards, both on the ground and through the passing game, and that’s okay. However, UW are vulnerable when the opposing offense is able to string two or three scoring drives together and gas the defense early.
If UW can maintain either a balance or control the tempo it becomes a much more manageable game.
4 – Bush Hamdan has to find a way for UW to capitalize in the red zone and not settle for field goals, or worse. The Huskies have improved in their scoring efficiency since week one, but the offense is still the worse of the two main units and a case could be made for a chance to slip behind the special teams with a poor result Saturday.
Browning can’t do it alone. The offensive line has to do its part. The receivers have to get separation and haul in tough catches. Simply put, UW has to make it count on offense.
UW doesn’t have to resurrect the John Ross deep ball to have success against ASU. It’s that mentality that will hurt the offense. It doesn’t have to come all in one quarter or half, but the efficiency has to continue to improve against the Sun Devils from an offensive perspective.
5 – Use the Greatest Setting to propel the next string of games, which don’t get any easier over the next three to four weeks. UW has another home game next Saturday vs BYU before going on the road for a pair of games, at UCLA and at Oregon, before returning home on Oct. 20 to host Colorado.
The game against North Dakota showed how a flat Huskies team can become vulnerable quickly, and playing in front of a less than enthusiastic crowd didn’t elevate the play on the field. With the same flat energy in the first half against ASU the result won’t be the same.
UW is on ESPN, at home, and it’s a conference game. Getting an early start and juicing up the expected 70,000-plus at Husky Stadium could be the best recipe for the Huskies against ASU.
Prediction: Washington 31, Arizona State 14