SEATTLE — In a game of many mistakes, the University of Washington football team still had a chance to come from behind and defeat California on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium.
One final mistake took care of that last-gasp scenario.
Hoping for a go-ahead touchdown with just under three minutes to play, Washington instead turned the ball over on an interception thrown by freshman quarterback Jake Browning. It was the fifth turnover of the game for the Huskies, and California was able to run out the remaining seconds for a 30-24 victory in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams.
“We were ready to go down the field and score, and then we turned the ball over again,” said a disconsolate Browning said. “You can’t do that.”
Turnovers were the most grievous statistic for the Huskies, but there were also significant imbalances in total yards (481-259) and time of possession (39:49-20:11) coupled with a bunch of missed tackles for Washington.
“Turning the ball over, missing that many tackles, getting beat that bad in time of possession, that’s a recipe for disaster,” acknowledged UW head coach Chris Petersen.
“We competed hard, especially on defense,” he said. “They were swinging to the very end and I’m really proud of them for that. But (it was) frustrating on offense. … I don’t think you’re going to win many games in this league when you turn the ball over like we did.”
The Huskies were impressive in one-sided wins over Sacramento State and Utah State the past two weeks, but the Golden Bears were clearly superior to those squads and Washington simply had trouble matching up at times, particularly on offense. On their first nine possessions the Huskies scored points only once — a touchdown late in the first quarter — and by then California already led 27-7.
Two TDs late in the third quarter — one on a crowd-thrilling 70-yard fumble return by cornerback Sidney Jones — tightened the score, but Washington was undone in the fourth quarter by two more turnovers.
“You can’t have that many turnovers and expect to win the game,” said UW tight end Joshua Perkins.
For all their offensive miscues, the Huskies had two touchdown drives that were almost flawless. The first in the opening quarter covered 71 yards in five plays, all carries by running back Dwayne Washington, with the final 14 yards coming on a burst up the middle. The second TD drive midway through the third quarter went 65 yards in 10 plays, with Browning completing six of seven passes for 54 yards, though the final 2 yards came on an end sweep by Chico McClatcher.
“At times we made it look so easy,” Petersen said. “We know it’s not going to be that easy all the time, but it needs to be easier than it was that whole game where we were kind of stumbling all over ourselves way too much. (It was) really, really frustrating.”
The loss leaves the Huskies with a 2-2 record, and searching for answers heading into a bye week. The good news, Washington has some extra practice days before facing USC in Los Angeles on Oct. 8. The bad news, the schedule hardly improves in the coming weeks with ensuing games against Oregon, Stanford, Arizona, Utah and Arizona State, all teams that might well be favored against the Huskies.
“It’s not going to get any easier and we know that,” Petersen said. “Everybody’s good in this league. … These guys will come back. It’s way too early in the season (to lose hope).
“But it’s going to be hard. Look at the teams we play. These kids know that, and that’s why last week I talked about the same thing. It’s still about us. We have to tackle better, we have to pass better and we’ve got to not fumble the ball. It’s (about doing) those things we can control.”
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