SB Nation Seattle - Washington vs. Utah: Huskies, Polk Dominate Utes 31-14

Austin Seferian-Jenkins And The Diversity Of The Washington Huskies' Offense

2011-10-04T02:16:32Z

I've heard Austin Seferian-Jenkins be called the game-changer for the Washington offense, singled out as a big reason Keith Price has burst onto the scene with a terrific start to the season. Having a safety valve has been cited as a reason for Price's success, and Locker's shortcomings as well. It seems so simple, yet just having Seferian-Jenkins doesn't feel like the sole reason for the Huskies' success on offense.

Seferian-Jenkins is an absolute specimen, a big body with soft hands and athleticism that's off the chart. He's a superb weapon in the passing game, from working over the top of an opponent to finding a hole in the defense. But it's not just Seferian-Jenkins' skill or what he does in the route that changes the Huskies offense.

We know Steve Sarkisian loves to use enough formations to make an opposing coach's head spin, but without the ability to utilize a capable tight end, numerous personnel packages and looks went unused. But now, with Seferian-Jenkins and Michael Hartvigson in the mix, the Huskies are able to open the playbook, employing all kinds of looks to confuse a defense.

So let's play a game. I call this "Where in the world is Sarkisian putting the tight end?"

I wanted to show this look and point out what Washington was doing here. The Huskies showed this look multiple times, then shifted out of it to give a somewhat different look. Jermaine Kearse motions hard across the formation, and as he does, he brings Michael Hartvigson with him. The end result completely changes the look of both the formation and the defense, as you can see below.

Kasen Williams now has a large cushion. The defense shades to the Huskies' right and Price is able to hit Williams for a nice completion.

Below, Washington is in 11 personnel -- one tight end, one running back and three receivers. Price is in the gun with Chris Polk to his left. This was a common look for Washington, and either Seferian-Jenkins or Hartvigson worked as the wing.

In the next look, Washington breaks in the I, with a tight end lined up to the right of the formation. Two receivers are bunched to the wide side and the man lined up as the fullback in the I motions out to the wing. The wing and tight end seal and Polk runs around the right edge for a nice gain. Notice all the green on the short side of the field.

Here the Huskies are in the gun again, and also in 11 personnel. The tight end motions across the formation in a very common type of pre-snap movement. The following screencap is from just before the snap, with the red line showing where Seferian-Jenkins came from.

Seferian Jenkins breaks to the flat, the corner blitzes and Devin Aguilar is left open for a nice game as he sits in the whole vacated by the blitz.

Here's another basic formation, with Seferian-Jenkins lined up in a typical tight end spot on the short side of the field. Washington is, again, in 11 personnel, and Seferian-Jenkins runs a simple out to the short side.

The Huskies faced third and six earlier in the third quarter and broke in 11 formation, with Price working out of the gun. But there's a subtle wrinkle here: Polk is at pistol depth and Seferian-Jenkins is the wing on the wide side of the field, with two receivers outside him. The wide side is overloaded, and Seferian-Jenkins just has to get six yards upfield and get his head around for a first down catch.

But Seferian-Jenkins isn't just being used like a typical tight end, working inside the formation. The following shot shows what the Huskies can do with him. Here, he's split wide, and because of his skills, Utah has to respect him.

This time, Seferian-Jenkins begins the play split out wide to the far side of the field, then motions into a wing position, bringing the coverage inside with him.

Here, Washington is in 01 personnel -- no running backs, a tight end and four receivers. Two receivers are split to the bottom of the screen, with Seferian-Jenkins and the other two wide-outs in a trips formation at the top. Seferian-Jenkins is the point in the trips formation, and picks up a first down on the play with an easy sit route.

So what happens when an offense shows one look over and over throughout the game? It allows the offensive coordinator to pull a stunt like the following. The tight end is circled in red below, but who is circled in yellow, positioned on the wing?

That's not a tight end: it's Jermaine Kearse. And from that wing spot, he wheels down the sideline, catches a pass from Price and scores. Same kind of look with different personnel, and a subtle wrinkle that gave Washington a bit of a mismatch.

Seferian-Jenkins gives Washington more than just what we see on the stat line. Sarkisian's offense -- heavy on West Coast emphasis -- needs a live body at tight end who can at least be a receiving threat, if not more. And with a capable tight end, the Huskies are able to experiment and throw out the whole kitchen sink in terms of formations.

Chris Polk Leads Second Half Surge In Huskies Victory Over Utah

2011-10-02T02:32:14Z

Chris Polk accumulated 189 yards rushing, Keith Price threw three touchdowns and the Husky defense caused five turnovers in Washington's 31-14 victory over the Utah Utes at Rice Elles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

Jermaine Kearse, Devin Aguilar and Kasen Williams all caught touchdown passes from Price in the second half, who played Saturday's game limping on his left leg. Price is now second in the country with 17 touchdowns to Baylor's quarterback Robert Griffin III who has 18 touchdowns through five games.

The Huskies got on the board in the first nine seconds of the game after redshirt freshman Jamaal Kearse picked up a forced fumble on the opening kickoff and took it 17 yards to the house giving the Huskies a 7-0 lead. Sophomore Garrett Gilliard laid a punishing hit on Utah's Ryan Lacy that ended up popping the ball out of Lacy's hands.

Washington (4-1, 2-0) only led 10-7 at halftime, but thanks to the performance of Chris Polk and an injury to Jordan Wynn in the second half, the Huskies were able to cruise to victory over the Utes. Wynn left the game with a left shoulder injury in the third quarter. Utah (2-2, 0-2) was outscored 21-0 by Washington in the second half and could not get anything going offensively.

Polk's 189 yards gave him his fifteenth 100 yard game as a Husky and tied him with Greg Lewis for second on the all-time Washington Huskies list of career 100-yard rushing games.

The junior running back set up several red zone opportunities in the second half for the Huskies, including a 49-yard run in the third quarter that eventually led to a Price to Kasen Williams touchdown.

Price, despite his fragile left knee, went 22 for 30 and passed for 226 yards with one interception. The sophomore quarterback will be looking forward to the upcoming bye week to fully recover and be one hundred percent when the Huskies face Colorado at home in two weeks.

Washington's secondary which has received a lot of criticism so far this season, responded with two interceptions and several key stops to hold the Utes to only 14 points.

Freshman safety Sean Parker intercepted Wynn in the Huskies red zone in the first half and sophomore Gregory Ducre intercepted Utes backup quarterback Jon Hayes in the second half.

Washington Vs. Utah Score Update: Huskies Score Two Touchdowns In Third Quarter, Lead Utes 24-7

2011-10-02T01:25:03Z

The Washington Huskies offense made the appropriate first half adjustments and went on to score on their very first drive of the second half, giving them a two possession lead over Utah. Running back Chris Polk broke out for a 49 yard run, putting the Huskies into Utah territory.

A couple of plays later, Keith Price found tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins for a 13-yard completion that moved Washington to Utah's nine yard line. The Huskies put the ball in the end zone two plays later when wide receiver Kasen Williams caught a jailbreak screen pass from Price.

After Utah's Jordan Wynn left the game with an injured left shoulder, backup quarterback Jon Hays threw an interception to Washington cornerback Gregory Ducre. The Huskies capitalized on Utah's fourth turnover and drove the ball 53 yards on four plays, scoring on a 23 yard strike from Keith Price to Jermaine Kearse and giving the Huskies a 24-7 lead.

Utah will have to move the ball through the air and find a way to stop Huskies running back Chris Polk to get back into this game in the fourth quarter.

Jordan Wynn Injury: Utah QB Leaves Game After Injuring Left Shoulder

2011-10-02T01:17:56Z

Utah QB Jordan Wynn's left shoulder is being checked out... (Via: @ESPN_Pac12blog)

Utah Utes junior quarterback Jordan Wynn was taken out of Saturday's game during the third quarter after injuring his left shoulder. Going into this game, the health of Wynn's left shoulder was being put into question by Utah fans and media.

Wynn underwent surgery on the same shoulder that was being checked out by Utah's trainers after he was taken out of the game. Wynn was 12 for 17 with 149 total passing yards and one touchdown and one interception before leaving the game.

Backup quarterback junior Jon Hays entered the game for Utah, but threw an interception on his very first play. Wynn's departure hurts Utah's chances in coming back, with Washington up 24-7, and the Utes needing to move the ball through the air.

Pac-12 Football sideline reporter Jeremy Bloom said that Utah is not saying anything about Wynn's injury and that it does not look like he'll return in this game.

Washington Vs. Utah Score Update: Huskies End First Half With Erik Folk Field Goal, Lead Utah 10-7

2011-10-02T00:38:58Z

After the Washington Huskies and Utah Utes both scored touchdowns within the first seven minutes of the game, the two teams traded possession of the football for the rest of the first half. Huskies kicker Erik Folk gave Washington the 10-7 lead after converting a 44 yard field goal with time expiring in the first half.

Utah blew two consecutive opportunities to score touchdowns by turning the ball over twice in the red zone in the second quarter. First, after driving 53 yards all the way to Washington's 13 yard line, freshman safety Sean Parker picked off Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn.

Then, after the Huskies failed to get anything done on the subsequent offensive possession and punted back to Utah, the Utes drove the ball 34 yards down the field all the way to Washington's fifteen yard line. However, the Utes turned the ball over again, this time a fumble by Dres Anderson forced by the Huskies' Desmond Trufant.

Second half stats are relatively even, with the difference so far being turnovers; Washington with one, Utah with three. The Huskies have scored all ten of their points off of Utah's turnovers.

Washington's offense has struggled mightily so far. Head Coach Steve Sarkisian will have to get creative in the second half and figure out how to get the run game going without quarterback Keith Price's mobility in the pocket. Price is noticeably limping and will have to be careful the rest of the game to avoid further injuring his legs.

Keith Price Injury Update: Huskies Quarterback Taking Hard Hits, Noticeably Limping

2011-10-02T00:18:29Z

Sophomore Washington Huskies quarterback Keith Price has not been playing at one hundred percent for the Huskies the entire season, which is hard to believe considering his incredible success so far.

In the season opener against Eastern Washington, Price sprained his right knee and started wearing a custom brace. Then, the next week against Nebraska he sprained his left knee and switched his brace to his left leg.

Price was noticeably limping near the end of the Huskies' game against Cal last week, and already is visibly limping on that same left knee in Saturday's game against Utah.

The Huskies offensive line has been struggling all game, and as a result Price has been taking some hard hits,

Price is on the #uwhuskies bench getting right ankle taped after limping off from that last sack. tied at 7, mid 2Q (Via: @gbellseattle)

Price's limited mobility looks like it was effecting his ability to escape blitzes and find open receivers in the first half.

Washington vs. Utah Score Update: Huskies And Utes Tied 7-7 After First Quarter

2011-10-01T23:49:09Z

The Washington Huskies started off fast, with redshirt freshman Jamaal Kearse picking up a forced a fumble on the opening kickoff and taking it 17 yards to the house giving the Huskies a 7-0 lead only nine seconds into the game. Sophomore Garrett Gilliard laid a punishing hit on Utah's Ryan Lacy that ended up popping the ball out of Lacy's hands.

Utah came roaring back two drives later on a 16 yard touchdown pass from Utes quarterback Jordan Wynn to wide receiver Dres Anderson. The Utes took possession of the ball at their own 32 yard line after the Huskies failed to convert on a fourth-and-one situation.

Washington captured the momentum early on with a forced fumble for a touchdown and a Josh Shirley sack on Jordan Wynn on Utah's first offensive play of the game, however, Utah has gotten its crowd back into the game after preventing the Huskies from scoring on their first three drives.

Washington vs. Utah: Television Coverage, Online Stream, Radio And More

2011-10-01T20:00:42Z

This weekend's conference matchup between the Washington Huskies and Utah Utes is a big one. Both teams have bowl game aspirations and a win would go a long ways towards making that happen. UW has a chance to start conference play at 2-0 with a victory in Salt Lake City, while the Utes are looking for their first Pac-12 win of the year.

Here is all of the game day coverage you will need for the matchup:

Kickoff: 7:00 EDT / 4:00 PDT

Previous Matchup: The two programs have not faced each other since 1979.

Television Coverage: ROOT Sports in the Northwest, Fox Sports Net across the country. Check local listings.

Radio: The Washington ISP Sports Network, with its flagship station KJR 950-AM; gohuskies.com will stream the radio broadcast, as will XM and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Online Stream: None of the national carriers are streaming this game online.

This game projects to be a closely contested one and either team could come away with a victory. The Huskies will have to deal with a large crowd and elevation changes could affect their play, but the coaching staff should have the team prepared.