Jedd Fisch emphasizes Washington improving on third down

Third downs have been a struggle for Washington this season, as the Huskies have converted on just 37% of attempts to convert the key down. That figure places Washington at No. 98 nationally in FBS for third down conversion rate.

It’s a reality that head coach Jedd Fish addressed after losing to Indiana, saying that his team was simply “not good enough” on those key downs. But the margin to a much better outlook on third downs isn’t a big one, Fisch said.

“Well, I would say the 3rd and 1 was a disappointing play that you’ve gotta be better on 3rd and 1s,” Fisch said. “I’d start there. If you’re better on 3rd and 1s, you maybe get yourself to 4-of-11, which then gets you a little closer and then you’ve gotta convert one other play to get to five. You want to be, lets call it, as close to 50% on third down as you possibly could be. If you’re 50 percent on third down, you’re in the Top 25 in the country and we’re sitting there probably at like 38%, which is bottom third in the country. And that’s where we’ve gotta really improve.”

Fisch pointed to a couple areas that the Huskies could improve to help get better outcomes on third downs.

“It’s all 11, plus the sideline I guess I would say,” Fisch said. “What plays are we calling to put them in the best possible position to succeed? How are we blocking? How are we picking up protections? Are we winning on the down and distance. Are we winning in the route, I should say. Can we make a couple more plays after we catch the ball? Rather than get to a situation where it was a 3rd and 7, or 3rd and 8 and we hit Denzel for five and now it’s 4th and 3, can we knife in and get the first down or some of those things. We’ve had a couple of unfortunate ones on third down where we dropped a snap on a third down that I can remember. We’ve had a couple plays that we ended a half a yard short.”

Most recently, Washington went 3-for-11 on third downs against Indiana in a loss, and also went 1-for-3 on fourth down conversions.

Fisch said that those two conversion rates are considered together, in part because sometimes a third down play sets up a fourth down conversion attempt and also because both are reflective of the offense staying on the field.

Either way, a combined 4-for-14 on Saturday — and the trends at large this season, Washington is No. 107 nationally in fourth down conversions, too — are something Fisch wants to see change.

“But we were only 1-for-3 on fourth down,” Fisch said. “So I always look at them both. I say, ‘Alright, we were 4-for-16 or 5-for-17,’ whatever we were, we add them both together. Not good enough.”