Pete Kwiatkowski has shut down a dual-threat Alabama quarterback before

The Washington Huskies came up short against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2016 College Football Playoffs but it wasn’t because of defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski‘s side of the ball. 

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In both of their Monday press conferences, Steve Sarkisian and Nick Saban discussed having familiarity with each program. Steve Sarkisian worked for Saban at Alabama and he also recruited Bama’s starting quarterback, Jalen Milroe, to Tuscaloosa. Saban discussed how previous games provide a useful history from a technical standpoint, but they’re not useful psychologically, meaning Bama’s narrow victory in Austin last year adds nothing for Alabama’ confidence going into the same Saturday night. 

The technical standpoint is interesting. While much of the focus is on Sarkisian’s offensive mind dueling against Saban’s defensive, there is that interesting game from 2016. Is there anything to be gleaned from a playoff game held 7 years ago, one in which Bama won 24-7? Maybe so.

That game featured some similarities to the one that awaits us. PK has an experienced and talented defense to work with; a defense that features both good defensive linemen and defensive backs. Meanwhile, Alabama is starting a young, athletic, but inexperienced dual-threat quarterback. In 2016 it was Jalen Hurts, in 2023 it’s Milroe. 

Washington’s Defense

PK’s 2016 unit, particularly the secondary, was loaded with three second-round draft picks in the 2017 NFL Draft alone. One of those picks was five-time Pro Bowler Budda Baker. The secondary also featured Taylor Rapp, a 2019 second-round draft pick and JoJo McIntosh who was an undrafted free agent. In addition, Washington had two very good interior defensive linemen. Elijah Qualls was a sixth-round draft pick in 2017 and Vita Vea was a first-rounder in 2018. The linebacking crew were no slouches either with Keishawn Bierria, a sixth-round pick in 2018, Ben Burr-Kirven a fifth-round pick in 2019, and Azeem Victor a sixth-round pick in 2018. Victor was first-team All-Pac 12 in 2016 but missed the final month of the season with a broken leg.

Who knows how many draft picks Texas has on its current two-deep, but I’d be willing to bet it’s a similar number, though some of the most talented players, like Anthony Hill, Derek Williams, and Malik Muhammad are quite young. 

There’s no denying it, though, Texas has size, talent, depth, and experience, at least in the neighborhood of that 2016 Washington team.

Alabama’s Quarterback 

Before Hurts became the sensation he is today with the Philadelphia Eagles, he was a freshman sensation at Alabama. He helped the Tide rip through its first 13 games undefeated before losing to Clemson in the National Championship Game. 

At the time, Hurts was a talented thrower and runner but lacked the experience to unleash a full passing attack. PK took advantage and designed a defense that held him to 7/14 passing for 57 yards and zero touchdowns and only 57 yards rushing on 19 carries. 

Alabama was able to win the game due to running back Bo Scarborough, who the Huskies had trouble tackling. Defenders were typically in place but Scarborough made some terrific individual plays, particularly on a back-breaking 68-yard touchdown run. 

There are clear similarities to Hurts and Alabama’s current starter Milroe. Milroe is a physical and athletic runner, though he lacks experience in reading defenses and getting through his progressions.

Closing

Years ago Budda Baker might have offered a very generic template for Texas this weekend when he told AL.com: 

We know that he’s (Hurts) forced some turnovers throwing the ball. We like that. Being a defensive back, I like that. He can throw. He can run. But at the end of the day, if he doesn’t see anything to throw, he’s going to run the ball. We feel like the D-line is going to have a great opportunity to try and keep him in the pocket.

And when he does cross the line of scrimmage, we have to hit him. He’s been hit before but he’s never backed down. You see him running over guys, stiff-arming guys. So for that, we just have to keep hitting, hitting and hitting him all game. Hopefully, he’ll crack but he hasn’t cracked yet.

That will likely be PK’s approach to Milroe — take away his first read, keep him in the pocket, and make him beat you with his arm. 

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Hopefully this time PK’s defense gets a little more help from the offense.

We’ll have much more this week from an X’s and O’s standpoint on how Texas can attack and defend Alabama.