Opponent View: Washington

Maybe heading west will be the cure to what ails a Purdue program that has lost eight in a row.

Maybe not.

When the Boilermakers (2-8 overall; 0-7 Big Ten) touch down in Seattle and kick off at 7 p.m. ET (FS1), they’ll find an agitated Washington team (6-3; 3-3) that is coming off a numbing 13-10 loss at Wisconsin to what was a winless Big Ten team that put the kibosh on U-Dub’s playoff hopes.

Adding sizzle to the matchup is the fact the Husky defense is coordinated by former Purdue boss Ryan Walters, who swan-dived to a 5-19 overall record and a 3-15 Big Ten mark in 2023-24 in West Lafayette. And there also is this: Barry Odom younger brother, Brian Odom, is Washington’s inside linebackers coach.

GoldandBlack.com spoke to the voice of Washington Tony Castricone to learn more about the Huskies.

GoldandBlackcom: What can we expect from the Washington offense?

Castricone: In their six wins, they’re averaging 45 points. In their three losses, they’re averaging 7.7 points. So, that’s quite the canyon of a difference. I don’t think we know fully what to expect from the Washington offense, other than they’ve got players all over the field, starting with a quarterback Demond Williams, who throws at an exceptionally high completion percentage and can really be explosive down the field with his arm, too. He can get out of the pocket and scramble. He’s got 12 rushes of 20-plus yards this year, which leads the nation.

RB Jonah Coleman came into the season as a preseason All-American candidate, not just for his rushing ability but for his ability to catch out of the backfield, as well. He got nicked up in the game against Wisconsin on Saturday and did not play in the second half. RB Adam Mohammed came on. He has potential.

At wide receiver, top option Denzel Boston got nicked up last week and was not fully available the rest of the game. That meant that the offense, at times, had three true freshmen lining up. Raiden Vines-Bright and Dez Roebuck are two of the best true freshman wide receivers in all college football. Omari Evans, the Penn State transfer, gives you a little bit of depth.

And then on the offensive line, they finally got healthy coming into the Wisconsin game for the first time in weeks. And then more attrition hit. The right tackle ended up leaving the game with an injury. Landen Hatchett, the starting center, hurt a hand. On the left side of the line, Carver Willis and John Mills are coming off of injuries.

The Huskies have struggled with injuries this year, and it has hampered what otherwise has been a really explosive looking offense at times.

GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Husky defense?

Castricone: Ryan Walters has done a really good job of coming in. There’s not a ton of depth, but he’s worked with the pieces that we have to do a fairly good job of stopping the run. Hasn’t let teams get too explosive. And Washington has really been one of the better defenses in the Big Ten in the red zone, and in touchdown defensive percentage.

The edge room has been a little bit thin due to some injuries, but they’ve got some good edges in Zach Durfee and Jacob Lane. The line has been really solid. With a little bit of depth there they’re able to rotate.

And there’s a lot of true freshmen rotating in there, as well. LB Zaydrius Rainey-Sale has really flashed since he’s come off an ACL injury from his senior year high school. He’s a true freshman inside linebacker who they really like, and think he’s going to be a great one.

The back half of the defense has been really good. They got two long corners that are both 6-4 and have great wingspans, both really good at breaking up passes, coming up with interceptions. The safety room has been solid. You got a transfer from Northern Arizona in Alex McLaughlin, who I think is just a really fun football player to watch, a guy that makes plays at all three levels. And then you’ll see them go with some three safety looks sometimes where they bring in a true freshman in Rylon Dillard-Allen, who chose Washington over Alabama.

They’ve got a lot of talent on that side of the ball. Again, not super deep there, but a really good defensive play-caller in Walters, who’s done a nice job of helping limit the explosiveness of the opposing offenses.

GoldandBlack.com: How do you see this game unfolding?

Castricone: No idea. I don’t think anybody expected to see what we saw last weekend in Madison (13-10 Washington loss to the Badgers).

Home field usually is worth three points over a neutral site. I would say Washington in Big Ten games against Midwest opponents, that goes up to maybe seven to 10 points. I feel like we perform about 20 points worse on the road than we would at home. That’s just kind of the way it’s gone the last couple of years.

Washington had one of the great home field winning streaks in the country, of course, that was snapped against Ohio State. They’d won 22 straight before falling to the number one team in the country, but they’ve won every home game since then. We’re talking about a program that has only lost one time since the end of 2021 in its home stadium.

I just think it’s a talented roster that is really hungry for a win. It was a long two weeks coming off the bye, where they played well against Illinois at home and then they just kind of laid an egg at Wisconsin. They’re really unhappy with the way that they played. So, it’s gonna be a highly motivated Washington football team at home.

MORE: First and 10: Purdue at Washington | First Look: Washington | Barry Odom vs. Ryan Walters: Friends collide on opposite sidelines | The 3-2-1: Purdue front office continues to evolve

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