SEATTLE — The popular notion is that those who put down hard-earned cash on Nevada Saturday either had the football knowledge of kelp or were in emergency need of a saliva test.
Either way, they’re richer today than they were before.
Cashing in on a flat, mistake-prone day for the Washington Huskies, the 1/2-point underdog Wolf Pack handed the Huskies a 28-17 home loss. It was at least as monumental and alarming a UW defeat since the Huskies lost 21-20 to Oregon State in 1985.
Even more damaging was the sign of a horrible trend. Counting the second half of the 46-16 pasting they took a week before against UCLA, a game in which the Bruins laid a 39-0 whipping on the Huskies in the second half, the Huskies have played six straight quarters of simply horrid football.
Washington, the 2003 edition hasn’t ever appeared unbeatable, but in the last 1/2, Washington has appeared ill-prepared, uninspired and lost.
"We’ve got a lot of fixing to do," UW coach Keith Gilbertson said. "This is a low day."
Although the Huskies (3-3) rolled up 447 yards and 29 first downs, most of the yardage came between the 20s. Quarterback Cody Pickett threw three interceptions (one of which was brought back for a touchdown) and was sacked eight times. The Huskies lost a pair of fumbles and suffered damning penalties that killed promising drives. The Wolf Pack blocked three field-goal attempts by Evan Knudson, whose blockers betrayed him on at least two occasions.
Nearly everyone forgot to block defensive end Jorge Cordova, who finished with 16 tackles, 11 unassisted, five sacks and one blocked field goal. Neither Husky tackle, be it Khalif Barnes or Nick Newton, could block Cordova.
"We have a good four-man pass rush and so we don’t have to keep on blitzing," Cordova said. "We can keep an extra man in there. Cody had no place to go."
Much should be made of the Huskies’ continuing battle with the red zone. Washington had two long first-half drives that ended with no points. One came when Pickett threw an interception at the Wolf Pack 10, wasting 14 plays and 70 yards.
Nevada promptly turned that into a 90-yard scoring drive that took just seven plays, capped by a gorgeous 25-yard TD pass from Andy Heiser to Maurice Mann, who finished with seven catches for 168 yards and a TD.
On Washington’s second play on the next "drive," Pickett tossed another interception. This one was an attempted screen pass to tailback Rich Alexis, in front of which corner Chris Handy stepped and returned the interception 37 yards for a TD.
Quicker than you can say "upset," Nevada was up, 14-0, and the crowd booed as if rooked out of free beer.
"We stunk out there today," outside linebacker Greg Carothers said. "I can’t say much else. I think that’s obvious."
Knudson had two field-goal attempts blocked, both by defensive tackle Chris Berry. One came when the Huskies stalled at the Wolf Pack 20, the other when they sputtered at the 21.
Alexis showed the only life the Huskies had, with 98 yards on 20 first-half carries. It was he who scored Washington’s lone TD before halftime, on a 2-yard run with 35 seconds left. He finished with 120 yards on 30 carries.
Pickett was 8 of 18 passing with two picks and 130 yards at intermission. To be fair, receivers dropped three of his throws and he was sacked four times.
To be equally fair, only twice did Pickett throw to all-everything receiver Reggie Williams, who didn’t have a first-half reception.
"Cody’s doing everything he can," said Williams, who groused after the UCLA game that he wasn’t seeing the ball enough. "It just didn’t work out."
The carnage continued in the second half, jump-started when Roc Alexander fumbled away a 60-yard kickoff return, which, naturally on this day, Nevada recovered.
Yes it was more of the same. Knudson had a 43-yard field-goal attempt blocked, which didn’t help the crowd’s mood at all. While Knudson’s kicks may have been a tinge low, he was getting no help up front.
"I can’t be changing stuff during the game," Knudson said. "Kicks get blocked. After three kicks, then you have to start looking to see what’s going on. We didn’t do so well today."
Knudson did nail a 42-yarder in the third quarter, a decision roundly booed by the by-now surly crowd, which rang out in derisive cheers once the ball flew through the uprights.
Nevada went up, 21-10, on an 8-yard pass from Heiser to tight end Anthony Pudewell, again emitting jeers from the throng.
A third-quarter interception by UW safety Jimmy Newell at the Wolf Pack 30 was wiped out by a defensive-holding penalty. Nevada went on to score on a 7-yard pass from Heiser to a wide-open Talib Wise for a 28-10 advantage.
The drive took Nevada just five plays and 1:49 to cover 93 yards.
Pickett avoided another heavy Wolf Pack rush long enough to find Williams on a 52-yard TD play and the Huskies cut the lead to 28-17.
But they could get no closer. And with red-hot Oregon State on the schedule for next Saturday, it doesn’t get any easier.
"Right now, our team is not consistent enough," Barnes said. "We have little spurts on offense, little spurts on defense and spurts on special teams. Right now, we’re not mentally tough enough. It’s up to me and the seniors to get that back together."
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