The Washington Huskies lost their first official road game as a member of the Big Ten conference. They were beaten by Rutgers University, 21-18. It was again an ugly performance by Jedd Fisch’s team, marred by penalties, a lack of execution and undisciplined football.

The most costly play happened with about 30 seconds left in the first half when UW blocked a Rutgers field goal, but were flagged for a substitution penalty that awarded the Scarlet Knights a first down.

Redshift freshman Vincent Holmes lost his damn mind and ran onto the field while the Huskies were trying to recover the ball. Sure, he was excited for his teammates but needed to listen for a whistle, signaling the play was over, before dashing onto the field to congratulate his guys. One of the stupidest and most selfish penalties a player could possibly be flagged for.

On the play after the penalty Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis threw it up for wide receiver Ian Strong to go make a play. The 6ft-3in 211lbs sophomore did just that by using his gigantic frame to out-jump a Husky DB and hauled in 15-yard TD right before halftime to completely change the complexion of the game. Instead of Washington going into the locker room being down 7-points, they went in down 11-points and couldn’t claw their way back.

Grady Gross also had a dismal performance, missing 3 of his 4 field goals, including a 55-yarder as time expired that would’ve tied the game.

Husky QB Will Rodgers had a good game throwing for 306 yards on 26/36 pass attempts, 2 TD’s and 0 INT’s, heavily targeting Denzel Boston (6 receptions for 125 yards, 2 TD’s) But he also had several miscommunications with his receivers, where he threw to one spot and the WR ran to another, resulting in points being left on the field. The most egregious example of this came on UW’s first drive of the 2nd half.

Jonah Coleman ran well (148 yards on 16 carries, 0 TD’s) and got Washington all the way down to the 3. He wasn’t able to get into the endzone on first or second down, with a Will Rodgers incompletion on third down, forcing offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll to draw something up for 4th-and-short. It ended up being a play-action pass to Giles Jackson, who was uncovered and open if the pass was thrown ahead of him. Unfortunately Rodgers threw behind the WR, helped by a slight Rutgers tip, with the pass falling incomplete and giving the ball back to the Scarlet Knights.

The other undoing of the Huskies was their terrible efficiency on third down, both on offense and defense.

Rutgers only had 3 scoring drives, but all of them went for double digit plays (15, 10, 10) and ended in 7. Running back Kyle Monangai starred for the Knights, racking up 132 yards on 25 carries and 1 TD. He was immense, powering their offense to the win. Washington, at times, bottled him up but as the game progressed he got stronger and harder to tackle. On one play in the 2nd half he ran through like 6 Husky would-be tacklers for a big gain. QB Athan Kaliakmanis didn’t put up big numbers (115 yards on 14/24 pass attempts, 1 TD) but did complete a handful of important passes on 3rd down to keep a couple of drives alive. They finished the game 8/15 on 3rd down. One of the most significant plays occurred in the 4th quarter on 3rd-and-4 when RB Samuel Brown V (44 yards on 5 carries, 1 TD) took the handoff, ran through two Husky tackles and scored from 37-yards out. This score proved to be the nail in the coffin for UW.

Weirdly, Washington totaled 521 yards and 21 first downs, so statistically speaking the offense played well. But through a combination of untimely incompletions, dumb penalties, the play not being run to the sticks or just tough Rutgers defense the Huskies finished a measly 2/12 on third down. That simply isn’t good enough to win a close football game.

Washington’s upcoming schedule is daunting. Out of the 7 remaining games, they play 4 on the road; Iowa (3-1), Indiana (5-0), Penn State (4-0) and Oregon (4-0). With Michigan (4-1), USC (3-1) and UCLA (1-3) coming to Husky Stadium. The ultracompetitive Big Ten is not for the faint of heart. The game against the Bruins feels like the only time UW will be favored for the rest of the season.

This current team isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either. And being a mediocre team, they can’t do dumb things like block a FG and have it wiped away due to someone running onto the field unnecessarily and think they can overcome it. The only way for them to win is to stay disciplined, execute the play that’s called and maximize their opportunities in the redzone, so far the new coaching staff/players haven’t accomplished those things regularly. We’re almost at the midpoint of the season and the signs are pointing downward. Hopefully Jedd Fisch can get this turned around quickly or else it’s going to be a long, uncomfortable rest of the season for the Washington Huskies.

Next up is a home date against the reigning national champions, the Michigan Wolverines. It’s sure to be a highly-charged atmosphere at Husky Stadium due to them beating the Dawgs in the natty last season. Even though Jim Harbaugh and a bunch of players moved on, it’s still personal to Husky Nation. Sherrone Moore’s team isn’t as talented, but they can still run the hell out of the ball and suffocate you with their defense. It will be another massive test for UW.

GO DAWGS!