Show notes
The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - went into overtime Saturday night and into Sunday morning to break down their thoughts after the No. 18 Washington Huskies defeated the Stanford Cardinal 40-22 at Husky Stadium.
It was a game where the Huskies did so many things right in terms of the mechanics of the game - no turnovers, forced three Stanford miscues, ran the ball, kept Stanford's run game in check, played strong field position, and always came back in a positive way after the Cardinal scored - yet there was still so much more meat left on the bone.
Starting with the offense, Michael Penix, Jr. had another 300-yard passing game, but he was not the same quarterback that sliced and diced Michigan State the week before. Did the new Heisman talk start to seep in a little bit? Wayne Taulapapa ran for a career-high 120 yards, the first time he's ever run for more than 100 yards in a game in his career, and the running backs did enough to help Penix to keep the Cardinal defense off-balance.
It was also the first game back for left tackle Jaxson Kirkland, and he looked pretty sharp in his 2022 debut. Obviously it's also the first time he's worked side-by-side with Troy Fautanu this season, so they will continue to improve as the season goes on. Rome Odunze caught up with the other three UW receivers that have 100-yard games - Jalen McMillan, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Giles Jackson - with 161 yards on 8 catches.
After a quick break, talk turned to the defensive side of the ball, and the Huskies did a really good job of taking away Stanford's version of the 'slow mesh' RPO offense. The Cardinal weren't able to complete a successful shot play until there was 5 minutes left in the second quarter, and this was against a UW secondary that was without Jordan Perryman or Mishael Powell, their starting cornerbacks.
The key was getting to Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee, and the Huskies did that to the tune of 8 sacks and 10 total tackles for loss. Bralen Trice and Alphonzo Tuputala each had two sacks, and Jeremiah Martin and Zion Tupuola-Fetui had 1.5 sacks apiece.
The guys also gave mention to the special teams stars, namely Peyton Henry (who had 4 field goals on the night) and Carson Bruener, who has turned himself into a cover team demon.
We wrap up the podcast with our final thoughts as the Huskies get back to work in anticipation of a short week. They become Road Dawgs for the first time this year, traveling to UCLA for a Friday night game at the Rose Bow ...
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