Ohio State 33, Washington 14 (Final)

[NFBuck]

Originally Posted by Jaxbuck

I keep seeing the UW faithful say that run D is their strong suit but I wonder if it isn't a case of a teams pass D being so bad no one took the good time and effort to run it down their throat consistently?

I have a hard time buying that as well. Looking at their front seven in the preseason mags, they bring back 4 starters. Two ends, a Soph that goes 6'4, 245 lbs and a Sr. that goes 6'5, 265. One returning starter at Tackle, a Sr. that goes 6'3, 290 with the new projected starter another Sr. at 6'6 295. That's some good size inside, but the ends are smallish. They return one LB starter from a year ago, but their OLB are undersized at 215 and 225 lbs respectively. There's not a lot of depth either. The top second string ends go 245 and 242 and the backup LB's are young and small. If we can grind it out, that will become a major issue for the Huskies.

We are gonna have a mammoth OL not to mention a bruising 225-230 lb running back. I think we'll very simply overpower them on the ground. Hopefully that will open up the pass enough to give us a fairly comfortable win. I don't know. Early season games with so many new pieces are hard to call, but I think we win somewhere in the neighborhood of 27-14.

[sandgk]

In the 2 years that Tyrone Willingham has had to steer the Washington football Program they have shown some improvement in Defensive statistics - but it is incremental to this point.
Looking at Yards per game (or points ppg for Scoring Defense) and rank
Category -- 2006 (rank) --- 2005
Rushing D - 139.6 (r-66) --- 143.4 (r-49)
Passing D - 240.17 (r102) -- 275.7 (r-106)
Total Def - 379.75 (r-95) -- 419.09 (r-94)
Scoring D - 23.1 p (r-62) -- 30.9 (r-89)

On offense their time of possession also showed a positive shift .. 2006 they held the ball on average 29:12 (ranked 82nd in nation), an increase over their 2005 offense of 27:47 and a 109th national ranking. Despite which their Scoring Offense remained questionable 2006 r-76 21.83 ppg, 2005 r-90 21.55 ppg. In both years their Offensive rankings (rush, pass total) were squarely in or near the bottom 2/3rd rankings 2005 69th 358 ypg, 2006, 74th rank 321.75 ypg.
The only manner in which one could describe Rush D as a strength is a relative one - and the numbers do show a weak to porous secondary, so it is likelier that opponents feasted on an obvious weakness, than that Washington made teams one-dimensional.
Also, consider that their ability to stop the run (using those over-sized "safety" LBs) is colored by the style of running back popular in the Pac-10. Lighter, possibly running sweeps and end-arounds this demands exactly the kind of speedy, lighter-weight LB Washington seems to employ. Being able to go sideline to sideline is likely a strength.

But bruise them inside or between the tackles and I bet they are very vulnerable. For which you need a big back - like Chris Wells.
Get them hurting and put in the scat back - break past the first line and big gainers become possible?

Perhaps that is what the better running teams in the PAC-10 did in 2006, like Oregon (316 net yds gained), Arizona State and Cal netted 190 and 195 yards respectively. I would say our stable of RBs this year measures up very well against those of Oregon, Az. State or (Lynch recognized) Cal.
Most instructive is how Jonathan Stewart ate up their rush D for 159 yards last year as Oregon rolled up 316 net yards on the ground - for Stewart and Wells share a lot of physical characteristics. He is that rare beast - a bruising Pac-10 rusher.

Unless Ty has a magic wand to invigorate his team's defense, I think this game goes like the Buckeyes in Norman Oklahoma with Mike T at the helm - grind 'em down and punish them all day.

[thackattack]

Originally Posted by Jaxbuck

One thing we all know from 2002, if a team can't stop the run Tressel ball can still score high because he simply will not stop calling a play untill the other team proves they can stop it.

JT can be very WWH in his desire to grind meat on a Saturday afternoon.

Absolutely. Music to my ears.

[Jaxbuck]

2 months from today we find out

The longer I've had to think about it, I think we'll be able to run on them pretty well. If our offense doesn't have TO's we should be fine.

[Taosman]

"Looking at their front seven in the preseason mags, they bring back 4 starters. Two ends, a Soph that goes 6'4, 245 lbs and a Sr. that goes 6'5, 265."
About the same size as Florida's DEs!

Watch the Huskies try to "Gator" us with a similar game plan.
Fast run stuffing defense. Don't give up a lot of big plays.
Use the QB as another runner and eat up the clock. Controlled passing game.

[MililaniBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Taosman

About the same size as Florida's DEs!

Size is probably the only thing UW's DEs have in common with UF's...