Pac 10 Fans Home
Pac 10 Football
Pac 10 Basketball
Pac 10 Baseball
College Fansites
Pac 10 Apparel
Pac 10 Tickets

Washington Huskies vs Syracuse Orange Football Recap

Washington 41, Syracuse 20

The University of Washington Huskies made their home opener a memorable one with a 41-20 blowout victory over the Syracuse Orange Saturday afternoon in Seattle.

In a matchup between two very similar teams, the Huskies looked to bounce back after a dismal performance in Provo, Utah, just seven days earlier. After a stumbling start that had fans worried the Dawgs were about to repeat the previous week’s disappointing loss to BYU, the Huskies turned this game around midway through the second quarter to halt a potential letdown for the Husky faithful.

Led by quarterback Jake Locker, who made his Husky debut four years ago against Syracuse, the Huskies came back from an early 10-0 deficit to rout the Orange. Locker, in a performance that had Husky fans jumping out of their seats, threw for 289 yards and a career-tying four touchdowns.

Adding to UW’s prolific offensive production – which many had hoped for in the opener against BYU – were wide receiver Jermaine Kearse and running back Chris Polk.

Locker connected with Kearse for 5-, 57- and 28-yard touchdown passes to boost the Dawgs to their 21-point victory. Kearse did a excellent job of shaking the defensive presence of the Orange’s corners to make himself wide open for multiple Locker aerials.

The run game was as dynamic for Polk as the passing game was successful for Kearse. Polk had 20 carries for 117 yards and one touchdown. He generated the running offense that was expected of the Huskies this season. The sophomore running back did an exceptional job reading the field, finding the holes and keeping his legs moving, all in the larger process of gaining valuable yards after the initial point of contact.

The biggest surprise for the Huskies this week was coordinator Nick Holt’s defense.

As the biggest question mark of the 2010 Husky team, the defensive line did a nice job holding Syracuse to just 5-of-16 on third down conversions. Sophomore cornerback Desmond Trufant made some spectacular plays on pass coverage—enough to make any Husky fan excited about the Dawgs’ secondary.

> Browse the selection of Pac 10 apparel & merchandise online as well as Pac 10 Football Scores through Pac 10 Fans and partner sites.

While the Huskies played well offensively and showed the presence of mind to keep pushing despite an early deficit, the questionable play of the UW special teams unit has to be fixed.

In a the loss against BYU, the special teams blunders included a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty, a slip on a kick return, and an air-mailed punt snap out of the end zone for a safety (the snap cleared the UW punter’s head).

Against the Orange, things seemed relatively unchanged for the Huskies. The Orange ran all over the Huskies, returning kicks for 206 yards for an average of 25.75 yards per kick—a less-than-comforting stat for Dawg fans.

The Huskies will spend this week preparing for the biggest test of the season, a home game against the No. 8 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

By Ganelle Swehla
DFN Sports Staff Writer