Washington Football: 3 takeaways from upset loss at Arizona State

3. Defense alone can’t win games for Washington in Pac-12 play

Washington’s defense did everything possible to keep their team in striking range of a comeback in the road game on Saturday night. The Huskies held Arizona State to 40 rushing yards on 32 carries, an anemic 1.3 yards-per-carry average that would usually doom an upset bid.

Coming into the game, the Washington defense was allowing only 78.5 rushing yards per game and held opponents to 150 yards through the air. They were just as formidable as ever, but it didn’t matter in the end. Ultimately it was not the defense that cost the Huskies victory.

The Washington secondary did give up 245 passing yards to Manny Wilkins on a 29-of-41 completion rate. But they also held the Arizona State quarterback scoreless on both the ground and in the air. The Sun Devils did not win because they blew out the Huskies defense, but because they managed to limit their mistakes and maximize the few opportunities that arose.

Most of the time, when a team in contention for the College Football Playoff gives up fewer than 300 yards of offense and only 13 points, it is going to win the game. This time it didn’t work out for the Huskies, though, because its offense just couldn’t deliver.