Instant impressions from Washington’s 31-17 loss at Indiana

Here are three instant impression from Washington’s 31-17 loss at Indiana on Saturday.

Another tough day for the UW offensive line

From the start, the Huskies had issues protecting quarterback Will Rogers. He was sacked twice on UW’s first possession and was under duress time and again in the first half, which ended with Indiana ahead 17-7.

Rogers’ hand was hit on a backward pass, turning what could have been a successful trick play into a 67-yard pick-six for Indiana.

There certainly was nothing fluky about Indiana’s 31-17 win over Washington on Saturday, with Indiana being the better team on offense, defense and special teams.

Here are the grades for the Huskies:

Offense

The Huskies had a season low in yards (318) and were held under 20 points for the second straight game.

The UW offensive line had a bad game. Quarterback Will Rogers was under pressure time and again, and the game’s first touchdown — a 67-yard interception return on an attempted backward pass — was caused by a defensive lineman deflecting the ball.

Jonah Coleman rushed for 104 yards, but 46 came on one carry. He rushed for 58 yards on his other 18 carries as he did not have many holes to run through.

Rogers was intercepted twice, once on the backward pass that wasn’t his fault and another time when he gave 6-foot-4 receiver Denzel Boston a chance to win a jump ball on a deep pass. It wasn’t Rogers’ best game, but the majority of the blame has to go to the offensive line.

Grade: D.

Defense

The UW defense played fairly well in the first half, allowing just 10 points, and then it made an interception on the first play of the second half, setting up a UW touchdown that cut the deficit to 17-14.

At that point, the grade would have been good. The rest of the game was a fail for the UW defense, which could not stop Indiana from successfully running the football, beginning with a 14-play touchdown drive that allowed the Hoosiers to regain control and end with a 12-play drive that consumed the final 6 minutes, 6 seconds.

Indiana, playing with its backup quarterback, threw just five passes in its 36 second-half plays because Washington seemed helpless against the run. Indiana rushed for 188 yards, but it felt like 300.

Grade: D.

Special teams

The Huskies weren’t as bad as they have been the past few games, but that was a pretty low bar.

Kicker Grady Gross made both of his extra-point attempts and also converted a 23-yard field goal — kicks any college kicker would be expected to make but ones that might help his confidence after a rough stretch.

Punter Jack McCallister averaged 53.8 yards on four kicks. But one of his punts was returned 62 yards to the Indiana 14, setting up a fourth-quarter touchdown that pushed the Hoosiers’ lead to 31-14. That one play dropped the unit’s grade a lot.

Grade: D-plus.

Coaching

This is a tough one. Indiana dominated the game up front on both sides of the ball, and how much do you blame the coaching for that?

The Huskies never adjusted to Indiana’s running game in the second half, and you can make a good case that they should have dared Indiana to pass by bringing more and more players up to the line of scrimmage.

Maybe there should have been more adjustments on offense after it was clear the UW offensive line could not hold up against Indiana’s pass rush.

In any case, you can’t give a good grade to the coaching staff when the team plays this poorly.

Grade: D.

Jonah Coleman had a 46-yard run for UW in the first half, but for the most part, there weren’t many holes for Husky running backs. Coleman was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 play from the Indiana 30 in the first quarter, ending a scoring opportunity.

It certainly makes it tough for a play-caller when the offensive line is getting beat. That was the case for much of the game against the Hoosiers, just as it was against Iowa two weeks ago in UW’s 40-16 loss.

UW’s issues stopping the run continued

The Huskies got a break not having to face Indiana star quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who was out with an injury, and they took advantage of that early.

With quarterback Tayven Jackson struggling in the passing game, Indiana ran time and again in the second half, and the Huskies could not stop it.

The UW defense got an interception on the first play of the second half, setting up a Husky touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-14. The Huskies were in position to seize control of the game, but Indiana responded with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that took 7 minutes, 42 seconds.

Indiana ran the ball on 11 plays in that drive for 51 yards, including the final 4 yards.

It didn’t get any better for the Husky defense after that, including on a game-clinching drive after UW pulled to within 31-17 with 6:06 left. Washington knew Indiana would try to seal the game by running, but the Huskies could not get off the field, allowing one first down after another.

Indiana averaged fewer than 4 yards per carry, but that stat is deceptive. The Hoosiers’ offensive line imposed its will on UW in the second half, just as Iowa did a couple of weeks ago.

Path to bowl eligibility is not easy

Washington will need to win two of its final four games to become bowl-eligible. The Huskies will be big underdogs at No. 3 Penn State and at No. 1 Oregon, so wins at home next Saturday against USC and on Nov. 15 against UCLA are likely a must.

The Huskies are capable of getting to six regular-season wins, but they will need to play much better than they did against Indiana.