SEATTLE — Washington finally put together the kind of offensive performance we have been waiting for.
The Huskies beat Eastern Washington 48-16 Saturday at Husky Stadium, improved to 3-0 and piled up 546 yards of offense.
And I’m still not impressed.
Maybe that’s unfair after a 32-point win. But context matters.
Eastern Washington entered Saturday 1-2 and ranked No. 41 nationally among FCS teams by the Versus Sports Simulator. More telling, the Eagles were only the eighth-highest-rated team from the Big Sky Conference in those rankings.
This wasn’t Montana State coming into Husky Stadium. It wasn’t Montana. It wasn’t even one of the better teams in the Big Sky.
Washington was supposed to dominate this game.
For the most part, it did.
The encouraging part was that the offense finally looked like the offense we expected to see this season, and Demond Williams Jr. was the biggest reason why.
Williams completed 27 of 33 passes for 373 yards and four touchdowns. He was accurate, decisive and explosive, and for the first time this season Washington’s passing attack consistently stretched the field and punished a defense.
Rashid Williams provided the highlight of the afternoon with a spectacular one-handed 18-yard touchdown catch near the front corner of the end zone.
It was a heck of a catch.
Williams finished with six receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns, while Dezmen Roebuck caught nine passes for 121 yards. Baron Naone added 103 yards on just two catches, including a 75-yard reception.
There were also encouraging signs from the running game.
Brian Bonner Jr. carried only six times but produced 81 yards, including a 55-yard run. Demond Williams added 33 yards on the ground, and Washington finished with 148 rushing yards despite running the ball only 26 times.
That explosiveness matters.
Washington doesn’t have to become a run-first team, but it does need to make defenses respect the running game. If the Huskies can do that, Williams becomes considerably more dangerous.
But then there were the penalties.
Eight of them.
For 101 yards.
And one Eastern Washington possession summed up just how undisciplined Washington became.
On a third-quarter drive, the Huskies handed Eastern 48 yards in penalties. Nearly half a football field on one possession.
Jacob Lane was ejected for targeting. Xe’ree Alexander was ejected after throwing a punch.
That’s ridiculous.
You can survive 101 yards in penalties against the No. 41 team in the FCS.
Try doing that against the better teams in the Big Ten.
That’s why I’m not ready to get excited about 3-0.
Washington beat Washington State 24-10 in a game that was closer than the final score. The Huskies then barely escaped Utah State 16-14. Now they’ve beaten a lower-tier Big Sky team by 32 points.
That’s what Washington was supposed to do.
Saturday was unquestionably progress. Demond Williams looked terrific. The receivers made plays. The running game showed some explosiveness. Washington averaged 8.8 yards per play and finally looked dangerous offensively.
Those are real positives.
But beating Eastern Washington isn’t the test.
The test is whether Washington can play this kind of offense without the stupid penalties, ejections and stretches of sloppy football that we’ve seen through the first three weeks.
Because the warm-up portion of the schedule is over.
Washington is 3-0.
I’m just not convinced yet.
