Washington football dropped its first game of the season to the unranked Arizona State, but all is not lost.
There’s no need to panic just yet if you’re the Washington Huskies. The Huskies are still 6-1 entering Week 8 but their recent loss leaves zero room for error going forward.
The Huskies still have to face Stanford on the road, Utah, Oregon, UCLA and Washington State. Losing what should have been an easy victory exposes some chinks in the armor, but there’s still room to improve with five games left on the schedule.
If anything, the loss to Arizona State humbled a Washington Huskies squad favored to win by 17.5 points. The Sun Devils themselves came into the game allowing 36.4 points per game on defense. All of that was out the window though as Arizona State pulled off the unlikely upset.
They’re 3-1 in the Pac-12 North still and didn’t fall too far in the polls as the 12th-ranked team in the Week 8 AP Poll. The road ahead still has some tough teams on it in conference play. Here’s a look at some overreactions from their Week 7 loss.
5. The Huskies offense needs work
Truth is, the Washington Huskies offense didn’t play terribly in Week 7 unless your name was kicker Van Soderberg. The game becomes a completely different story if Soderberg makes the two field goals he missed that should have been chip shots.
Soderberg missed a 21-yard field goal in the Huskies first offensive possession of the second half. They put a solid drive together, going 52 yards in 13 plays across 5:26. However, all that work went out the window when Soderberg missed a chip shot, leaving the score at 13-0.
Van Soderberg : 0/2 FG's (Missed from 27 & 21 yards) pic.twitter.com/umxp1U5mtA
— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) October 15, 2017
He would go on to miss another 27-yard field goal later on in the third quarter, ending his night as the place-kicker. With six points left on the board, it’s easy to say the Huskies could very well have won if not in the very least tied the game before regulation ended. Things just didn’t seem to work out in their favor, but again there’s room to improve.