Huskies were unable to draw a straight line to success
Fourth and 1 in the Husky 46.
Three plus minutes until the end of the game.
Thirty-six inches to certain victory.
A real test of college football masculinity as defined by strength and attitude.
Everything the University of Washington football team did in Corvallis, Oregon on Saturday night revolved around this one-of-a-kind piece.
Husky quarterback Dylan Morris stood right behind the center and accepted the snapshot, then bowed his neck and tried to push forward behind all of his skilled 300 pound escorts.
Typical of a season when there was a lack of punch, Morris only got two of the three feet required.
Football has always been a game of customs.
The last 12 went to the beavers.
Score a takedown for Oregon State that earned the eventual field goal rather than the Seattle visitors and got away with a satisfactory 27-24 win after Everett Hayes converted his 24-yard kick in the final game of the game.
“The Beavs and Huskies are pretty even,” noted a former Oregon state offensive lineman whose father was a stellar 1930s UW two-way tackle. “One big difference is that the OSU O-Line is everything that the Huskies hyped by the preseason are not – athletic.”
After five games and a week of farewell, the huskies have 14 days to think about a season that has gone south and toying with bankruptcy.
Julius Bülow (77) and Ulumoo Ale (68) share the same position.
Dan Raley
Edge Rusher Zion Tupuola’s long absence due to an Achilles tendon injury was a severe blow. Cade Otton’s loss of several weeks to COVID-19 is another. You’re not just shrugging your shoulders and replacing a pair of all-Pac-12 first-team performers without compromise.
But the UW offensive line should help to compensate for deficiencies, not become one itself. Projected as dominant, it was no more than average or even mediocre.
Media and fans alike, including this website, have been slightly romanticized by the O-Line because of its size and experience, both elements considered unmatched in school history.
Advertised as the program’s greatest offensive line of all time, it was arduous rather than nimble. This husky front wall, cited for its great experience, couldn’t figure out how to wear the other side down.
The UW should have what Michigan and Oregon State have, making pancakes over and over and reaping the long runs. Still, it showed that it can’t capitalize on the all-important shorts.
Left tackle Jaxson Kirkland, a 6-foot-7, 310-pound junior from Vancouver, Washington, has started 34 games in four seasons and will be an NFL player next year, though we’re hoping the Husky team’s overall success not doing this does not affect its design.
He was the only guy without a helmet who stood among 60 UW players before kick-off in Corvallis, admonishing them to get up and defeat the Beavers. A team leader with a heartbeat. He found his crew’s initial results disappointing.
“It definitely has because I see the potential of this offensive, and it also hurts because you see the whole camp and all the great players we have on our side,” he said before the OSU game. “And not letting it happen on Saturday certainly sucks.”
Ulumoo Ale, 68, took a lot of snapshots against Oregon State.
USA TODAY Sports
The Huskies returned all five starters from the 2020 season, but started tinkering with things in the spring ball and replaced the left guard Ulumoo Ale in the second year with the Redshirt newcomer Julius Bülow. The beef in this swap really tipped the balance – Ale’s 6-foot-6, 355-pound frame for Bülow’s 6-foot-8, 330-pound dimensions.
Was that bad karma for messing with this supposedly cohesive group?
The Huskies eventually switched back guards against Oregon State, with Ale taking more game snaps than his one-time understudy. Perhaps it was a coincidence that Sean McGrew abandoned two touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. Or maybe not.
Here’s the full season report on the UW’s rush game so far, all five games, with decidedly mixed results:
After all of the preseason fanfare, the huskies fell flat against Montana and opened holes for just 65 yards with 27 carries, averaging a measly 2.4 yards per rush attempt. The FCS team fired Morris three times.
This is also an FCS team.
Against much tougher Michigan, these big boys from UW only had room to run a measly 50 yards with 32 carries, a meager 1.6 yards per carry. A running back should be able to fall over and pick up 1.6 yards. The Big Ten team also came to Morris for 4 sacks.
The Huskies were able to hold their own against a smaller opponent in the state of Arkansas and reached a season high of 200 yards with 39 carries or 5.1 per bag. They scored 3 TDs on the ground, 2 from McGrew and the other from Richard Newton. The Red Wolves fired Morris once.
Opening the Pac-12 conference game against tougher competition, the UW rushing attack against California slipped again to a modest 92 yards at 30 carries, or 3.1 per attempt. Morris was fired again. McGrew did a couple of TD runs again.
Against Oregon State, the Huskies finished with a much healthier 176 yards to 35 carries for 5 yards per pop. They might have won this game if they had collected at least 177. McGrew became the team’s first 100-yard rusher at 104, scoring twice more, giving him 6 roaring TDs in three runs, which was promising enough. Even so, the Beavers found enough open lanes to loot Morris three more times, bringing the season to a total of 12.
One after the other in the last few weeks we have asked four of these big guys in advance what is out there (as shown in the video above), with only Bülow and Ale being spared from an inquisition because as these young, inexperienced players they were gone Media so far.
Every UW lineman comes across as personable and linguistically, which could be the problem. Often times, the best linemen are a little off-key, with a crazy look in their eyes and an attitude so confused they can’t put two words together. Those huskies up front may just be too polite to be great.
Right guard Henry Bainivalu, a 6-foot-6, 330-pound junior from Sammamish, Washington, has a dozen starts to his name. He did not shrink from harshly criticizing his line game.
“I definitely feel like I have to improve,” said Bainivalu. “I haven’t played my best football by a long shot and I think I have a lot more to do.”
Luke Wattenberg, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound center, is by far the most seasoned husky offensive lineman on the team and could end up surpassing anyone in program annals before him. He has registered 41 starts in his well-traveled six seasons and has three positions. He described continuity as a problem.
“Overall, it’s just a lack of implementation and just playing as a unit,” said Wattenberg. “It was just one guy screwing up here and there and we just have to play as one.”
At the right tackle, Victor Curne is a 6-foot-3,315-pound sophomore from Houston who may be the group’s most athletic blocker and someone the NFL will care about in due course. He has 9 starts over two seasons. He would like to have more conversations with the guys standing next to him.
“Probably the biggest thing we need to improve first of all; just talk, get on the same page,” said Curne. “You can never go wrong when everyone is doing the same thing at the same time.”
With seven games remaining on the regular schedule, it might be difficult to find the right words to get these players to act more effectively as a group. Certainly compliments and other niceties didn’t work.
Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven / Sports Illustrated
Follow Husky Maven’s Dan Raley on Twitter: @ DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven