WASHINGTON PASS OFFENSE vs TEXAS PASS DEFENSE
Michael Penix led the country in passing yards (4,218) and he has some terrific targets who will be the biggest test the Texas secondary will face all year. There really isn’t much of a weakness in Penix’s game, but he did have a couple of weeks late in the season where he struggled. When Penix is in rhythm, he can pick up yards through the air in bunches. Wide receiver Rome Odunze has gone for 1,428 yards so far this year and he’s the Huskies’ big-play threat. He’s terrific at contested catches so even if Texas covers him well, the DBs will have to be solid in playing the football when it’s in the air. Ja’Lynn Polk had some drops late in the season, but he’s another guy who’s good at making contested catches. Polk went for 1,000 yards himself. Jalen McMillan missed some time but he’s back healthy. McMillan can work the middle of the field and is a threat to take short passes for nice gains. The Texas secondary played much better down the stretch than it did earlier in the season, but this is a Washington passing attack that’s incredibly talented and should put up big numbers. The wide receivers get all the recognition, but Washington’s tight ends combined for 50 receptions and 526 yards so Texas will need to account for them as well. Texas ranks 93 nationally against the pass while Washington ranks No. 1 in pass offense.
Edge – Washington ****
WASHINGTON RUN OFFENSE vs TEXAS RUN DEFENSE
Everyone talks about Washington’s pass offense, for good reason, but running back Dillon Johnson is no slouch, rushing for 1,113 yards on the season. He wasn’t fully healthy to start the year but is now and finished the season with 683 yards in his last five games. As a team, the Huskies don’t run the ball particularly well in terms of statistics, ranking 98th in rushing offense. Washington does average a very respectable 4.52 yards per carry as a team. The Texas rush defense has been a strength of the team and there’s no reason to think the Longhorns are suddenly going to let Dillon Johnson run all over them. Look for Texas to try to take Johnson out of the game as much as possible to make Washington one-dimensional and play from behind the chains.
Edge – Texas **
WASHINGTON OFFENSIVE LINE vs TEXAS DEFENSIVE LINE
This is a Washington offensive line that had to move some parts around early in the season and it responded very well, even winning the Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line in the country. There will be a lot of talk about the quarterbacks and receivers in this game, but this area just might be the determining factor. Can a very good Washington offensive line create some running lanes for Dillon Johnson and more importantly, can the line give Michael Penix time in the passing game? It hasn’t faced a defensive line like the Longhorns will bring to the field, so it should be a tremendous match-up. Center
Parker Brailsford, a freshman, is very good, but he’s giving up about 75 pounds to T’Vondre Sweat so it’ll be interesting to see how he holds up.
Edge – Texas *
TEXAS PASS OFFENSE vs WASHINGTON PASS DEFENSE
Washington ranks 120th nationally in pass defense, giving up 263 yards per game through the air. The statistics are a bit misleading though since many teams were playing from behind, thus had to throw the ball quite a bit. The Huskies actually rank No. 32 nationally in pass efficiency defense (by comparison, Texas is No. 34) and they did a respectable job their last time out against Bo Nix in the Pac 12 Championship Game. Texas should have a chance to make some plays in the passing game and I would think the Longhorns will be very aggressive in testing the Huskies’ secondary since it’ll probably take a bundle of points to win this game. Safety Dominique Hampton is active, leading the team with 92 tackles. Corner Jabar Muhammad is the best player in the secondary. If Washington tries to match him up on Xavier Worthy, it could open things up for guys like Adonai Mitchell.
Edge – Texas **
TEXAS RUN OFFENSE vs WASHINGTON RUN DEFENSE
The Huskies are a respectable 38th nationally against the run, giving up 134 yards per game and 4.26 yards per carry. The last time they were on the field, they did a really good job in limiting Oregon’s 1-2 punch of running backs to just 55 yards. Washington also kept a good Utah running game in check when they matched up late in the season, so this is a capable unit when it’s dialed in. Linebackers Edefuan Ulofoshio, Carson Bruener and Alphonzo Tuputala are all active, combining for 217 tackles. Ulofoshio, a former walk-on, is the star of the bunch, earning second-team all-American honors this year. He’s also one of the highest-graded linebackers in the entire country by ProFootballFocus. Washington ranks 58th in PFF’s run defense rankings. Texas suffered a big blow with the loss of Jonathon Brooks, but the Longhorns have depth and talent and have run the ball reasonably well without Brooks.
Edge – Texas *
TEXAS OFFENSIVE LINE vs WASHINGTON DEFENSIVE LINE
Edge Bralen Trice is one of the better players on the Huskies’ defense and he leads the team with 5 sacks. Defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa doesn’t put up big numbers but he grades out really well against the run (fifth nationally among defensive tackles). Trice is projected by some to be a first-round draft pick next year and he did record a nation’s best 49 QB hurries, but as a whole this isn’t a dominant Washington defensive line in terms of actual production, other than Trice’s pressures. The Texas offensive line has been solid but does give up an average of 2 sacks per game.
Edge – Washington *
SPECIAL TEAMS
Washington kicker Grady Gross has oddly missed 4 out of 7 attempts from 30-39 yards but has hit 5 of 6 from 40-49 yards. The Longhorns are pretty much better across the board on special teams, although Washington does give up just 15.75 yards per kick return.
Edge – Texas ***
