Washington’s opening win against Weber State was an opportunity to get a look at several different personnel groupings on both sides of the ball. The Huskies rotated a lot of players in a lot of different spots all evening. The offensive line featured six different groupings, while the defensive front rotated eleven players before the game. Take a deeper look at the rotations featured in week one for Washington, and how this can benefit the team going forward.
Offensive Line Rotation
Washington began the football game with the five offensive linemen we expected. It featured Soane Faasolo and Drew Azzopardi at left and right tackle respectively. Gaard Memmelaar started at left guard, and Enokk Vimahi was a right guard. D’Angalo Titialii started at center, and was there for most of the evening.
Three different left tackles played with the first-team offense. After Faasolo, Washington flipped Azzopardi to left tackle, slid Vimahi out to right tackle, and inserted a fully healthy Landen Hatchett at right guard. This grouping played on the third drive of the game, which resulted in Washington’s first touchdown drive. It lasted seven plays and spanned 65 yards in under three minutes.
On the next offensive drive, Jedd Fisch rotated left tackle again. This time, Vimahi was slotted at the position and Azzopardi slid back to right tackle. But this grouping lasted only one play. On the next snap, Washington flipped Vimahi and Azzopardi once again, leaving Memmelaar, Titialii, and Hatchett in the same spots. On the team’s next four possessions, Fisch went back to the starting original five. This group took it to the fourth quarter when the second-team offense was inserted, led by Demond Williams Jr. at quarterback.
Will Rotation Continue Up Front?
With the inexperience of the offensive line, the Huskies needed to rotate players on Saturday night. “If we can continue to figure out exactly who and what we are up front, that will help us a lot,” Fisch said after the game.
But the head coach said he is uncertain if the continuous line rotation is something we’ll keep seeing early in the season. Fisch hasn’t had to work through a lot of offensive line rotation in recent years. But he did point to a previous stop in his career at Miami FL where he and Brennan Carroll did rotate offensive linemen frequently. This was back in 2011 and 2012. He’s no stranger to doing it, but he hasn’t needed to in over a decade. As far as what to expect going forward, Fisch said, “I think we’ll see what’s best for the team, and we’ll do that.”
Washington’s DB Personnel Groupings
We knew we’d see a lot of rotation from Steve Belichick’s defense in the game against Weber State. Washington’s base nickel defense featured Kamren Fabiculanan and Makell Esteen as starting safeties. Ephesians Prysock and Thaddeus Dixon started at cornerback, and Jordan Shaw began at STAR. Prysock and Dixon remained consistent at cornerback throughout the evening, and Cameron Broussard rotated in with the safeties.
It wasn’t until the third defensive drive of the game that we saw last year’s starting cornerback Elijah Jackson take the field. He entered at cornerback and immediately made a tackle on the near side. With Jackson at corner, Dyson McCutcheon replaced Shaw at STAR, while Broussard and Fabiculanan were paired at safety. But Belichick mixed up the looks with this grouping. He had Fabiculanan lined up at the linebacker level, with Prysock back at safety. This rotation also went the other way depending on the strength of the offense. We saw Broussard moving up in the defense and McCutcheon lining up deeper.
The defensive backs featured eight different players rotating against Weber State. It was a very solid showing from the group. It allowed just 98 passing yards on the day, with only two passes going for more than 15 yards. Weber State finished with just three yards per attempt, and the Huskies tallied seven pass breakups.
Third and Long Personnel
Washington ran a 3-2-6 defense in obvious passing situations on third and long against Weber State. This formation is similar to a traditional “dime” package with six defensive backs. But instead of four down linemen and one linebacker, Washington’s look featured three at the line and two linebackers.
As far as the personnel groupings, Washington’s six defensive backs began with Prysock, Shaw, Broussard, Esteen, Fabiculanan, and Dixon. McCutcheon and Jackson swapped with Shaw and Dixon, respectively, throughout the first three quarters. Zack Durfee, Isaiah Ward, and Voi Tunuufi were consistently used at the line on these third and long situations. The linebackers would also come up on the defensive line, breaking the heel-line showing pressure. In these cases, the entire front stood up in two-point stances.
Rotations at Defensive Line
Before the late part of the game, 11 different defensive linemen were utilized in Washington’s win over Weber State. The starting four featured Ward and Durfee at the EDGE spots. Jacob Bandes and Sebastian Valdez were used at defensive tackle with the first team.
The second rotation was an entirely new group of four that featured more size. Sacramento State transfer Deshawn Lynch lined up as an EDGE rusher with Elinneus Davis opposite him in the 4i. On the interior, Bryce Butler and Tunuufi lined up at defensive tackle. Later on, Lance Holtzclaw and Jayden Wayne rotated in at the EDGE spot. Washington is extremely deep at the EDGE spot. It was able to rotate five or six different players at the position on Saturday night, further strengthening its depth.
