After a stunning upset of Stanford on September 27 in their Pac-12 opener, Washington has dropped three straight games, and defense has been the downfall of the Huskies. Since holding Stanford to 13 points, Washington has allowed more than 42 points per game, with their most recent outing being a 52-7 spanking in Arizona.
"It was obviously a disappointing game in a lot of areas," says Huskies defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox. But the coach, in his first year at UW, shoulders some of the blame. "I've got to do a better job preparing us. Each one of us -- coaches and players -- need to look in the mirror and make sure we're doing everything we can possibly do during the week and on game day to make sure we have our best chance to win."
The 3-4 Huskies will be tested again this week, as No. 7 Oregon State visits CenturyLink Field. Oregon State is 6-0 and boasts the country's 17th-best scoring defense, allowing just over 16 points per game. The Beavers also own the nation's 14th-best passing offense, notching 310.7 yards per game.