Washington dominates Boise State with speed and physicality

1. What was the most surprising aspect of Washington's dominance of Boise and why?

What was surprising was Washington's ability to impose their will on offense consistently for all four quarters. Even though the scoreboard didn't show it in the first half, outgaining Boise State 313 to 165 in yards by halftime and keeping that same pace in the second half. That was the most surprising aspect for me.

2. Who were the most critical players on the field for Washington in their win and why?

Every single offensive lineman was critical Saturday night, Washington's linebacking and secondary were good. With such a dominating performance it's hard to choose just a couple. If I had to say it would be the offensive line (can't have just one single offensive lineman stand out over the rest), Bishop Sankey, John Ross and Josh Perkins on offense and Shaq Thompson, John Timu, Sean Parker and Marcus Peters on defense. Peters was excellent in coverage all night long. Parker had the key interception early and Timu and Thompson play both the run and pass to almost perfection.

3. How much do you think the tempo changed the way the Washington offense was able to perform?

Night and day. Washington's new up-tempo offense has changed them and reinvigorated them because their personnel fits the style they now run. You could tell right away with the bubble screens and motion with John Ross and Jaydon Mickens spread Boise State out thin which allowed Bishop Sankey to run all over the defense. Combine that with the up-tempo style and that's what allowed them to perform so well against the Broncos.

5. What did you see from Washington that still needs work?

Two things need to improve for Washington. One, their pass rush needs to continue to get better. True freshman JoJo Mathis looked pretty good and there were a good amount of quarter back pressures but no sacks. They have a phenomenal run defense, even with Ajayi running for an even 100 yards. But their pass rush needs to improve. Two, Keith Price needs to stop running right into sacks or potential sacks. Four times Saturday night Price ran into a sack, something they can't afford to have happen.

6. How does this win alter your expectations of the Huskies going into the season?

For me, I picked Washington to win 31-24 over Boise State so it doesn't alter it except in the fashion they won. I don't know if Washington will put up almost 600 yards of offense every week nor will they hold opposing offenses to only field goals. I think the mistake will be for fans and media to now have a higher expectation because of the dominating performance. My expectation was for the Huskies to get to nine or ten wins, that hasn't changed.