Going into Washington’s matchup with Iowa, everyone on the Husky coaching staff knew how the Hawkeyes wanted to attack their defense, by running the ball. And for the second time this season, with Washington’s 21-18 loss at Rutgers being the other example, that game plan worked to perfection.
The Hawkeyes defended their home turf at Kinnick Stadium with a 40-16 victory behind a strong day from running back Kaleb Johnson, who tallied 188 total yards and 3 touchdowns on the day.
“We certainly had a great idea of who they are and what they are. They did a nice job executing,” coach Jedd Fisch said after the game. “I think they got us on a couple of calls that we might have missed an assignment here or missed an assignment there, or maybe they just got through because they’ve got an outstanding running back.”
“I wouldn’t know until watching the film exactly how they got to the 220-yard mark or whatever they ran for today. But we certainly knew that they were going to be that type of team. They were going to run the football, and they certainly did that today, and hats off to them.”
Johnson is an outstanding running back, defensive coordinator Steve Belichick called him the best skill player the Huskies had faced all season. He’s No. 2 in the country with 937 rushing yards and No. 4 in touchdowns with 13, but with multiple tough backs ahead on Washington’s schedule, including Oregon’s Jordan James and Penn State’s Nicholas Singleton, it’s worth wondering if Johnson exposed Washington’s weaknesses in run defense.
He consistently caught second and third-level defenders out of position and ran through tacklers left and right, posing questions about Washington’s physicality. Although Kirk Ferentz-coached players are usually in a different discussion when it comes to physicality, after the Huskies were able to shut down Michigan’s Kalel Mullings the week before, it seemed like they weren’t up to the task against the Hawkeyes.
Now, with the bye week upon them, Belichick has a lot of work to do to fix Washington’s run defense, which is allowing an average of 143.3 yards per game, which is No. 14 in the Big Ten. And in a conference where physicality and running the ball will always be the top priority, the Huskies need to do a better job of stopping it, especially when they know it’s coming.