Opponent View: Washington

The Washington Huskies will arrive in West Lafayette as a desperate team for Friday night’s 8 p.m. ET (FOX) kickoff vs. Purdue (3-3 overall; 2-1 Big Ten). And desperate teams are often dangerous teams. UW (3-3; 0-3) has lost three in a row, falling to Minnesota (27-24), at USC (25-21) and vs. Iowa (41-16). Muddling the picture more is uncertainty at quarterback, as No. 1 option Demond Williams got hurt vs. the Hawkeyes last Friday night. Will he be available for Husky coach Jedd Fisch? GoldandBlack.com spoke to the voice of Washington, Elise Woodward, to learn more about the Huskies. Q: What can we expect from the Husky offense Friday night?A: Demond Williams was hurt at the end of the second quarter last week, and backup quarterback Elijah Brown came in and performed at a really high level. He was able to move the ball, throwing three touchdowns with no interceptions. If Demond isn’t healthy, I think the Huskies feel pretty good about their backup, who made four starts last year at Stanford. He’s got valuable experience, and he played really well in relief of Demond vs. Iowa (28-of-39 for 251 yards with three TDs and no interceptions). If Demond is healthy, then they’re going to have to make a choice because he has been struggling, and the offense just hasn’t been able to move the ball consistently through six games this season. They’re still searching for a running game and an offensive line combination that works. There’s a lot to clean up before Purdue on Friday night, that’s for sure. Q: Defensively, what can we expect from Washington when the game kicks off? A: This Washington defense has been extremely reliable and stout, and it’s been good against the run. Their best player is No. 7, Alex McLaughlin, the safety who leads them in sacks and just about every category of tackles. He’s their leader and captain. But they had a very uncharacteristic, flat performance against Iowa at home. I think the defense is going to be challenged. They had missed coverages, especially against Iowa’s tight ends, where they completely blew coverages. That was very uncharacteristic under Ryan Walters. They’ve got a lot of work to do. They’re fairly healthy on that side of the ball. They were missing one cornerback, but there were no excuses. I expect them to come out extremely irritated and with something to prove at Purdue. Q: How do you see this game unfolding? A: For Walters, it’s going to be interesting to see his state of mind because he’s been great. It was the first time since he arrived at Washington that his defense gave up more than 30 points, and then they gave up more than 40. He’s been a huge bright spot in this program, and the guys really like playing for him. It was just an uncharacteristic defensive performance against Iowa. I would imagine the guys really like him and are going to want to play really hard for him. I’m sure they’ll understand that this will mean more to Ryan Walters, returning to West Lafayette, and they’ll want to play really hard for him. As far as a prediction, I have no idea. This Washington team has been underperforming. It has talent, but it’s really young, so the growing pains have been at the forefront. You think that at this point in the season, with this being their last game before the bye week and the team halfway through the year, they’ll find a way to rally for Ryan Walters and this group. Maybe they’ll play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder because that didn’t happen at home against Iowa. But each week is brand new.