Washington football: Huskies battle for win over Arizona State

2. Washington’s defense is elite

From holding Manny Wilkins to just 30 yards in the air in the first half, and 104 yards overall, to mostly shutting down N’Keal Harry, and containing almost all big plays, Washington’s defense proved a lot last night. Arizona State may not be an elite offensive juggernaut, but to dominate a team like Washington’s defense did last night is impressive no matter the opponent.

The Huskies were able to make things difficult for ASU all night long, forcing them to work for every yard, swarming to the ball on every run or pass completion, and perhaps most importantly, never giving Manny Wilkins a clean pocket. The highly touted defensive backfield had a good game against a tough receiving group, but the true stars of the game were on the line.

Wilkins was pressured heavily all game long, thanks in large part to star lineman Greg Gaines. Gaines required constant attention from Arizona State’s offensive line, opening up room for linebackers Ben Burr-Kirven and Benning Potoa’e to have big days. When the line is able to get a good push, it makes just about everything more difficult for an offense, and we saw that all game long, especially in the third quarter when Washington forced a big fumble that shifted the game.

It wasn’t a shutout, nor was it a complete shut down of Arizona State’s offense. The Sun Devils were able to move the ball on offense, hence the 20 points. However, Washington’s defense did exactly what was needed to help their team. It was an impressive performance, once again, for a defense that has been stacking impressive performances all year long.