Washington Huskies 2023 Offense

A deep look into one of the top offenses in college football.

Washington quietly has been one of the most explosive offenses in the last few years.  In 2022 they finished 1st in passing and 2nd in total yards.  This year they are headed into the college football playoff the #1 passing team in the nation yet again.   

Typically, when you think of high-passing systems, balance doesn’t come to mind, but that’s what the Huskies are doing. At this point in the season, they sit at 58% Pass, 42% run. They use multiple formations and personnel groupings, along with mixing shotgun and under-center.  Let's dive into how they’ve been scheming up teams in the Pac-12 this year.

Pre Snap Motions 

The Huskies are big on pre-snap motions.  They use some type of movement on 65% of their snaps.   They are constantly trying to gain an advantage by confusing defenses with their alignments. 

Here Washington lines up in a double-tight look with twins to the field.  They then shift to an unbalanced quads look.  Oregon bumps their linebackers, but their secondary doesn’t shift, leaving them outnumbered to the perimeter.  

This time, Washington starts with the unbalanced quads look.  They shift to a tight end 2x2 set but aren’t done there.  They motion the wide receiver behind to set up a perimeter screen.  The defense had to deal with 3 different looks pre-snap.  

This tactic forces defenses to be vanilla at times. The constant shifting of strength makes it tough to pinpoint the point of attack pre-snap. It also moves gaps on the fly, making it tough for the fronts to stay gap-sound. The secondary is stressed too, often confusing defenders on who they are responsible for.

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Running Game 

Washington has a vast run game, with a mix of gap and zone schemes.  Their main threat running the ball is #7 Dillon Johnson.  He has the bulk of the carries and has eclipsed 1,000 yards this season.  

Pin and Pull 

Though they run a myriad of plays, pin and pull accounts for many explosive runs.  They run it from a variety of different personnel groupings and formations 

In this instance, Washington lines up in a condensed under-center set.  They use fly motion opposite to freeze the linebackers.  The Right guard and slot receiver are pinning, with the center and right tackle pulling.  In this example, they zone the backside. They get great perimeter blocking and can get their lineman up on the secondary allowing for a huge play.