The Seahawks and the Huskies each suffered their first loss of the season over the weekend.
Both losses came in games where they were favored.
That’s about where the similarities end, though.
The Seahawks played fairly well (except for three turnovers). Sam Darnold, in his first game after hurting his butt, was great (except for the fourth-quarter interception that was returned for a touchdown). Jaxon Smith-Njigba is on pace for more than 2,000 yards receiving and approximately 198 touchdowns.
The Huskies, on the other hand, were manhandled by a meat-and-potatoes Big Ten opponent, and if they can’t beat a team whose mascot is vermin at home in a game that started at 10 p.m. Minnesota time, I’m not sure how many other games they can be expected to win. Alternatively, Minnesota may be a team populated with actual cannibals:
I do have one very quick fix I can offer to my alma mater, though. That’s only after I give you a three-tiered review of the Seahawks game in which you get to pick how hot of a take you want:
Mild 🌶️
The Seahawks were missing their two starting safeties, they were -3 in turnover margin, and yet only two fluke third-down runs kept Seattle from getting the ball back with a chance to win on the road. Sure, Washington was without starting quarterback Jayden Daniels, but two weeks ago, Sam Darnold thought he might have broken his hip. He missed exactly one game before returning to Washington, where he looked great aside from the pick-six. Seattle is going to be fine.
Medium 🌶️🌶️
Seattle is a great team. In fact, the Seahawks are so great that they can (usually) offset how very turnover-prone they were last season. They’ve been able to offset that with big-play production, but if they keep turning the ball over, it will eventually bite them in the butt, which is exactly what happened on Sunday in Washington. Rookie Jadarian Price has lost two fumbles this season, which is troubling.
Spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Yes, Sam Darnold is capable of extremely high-level play (see: NFC Championship Game vs. the Rams). But Seattle's Super Bowl win has caused us all to memory-hole the fact that his high-level performance can be offset by absolutely back-breaking mistakes. In many ways, Sunday’s game was a microcosm of that. He played great except for one throw. That one throw was returned for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Seattle wins this game without that pick. But this is life with Darnold as your starting quarterback. No matter how good things are going, the rug can get yanked out from under you at any moment.
Preferred spice level
⏱️Clock master
Jedd Fisch needs someone in his head set to help him with game management.
If he already has someone do that, he needs someone new because the dude doing it is giving him terrible advice.
Exhibit A: The final 3 minutes of Saturday’s home loss to Minnesota.
With 2:27 left and Washington trailing by 10, the Huskies had the ball at Minnesota’s 13-yard line, trailing by 10.
The clock was (temporarily) stopped. Chris Lawson had run out of bounds after his 12-yard catch. Under college rules, if there’s more than 2 minutes left in the half, the clock restarts once the referee sets the ball for play.
Washington had one timeout remaining. To have a legitimate shot at a comeback, the Huskies needed to score with more than 2 minutes left. 1 If they failed to do this, their hopes would depend on recovering an onside kick to have a shot.
Here were Washington’s best options at that moment:
Hustle to the line with the personnel already on the field and attempt a pass.
Hustle to the line with the personnel already on the field and spike the ball to stop the game clock.
Send in its field-goal unit to attempt the kick after the game clock began ticking.
Here’s what Washington did:
Huddled as the referee windmilled his arm to start the game clock.
At 2:20 and the clock moving, quarterback Demond Williams was still looking over to the sideline.
At 2:15, you can see the referee signal that Washington has substituted. This meant Minnesota got time to match the substitution.
Another member of the officiating group then stood between Washington’s center and Williams as Minnesota adjusted its personnel, the clock ticking down all the way to the 2-minute timeout.
The explanation afterward?
“We wanted to a get a cerain red-zone play in,” coach Jedd Fisch said, “because we felt how valuable what we needed. We wound up subbing, and the sub came in way too late. Too late.
“And with that then they get to hold another 10 seconds, so that’s my fault.”
This is a fairly serious sin in terms of game management. It reflects either a poor system or (more likely) the lack of any real system, with the head coach making all the decisions.
Fisch had a play he wanted to call. To call this play, he needed to make a substitution.
He needed someone in his ear telling him he absolutely could not substitute under any circumstances. If he wanted a substitution, Washington needed to spike the ball to kill the clock.
I want to pause here to acknowledge that clock management is not Washington’s biggest problem.
Washington’s biggest problem is that its offensive line does not appear up to Big Ten snuff. The quarterback is getting bludgeoned. The running game — short-handed due to injuries — is non-existent. The line appears worse than it was a year ago, which is puzzling because the Huskies were returning five players from last year’s group and added Kodi Greene, a highly regarded recruit to start at left tackle, and Kolt Dieterich as a transfer.
Landen Hathcett has yet to be cleared from the wrist surgery he underwent last year, and instead of dissecting the performance of a true freshman at left tackle, I’ll point out that he’s been removed for three series over the past two games. Sliding sophomore John Mills out to tackle may not be robbing Peter to pay Paul, but it is absolutely taking a step back at left guard to fill left tackle.
Not sure there’s an easy way out of this situation.
But game management?
You can fix that. Get someone who knows the subject because the first four games have made it clear Fisch needs help.
Gaffe 1: With the game but Utah State all but won, Washington passed on first-and-10 with 1:47 left, effectively gifting Utah State a timeout when Dezmen Roebuck dropped the ball. It very nearly came back to bite the Huskies.
Result: Utah State got the ball back with 47 seconds remaining, instead of 7, had the Huskies run the ball on that play. Utah State got the ball to the UW-39 before settling for a lob into the end zone on the final play, which Rashawn Clark intercepted.
Gaffe 2: After stopping Minnesota for a 3-yard gain on 1st-and-15, Washington called a timeout with 1:25 remaining and the ball at the MN-38.
This could have only hurt the Huskies. There was no upside. Washington was then out of timeouts. It couldn’t stop the clock again. The Huskies weren’t getting the ball back with enough time to do anything. However, had Minnesota converted a first down after facing 2-and-12, Washington's timeout would have effectively gifted the Gophers time to try to score before halftime.
Gaffe 3: The substitution debacle in which Washington significantly undercut its own chances at a comeback because the coach had a play he wanted to call.
“There was a certain personnel group that I wanted in the game for that play,” he said afterward. “So we wound up having to call it after the 2-minute warning.”
I see what you’re doing here, coach.
You want me to know that the super special package you just had to have in the game actually paid off with a touchdown on Williams’ 13-yard scramble after the 2-minute timeout.
This does about as much for me as it did for your team’s chances at victory, however.
It came 10 seconds too late to make a difference, and that has nothing to do with the players and everything to do with the coaches.
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