Here are three instant impressions from Washington’s 40-16 loss at Iowa on Saturday.
The Huskies seemed like the better team for much of the first half, yet they ended up getting routed. There is plenty of blame to go around for that.
The offense had a lot more production than points, but after being relatively turnover-free through six games, it had a pair of costly ones Saturday — a Will Rogers interception and a Rogers lost fumble.
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The defense, which looked so good against Michigan last week, was humbled.
The special teams, which have not been good all season, continued to be very poor.
It added up to a very bad loss, and all of a sudden that huge celebration after taking down Michigan seems like a long time ago.
The Huskies knew that Iowa would try to run, run, run and even though they knew it was coming, they often were not up to the task.
The Iowa offensive line often won the battle up front. Kaleb Johnson had 109 yards rushing in the first half, including 53 with less than 30 seconds before halftime when the Hawkeyes were just trying to run out the clock.
Instead, Iowa got a half-ending field goal.
The Huskies did make a huge goal-line stand in the third quarter to keep UW within two scores, but then Iowa marched down the field with its running game on its next possession.
Johnson’s 8-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter gave Iowa a 30-10 lead. Johnson ended the day with 166 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
It was a bad game all around for the Huskies’ special teams, starting with the blocked field goal after UW’s long, 14-play drive on its first possession.
The Hawkeyes got good penetration up front, but the kick from Grady Gross also seemed a bit low.
Gross might have caught a break at the end of the first half when his field goal was deemed good when replays showed it might have been wide right. Either way, it could not have done much for Gross’ confidence or the coaches’ confidence in him. Gross has converted 10 of his 16 attempts on the season, missing on six of his last nine tries.
Kickoff coverage wasn’t good for the Huskies and a line-drive punt from Jack McCallister aided in a 38-yard Iowa punt return that resulted in a field goal.
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