SEATTLE – Outside Husky Stadium late Saturday afternoon, a middle-aged man stood talking on his cellphone.
“We finally won a game, man,” he said.
He sounded relieved, but not nearly as relieved as Keith Gilbertson must have felt. “That was a good win,” the Washington head coach had said 30 minutes earlier.
A forfeit would have been a good win for the Huskies. When you’re 0-4, you’ll take anything.
So the 21-6 victory came against a not-very-good San Jose State team? Hey, the pizza tasted just as yummy to the Husky players Saturday night as if they’d beaten a Top 10 team.
The way these guys have been playing, some questioned whether they’d ever win a game this season. And when they went to the locker room at halftime leading just 7-3, there had to be a sense of unease among the Husky faithful, which was announced at 65,816 but looked considerably less than that with many areas of empty seats.
The game wasn’t televised, so fans were either so disgusted that they didn’t show up or they figured it was going to be a blowout with the Huskies heavily favored.
These guys aren’t about to trample anyone. They’re just not very good.
So anytime they have more points on the scoreboard than the opponent at the end of a game, Husky fans ought to celebrate like it’s the Rose Bowl. Who knows, it might be the only “W” they get this year.
The Huskies still don’t have a quarterback they can rely on to ignite a passing game and who’d have thought we’d ever say that about the UW? Carl Bonnell and Casey Paus were a combined 7-for-16 for 75 yards with two interceptions (both by Bonnell) and if it hadn’t been for the running of Kenny James (26 carries for 189 yards and two touchdowns), the guy outside the stadium might have been lamenting, “We lost another one, man.”
Maybe this was a sign. On the first play of the game, Bonnell threw an interception. Fortunately for him, the Spartans were called for pass interference and the Huskies retained possession.
They then went 80 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown. Without throwing one pass.
Afterwards, Gilbertson joked that after the first pass, the coaches figured “we better run a few times, man.”
The lead Dawg in the attack? The quarterback, Bonnell, with 65 yards on six carries, including the final yard for the touchdown.
The kid runs like a tailback, not a quarterback. He has some shifty moves, he’s smooth, and he isn’t afraid of getting hit. That he did this with a groin injury – that eventually forced him out of the game late in the second quarter – is a testament to his toughness.
Now if he can just get this passing thing down, the Huskies might have something. But both he and Paus are still having problems when they put the ball in the air. Not that they’re entirely to blame. The receivers are still dropping too many balls.
“We just are struggling to get any rhythm or consistency in our catches and passing game,” Gilbertson said. “That is frustrating, particularly because you know how much I love to throw the ball.”
It doesn’t help that the team’s leading receiver, Charles Frederick, is hampered with a hamstring injury. He did get into Saturday’s game, though, making one catch, a 21-yarder late in the fourth quarter.
“I think Charles Frederick will be back at full speed next week and that will give us a lift that we need in our passing game,” Gilbertson said.
The Huskies didn’t get their running game in gear until the second half. In fact, after that opening scoring drive, they were a minus-10 yards on the ground the rest of the half.
When they had only seven points at the break, you wondered what the heck was going on. After all, the Spartans gave up 34 points in the first half against Rice last week before storming back with 63 points to win 70-63.
What the Huskies seemed to be waiting for was a big play. And they got it when the Spartans failed to take it in from the one after a turnover gave them the ball at the 3-yard line midway through the third quarter.
Actually, the Huskies got some help on the play when the Spartan quarterback, Dale Rogers, fumbled the snap. He might have had a hard time scoring even if he hadn’t erred because the Huskies played some serious defense all afternoon. Hey, the same team that scored 70 points last week got two field goals Saturday.
“We just came out and played,” Husky linebacker Joe Lobendahn said matter-of-factly. “We … did our job.”
Up in the pressbox, someone said after the goal-line stand, “Watch them put together a 99-yard drive.” It was said with a touch of sarcasm.
The Huskies responded as if they’d heard the remark. James went for two yards. Then five. Then six. The Spartans contributed a 15-yard penalty. Then James came at them again. With 12 yards, seven, six. And, finally, 52 and a touchdown to make it 14-3.
Ask and ye shall receive. Eleven plays, 99 yards.
So now the Huskies have something to build on. Something they can feel good about as they begin practice this week for a visit by Oregon State. They haven’t known that feeling since they beat Washington State in the Apple Cup Nov. 22.
To them, it must seem like a lifetime between victories.
Lobendahn said he can usually get over a loss in 24 hours. “You’ve got to forget it. Life goes on.”
Life went on a little sweeter Saturday night.
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