Husky Offensive Line Struggled, Then Came Together Impressively

Clearly, things were a little out of whack in terms of rhythm and cohesiveness up front, with senior left tackle Carver Willis, the Kansas State transfer, sitting this one out after suffering a knee injury against Ohio State.

The Huskies next lost a second starter when freshman left guard John Mills injured his foot in the third quarter against Maryland, which brought a 40 percent turnover rate up front in just a week's time.

"Yes, there's a lot to fix and work on from the last game, no question about it," offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty said. "But I'm confident those guys are going to have a great work of practice and get going there."

The first offensive snap at Maryland was a Jonah Coleman rush over the right side and it went for zero yards, not a great sign for things to come. Four plays later, quarterback Demond Williams Jr., under duress, threw his first interception of the season.

On the second UW series, senior Max McCree, Willis' replacement and a former Terrapins player, was called for holding.

On the third series, junior center Landen Hatchett was penalized for an illegal snap, which entails the snapper slightly moving the ball forward and has officials cracking down on this everywhere.

"Just a little jumpy there, but again full confidence in Lando that we're going to get that thing right," Dougherty said. "And it's not just him. We all can be better communicators and make sure we're nice and smooth from that standpoint."

On the fourth UW drive of the game, Williams was sacked for a one-yard loss after Maryland freshman edge rusher Zahir Mathis beat McCree coming off the corner and grabbed the quarterback from behind.

The half ended no better than it started when Terps sophomore linebacker Trey Reddick drove McCree five yards backward and into the ground, and shared in a second sack of Williams, this one a three-yard loss.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Huskies were still working through a few kinks up front. Williams was sacked again when Maryland senior defensive lineman Cam Rice badly beat senior right guard Geirean Hatchett and dropped the quarterback for a nine-yard loss.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Mills injured his left foot on an eight-yard scramble by Williams and had to leave the game. Redshirt freshman Paki Finau, a seasoned player, came off the bench to replace him.

The UW line still wasn't quite right. Four plays after Mills got hurt, junior right tackle Drew Azzopardi was flagged for a false start on the Maryland 17. Azzopardi angrily suggested Maryland players had drawn him offside, pointing to defensive tackle Braxton Kyle. It didn't matter.

The Huskies' first promising drive of the game stalled and they had to settle for a Grady Gross 36-yard field goal, making it 20-3 with 3:44 left in the quarter.

Then something truly amazing happened -- this reconfigured UW offensive line settled in and played flawlessly to the end.

No more injuries, penalties, sacks or missed blocks.

Finau performed well in place of Mills. McCree got into a groove at left tackle. The veterans in Azzopardi and the Hatchetts were hard to get around. Everyone finally was on the same page now.

The line provided enough protection and opened enough holes for the Huskies to methodically score three touchdowns and pull off a hard-earned victory.

"It's just a matter of getting those guys work together," Dougherty said. "Communication is such a big piece in football, on the offense, in particular and especially with the offensive line when they work together as one unit."

A quarter of unstoppable offensive production should be a great confidence-builder for everyone involved.