Another weird game led to another weird road victory, as the now 5-3 Huskies took down Nebraska 17-10. Let's get to what we learned!
Like the emergence of Dezmen Roebuck last year, Chris Lawson has shown that he can step up and be that number one guy. Just in the past 3 games, he has recorded 86, 103 and 155 yards. He now leads the team in yards (638) and touchdowns (3). 2 of his 12 catches in Saturday's game were the two biggest catches of his career. First, the 24 yard catch on 4th and 18 where he somehow kept a knee in bounds, which was upheld on review. And then 2 plays later, catching a short pass, spinning past a man, and then turning on the jets for a 25 yard score to put the Huskies ahead 10-7. But that score doesn't happen without a 17 yard run by Demond Williams on 3rd and 15. Williams, who came in at the start of the 4th quarter to relieve an anemic Elijah Brown, instantly added another dimension to this offense, and another threat for this Nebraska defense to worry about. Said Fisch "Elijah earned the right to be the starter. And I'm not sure that he didn't earn the right to continue the fourth quarter, but I felt we needed a spark". Williams indeed provided a spark, one that the Huskies absolutely had to have.
Together, Lawson and Williams connected at the perfect time and were able to do just enough to put the offense over the top, which is good, especially considering that the offense scored 3 points in 3 quarters, while being outgained by 100 yards on the ground (132 to 32). However, Williams still showed glimpses of his flaws, even with the added electricity. He still missed passes and got sacked, holding onto the ball too long on both drives. I'm not a QB Coach, but it still seems like Williams needs a little bit of work before he's draft ready. In any case, it helps to have good receivers, and in Lawson, Williams has found that guy who can make the impossible catches. Maybe the time on the bench will help Williams get the ball out quicker like Brown did, and this game represents a step in his maturation as a quarterback. If Williams continues to frustrate, then Brown has shown he can be an okay option, provided he gets in rhythm. It's just that rhythm was nowhere to be found for Brown for the 3 quarters he was in. I think that when you point out the 3 stars of this game, Chris Lawson is more than deserving of the first star and the game ball for continuing to be the "go to guy"!
Just 4 passes into the game, Anthony Colandrea (who had been very efficient coming into the game, with 1570 yards, 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions) was picked off by Rylon Dillard Allen. The next drive, after a booming 60 yard punt by Hunter Green, Colandrea was picked off again, this time by Emmanuel Karnley on the first play of the drive. These 2 plays are illustrative of a secondary that has played very physically and has a lot of playmakers, something that has shown up more and more these past few weeks. Outside of Zaydrius Rainey-Sale having 10 tackles, the other top 2 tacklers were both defensive backs (Alex McLaughlin with 9, and the aforementioned RDA with 7). The Huskies as a whole also had 7 pass breakups, and got them from both the young upside guys (Gavin Day) and experienced vets (Karnley, McLaughlin) alike. The secondary might be the best unit on this defense, and it was a big reason that the Huskies ultimately won this game.
Maybe the biggest reason though, was safety Alex McLaughlin, who took an interception back 48 yards to the house for the dagger. That, to go along with 7 tackles, is a big indicator of what he has meant to this defense for the past 2 seasons. If he's not there, I'm not sure we win this game. That one play is a microcosm of what actually won this game: stingy defense. Because, yes, Colandrea did have 255 yards and a touchdown, but on 44 pass attempts, and 3 of those were picked off. This gives the Huskies 12 interceptions on the year, tied for 4th nationally with Kentucky and Memphis. But McLaughlin's is arguably the most important pick of the year, because we may have completely different conversations if he doesn't jump that route and take it all the way. Props to the secondary for holding up really well throughout this game, putting the offense in positions to win (even if they hardly capitalized, they did when it mattered) and making big plays themselves! It imbued within me a sense of hope that this season is salvageable, as the Dawgs only need to win 1 of their final 4 games to be bowl eligible. If the secondary keeps playing like this, then that is reachable, something I wouldn't have said after the Iowa game!
The other very important reason the Huskies won this game is the awesome punting of Hunter Green. Green has put together a very good season punting the ball, with his average of 48.07 yards per punt ranking 6th nationally. Of his 8 boots Saturday, 5 of them landed inside the 20 and 2 of them landed inside the 5. When you talk about complimentary football, that certainly qualifies, as when the offense is set up with bad field position, they're more liable to be aggressive and make mistakes, which Nebraska did. His average of 48.1 yards per punt is currently second in Husky history for season average behind Race Porter's 48.5 in 2021. If this holds, this would be an all time season, one worthy of Ray Guy consideration at the very least.
As much as I hate to admit it (as I have historically cast punting as an act of surrender, especially if you're close to midfield), punting is a very important part of football. Just ask Iowa! If your offense is sputtering, it's better to put your defense in a position to succeed. Fisch himself said when it was 4th and 1 at the UW 40 in the third, "I wanted to go for that bad, but I told myself 'wrong conference.' That was a few years ago. You have to punt it and Hunter Green keeps pinning them back, pinning them back, pinning them back". 3 incompletions later and that looks pretty smart, especially when the offense starts at their own 17. Of course, that only is a smart option when you have an elite punter, and for a while, the Huskies didn't have that. But now that they do, it's looking like it's something that they can lean on down the stretch!
We have Penn State at home at 12:30 on Saturday! Go Dawgs!
