Washington football lost one of its top players over the weekend, but here’s why they are still the Pac-12’s best team after the Chico McClatcher injury.
It’s been a sparkling start to the 2017 season for Washington football, but the Huskies suffered a major blow over the weekend with the news that Chico McClatcher would miss the remainder of the year. He suffered a broken ankle against Colorado, which has ended his junior year early.
Luckily for the Huskies, and McClatcher, he’s eligible to medically redshirt. That would give him another two years of eligibility if he were to come back after next season. He was ready to become the Huskies No. 2 receiver in Pac-12 play, but the injury is forcing others to step up.
Despite it being a tough blow to one of the Huskies’ three 100-yard pass-catchers, Washington will be just fine without the rising junior, and here’s why.
5. Washington’s defense will keep team in games
Four games into the season, the Washington Huskies’ defense looks just as effective as it was last season when they made the College Football Playoff. In fact, Washington has allowed just 11.8 points per game, which ranks 10th in the country.
On top of that, the Huskies’ total defense ranks ninth in college football, allowing just 274 yards per contest. Washington hasn’t exactly faced off against the toughest teams in college football — Rutgers, Montana, Fresno State and Colorado — but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the defense looks solid yet again.
Washington’s total defense ranks second in the Pac-12 behind only Washington State and that could be an indication that losing one offensive player won’t hurt the Huskies in conference play against lackluster secondaries.
It’s still early, but it looks like Washington’s defense will keep it in multiple games.
4. Huskies didn’t rely on him much through four games
Looking at the numbers, Washington wasn’t exactly relying heavily on Chico McClatcher through four games. He accounted for just about 10 percent of the passing offense and while that may seem like a decent chunk, you have to look at the rest of the weapons around him, developed by Jake Browning.
McClatcher entered the season as the clear No. 2 receiver for the Huskies. Even after John Ross graduated, he was looking to fight for targets with Dante Pettis. That has been the case through four games, catching 10 passes for 128 yards. He had not yet reached the end zone, either.
It’s easy to say this loss will hurt the offense considerably, but with 14 other guys having at least two receptions this year, he is just a drop in the ocean — a talented drop at that. No one player is big enough to hurt an entire offense, unless, of course, it happens at the quarterback position.
The Huskies will find a way to develop more targets and, like I said, there have already been over a dozen other receivers who have caught at least two passes this season. Not relying heavily on McClatcher early in the year will actually pay off now that he’s out.
3. Jake Browning is talented enough to develop new weapons
This one is sort of a play off the last reason. While Jake Browning hasn’t had to rely on Chico McClatcher a heck of a lot through four games — 10 connections between the two — he is also in the process of developing other weapons and top targets.
The team’s No. 1 receiver so far has been Dante Pettis, to no one’s astonishment, while freshman tight end Hunter Bryant is also impressive. With Browning’s accuracy and trust for his young target, Bryant has excelled, catching seven passes for 125 yards. Fellow tight end Will Dissly has six catches for 88 yards and two scores.
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Browning is also hitting his running backs out of the backfield. In fact, both Lavon Coleman and Myles Gaskin combine for 10 receptions for 106 yards and three touchdowns. That will help plenty in McClatcher’s absence.
Quinten Pounds is a good candidate to replace McClatcher effectively. He has four catches for 81 yards and a touchdown over the last three games. Brayden Lenius has seven catches for 70 yards, Andre Baccellia has six catches for 69 yards, Drew Sample, another tight end, has three for 63 and Aaron Fuller has four receptions for 45 yards.
There are weapons aplenty.
2. Run game is coming along, will take pressure away
Finally, the run game seems to be coming together at the right time. After fans were panicking about Myles Gaskin’s ability to break the 100-yard mark through the first three games of the season — kind of like last year — he wound up cracking 200 yards against Colorado in a Week 4 win over the Buffaloes.
Gaskin was the star of the game and actually out-gained Jake Browning in total yardage. He finished with 202 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. He averaged 7.5 yards per touch and looked like his old self.
Through the first three games, Gaskin combined for 153 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He surpassed that total by 49 yards in one Pac-12 game and nearly tied the touchdown mark. This is proof that the run game wasn’t relied heavily upon during the first few weeks, but when it needed to step up, it did.
This boost in the run game with Gaskin, and eventually Lavon Coleman, will help the Huskies’ offense tremendously. It will take plenty of pressure off Browning and the receiving corps.
1. Dante Pettis is still healthy
Surprise, Dante Pettis is still here. Everyone was melting down over the McClatcher injury over the weekend, but they seemed to forget that Pettis is still healthy and Chris Petersen is one of the best coaches in the country. He’s faced difficult injuries before.
Pettis was the clear No. 1 returning receiver this season and was expected to take over for John Ross and lessen the blow of his departure. So far, he’s done just that. Pettis’ numbers aren’t eye-popping just yet, but he’s getting the job done.
In fact, he has 15 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns through four games to go along with six punt returns for 233 yards and three touchdowns. He scores a touchdown on exactly half the punt returns he accounts for. That’s unreal. He’s broken the NCAA punt return record and now has eight touchdowns in his career.
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Despite McClatcher being out, Pettis is still going to lead the way and remain one of the least guard-able receivers in the conference. His combination of speed and strong hands makes him a scary threat in the pass and return games.