Insider Q&A: A closer look at Washington, the keys for Indiana football in Saturday’s matchup

Indiana football faces Washington on Saturday looking to go to 8-0 in front of a second-straight sellout crowd and ESPN’s College GameDay.

Washington is 4-3 overall and is coming off of a bye week last week. The last time out, the Huskies lost 40-16 at Iowa and have yet to win on the road. In Big Ten play, the Huskies are 1-2 — with its win coming against Michigan at home.

HoosierIllustrated.com caught up with Kevin Cacabelos of seatownsports.org to discuss Washington, keys to the matchup and what Indiana football needs to do in order to come out with a win and keep its undefeated season going.

Q: Washington has yet to win on the road — what rationale behind that can you give for their road struggles?

KC: Sloppiness and lack of execution. Both losses against Rutgers and Iowa had both elements, but the Rutgers loss was more about the sloppiness, and the Iowa loss was an entire game of not executing on offense.

In Washington’s 21-18 loss to Rutgers, the Huskies racked up 521 yards of offense but only managed 18 points due to red-zone inefficiency, penalties, and missed field goals.

The red-zone struggles were particularly costly, as poor play calling on third-and-short led to missed opportunities. Meanwhile, penalties—like two separate 15-yard fouls that wiped out promising drives—and a key illegal substitution error that led to a Rutgers a touchdown were damaging. Washington Kicker Grady Gross had his worst game, going 1-for-4 on field goal attempts, including a missed 55-yarder to tie the game.

In the Iowa loss, the Hawkeyes dominated the Huskies in the trenches. It felt like the Huskies’ first real welcome to Big Ten football. Iowa’s offensive line handled Washington’s defensive line, allowing Kaleb Johnson and the rest of Iowa’s rushing attack to total 220 yards on 37 carries. Iowa’s defense consistently pressured Washington quarterback Will Rogers, evidenced by Iowa’s four sacks, and prevented the Huskies offense from maintaining any semblance of rhythm throughout the game.

Q: Will Rogers has had a very good year coming over from Mississippi State, what has been the biggest reason for his success in this offense?

KC: There were questions about how Rogers would perform in Jedd Fisch’s pro-style offense after mainly operating an Air Raid offense while at Mississippi State. As you’ve taken note, Rogers has thrived in Fisch’s offense. He ranks fifth in the country in completion percentage (72.2%), he has 13 touchdowns to two interceptions, and he holds an above-average quarterback rating (162.6).

The key to his success has been his experience. He rarely makes risky throws. He throws the ball away when plays break down. And he does an excellent job of getting the football into the hands of playmakers in the Husky offense.

One of the most underrated aspects of his skillset is his quick release. The Washington offensive line is not one of the team’s strengths, but Rogers has been excellent at getting the football out quickly before the pocket collapses.

Q: Jonah Coleman has been terrific. What does Indiana need to do in order to limit his production on Saturday?

KC: Indiana football needs to make the first tackle on Coleman. Among players who have 90 carries or more on the season, Coleman has the second-best average yards after contact (5.43) behind Heisman-candidate Ashton Jeanty. Coleman does a good amount of damage after contact and often bounces off of tackles to turn normal three-yard runs into gains of 8, 9, and sometimes 10 yards. As effective as Coleman has been, Indiana may not need to worry that much about him. Unlike the run-heavy offenses of Iowa and Michigan, Coleman has only averaged 14 carries per game. Indiana won’t have to stop Coleman if the Washington’s game plan limits his carries. Though, Washington head coach Jedd Fisch hinted that Coleman, this season, may not have been 100% healthy. With two weeks to heal and recover, it is possible that Washington ramps up Coleman’s workload, but there’s no way to tell until the game unfolds on Saturday.

Q: What are the 3 keys to the game from a Washington perspective in order for them to have a shot at coming away with a win?

Pressure and contain Tayven Jackson. While Indiana may try to set up the pass by establishing its ground game, eventually, Jackson will have to make some throws for this Indiana offense to function effectively. In his limited appearance last week, Jackson completed 7-for-8 passes for 91 yard and two touchdowns. Washington’s defense holds a 90.8 coverage grade on Pro Football Focus, ranking the defense as the 14th best in coverage in the country. This defense has been at its best when defensive coordinator Steve Belichick has been able to dial up pressure and at the same time, trust the secondary in man-to-man coverage. Pressure on the quarterback does many things, but it can lead to turnovers, which are crucial in tough road games like this one.

Get the lead. It has been well-documented that Indiana has never trailed all season. Washington, at the same time, has been notoriously slow at getting its offense to score in the first quarter, averaging 3.4 points in the first quarter in games this season. Washington has also struggled to set the tone offensively, failing repeatedly to score a touchdown on its first drive.

Can extra time to prepare and rest make a difference in this game? I’m not sure, and the inconsistency of the Washington offense makes me think the Huskies won’t be the first team to get a lead on Indiana. But if it were able to do so, Indiana suddenly is put into unfamiliar territory, which can only be a good thing for the Huskies who have already played in a few one-possession games.

Control time of possession. How do you stop an Indiana explosive offense? One way to do it is to simply limit possessions. Fisch’s pro-style offense is not necessarily predicated on grinding out long time-sucking drives, but it will be interesting to see how Fisch calls this game if Washington is somehow able to capture the lead. While Coleman is Washington’s primary running back, Cam Davis and Adam Mohammed will also contribute. With three capable running backs, Washington could consider slowing its offense down deliberately to keep the game close.

Q: What is Washington’s best attribute on the defensive side of the ball and why have they been so successful in that category this year?

KC: A lot of the credit belongs to defensive coordinator Steve Belichick. Besides Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson’s performance against the Huskies a few weeks ago, Washington’s defense has remained relatively stout against the run, and as I mentioned earlier, strong in pass coverage.

Two players that are not talked about enough are starting senior linebackers Carson Bruener and Alphonzo Tuputala.

Bruener is the undisputed leader of the defense. He has a knack for being where the ball is and has been key to third and fourth-down stops. He leads the team with 44 tackles on the season.

Paired with Bruener is Tuputala, who is one of the few returning starters from last year’s team. Tuputala has 31 tackles on the season (second-most on the team), including 2.5 sacks. He’s been able to get in opposing backfields and cause some havoc this season.

Q: Prediction; why?

KC: Indiana football 30, Washington 24

This game really comes down to how effective backup quarterback Tayven Jackson will be and whether Indiana will simply be able to plug and play him effectively. Given that this is a home game, and Jackson has a good chunk experience under his belt from last season, I think Indiana will pull this game out and keep its undefeated season alive.

SEE ALSO: ‘He’s got an opportunity. He’s got to take it and run with it.’: All eyes on Tayven Jackson as Indiana football has ‘100 percent confidence’ with him under center

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