Arizona State Sun Devils Opponent Preview: Washington

Oct 19, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils center Kody Koebensky (67) prepares to snap the ball while facing off against the Washington Huskies defense during the first half at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

DEFENSE:

Washington started out the season with a narrow 17-16 victory over Hawaii, then proceeded to almost cough up a game to Eastern Washington… They somehow came away with a 59-52 victory over their in-state competition.

A pair of wins against Illinois and Georgia State were nothing too big to celebrate and were then followed with a 20-13 loss to Stanford, a 31-7 victory over Cal, and then the dominating loss of 45-20 to Oregon.

The defense does tend to give up a lot of points (24.7 points per game), but that only ranks them as giving up the 56th most points in the nation. Their front seven is stout and only average to give up 132 rushing yards per game which sits them at 33rd best in the nation.

The secondary is what is letting this defensive squad down. 283.4. That is the amount of yards on average that this defense surrenders per game through the air. With quarterbacks such as Taylor Kelly and Mike Bercovici under center for Arizona State, you can write it up now that they will produce some healthy aerial numbers come Saturday.

Overall, the Washington Huskies defense ranks 74th in the nation in yards allowed.