SEATTLE — Go ahead. Just try to explain it.
Try to come up with a lucid explanation for why the Washington Huskies, beaten down as quitters for losing to lowly Arizona two weeks ago and giving up an appalling 729 yards in a 54-7 loss at Cal, could suddenly turn it around with a 27-19 pasting of Washington State Saturday for their sixth straight Apple Cup victory.
How in the world did Washington’s defense, branded as football’s version of The Three Stooges a week ago for giving up school-record yardage, come up with five interceptions, three sacks and turn an otherwise efficient Cougar offense into a grease spot on the Husky Stadium FieldTurf?
How did a battered, sputtering team penetrate the Washington State 30-yard line four times and have zero points to show for it?
Answer: Must be Apple Cup.
"The game was kind of the way we’ve had it all year," said UW coach Keith Gilbertson, who was on the business end of a Gatorade bath at game’s end. "It’s up, it’s down. It’s a free-for-all. It’s a rodeo ride. I guess we’re like the stock market. Up one minute and down the next."
Gilbertson’s explanation was as good as anyone’s. But the fact was that the Huskies (6-6, 4-4 Pacific-10 Conference) avoided their first losing season with an inspired defensive effort and a gunslinger named Cody Pickett, whose last pass in a UW uniform was a 21-yard TD throw to freshman receiver Corey Williams with 1:10 remaining to give Washington its first lead at 20-19.
Senior outside linebacker Marquis Cooper sealed it with a 38-yard TD off an interception with 14 seconds left.
Scorned as such following the Cal game, the Huskies did anything but quit after facing a 16-7 third-quarter deficit.
They didn’t play flawlessly. The offense gained just 261 yards, the least amount of yardage since it beat Cal in 1998. Pickett threw a pair of interceptions and Washington fumbled four times, losing three.
All week, they talked about pride. They talked about the Husky Tradition and agreed that it was, in its most basic form, about effort and fight.
"We were focused and played tough the entire game," said safety Evan Benjamin, who intercepted two passes and finished with a team-high 10 tackles. "We were running around and making plays. The whole defense fed off each other."
And it fed off the Cougars (9-3, 6-2 Pac-10) enough for the offense to get out of its own way and get it done late.
Showing little all game and behind 19-14, Pickett somehow led a 10-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a diving TD catch by Williams, a freshman who made just the fifth catch of his Husky career.
Dubbed "Bubble Pump," the play had Pickett fake a pass to wideout Reggie Williams. The Cougar secondary bit, moved to the center of the field and momentarily left alone Corey Williams, who made a diving catch as he sailed into the end zone.
"They’re always keying on Reggie," the other Williams said. "When the defensive back bit and bumped into Reggie, I ran around him. Cody threw a perfect ball in between the two defenders and I caught it."
He also caught the other 10 screaming, celebrating Huskies on his back as a deafening roar cascaded from the 74,549 in attendance.
"This is a great feeling for us," Pickett said. "We’ve felt like we’ve underachieved all year, but this is a great way to go out. We put all that stuff behind us and played great."
With a minute left, the Cougs still had a chance to pull out a victory and possibly save a Rose Bowl bid. But freshman quarterback Josh Swogger, who came in for the injured Matt Kegel, tossed a pick to Cooper, who ended his UW career with a 38-yard TD, arms raised even before he crossed the goal line.
"It was third-and-long and you knew they were going to pass," Cooper said. "There was pressure on the quarterback and I followed his eyes. When I made the pick, I knew I was going to take it back. All I thought about was scoring after I had the ball."
It was fitting for a defense that bottled up the Cougars all day.
"Our defense played lights-out today," Gilbertson said. "They got turnovers and sacked the quarterback. WSU has a great offense and I thought our guys did a great job of hanging in there and making big plays. It was special."
The Husky defense bailed out the offense several times in the first half. Washington had three fumbles (one on a punt in which linebacker Aaron Wagner flew in untouched and slammed into punter Garth Erickson, two others by tailback Kenny James) and an interception in the end zone.
WSU led at the half, 13-7.
WSU also had its problems on offense. Kegel clearly wasn’t himself, laboring under a pair of sore shoulders and a bum knee. He was replaced by Swogger in the second quarter.
Kegel threw a pair of interceptions, to safeties Jimmy Newell and Evan Benjamin. Washington’s Manase Hopoi also recovered a fumble, his first of two, by flanker Chris Jordan.
In other words, it wasn’t pretty. WSU kicker Drew Dunning kicked field goals of 33 and 34 yards, the latter with a second left in the half.
Kegel hit Devard Darling for a 17-yard TD pass in the first quarter.
Pickett struggled through much of the first half, although he got little help with James’ two lost fumbles. The Huskies did take advantage of Jordan’s second-quarter fumble when Pickett found Charles Frederick in the back of the end zone for a 4-yard TD pass.
Swogger set up Dunning’s second field goal when he fought off an attempted sack by Benjamin. Benjamin got to Swogger cleanly and swung the 6-foot-5, 238-pound true freshman around before Swogger found Devard Darling for an impossible 14-yard gain to the Husky 38-yard line.
Still, the Husky defense hung in long enough for the offense to get it in gear.
"We had opportunities, but we got turnovers and dropped interceptions," said WSU coach Bill Doba, whose team likely will go to the Holiday Bowl. "It was not our day and things fell their way."
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