“Love conquers all. Even the people that don’t want it.”
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It’ll be a late one on Saturday Night but one that should be entertaining. The Washington Huskies will be taking the road South from Seattle to Los Angeles. A similar road that Actor Brenden Fraser took way back in the late 80’s after shooting the movie “Dogfight.” This movie would go on to make just about 300k, and Fraser delivers just one line, “How’d you like to eat my shit?” Classic. However, it was enough to hook the young hunk, and “he packed up his mountain bike and headed South from Seattle to the film career that awaited him in Los Angeles” as Gavin Edwards writes it in his book on actors, Hollywood, and tragedy.
But on this pitch-black Wednesday morning, it’s the Huskies and the Bruins that have my interest.
- Washington @ UCLA 8:30 NBC/ Peacock
This is the game that will cap the delicious six course meal on Saturday and like most final courses, this should be the sweetest.
At least, it has the potential with the cast of players that will be featured who are playing with nothing to lose. There are no stakes in this game other than the pride to win. Neither team have a playoff prayer and UCLA have already removed themselves from bowl eligibility. This is just a game.
Perhaps, this will lead to a wide-open no holds barred type of game with all of the points. Like 28-24 at halftime kind of wide open. One can dream.
But dreams aside, let’s look at the cast in this matchup along with stats from both teams.
WASHINGTON (7-3) Losses: Ohio St, Indiana, Wisconsin
The Huskies have an offense that knows how to score and a defense that knows how to get stops. They are 24th in ppg, scoring 34.3, and 21st in scoring defense allowing a mere 19.3/ppg.
OFFENSE 34.3/ ppg
They are led by sophomore QB Demond Williams. He’s tallied some decent stats so far: 166 QB Rate, 21 Total touchdowns, 512 Rushing yards, and 5 interceptions. The one caveat I’ll add on the INT’s is that three came in the loss to Michigan.
Two Running Backs know how to make an impact on games: Jonah Coleman and Adam Mohammed. Coleman leads the team with 980 total yards and 15 TD’s and Mohammed follows with 432 yards and 5 TD’s. Both have explosive potential. Mohammed’s speed will be on display on the kickoff returns. He’s yet to break a big one, but he always looks primed to explode.
The leading receiver on the team is Denzel Boston who has tallied 52 receptions for 730 yards and 8 TD’s. He also loves to show off his speed on special teams as the punt returner and so far, has one Punt Return for a TD on his stat sheet.
This offense has true potential to score on every drive.
DEFENSE
Impact Players:
- LB Zach Durfee
- LB Jacob Lane
- leads team in TFL and Sacks
- CB Ephesians Prysock
- CB Tacario Davis
- S Alex McLaughlin
- Leading tackler
This is a defense that surrenders 313 yards/ game on average.
So, what do we know?
Well, not to sound to reductive, but when Washington scores, they win.
The points scored in the seven wins are as follows: 38, 70, 59, 24, 38, 42, 49. In the three losses they have scored 6, 7, and 10. If they score, they win.
This tells me that Coach Jedd Fisch should get aggressive and stay aggressive. The team has scored 40+ in two of the last three weeks and I expect more of the same in this game, although 38 might be enough to win it.
One final nugget for the Huskies–if the game comes down to a game winning kick, Grady Gross will get his chance to shine.
- K Grady Gross 46/46 EP and 7/10 FG
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UCLA (3-7) #8 Preseason Strength of Schedule
When Interim Head Coach Tim Skipper took over the 0-3 Bruins he said, “it’s time to get to 1-0,” and they did when they horsewhipped the Nittany Lions back to State College and went on to win three in a row.
Since then, they’ve lost three in a row as they grind through the teeth of their schedule.
Since Skipper:
- 3 Wins
- Penn St, @ Mich St, Maryland
- 3 Losses
- Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio St
The Northwestern loss dropped the Bruins to 0-4 and Skipper was technically the coach at the time, but I’m not counting that against him as that was before his culture and personality could drown out the tumultuous noise surrounding the locker room on the heels of Deshaun Foster’s early season firing.
This is a team that had a tough draw this season and their record certainly reflects that.
As noted at the top, I rated their schedule as the eighth toughest in the preseason as they had to play Utah, @Northwestern, Penn St, @Michigan St, @Indiana, @Ohio St, Nebraska, Washington, and USC. I mean, from my vantage point, this would have been a tough schedule for just about every team in the country except for the few in the top tier. Two of which are on their schedule: Ohio St and Indiana.
This is a mere attempt to be fair to a 3-7 team that is playing better than their record and should be respected.
So, in the present, how does this Bruin team come away a winner on National TV late on Saturday Night?
On defense, it is imperative to slow the running attack. The difference in the Bruins loss to the Huskers on November 8th was Nebraska Running Back Emmett Johnson. He tallied 200+ yards and three touchdowns in the 28-21 Husker win.
This was a more than winnable game had they contained the run, but Emmett Johnson took whatever he wanted on nearly every play. Now, Washington does not have Emmett Johnson nor do they have a back even close to his level, but both running backs I mentioned love physicality and will take whatever is given to them. So, give them nothing.
It might be the nearing the Season of Giving, but this is a time to be like the fuzzy green Grinch and give them nothing. In fact, be even more like the Grinch and take everything.
Senior Linebacker JonJon Vaughns leads the defensive Bruins with 97 tackles and along with 6th year Senior Safety Key Lawrence, leads the team in tackles for loss. Lawrence also adds two forced fumbles and one pick. A notable pick I’ll add as it came against near flawless Indiana.
The defense needs to make a play in this one. A big play that turns the game on its head. One of these two could be the hero.
On offense, play free, open the playbook, give Nico time, and let the athletes complete. The stats are rough on the offensive side, but the potential is there for a big game as the Bruins showed in their wins over Penn St and Michigan St where they scored over 38 in each.
The Bruins’ record is poor, but this team has the ability to score and win this game. Belief for sixty minutes will be necessary.
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So, there is a brief preview of the upcoming Big10 matchup Saturday Night. I’ll be typing along with some “Live Thoughts” from this one. Look for that post early Sunday morning if you are interested.
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Light is breaking in the East, and the smell of fresh coffee is surrounding me. It’s time to wake up and start the day. Hopefully, you enjoyed this ‘morning dose to curb the workday boredom.’
Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’
Whit W.