Ducks stop Polk, sack
Price, spoil party
Husky Stadium, Seattle. Behind the running of
LaMichael James and their stout defense, the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks beat the Washington Huskies,
34-17, on a night that marked Husky Stadium's last
hurrah before its renovation.
On Monday, 91-year old Husky Stadium begins its $250 million facelift. For Steve Sarkisian's Washington Huskies
(6-3, 4-2, Pac-12) it's back to the drawing board.
"This is two games against two pretty good teams,
Stanford and Oregon, and we have not performed up front. I'm still
trying to figure out what happened," Sarkisian was quoted as saying.
"Six sacks is a crazy number to me. That's embarrassing."
The formula for beating Washington is simple: Stop RB Chris Polk and put an all out rush on young QB Keith
Price, hoping he'll make some costly mistakes. The Huskies' feckless defense,
which ranks 93rd in FBS football, speaks for itself. The result against
Oregon: Polk gained 80 yards rushing on 24 attempts for a paltry average of
3.3 yards per carry; Price completed 24 of 35 passes for 143 yards, 2
touchdowns and 2 interceptions, which computes to a passing efficiency
rating of 110.32, his lowest of the season. Oregon rolled up 381 yards of offense,
while Washington accumulated just 278 total yards.
Price's 2 picks led to two short-field Oregon
touchdowns and a 17-3 lead in the second quarter.
"He (Price) was a little undisciplined in his
footwork," Sarkisian said. "We didn't protect the quarterback very well.
I don't think Keith was real comfortable in the pocket."
LaMichael James rushed for 156 yards on 25
attempts for an average of 6.2 yards per carry while, at times, Oregon's hurry-up
offense had Washington's defense back on its heals.
Buoyed by the large crowd (69,407) and the
celebration of its '91 national championship team, Washington drew
within 7 points (24-17) in the third quarter. Two-and-a-half minutes
later, however, Oregon spoiled the party, taking a 31-17 lead on a 9-yard
touchdown run by De'Anthony Thomas.
Sarkisian was quoted as saying, "I'm proud of our
defense." The Huskies held the Ducks to 381 total yards, which is 145
yards below their average.
"But I didn't think we'd have 278 yards (on offense), either, I can tell
you that," Sark said.
Oregon also gained 212 yards on the ground -- 5.4
yards per carry -- which Sark didn't mention.
UW also failed to register a sack, ranking 81st in
the FBS in sacks, 87th in sacks allowed and 111th in tackles for a loss.
The Huskies rank 101st in scoring
defense, allowing 33.44 points per game, and have lost their last 8 games against
the Ducks.
Oregon's mastery over Washington, its 8-game
winning streak, began in 2004, not coincidentally with the emergence of
defensive linemen Haloti Ngata in the rivalry.
The Huskies will begin to compete with the big
boys, as in Stanford and Oregon, when defensive coordinator Nick Holt,
out on the recruiting trail, begins to think "SEC front four" and
settles for nothing less. (With this in mind, see Table 1 below for a significant defensive
stat and its correlation with the Huskies' six victories and their three losses this season.)
Price's passing efficiency rating has tapered off
in his last three games. (See Table 2).
Table 1. In its six victories,
Washington has held its six opponents to an average of 51.5 yards per
game on the ground, which would rank first in the FBS if those six games
were all Washington had played. In its three losses, UW has allowed
322.3 rushing yards per game. In its nine games, UW ranks 52nd in
the FBS in rushing defense (5th in the Pac-12), yielding 141.78 yards
per game. This table seems to say stop the run and win the game.
|
School |
W/L |
Rush |
UW
Rush |
|
Eastern
Washington |
W |
31
yards |
148
yards |
|
Hawaii |
W |
55 |
151 |
|
Nebraska |
L |
309 |
146 |
|
California |
W |
108 |
117 |
|
Utah |
W |
17 |
185 |
|
Colorado |
W |
62 |
295 |
|
Stanford |
L |
446 |
172 |
|
Arizona |
W |
36 |
179 |
|
Oregon |
L |
212 |
82 |
Table 2. Keith Price's cumulative passing efficiency.
| Team |
C |
A |
Y |
T |
I |
PE |
C |
A |
Y |
T |
I |
PE |
| EWU |
17 |
25 |
102 |
3 |
0 |
149.87 |
17 |
25 |
102 |
3 |
0 |
149.87 |
| Hawai'i |
18 |
25 |
315 |
4 |
1 |
222.64 |
35 |
50 |
417 |
7 |
1 |
182.26 |
| Nebraska |
21 |
37 |
274 |
4 |
2 |
143.83 |
56 |
87 |
691 |
11 |
3 |
165.91 |
| California |
19 |
25 |
292 |
3 |
0 |
213.71 |
75 |
112 |
983 |
14 |
3 |
176.58 |
| Utah |
22 |
30 |
226 |
3 |
1 |
162.95 |
97 |
142 |
1209 |
17 |
4 |
173.70 |
| Colorado |
21 |
28 |
257 |
4 |
0 |
199.24 |
118 |
170 |
1466 |
21 |
4 |
177.91 |
| Stanford |
23 |
36 |
247 |
1 |
1 |
125.13 |
141 |
206 |
1713 |
22 |
5 |
168.69 |
| Arizona |
16 |
30 |
277 |
1 |
3 |
121.89 |
157 |
236 |
1990 |
23 |
8 |
162.74 |
| Oregon |
24 |
35 |
143 |
2 |
2 |
110.32 |
181 |
271 |
2133 |
25 |
10 |
155.97 |
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
| Oregon |
10 |
7 |
17 |
0 |
34 |
| Washington |
3 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
17 |
| Time |
Team |
How |
Player
(s) |
Oreg |
UW |
| 1st qtr |
|
|
|
|
|
|
11:46 |
UO |
TD |
LaMichael James 18 yd run (Alejandro Maldonado
kick) |
7 |
0 |
|
7:17 |
UW |
FG |
Erik Folk 42 yd FG |
7 |
3 |
|
6:06 |
UO |
FG |
Alejandro Maldonado 40 yd FG |
10 |
3 |
|
2nd qtr |
|
|
|
|
|
|
10:10 |
UO |
TD |
David Paulson 4 yd pass from Darron Thomas
(Alejandro Maldonado kick) |
17 |
3 |
|
:30 |
UW |
TD |
Michael Hartvigson 1 yd pass from Keith Price
(Erik Folk kick) |
17 |
10 |
|
3rd qtr |
|
|
|
|
|
|
12:23 |
UO |
TD |
Kenjon Barner 1 yd run (Alejandro Maldonado kick |
24 |
10 |
|
8:33 |
UW |
TD |
Kasen Williams 10 yd pass from Keith Price (Erik
Folk kick) |
24 |
17 |
|
6:05 |
UO |
TD |
De'Anthony Thomas 9 yd run (Alejandro Maldonado
kick) |
31 |
17 |
|
1:49 |
UO |
FG |
Alejandro Maldonado 35 yd FG |
34 |
17 |
|
Statistics |
UO |
UW |
| Total
First Downs |
20 |
19 |
|
Rushing |
12 |
4 |
|
Passing |
8 |
12 |
|
Penalty |
0 |
3 |
| Total
Net Yards |
381 |
278 |
| Net
Yards Passing |
169 |
196 |
| Net
Yards Rushing |
212 |
82 |
|
Completions-att-int |
13-25-0 |
25-36-2 |
| Punts,
yards, average |
4-171; 42.8 |
4-172; 43.0 |
| Sacks by (number, yards) |
6-30-0 |
0-0 |
| Kickoff Returns:
number, yds, tds |
4-123-0 |
7-116-0 |
| Punt
returns: number, yds, tds |
0-0-0 |
0-0-03 |
| Kickoff Yards |
7-425 |
2-242 |
| Net Yards per
kickoff |
44.1 |
29.8 |
| Average yards per
kickoff |
60.7 |
60.5 |
| Touchbacks
(kickoffs) |
0 |
0 |
| Third-down
conversions |
5 of 12 |
8 of 16 |
|
Interception returns: no., yds, tds |
2-65-0 |
0-0-0 |
|
Penalties, no., Yards |
9-78 |
3-20 |
| Fumbles;
number/lost |
2-1 |
1-1 |
| Time of
Possession |
24:01 |
35:59 |
|
Passing |
cmp |
att |
yds |
tds |
int |
| Darron Thomas;
121.98 |
13 |
25 |
169 |
1 |
0 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Washington |
|
|
|
|
|
| Keith Price;
110.32 |
24 |
35 |
143 |
2 |
2 |
| Nick Montana;
545.2 |
1 |
1 |
53 |
0 |
0 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| UO
Rushing |
No. |
yds |
tds |
long |
|
| LaMichael
James |
25 |
156 |
1 |
22 |
|
| Kenjon
Barner |
10 |
41 |
1 |
8 |
|
| DeAnthony
Thomas |
1 |
9 |
1 |
9 |
|
| Darron
Thomas |
3 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Washington Rushing |
No. |
yds |
tds |
long |
|
| Chris Polk |
24 |
80 |
0 |
14 |
|
| Jessie Callier |
1 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
|
| Devin Aguilar |
1 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
|
| Keith Price |
8 |
-27 |
0 |
2 |
|
| Bishop Sankey |
2 |
21 |
0 |
19 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Ducks Pass Receiving |
No. |
yds |
tds |
long |
|
| Josh Huff |
4 |
60 |
0 |
22 |
|
|
Lavasier Tuinei |
4 |
25 |
0 |
13 |
|
|
David Paulson |
3 |
65 |
1 |
34 |
|
| Daryle Hawkins |
1 |
13 |
0 |
13 |
|
| LaMichael James |
1 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Washington Pass Rec. |
No. |
yds |
tds |
long |
|
| Tim Tucker |
2 |
12 |
0 |
7 |
|
| Kevin Smith |
1 |
14 |
0 |
14 |
|
| Kasen Williams |
6 |
79 |
1 |
53 |
|
| Chris Polk |
6 |
31 |
0 |
13 |
|
| Austin
Seferian-Jenkins |
1 |
-6 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Jermaine Kearse |
3 |
24 |
0 |
13 |
|
| Devin Aguilar |
2 |
34 |
0 |
20 |
|
| Mike Hartvigson |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
| Kevin Smith |
1 |
14 |
0 |
14 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Punting |
|
|
|
|
|
| Oregon |
No. |
yds |
avg |
long |
IN20 |
| Jackson Rice |
4 |
171 |
42.8 |
47 |
1 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Washington |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| Will Mahan |
1 |
47 |
47.0 |
47 |
0 |
| Kiel Rasp |
3 |
125 |
41.7 |
45 |
1 |
| Attendance:
69,407 |
|
|
|
|
|
Richard Linde, aka Malamute can be reached at
malamute@4malamute.com
