Huskies win in wild finish

Published 10:42 pm Monday, October 11, 2010

SEATTLE — They say that football is a game of inches, but the victory that fell into the grasp of the University of Washington football team Saturday night was decided by a foot.

Delashaun Dean’s foot.

In the second fantastic finish in as many game at Husky Stadium, UW recorded another remarkable victory thanks in large part to an opponent’s appendage. After a pass from Arizona quarterback Nick Foles bounced off Dean’s foot, and Husky linebacker Mason Foster plucked it from the air en route to a 37-yard, game-winning touchdown with 2:37 remaining, the Montlake miracles appear to be a recurring theme.

Foster’s touchdown capped off an unlikely comeback win for the Huskies, who rallied for a 36-33 victory over a U of A team that dominated most of the game Saturday night. The Wildcats had more total yards (461-256), first downs (26-14) and nearly put the game away in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second half.

Only the play of quarterback Jake Locker, and the timely interception, helped bail out UW.

“We never gave up,” said Locker, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for another as the Huskies rallied from a 12-point deficit in the final three minutes. “We competed until the end and found a way to win.”

That way was as unexpected as the final result. Arizona (3-2 overall, 2-1 in the Pac-10) dominated the Huskies with a bubble screen pass all night long, passing for 384 total yards, and yet the Wildcats went to that well one too many times.

Shortly after Locker’s third touchdown pass had cut the Arizona lead to 33-28 with 2:55 remaining, Foster told teammate Donald Butler that he was going to jump the screen play in hopes of creating a turnover. The Wildcats called the play on first down, from their own 37, and Foster’s gamble paid off. Foles’s errant pass bounced off Dean’s foot and into the air, and Foster was right there for the turnover.

“If I wouldn’t have gotten (the interception), I would’ve gotten jumped on the sidelines,” Foster said afterward, referring to the reaction he expected from the UW coaching staff. “I would’ve been the idiot of the game instead of the hero.”

There were actually a few heroes for the Huskies on Saturday night, beginning with Locker.

The junior quarterback passed for just 140 yards, but he had a season-high 92 rushing yards and accounted for all four of the Huskies’ offensive touchdowns. He threw two TD passes to Devin Aguilar, ran 56 yards for another, and hit tight end Kavario Middleton for a 20-yard touchdown on third-and-10 with 2:55 remaining in the game.

Locker kept UW in a game that, throughout the second half, appeared to be headed toward an Arizona blowout. A series of special teams gaffes at the start of the third quarter helped turn a 14-10 halftime lead into a 27-14 deficit 13 minutes into the second half.

The Huskies allowed Arizona to break a long return on the opening kickoff of the third quarter, leading to one touchdown, then mishandled a snap out of punt formation to set up another Wildcats score.

Fortunately for UW, the bend-but-don’t-break defense rose up again near the goal line and held Arizona to a field goal on that possession, giving the Wildcats a 20-14 lead.

But punter Will Mahan, who had mishandled the snap minutes earlier, had another mistake when he shanked a 27-yard punt to set up Arizona’s second touchdown of the second half and a 27-14 Wildcats lead.

Locker refused to let the Huskies die. He led UW on a two-play drive, hitting Aguilar for the sophomore receiver’s second touchdown of the night, to pull the Huskies within 27-21 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Two more Arizona field goals over the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter appeared to put the Huskies’ hopes to bed, but Locker threw another touchdown pass _ to Middleton _ to keep UW within range with 2:55 left.

Rather than attempt an onside kick, Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian opted to kick off deep.

“We believed in our defense; we were bending but not breaking,” said Sarkisian, who still had two timeouts at the time. “… We wanted to put the pressure back on (Arizona). The onside kick would have been our one shot. We wanted to put the pressure back on them.”

In the end, the move paid off. Arizona’s first play from scrimmage was a familiar one, only this time the bubble screen bounced right where Foster wanted it.

“Pac-10 football is crazy,” said Foster, who led the celebration after UW’s last-second win over third-ranked USC in the Huskies’ last home game. “I just love it. I love being a part of games like this _ especially coming down with the W.”

Not only did Foster save the Huskies’ Saturday night, but he may have saved their season. UW (3-3, 2-1) was in danger of falling out of the Pac-10 race and _ more important _ contention for an ever-elusive bowl bid. With games against conference powers Oregon and Cal, as well as upcoming road games at Arizona State, UCLA and Oregon State, the Huskies were looking like they might go a seventh consecutive year without a postseason invite.

Saturday’s win might not have put them any closer to that goal, but at least the Huskies can dream another day.

“We never gave up,” said running back Chris Polk, who had to have his right shoulder popped back into place after dislocating it in the second quarter of Saturday’s game and finished with 34 rushing yards on nine carries. “We’re coached to never give up. They tell us that if we keep believing, good things will happen.”

By a foot, that mantra came true on Saturday night.