The Washington Huskies have had special teams woes pop up all too often in their first Big Ten campaign. Issues with kickoff coverage have been prevalent all season long as special teams coordinator Jordan Paopao has searched for answers with the unit that has allowed the most kick return yards in the nation.
Against Eastern Michigan, the Huskies had both a punt and an extra point blocked.
Then, on Friday night against Rutgers, things went from bad to worse as kicker Grady Gross missed three field goal attempts in a 21-18 loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. After converting on a 22-yard field goal midway through the first quarter, the junior pushed his next three kicks to the left from 42 yards out in the second quarter, and 37 and 55 yards away in the fourth quarter.
In a game that was decided by three points, it’s hard to ignore the gravity of the first two kicks from someone who, up until that point, had been extremely reliable.
Removing blocks, Gross had missed just three field goal attempts in his career heading into Friday night’s matchup, including a 51-yard kick just before halftime in Washington’s last game against Northwestern.
Although Gross could’ve drastically changed the outcome of the game, they just shone a brighter light on Washington’s inability to score touchdowns in the red zone.
The Huskies went 2 for 4 on scoring chances inside the 20-yard line, with just one touchdown. An illegal low block from running back Cameron Davis took the Huskies back 15 yards and led to Gross’ first miss, while quarterback Will Rogers missed wide receiver Giles Jackson in the end zone on fourth and goal from the two-yard line.
If coach Jedd Fisch’s team can find a way to eliminate penalties and can get to the end zone on one of those drives, which have become concerning trends this season, Washington wouldn’t have had to trot Gross out for a 55-yard attempt to tie the game.