Hopefully this showed up on line, but if not, here’s the game story:
By John Boyle
Herald Writer
HONOLULU—A season of frustration and close calls ended in such an appropriate manner for Washington.
Someday in the future, when a Husky fan wants to know the story of the 2007 Huskies and their 4-9 season, all that person will need to do is get his or her hands on a copy of Saturday night’s 35-28 loss to Hawaii.
Like they have done so many times this year, the Huskies led early, but couldn’t put the game away. And as has been the case so many times this year, an opponent came back in the second half to hand Washington a painful loss.
In a season that Tyrone Willingham summed up by saying, “A play here, a play there,” the final act indeed came down to a play here, and play there.
With just under a minute left in the game, it was Colt Brennan making the last of his many big plays, completing a five-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen to give the Warriors their first lead of the game.
It was the fifth touchdown pass of the game for Brennan, who completed 42 of 50 passes for 442 yards. At one point he completed a school-record 20 consecutive passes.
The Huskies got the ball back with 38 seconds and 78 yards to go, and nearly pulled off an improbably touchdown drive. Jake Locker found tight end Michael Gottlieb down the middle for 25 yards, then connected with open Marcel Reece down the sideline for 49 yards, setting up first-and-goal at the four yard line.
After Locker took a two-yard loss on a run, he and Reece nearly connected again in the end zone on third down. Locker lofted a pass to the senior receiver, who got his hands on the ball, but lost it on a hit by cornerback Gerard Lewis. The ball caromed in the air and was intercepted by Ryan Mouton to clinch the win for the Warriors.
“I just wish I could have delivered for my team,” Reece said. “My teammates deserved it, my coaching staff deserved it, I myself deserved and the fans did too. I apologize to everybody in Seattle for that one.”
Reece still wasn’t sure what had happened on the play, but he said he should have made the catch.
“It’s always disappointing when you’re not able to hold onto a pass as a receiver,” he said. “That’s our job. No matter where the ball is or what the defender does, the receiver has to catch the ball and then run after it. No matter how many plays I’ve made all year, that one’s going to stay with me forever. It hurts. It hurts when you’re looked on as a leader and a playmaker on the team and you don’t make a play the last play of the game.”
Willingham and offensive coordinator Tim Lappano indicated after the game that the Huskies would have gone for two points and the win had they scored at the end of the game.
Of course, there were plenty of other plays that hurt the Huskies besides that interception. The defense, which started the game so well, could have come up with another big play or two rather than allow three Hawaii touchdowns in the second quarter and two more on the Warriors’ last two possessions.
“This was a real disappointment because our young men played a heck of a football game,” said Willingham. “It’s that old football circumstance that one more play and we win a football. We just did not make the one more play.”
Another critical play came on Washington’s drive before Hawaii’s winning score. Facing third-and-15, Locker connected with Quintin Daniels for what would have been a first down. Locker was flagged for an illegal forward pass, however, forcing the Huskies to punt rather than drive towards a possible go-ahead score. The call, as well as the officiating in general, didn’t seem to sit well with Husky players and coaches.
“Honestly I couldn’t see it,” Willingham said of the play. “But it was probably fitting for all of the calls that we had all night.”
Had the Huskies made a few more plays, they might have been celebrating a big upset, but instead the Warriors and their fans celebrated a 12-0 regular season on the field. Instead of a much-needed win, the Huskies have to accept another close loss and an off season of thinking about what could have been. The Huskies have had the lead eight times at half time this year, and were tied in another game.
What turned into another disappointing loss couldn’t have started much better for the Huskies, who for a while quieted the Aloha Stadium crowd of 49,566 by racing to a 21-0 lead.
Washington had a bit of help getting a score on the game’s opening drive. Hawaii held Washington to a three-and-out, but on fourth-and-four, was flagged for a substitution infraction, giving the Huskies a first down. Five plays later—all runs by Locker and Louis Rankin, the Huskies had a 7-0 lead.
The good times kept coming for the Huskies when Nate Williams sacked Brennan on third down, forcing a fumble that E.J. Savannah recovered at the Hawaii 21 yard line. Anthony Russo took a reverse to the one yard line, then Luke Kravitz punched it in on fourth down after he and Locker failed to do so on the first three attempts.
After a forcing a three-and-out, the Huskies got the ball back and drove 51 yards to take a 21-0 lead. On their first three touchdown drives, the Huskies ran the ball 18 straight times following an incomplete pass on the fist play from scrimmage.
From there, however, Brennan and his offense got going, while the Huskies slowed down. Brennan who has passed for more than 4,000 yards in each of his last three season, found Jason Rivers for three second-quarter touchdowns, turning what was once a three-touchdown lead into and 28-21 score at halftime. Rivers, who had 167 yards on 14 catches, caught his fourth touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, a 40 yarder that tied the game with eight minutes left.
“It was disappointing that we couldn’t finish up with a win like we wanted to,” said Rankin, who finished with 145 rushing yards. “We moved the ball pretty good but we just didn’t finish.”
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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