Early in the second half, University of Washington quarterback Elijah Brown was sacked for an 11-yard loss by Purdue, going down under the weight of edge rusher Keyshawn Burgos, which forced a punt.
This turned out to be a milestone moment on Friday night for the Huskies for the simple fact that this was the only time it happened.
Otherwise Brown was left alone to do what he does best, which was complete 21 of 27 passes for 302 yards and 3 touchdowns while directing a 38-26 victory over the Boilermakers on the road.
One obscure sack was a revelation because Jedd Fisch's team had served up 18 of them over the three previous games, including a season-high 7 to Minnesota.
No, the Husky pass protection was noticeably better, as was its run-blocking, with the UW generating a season-high 186 yards rushing a week after getting held on the ground by Iowa to a dismal -3 yards, which was a decade and a half low.
Most were in agreement that the return of Landen Hatchett as the Huskies' starting center would make all the difference in the Montlake world, especially in permitting whomever is at UW quarterback to stand confident in the pocket and just deliver the football.
No arguments there whatsoever.
“I don’t think there’s not a direct correlation to Landen,” Fisch said. “I think Landen playing, if you looked at the protection in the second half of the game against Iowa, the time the quarterback had — now he got the ball out quick, don’t get me wrong -- but there were some good, clean pockets."
After missing 10 games over two seasons with a broken wrist, the 6-foot-3, 315-pound Hatchett played two-thirds of the time in the 41-24 loss to Minnesota last week in Seattle and then every down in the 12-point decision over Purdue.
Not surprisingly, the line cohesiveness that previously was lacking was visible as the Huskies rang up season-high stats in nearly every offensive yardage category.
In this one, the Huskies used John Mills, Drew Azzopardi, Champ Taulealea and Hatchett for every snap, while Mills continued to shuffle between left tackle and left guard, enabling freshman Kodi Greene to pull 26 snaps at tackle. Kolt Dieterich, who started at left guard, came out when Mills moved over.
The 6-foot-6, 315-pound Greene, who started the first five games, made his initial appearance on the UW's second offensive possession when he was sent in on a first-and-goal play from the Purdue 1, only to have fellow freshman Brian Bonner Jr. dropped for a 1-yard loss, and back to the sideline Greene went.
Otherwise, the big first-year player looked light on his feet. He was effective in pass protection, in one instance driving a Boilermakers pass rusher into the ground. He also got downfield and even led interference for Bonner's 30-yard run. His job share with Mills seems to be helping him get the job done and blend in with the others up front.
"I thought they really took great pride this week in being challenged that we are going to run the football here," Fisch said of his offensive line. "This is not going to be just throw it. That’s not what it’s going to be. There’s going to be balance, the best we can."
Again, Landen Hatchett's presence goes a long way in getting things level set.
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