The Washington Huskies have now won 21 straight home football games inside Husky Stadium. Washington beat Colorado State 38-21 on Saturday evening in a game that featured 15 explosive plays by the Huskies and critical adjustments at the half. Washington moved the football with efficiency, while the Rams stayed within striking distance for the first part of the contest. “That’s a very good team,” Jedd Fisch said after the victory. “I would bet that that team wins a lot of games this year. Coach [Jay] Norvell does a great job with his football team.” 

Huskies Beat Rams 38-21
Explosive Plays

Jonah Coleman’s 177 rushing yards performance was the second-highest single-game rushing total in his career. He carried the football 24 times and averaged 7.4 yards per touch, scoring two touchdowns. “My expectation is that he’ll continue to run the football at that level,” Fisch said after the game. Coleman also had one reception for 22 yards in the game for an all-purpose total of 199 yards. “[The offensive line] spent a lot of time this offseason making sure that when we got to the game they were going to feel us when we ran the ball,” Coleman said afterwards. “Proud of them boys. Shout out to them, man. They make me look good.” The team rushed for a total of 283 yards behind the much-improved line.

Of his 24 carries, seven resulted in 10-plus yards, including a long of 38 yards that set up his second rushing score of the night. The team had 10 runs of 10-plus yards, which accounted for 202 of the 283 rushing yards. “We were able to run the ball at will,” Demond Williams Jr. said after the game. “When that happens, it’s awesome. As a quarterback, it definitely opens up the pass even more.” And the pass game certainly benefited.

Williams threw for 226 yards on 18 of 24 (75%) with one touchdown. Williams’ passing touchdown went to Denzel Boston, who was able to fend off pass interference to haul in a one-handed grab in the corner of the end zone. “[The catch] was awesome. When you have a chance to throw it up there and let your guy go get it, it’s great,” Williams said. “I think a lot of people had questions about his injury and stuff, and I think he proved today that he’s even better than he was last year.” Washington finished with 506 yards of offense on 75 total plays with an average of 6.8 yards per snap.

Early Drive Stall-Outs

Colorado State was able to stay in the game for the first two quarters in large part due to Washington’s inability to capitalize on positive drive starts. The Huskies started their fourth drive of the game at the one-yard line and successfully drove the field to begin with. Gains of 11, 28, and 15 had the Huskies inside the Rams’ 40-yard line. But a loss of three, an incomplete pass, and an eight-yard sack forced Washington to punt. Ryan Walters’ defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Rams’ possession. But again, an inopportune ending to a positive drive start put the Huskies on their heels.

Coleman’s runs of 13 and 12 yards on back-to-back plays were promising as time ticked under three minutes in the second quarter. But Washington’s second down play after the two-minute timeout did not go as expected, and Fisch was forced to take a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, a miscommunication on the snap led to an easy fumble recovery by Colorado State. This time, the Rams turned it into points. “[It was] nothing crazy,” Williams said after the game, regarding the fumble. “We just had a miscommunication, and he snapped it earlier than I expected.”

Rams’ Answers

Colorado State was able to capitalize on Washington’s turnover, driving the field 66 yards on nine plays to score and tie the game at 14. The Rams’ ability to answer Washington early was the biggest reason the Huskies couldn’t pull away. And this one just one of three occasions where Jay Norvell’s unit was able to punch back.

After Washington’s first offensive drive went 59 yards for a touchdown, Colorado State immediately answered with a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive of its own. Fifty-three of the 75 yards were accounted for by Rams’ running back Jalen Dupree. He would end up being the team’s leading rusher with 92 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts.

The Huskies scored on the opening drive of the second half as well. But once again, the Rams were able to answer. This time, tight end Jaxxon Warren accounted for two catches of 25 and 27 yards. The latter went for a touchdown, and it tied the game for a third time. “It’s very hard to prepare for a team when you’re trying to figure out their personnel,” Fisch said after the game. Coleman also spoke to the difficulty of preparing for the first game of a season against a team with a lot of unknowns. “We didn’t know anybody on their team that we were playing,” Coleman said. “We figured out who we were playing [at the half], and then we did what we did.”

Second-Half Clean Up

What they did was clean up their mistakes and adjust to the Rams’ defense. After the game, Williams discussed the message at halftime that helped them get on the right track. “Really just to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” Williams said. “A lot of our stuff in the first half was more self-inflicted. And we knew that, and we came out and we corrected it.”

They certainly corrected it. Washington scored on four straight drives in the third and fourth quarters – three touchdowns and a field goal. “We knew when we went into the locker room,” Coleman said after the game. “We knew what we needed to do to get this thing done, and we did it. Got a stop when we needed a stop, got a turnover when we needed a turnover.” After Colorado State’s answer to tie the game at 21 mid-way through the third quarter, it did not score again. 

Main Image: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images