Washington football lost a heartbreaker to Auburn in Week 1, but bounced back with an easy win at home over North Dakota in Week 2.
A few more favorable bounces and Washington, not Auburn, walks out of Atlanta 1-0 with a spot in the College Football Playoff in their sights. That’s not what was in the cards for Chris Petersen’s team, who instead were dealt a tough loss to a stingy SEC foe.
The nature of the defeat, combined with a relatively soft Pac-12 schedule keep the Playoff window open for Washington. They just need to take care of business one play at a time. That started Saturday with a comfortable win over North Dakota at home.
Jake Browning completed 23-of-37 passes for 313 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. It wasn’t a perfect performance for the Washington signal caller, but it was enough to get the job done. The same workmanlike epithet can be applied to his backfield partner Myles Gaskin who carried the ball 15 times for 53 yards and one touchdown of his own.
It was the defense, Washington’s calling card, that controlled this game from the opening whistle. North Dakota was never able to get into any sort of a rhythm, converting on 3-of-18 third downs and going 0-for-1 on fourth.
Quarterback Nate Ketteringham was held to 96 yards on 16-of-30 passing. The vaunted Washington secondary didn’t register any interceptions, but a performance that quiet from the opposing quarterback isn’t going to be anywhere close to strong enough to overcome a six-touchdown deficit.
Washington begins conference play next weekend on the road against Utah. The first two games have had their moments, but the Huskies need to step up their offensive production if they want to regain the Pac-12 Title and more.