Has Washington joined the WCO?

According to Bill Walsh, in the ideal setup, the wide receivers would catch 15 passes a game, the running backs would catch 10 and the tight ends would catch five. A team is looking for 25 first downs a game.

For the most part, Washington's attack met this tenet of the WCO, i.e., Walsh's numbers. Leading the league in first downs, Washington averaged 24.9 first downs per game. During the course of the season, on average per game, the Huskies completed 19.8 passes to its WRs, 3.5 passes to its tight ends, and 5.3 passes to its RBs. In 2003, look for the Huskies to throw more to its fullback and tailbacks.
Shown by the data in Table 1 below, the Huskies almost perfectly met Walsh's numbers in their game against Idaho, a game in which they won, 41-27. The Dawgs fell far short of those numbers in blowout losses to USC and Arizona State. Because the UW could not run the ball against USC, it threw the ball 16 times to its running backs.

Next season look for incoming Juco Jon Lyon (TE), Ty Eriks (backup FB), and for speedsters Nate Robinson (CB) and Isaiah Stanback (backup QB), all to be tried in pass-catching rolls. Nowadays, it is more important for the Huskies to have the soft hands of a Jerramy Stevens at tight end rather than the blocking skills of a Kevin Ware. For the coaches in the Pac-10, it's a matter of getting the right personnel on the field to fashion their version of the WCO.

Short-to-medium-range passing attack. Receivers are expected to "Run After Catch."

Washington's passing attack met this tenet of the WCO. The Huskies averaged 12.1 yards per pass completion. During the season, WR Reggie Williams had an 88-yard pass reception, WR Charles Frederick a 74-yard pass reception, and Paul Arnold a 66-yard pass reception, all of which qualify as Runs After Catch.
Players must have more discipline; they have little opportunity for freelancing.

In the Pac-10, the Huskies were penalized the least amount of yards

Use the pass to set up the run. The most successful WCO teams run the ball well.

If a team gains 7-8 yards per run, it can run as little as one out of four plays; otherwise, the WCO calls for an equal number of running and passing plays.

The quarterback must be mobile, be able to throw a touch pass with accuracy, and be intelligent.

QB Cody Pickett more than meets these criteria.
In the 2-WR, 2-RB, 1-TE base set, any of these five players can be the primary receiver at any given time.

The UW meets this criteria.
Defenses are given a variety of looks, with an offense attacking a defense with more receivers than it can cover. Mismatches and confusion are created on defense by using 2 TE sets, 4 WR sets, and 3 WR sets, etc.

The Huskies give the opposition a variety of looks.
Using motion forces a defense to cover players with inappropriate players for coverage, i.e., it creates mismatches.

Washington meets this tenet of the WCO.
Throw the football on any down or distance.

The Huskies are not reluctant to throw the ball on fourth down and were second in the conference in fourth down conversions (58.3%). However, in the game against Texas in the 2001 Holiday Bowl, the offense demurred from passing in the fourth quarter when it had poor field position. Not being able to control the clock at that point in the game proved costly.
To maintain ball control, short passes to the tight end and swing passes to running backs are key. Use tight ends who can catch better than block if there is a question of personnel. Tight ends are key to a red zone attack.

Washington was second in the Pac-10 in Time of Possession, averaging 32:25 (minutes/seconds) per game. The Dawgs maintained ball control in almost every game they played; however, QB Cody Pickett could have completed more passes to TEs Kevin Ware, known for his blocking ability, and to Joe Toledo, who says he's working on emulating former TE Jerramy Stevens' pass-catching techniques. At least, he told me that at Picture Day 2002. Not enough passes were thrown to the fullback, Zach Tuiasosopo (photo above), who excels at blocking rather than at catching passes.
The quarterback must be able to release the ball quickly and accurately on timing after a 3-step drop. Receivers run precision routes. The offense is designed to keep the quarterback healthy.

QB Cody Pickett has a quick release, sets up well and has receivers that run precision routes. Pickett, who is also mobile and intelligent, is an excellent pro-prospect because he fits nicely within a WCO implementation. He was not injured during the 2002 season and played in every game. To be more effective, he needs to run the ball more, like Rich Gannon of the Oakland Raiders.
After the QB drops 3-steps back, one of the receivers should be open to catch a pass if necessary. Ron Jenkins calls him the HOT receiver.

Washington meets this criteria. At times Pickett, will take a step-back from the center and whip the ball to a wide-out, who will run for 5 or 6 yards.
Power running behind zone blocking to minimize negative yardage plays. This is a departure from the 49ers version of the WCO that used man-blocking and cut blocks and misdirection.

Washington employs zone-blocking techniques. It lacked a power running attack.

Table 1. Washington versus its opponents in the 2002 season. The nomenclature and data, which apply to solely Washington, are as follow: Number of catches by the wide receivers (WR), number of catches by tight ends (TE), number of catches by fullback (FB), and number of catches by the tailback (TB). Pass=number of passes thrown in the game; Run=number of running plays in the game. QB=number of runs by the quarterback; YG=yards gained by the quarterback. Red numbers indicate minus yardage. * Walsh's number includes the fullback.