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Washington vs. Oregon 2012: UW defense receives low grades for lackluster performance

The Washington Huskies' defense was completely overmatched on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium, surrendering 52 points in a blowout loss to Oregon. Most importantly, UW gave up 21 points in the first quarter and 35 in the first half, all but ending any chance Washington had of pulling the huge upset.

SB Nation's Washington blog, UW Dawg Pound, gave the offense a couple of solid grades, but the defense received poor marks across. Let's take a look at what was said about the defensive line, which gave up 299 rushing yards to Oregon.

You're not going to slow down the high-octane Duck offense without really good play up front. The Huskies weren't up to the task, as they were gashed all night long by the Oregon running game. They couldn't control their gaps and the Duck backs were consistently 5+ yards downfield before a Husky defender got near them. They were able to flush Mariota a number of times, but lost contain and took bad angles and watched him gain big yardage. Grade: D

The Huskies will need to improve on the defensive side of the ball if they hope to make a serious run in the second half of Pac-12 play. They'll need to rebound in a hurry in practice this week because the No. 11 USC Trojans come to town on Saturday night. That game is followed by a trip to Arizona, which is the second-highest scoring offense in the conference.