Huard unPACs UW Huskies defensive success in Apple Cup win over WSU
Dec 4, 2019, 12:35 PM | Updated: 1:47 pm
New year, same story for the Apple Cup as the UW Huskies took down the WSU Cougars.
The Huskies’ defense once again stifled the WSU Cougars’ Air Raid offense and won the annual rivalry game for the seventh consecutive season with a 31-13 victory in what was head coach Chris Petersen’s final regular season game at the helm of the UW program.
The game played out a lot like it has since Petersen’s first Apple Cup in 2014, as soon-to-be Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake’s defense ran very similar concepts throughout the whole game.
The Huskies were able to get pressure while rushing only three defensive linemen and dropping a combination of eight linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties into coverage against WSU head coach Mike Leach’s vaunted pass-heavy offense.
The Cougars have one of the best passing offenses in the nation and quarterback Anthony Gordon leads the NCAA in passing yards and touchdown passes, but the Huskies shut them down again.
How? FOX college football analyst and 710 ESPN Seattle host Brock Huard details the UW Huskies’ success on defense in his latest edition of unPAC, his weekly look at the PAC-12 with video breakdowns of specific plays and players.
In the first play, WSU runs a “mesh” concept where tight UW coverage helps Benning Potoa’e get a sack on Gordon.
Huard then looks at plays that he describes as the turning point of the game.
After a UW touchdown put the Huskies ahead 14-10, pass rusher Ryan Bowman beat the WSU right tackle for a sack on Gordon. The very next play, Joe Tryon gets past the WSU left tackle and sacks Gordon close to the goal line, effectively killing the drive.
For more unPAC video breakdowns from Huard, click any of the links below.
• Huard unPACs WSU QB Gordon’s elite anticipation against Stanford
• Huard unPACs 3 huge plays by UW edge rusher Joe Tryon
• Plays that can help UW Huskies improve at QB and LB
• Huard unPACs Utah Utes’ monster in the middle
• Why Oregon had an answer against the Huskies
• Introducing unPAC, a weekly look at PAC-12 football
