SEATTLE – Like the holiday that concludes this month, October continues to be a fright-fest for the Washington football team. And because of that, the sunny hopes that surrounded the Huskies at the end of September have dissolved into a harsh reality of another season that potentially could end prematurely.
Washington staged a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback behind the play of a stout defense and backup quarterback Johnny DuRocher only to fall in overtime for the second-straight week, losing to Arizona State 26-23 in front of 58,822 fans Saturday at Husky Stadium.
The game was just the fifth overtime game in UW history and the first at Husky Stadium. Washington is now 2-3 in extra periods since overtime was implemented in 1997. Last week, the Huskies lost in extra time at California.
The Huskies have now lost 11 games in a row in October and their current four-game losing streak has dropped them to 2-4 in the Pacific-10 and 4-5 overall. They now sit in eighth place in the Pac-10 with three games remaining.
“We’re so close to being the type of team we want to be,” senior linebacker Scott White said. “But sometimes that’s the farthest distance to travel. We made so much progress and we’re right at the door. It’s time to kick it down.”
Time, though, is running out, and it’s certainly a concern that each week, Washington seems to get thinner and thinner. Already without starting running back Kenny James (sprained ankle), Washington lost quarterback Carl Bonnell to an apparent concussion on a late hit in the fourth quarter. The Huskies have made the decision to redshirt freshman Jake Locker, which left them with just DuRocher and walk-on Felix Sweetman.
And though DuRocher hadn’t taken any snaps in practice last week and hadn’t played in a game since Nov. 5 of last season, he was called upon to pick up an offense that for most of the game had been stagnant. And that’s what the junior did.
DuRocher went 4-for-4 on his first drive, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Sonny Shackelford on third-and-goal that tied the score at 20 with 2:19 to play.
“We came out, wanted to try to run the football and get me comfortable with a couple plays under my belt,” DuRocher said. “Then we had some third-and-longs and I had to make some plays and guys got open. Sonny made a good play on the catch in the end zone.”
Arizona State was unable to move the ball on its final drive and punted but the Huskies didn’t have enough time to get into scoring range and the game went to overtime.
The Sun Devils won the coin toss and gave the UW the ball and the Huskies immediately committed a false start, moving back to the 30, and DuRocher threw three incomplete passes. Michael Braunstein, though, connected on a 47-yard field goal to give Washington the lead.
But on ASU’s second play, Rudy Carpenter found tight end Brent Miller streaking past linebacker Dan Howell on the right sideline for the game-winning touchdown.
“We have practiced those things a million times,” Miller said. “Sometimes things don’t work out in the game and you have to keep from being discouraged. … I figured that play would be coming up in overtime.”
“He was on the line and they didn’t think of him as a primary target,” Carpenter said. “It worked out great.”
Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said the penalty on first down made it all the more difficult on his offense to move the ball.
“It kills you,” Willingham said. “Now you’re first-and-15, and that’s a very difficult situation. … That penalty, you still have to overcome it, but it was a crippling play.”
That Washington was even in position to win the game was remarkable given another slow start. Bonnell struggled, going 9-for-23 for 67 yards and two interceptions, giving him seven in his two starts. The running game was fairly ineffective as Louis Rankin averaged just 2.7 yards a carry, and the offensive line was continually beat as ASU put outstanding pressure on the quarterbacks.
But the Husky defense kept their team in it, and Arizona State didn’t help itself, committing 16 penalties for 127 yards.
“It seems like all we talk about is our penalties,” ASU coach Dirk Koetter said. “We were able to overcome them tonight.”
The Sun Devils took the lead midway through the second quarter when Carpenter connected with Jamaal Lewis on a 12-yard touchdown. Braunstein answered with a field goal but ASU made it 14-3 late in the first half when Keegan Herring ran for a 19-yard touchdown. Herring then ended the third quarter with a 65-yard run around left end that made it 20-6 and Washington seemed out of it.
But the Huskies went with some trickery to get back in the game, as Bonnell threw a lateral to Shackelford, who passed to a wide-open Anthony Russo for a 41-yard touchdown.
“I saw Anthony wide open and I had decided to make the play and throw the ball,” Shackelford said. “We worked on it this week and we have been working on it the whole year.”
The defense then made stops on second-and-2 and third-and-1 to get the ball back and Washington seemed to have the momentum, but that came to a sudden halt in overtime.
“They beat us out of the blocks and then we played a heck of a game to get caught up,” Willingham said. “Then we didn’t make enough plays in overtime to get it done. So it was disappointing, exciting, disappointing.”
“This was a must-win for us,” cornerback Dashon Goldson said. “That’s how we came out, it was a must-win for us, and we didn’t get it.”
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