UW’s Lewis was all over the field

Published 11:56 pm Saturday, September 8, 2007

SEATTLE Midway through the second quarter of Washington’s 24-10 win, Roy Lewis had a problem.

Greyson Gunheim a defensive end of all people had just come away with the Huskies’ first interception of the 2007 season. That pick by Gunheim gave him as many career interceptions, one, as Lewis, a third-year starter at cornerback.

“I thought, ‘Man, the D line has more interceptions than the secondary,’” Lewis joked.

Lewis responded, however, making several big plays in the second half, including an interception of his own that ended a Boise State scoring threat.

“Tremendous,” was defensive coordinator Kent Baer’s assessment of Lewis’ performance. “He kept coming back and coming back.”

Lewis, who was sidelined in the second half once by cramps, and once after being hit “in the wrong area,” also broke up a potential touchdown, and finished with 11 tackles and three pass breakups. Only linebacker E.J. Savannah had more tackles with 13.

Last year, Lewis had some interception chances go off his hands.

“They threw the ball down the field a couple of times and guys that have been playing without hands had hands today,” Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham said with a smile. “That’s awful nice. Catching balls with nubs is not real nice, but our guys had hands today. They showed up and made plays.”

Lewis said, despite a lack of interceptions, that he is confident in his abilities.

“Hopefully there are more to come,” he said. “I’ve never doubted myself. It’s just a matter of me actually catching the ball. It’s just more concentration. When I see coach Willingham, I tell him, ‘I have great hands,’ and he affirms back, ‘You do have great hands.’ I’m constantly reaffirming myself.”

And on Saturday, those hands helped the Huskies to a win, and helped the defensive backs take the team lead in interceptions away from the defensive line.

“I had to get that first interception to show the other guys how to do it so they could get some,” said Gunheim. “It was good to see Roy making big plays. He made quite a few big plays down there when it was getting tight for us.”