Coach Sark’s approval ratings are down this week
We knew what Husky football coach Steve Sarkisan and his staff’s strengths were: Motivating players. Game planning. Firing up fans.
Now, after Washington’s dreadful performance against Arizona State, a game lost on the most incompetent football play I have ever seen, we are beginning to see what Sark and his staff aren’t so good at: Details. Flexibility. Keeping players under control.
Let’s start with that incompetent football play. Arizona State has the ball at midfield with 13 seconds left in a tie game. I’m watching the game on FSN with childhood friend Jason. We see ASU QB Danny Sullivan loft a ball deep toward the goal line. As the camera tracks the ball, we expect to see a phalanx of Washington defensive backs there to knock away the Hail Mary attempt. Instead, we see two Arizona State players alone in the end zone. One, Chris McGaha, catches the ball in stride and scores the winning touchdown. No Huskies are in sight. (Watch it yourself on YouTube.)
The funny thing is, neither Jason or I really reacted. It was too shocking. If this had happened in a sixth-grade flag football game, you’d be a little annoyed at the kids for failing to be cognizant of the situation. But in Division I college football? Not credible. When one of us did speak it was Jason, appropriating a line from Anchorman: “Heck, I’m not even mad. That’s amazing! Nick Holt just pooped a whole wheel of cheese all over the field.”
Other reactions I read later on Twitter:
“Pardon me while I go put a fork in my eye.”–The Times’ Danny O’Neil
“That might have been the worst 1:30 I’ve ever seen.”–KJR’s ESPN 710’s Mike Salk
And my favorite, from Husky hoopster Isaiah Thomas: “Daaaaaaaaaaaang.”
Yup. That about captures it.
Defensive coordinator Nick Holt makes $600K/year
Holt, the assistant coach in charge of the defense, who earns a higher salary than Washington State’s head coach, is most at fault for the play. His players should’ve had clear instructions not to let anyone behind them. Instead, two Sun Devil receivers were wide-open in the end zone. This lapse has caused message board denizens to call for his firing. (Jason emailed me last night: “Why is firenickholt.com still available? Just askin’.”)
The excitable Holt is surely a master motivator, but he may be in need of adult supervision during game situations–as he was at USC, where Holt did the hands-on coaching but Pete Carroll called the defensive plays. After ASU’s game-winning TD, FSN cameras caught Holt lighting into Husky linebacker E.J. Savannah. Holt screamed at the camera-person to back away. Holt also may have picked up his second 15-yard sideline interference penalty of the season–the Huskies were charged with one, but the refs didn’t say who caused it. ESPN’s Ted Miller has called Holt out for failing to appear at a post-game press conference, though it’s unclear whether reporters requested him.
Sarkisian’s weaknesses showed through as well. The fateful play shouldn’t even have happened, as UW probably could’ve run the clock out when they had the ball seconds earlier on their own ten. Or, since they had more than a minute left, they could’ve tried to drive for the winning score. Instead, Sarkisian tried two running plays, then a long pass that fell incomplete, giving the Sun Devils one more chance on offense. Either run out the clock or don’t.
Sark’s play-calling lacked flexibility. Arizona State’s fast, over-pursuing defense was ripe for some misdirection plays. Dennis Erickson called three reverses, one of which, a reverse pass, went for a touchdown. Sarkisian instead tried to exploit ASU’s over pursuit with screen passes, none of which were effective despite repeated attempts.
And, perhaps most egregious, the Huskies played out of control. They committed 12 penalties, totaling 124 yards. Jake Locker threw two interceptions on the same drive, deep in ASU territory. The first was called back due to an ASU penalty. The second came at the goal line on a Tebow-esque run-forward-then-pass that went directly into the hands of a Sun Devils defender.
Next up: Oregon, a team Husky rooters desperately want to beat, a program the Huskies once dominated but haven’t defeated (in fact, haven’t come within 20 points of) for five years. Sarkisan and co. will earn an avalanche of brownie points with a win over the Ducks. But against Oregon’s potent spread option attack, discipline is critical. If the Huskies don’t have it again, another Willingham-era beatdown is inevitable. And the Willingham-era discontent will begin to bubble up once again.
Just checked firenickholt.com is wide open for purchase (I’ll use that one all day).
Although I agree with most of this, I don’t think that a colossal fuck-up flowed by a top fifteen beat down will begin to push Husky fans towards a Willingham mindset.
Despite the interception, I was thrilled with fake QB draw/pass, otherwise known as Tebow’s play. I’ve been waiting for that sort of call all season. Unfortunately, Jake made a mess of it by either misreading the coverage or just missing the throw. The Dawgs need more Tebow-like plays in short yardage.
One thing Sark does need to do is give up on a play once in awhile, for example like you mentioned, the screen plays. They may work some days, they were not going to work against ASU.