Appreciate this level-headed recap as always, Christian.
This felt like a messy loss, not doubt some of that could have been avoided, but there was quite a bit to be excited about. Not as close to the top of the B1G as we want, but closer than before.
But I would also very much like Fisch to stop blaming his players for not “executing” his stupid decisions. Will Rogers speed option to the boundary and now a fake field goal on 4th and 14 are not “execution” problems.
So if it's a good play call but poorly executed thats ok to call the players out? It was poorly executed obviously. If it had worked would people have said it was a great call?
Honestly, I’m most disappointed in the absence of second-half adjustments from Fisch. Few RPOs, designed Demond runs, or half rolls/bootlegs for Demond. No wonder he was sacked so many times in second half. Would be curious to hear from any of you or even Fisch what second-half adjustments were made…
One thing the top programs have - they either don’t lose coaches to other openings or their locker room doesn’t get gutted when they leave
or retire.
Ex: Alabama lost Sayin, downs and couple more players after Saban retired. Many more left to NFL like every year. But did that locker room get raided ? Of course not. But UW’s did. It was the same timing.
If Lanning leaves to KC chiefs after Andy Reid retires, will Oregon’s roster get gutted ? Did it get gutted when Cristobal left to Miami similar to UW ?
UW desperately needs this essential ingredient- coaching stability more than anything else. I hope Fisch is here another 5 years atleast.
Even if we win a natty or not - we need to see some fruits of 4-5 good recruiting classes - like all the elite programs do.
I am one of those that selected feeling better after the game. It cemented the progress we have seen from last year for me. That OL is night and day better, the QB continues to improve and really showed some exceptional throws in this game, especially in the middle of the field. Defense did everything they needed to do. Losing with just some mental errors, a questionable decision or two by coaches, and some pretty egregious calls against the top power in the sport coming off a BYE is without question something to build on. And we did that missing some of our top players.
To have had a shot at winning we needed their QB to not be able to manage their first road start, but he did, and with all that talent they have it became really tough to be able to beat them. We are on track and will continue to build. Need to get healthier here.
Amen to #7 on the list- baffling to let smith run free there and play it like that. Equally baffling that ryan day didn't take timeouts on our next possession, and try to get the ball back for one more score before half. Geez- big 10 football is so conservative!
The number of OSU fans didn't surprise me as it's a great excuse for midwesterners to come out to seattle in september. Husky fans were awesome! It just annoys me that someone thinks we need a screen and a guy on the mic to tell us when to get loud. We know when to yell, and we know when it's third down! We have known it for well over half a century.
One thing I’ve noticed in the Big 10 is they don’t call much holding. The PAC 12 seemed to call it really tight, in the Big 10 you gotta nearly tackle a guy to get it called, which means the one they did call on Ohio State was probably really blatant 😀
The worse penalty was the false start on the 2yd line. That was the best chance to score a TD. TD then a FG instead of the fake mashed it a 24-13 game which would be a decent outcome. I thought it was going to be 10 points or less either way. I figured we could be osu or oregon but not both. And at the end of the season hopefully most will be healthy then. According to espn projector for each game we will be favored in every game except Michigan and oregon. That would put us at 9-3 for the season. I will take that in a great beat. Get a bowl win and that's 10-3. Which is what arizona had in Fisch 3rd there.
Haven't watched replay yet. Probably will tonight or tomorrow unfortunately with being there miss a lot and not having birds eye view don't see a lot of the coming and going. Didn't realize Durfee had left till I saw a post in 2nd half. According to Vegas inside we are 7.5 point favorites at Maryland.
Great comments here and fabulous list from you Christian - I think you really covered the main points.
So I'll only add a couple thoughts:
1) Huskies played #1 tOSU only a little worse than Texas, yet don't get ranked? And meanwhile, a team that absolutely got murder-stomped by Indiana is still clinging to the rankings? (I suppose that might be good for us so we can beat them and take their spot).
2) So long to the home win streak! Sad to see it go, but rather lose it to defending national champ tOSU than the Ducks. And sadly, since AL beat Ga at home, now the Ducks have the longest win streak (with little chance to have it ended this season) BOOOOOO!
My biggest disappointment is in Fisch. Sure, some dubious play calling but mostly his histrionics on the sideline. Watching him on the sideline well after the unsportsmanlike penalty he kept on the side judge and ignoring his team. When the team came out for the second half he still was at it.
Fisch needs to be present for his team and stop whining. The roughing the quarterback call was worse.
Yeah as soon as the sideline thing happened, I thought "great, now the refs are grumpy with us". Later, watching the Ducks, I saw Lanning charming the refs, and yeah, would rather Fisch took that approach.
My take is we don’t quite have the O Line or interior D line depth to beat the top tier of the Big 10, but we’re much closer than last year and solidly in the 2nd tier.
So an 8 or 9 win team if things break right and not in danger of getting completely over run like last year vs Penn State, Iowa, Indiana and Oregon.
The Other thing is Ohio State’s D is really really good, on the one hand Demond does need to be willing to get rid of the ball sooner if nothing is there, but at the same time vs most every other team on the schedule those scrambles are huge gains, Ohio State is just that good.
So Christian you want to hear from the worse voters? Well count me in that category.
First of all, I'm not saying a lot worse by any means. But I'm not sure how we can feel the same after not scoring a single touchdown. And not really being competitive in very large chunks of this game. Definitely not seeing the feeling better category. That makes no sense to me.
So you did not beat the spread by 10 points and that's supposed to make us feel better somehow. Yeah, no. Still think this is a pretty good team. One of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the country, but I wish he would have showed that he was that even once. He literally did not make a single play Christian.
Refuse to throw the ball away time and again and that concerns me greatly. Literally did not learn the entire game and put his team in bad bad down and distance from beginning to end. I hope he learns that he is not faster or more shifty than a half a dozen NFL players.
He just has to be smarter than that.
Still love the Huskies but this game gives me serious pause.
That failed fake field goal was brutal. He says it was a lack of execution. I say it was a lack of everything prior to that including coaching the timing of it, how it was drawn up, everything.
Anyway, I like the coach but I think we have to realize he is just kind of average when it comes to calling a game.
So yeah, definitely slightly worse after that showing.
This is pretty much how I feel as well, but I'm in the "same" category simply because coming into the season I felt this was either a 7 or 8 win team, 9 if they can pull out a tough road matchup at Wisconsin or Michigan. We just don't have the talent/depth at the line of scrimmage just yet, but it's certainly trending the right way.
I felt like there would be some growing pains with Demond this year, and the negative plays are very frustrating. The positive spin on that is that at least it's not a turnover. Let's hope he learns from it.
I like Fisch, but am frustrated with him too. The unsportsmanlike made him look like a HC that's not ready for a game like this...borderline bush league frankly. He, and his staff, need to be better at the things they can control. The fake FG on 4th and 14 was amateur hour.
Considering the huge number of recruits at the game, I feel like that only compounds what you've said. I'm curious what some of their takes were on it all: "hey this coach really tries to protect his players" or "that dude is a nutcase that would have our hide if we did anything close to similar".
Excellent take on the on unsportsmanlike on the head coach. That was ridiculous. I can see why he was so mad but you got to keep it together. Act like a head coach. Amateur hour was how I felt as well
Great synopsis, as always, Christian. We appreciate it! The roughing call was even more stinging because OSU played 'beyond the whistle' on nearly every play. LOTS of laying on top of Huskies and grinding helmets into the turf, etc. All intended to show they're tough guys. No calls. Everyone in our section was really grumbling about the refs 'protecting the brand' (OSU).
Anyway, we've progressed, but our depth isn't yet where it needs to be. Big drop off with injuries to Durfee, Davis, Buddah and, especially, Willis.
To our credit, OSU felt it was necessary to change their offensive game-plan at half time. They moved away from a ground and pound to a short passing game that allowed their athletes to play. We didn't make good offensive OR defensive adjustments.
Count me as one of the “felt worse” voters. Since I voted, I’ve softened on that position, but the offense’s inability to score a single touchdown disappointed and concerned me about the future against very good opponents. Ohio State’s defense is elite and likely one of the best in the country. But my expectations for this game (and the season) included a more prolific offense than what we saw. As a result, I worry about putting meaningful points on the board at Michigan and against Oregon—something I thought would be much more doable before seeing Saturday’s performance.
Youth can change things, if you let it. We seemed to let it because we have more youth than the average team. This is not the Don James era where the best time to play a freshman is when they are a junior, but if you let it change the way you call them game, you have some growing up to do before you can really compete with the bigger programs.
If you call plays in the red zone tentatively, that can obviously reduce your point total. Sometimes playing not to lose ends up in a loss. Our big 3 were not much of a factor in the red zone. Give them more chances.
Appreciate this level-headed recap as always, Christian.
This felt like a messy loss, not doubt some of that could have been avoided, but there was quite a bit to be excited about. Not as close to the top of the B1G as we want, but closer than before.
But I would also very much like Fisch to stop blaming his players for not “executing” his stupid decisions. Will Rogers speed option to the boundary and now a fake field goal on 4th and 14 are not “execution” problems.
So if it's a good play call but poorly executed thats ok to call the players out? It was poorly executed obviously. If it had worked would people have said it was a great call?
Honestly, I’m most disappointed in the absence of second-half adjustments from Fisch. Few RPOs, designed Demond runs, or half rolls/bootlegs for Demond. No wonder he was sacked so many times in second half. Would be curious to hear from any of you or even Fisch what second-half adjustments were made…
One thing the top programs have - they either don’t lose coaches to other openings or their locker room doesn’t get gutted when they leave
or retire.
Ex: Alabama lost Sayin, downs and couple more players after Saban retired. Many more left to NFL like every year. But did that locker room get raided ? Of course not. But UW’s did. It was the same timing.
If Lanning leaves to KC chiefs after Andy Reid retires, will Oregon’s roster get gutted ? Did it get gutted when Cristobal left to Miami similar to UW ?
UW desperately needs this essential ingredient- coaching stability more than anything else. I hope Fisch is here another 5 years atleast.
Even if we win a natty or not - we need to see some fruits of 4-5 good recruiting classes - like all the elite programs do.
Fun to imagine the dividends, in the years to come, of Dezmen Roebuck & Dylan Robinson, as Freshmen, holding their own vs. CFB’s No.1 team.
Side note: Thankfull that UW did well enough that Sayin was still in the game on the last drive.
Yup alot of Ohio st fans thought they would put 50 on us.
I am one of those that selected feeling better after the game. It cemented the progress we have seen from last year for me. That OL is night and day better, the QB continues to improve and really showed some exceptional throws in this game, especially in the middle of the field. Defense did everything they needed to do. Losing with just some mental errors, a questionable decision or two by coaches, and some pretty egregious calls against the top power in the sport coming off a BYE is without question something to build on. And we did that missing some of our top players.
To have had a shot at winning we needed their QB to not be able to manage their first road start, but he did, and with all that talent they have it became really tough to be able to beat them. We are on track and will continue to build. Need to get healthier here.
Amen to #7 on the list- baffling to let smith run free there and play it like that. Equally baffling that ryan day didn't take timeouts on our next possession, and try to get the ball back for one more score before half. Geez- big 10 football is so conservative!
The number of OSU fans didn't surprise me as it's a great excuse for midwesterners to come out to seattle in september. Husky fans were awesome! It just annoys me that someone thinks we need a screen and a guy on the mic to tell us when to get loud. We know when to yell, and we know when it's third down! We have known it for well over half a century.
From where I sat, it seemed like the refs missed several obvious holding calls on the Buckeye offensive line. Anyone else see that?
One thing I’ve noticed in the Big 10 is they don’t call much holding. The PAC 12 seemed to call it really tight, in the Big 10 you gotta nearly tackle a guy to get it called, which means the one they did call on Ohio State was probably really blatant 😀
The worse penalty was the false start on the 2yd line. That was the best chance to score a TD. TD then a FG instead of the fake mashed it a 24-13 game which would be a decent outcome. I thought it was going to be 10 points or less either way. I figured we could be osu or oregon but not both. And at the end of the season hopefully most will be healthy then. According to espn projector for each game we will be favored in every game except Michigan and oregon. That would put us at 9-3 for the season. I will take that in a great beat. Get a bowl win and that's 10-3. Which is what arizona had in Fisch 3rd there.
Haven't watched replay yet. Probably will tonight or tomorrow unfortunately with being there miss a lot and not having birds eye view don't see a lot of the coming and going. Didn't realize Durfee had left till I saw a post in 2nd half. According to Vegas inside we are 7.5 point favorites at Maryland.
Great comments here and fabulous list from you Christian - I think you really covered the main points.
So I'll only add a couple thoughts:
1) Huskies played #1 tOSU only a little worse than Texas, yet don't get ranked? And meanwhile, a team that absolutely got murder-stomped by Indiana is still clinging to the rankings? (I suppose that might be good for us so we can beat them and take their spot).
2) So long to the home win streak! Sad to see it go, but rather lose it to defending national champ tOSU than the Ducks. And sadly, since AL beat Ga at home, now the Ducks have the longest win streak (with little chance to have it ended this season) BOOOOOO!
I do take some solace knowing UW was the last team to beat the Ducks in Autzen.
My biggest disappointment is in Fisch. Sure, some dubious play calling but mostly his histrionics on the sideline. Watching him on the sideline well after the unsportsmanlike penalty he kept on the side judge and ignoring his team. When the team came out for the second half he still was at it.
Fisch needs to be present for his team and stop whining. The roughing the quarterback call was worse.
Yeah as soon as the sideline thing happened, I thought "great, now the refs are grumpy with us". Later, watching the Ducks, I saw Lanning charming the refs, and yeah, would rather Fisch took that approach.
Lanning overeeing his players faking injuries in order to stop the clock was charming as well
My take is we don’t quite have the O Line or interior D line depth to beat the top tier of the Big 10, but we’re much closer than last year and solidly in the 2nd tier.
So an 8 or 9 win team if things break right and not in danger of getting completely over run like last year vs Penn State, Iowa, Indiana and Oregon.
The Other thing is Ohio State’s D is really really good, on the one hand Demond does need to be willing to get rid of the ball sooner if nothing is there, but at the same time vs most every other team on the schedule those scrambles are huge gains, Ohio State is just that good.
This is a really fantastic article Christian. Well thought out, detailed but concise considering the breadth of the article. Thank you!
So Christian you want to hear from the worse voters? Well count me in that category.
First of all, I'm not saying a lot worse by any means. But I'm not sure how we can feel the same after not scoring a single touchdown. And not really being competitive in very large chunks of this game. Definitely not seeing the feeling better category. That makes no sense to me.
So you did not beat the spread by 10 points and that's supposed to make us feel better somehow. Yeah, no. Still think this is a pretty good team. One of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the country, but I wish he would have showed that he was that even once. He literally did not make a single play Christian.
Refuse to throw the ball away time and again and that concerns me greatly. Literally did not learn the entire game and put his team in bad bad down and distance from beginning to end. I hope he learns that he is not faster or more shifty than a half a dozen NFL players.
He just has to be smarter than that.
Still love the Huskies but this game gives me serious pause.
That failed fake field goal was brutal. He says it was a lack of execution. I say it was a lack of everything prior to that including coaching the timing of it, how it was drawn up, everything.
Anyway, I like the coach but I think we have to realize he is just kind of average when it comes to calling a game.
So yeah, definitely slightly worse after that showing.
This is pretty much how I feel as well, but I'm in the "same" category simply because coming into the season I felt this was either a 7 or 8 win team, 9 if they can pull out a tough road matchup at Wisconsin or Michigan. We just don't have the talent/depth at the line of scrimmage just yet, but it's certainly trending the right way.
I felt like there would be some growing pains with Demond this year, and the negative plays are very frustrating. The positive spin on that is that at least it's not a turnover. Let's hope he learns from it.
I like Fisch, but am frustrated with him too. The unsportsmanlike made him look like a HC that's not ready for a game like this...borderline bush league frankly. He, and his staff, need to be better at the things they can control. The fake FG on 4th and 14 was amateur hour.
Considering the huge number of recruits at the game, I feel like that only compounds what you've said. I'm curious what some of their takes were on it all: "hey this coach really tries to protect his players" or "that dude is a nutcase that would have our hide if we did anything close to similar".
Excellent take on the on unsportsmanlike on the head coach. That was ridiculous. I can see why he was so mad but you got to keep it together. Act like a head coach. Amateur hour was how I felt as well
Great synopsis, as always, Christian. We appreciate it! The roughing call was even more stinging because OSU played 'beyond the whistle' on nearly every play. LOTS of laying on top of Huskies and grinding helmets into the turf, etc. All intended to show they're tough guys. No calls. Everyone in our section was really grumbling about the refs 'protecting the brand' (OSU).
Anyway, we've progressed, but our depth isn't yet where it needs to be. Big drop off with injuries to Durfee, Davis, Buddah and, especially, Willis.
To our credit, OSU felt it was necessary to change their offensive game-plan at half time. They moved away from a ground and pound to a short passing game that allowed their athletes to play. We didn't make good offensive OR defensive adjustments.
Count me as one of the “felt worse” voters. Since I voted, I’ve softened on that position, but the offense’s inability to score a single touchdown disappointed and concerned me about the future against very good opponents. Ohio State’s defense is elite and likely one of the best in the country. But my expectations for this game (and the season) included a more prolific offense than what we saw. As a result, I worry about putting meaningful points on the board at Michigan and against Oregon—something I thought would be much more doable before seeing Saturday’s performance.
Ok and if we lose to oregon and Michigan but win the others that would be a 9-3 season.
Youth can change things, if you let it. We seemed to let it because we have more youth than the average team. This is not the Don James era where the best time to play a freshman is when they are a junior, but if you let it change the way you call them game, you have some growing up to do before you can really compete with the bigger programs.
If you call plays in the red zone tentatively, that can obviously reduce your point total. Sometimes playing not to lose ends up in a loss. Our big 3 were not much of a factor in the red zone. Give them more chances.