University of Washington head coach Chris Petersen announced on Monday that redshirt sophomore Cyler Miles will get the start for the Huskies as they welcome in FCS Juggernaut Eastern Washington to Husky Stadium. Miles was ineligible for the season-opening win over Hawaii this past Saturday after being suspended by Petersen for his role in multiple assaults taking place in Seattle last February after the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl. He was not charged but did miss all of spring practice as well.
Petersen gave the start in the first game to last season's third-string quarterback Jeff Lindquist out of Mercer Island High School. It was the first career start by Lindquist as a Husky spending his time behind Keith Price and Miles in 2013. There were some bright spots by Lindquist, including a 91-yard touchdown pass to John Ross between two defenders, but the offense had a very difficult time moving the ball against Hawaii.
When you look at the first half numbers for the Huskies they really are not that bad. They held the ball for five possessions totaling 32 plays, obviously that is still well below the standards of the Washington offense. It was the second half drive statistics that just made Husky fans cringe. Washington totaled nine possessions in the second half but none of the first seven made it past five plays; five of those seven were three-and-outs. It took until Washington's eighth possession of the second half for them to have even possessed the ball for more than 1:58 in a single possession.
The results of the Jeff Lindquist experiment were a resounding fail. A fail that was almost bad enough to cost Washington the win in a very winnable game for them. For a team with the expectations coming into the season that Washington did, that was not the best way to start the year.
Now though, the offense will return to Cyler Miles. He may not have the better of Lindquist in the throwing department but Miles is certainly quicker on his feet. That quickness should help the run game which struggled mightily against Hawaii. The Dawgs ran the ball 48 times for only 174 yards, an average of 3.6 yards per carry. That is a bad number for a time with an offensive line as experienced as Washington has.
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