Penalties killed the Washington Huskies in their 24-19 loss in the Apple Cup. Jedd Fisch’s team was flagged 16 times for 135 yards in an extremely undisciplined showing that turned a somewhat troubling statistic into a glaring one.
Just three FBS teams have been penalized more than the Huskies: Michigan State, Nevada, and San Diego State, while only the Spartans and Aztecs have averaged more penalty yards per game.
“You just aren’t going to win when you have that many penalties in a game,” Fisch said following the loss. “I’m very disappointed in the 15-yard penalties that we had. We need to be far better there, that’s something I take responsibility for and we will be better there because that’s not who we are and that’s not how we play.”
Those 15-yard penalties have become a significant problem rather quickly. Washington has already accumulated 10 this season and ahead of their first Big Ten conference game when the Northwestern Wildcats make their way to Seattle on Saturday, Fisch needs to figure out where they’re coming from and correct them quickly.
“I really don’t know,” he continued when asked what he attributes the penalties to. “We don’t play like that, we haven’t played like that. That was very surprising to me…I don’t have a good answer on what I attribute it to, but I know I have to get it fixed.”
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