SEATTLE – It took 31/2 minutes to recognize the pattern
That’s how long it took Arizona to break through with nine points, on a four-play touchdown drive and a blocked punt that led to a safety in its 23-13 victory over Washington in the Lowlier Than Thou Bowl Saturday at Husky Stadium.
In the biggest win of his nine-game era as the Wildcats’ coach, Mike Stoops saw his team (2-7 overall, 1-5 Pacific-10 Conference) dodge last place in the league by withstanding three lost fumbles and just 251 yards of offense.
“You’ve got to start somewhere,” Stoops said.
But Arizona did so only because the Huskies (1-8, 0-6) gave it away by being what they’ve been all season.
Which is truly horrible.
“It was just a bad, bad day,” said UW coach Keith Gilbertson, whose announcement Monday that he was stepping down after the season did nothing to inspire his players.
Even by Washington’s standards, it was bad. Worse than bad, considering the opponent.
But then, 2004 has become a milestone few want to remember.
And it starts with the offense, which was offensive only in the most literal and extreme sense of the word.
* Husky quarterbacks Casey Paus and Isaiah Stanback were a combined 16-of-47 passing for 197 yards and a pair of interceptions. Paus, the starter, was pulled early in the third quarter for Isaiah Stanback after completing six of 22 passes. But after Stanback was equally horrid, back came Paus to mop up in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t know how to put it or what to say,” Paus said. “We can’t get a break at all. I know guys around here feel real bad. I feel just as bad or worse than a lot of them.”
* Once again, the offense contributed crucial points for the opponent. Shelton Sampson fumbled into Wilrey Fontenot’s hands. Fontenot’s feet carried him 33 yards for a touchdown that gave the Wildcats a 16-13 lead. The Huskies have enough problems scoring points for themselves. The last thing they need is charity points for the other team.
It ruined a solid defensive effort that forced three Wildcats fumbles.
“It’s like a one-two punch,” cornerback Derrick Johnson said. “We punch them and they punch us back.”
* Washington generated just 297 yards of offense, which was 46 more than Arizona’s total, but the Huskies couldn’t score a point in the second half. That was when Washington committed four turnovers on its eight possessions. The Huskies turned the ball over on downs on its last possession.
Washington lost the game on two third-quarter bumbles that led to 14 points. One was Fontenot’s fumble recovery; the other was on an interception of a Stanback pass by Kirk Johnson. The Wildcats turned the interception into a 13-yard TD run by Mike Bell that ultimately put the game out of reach, 23-13.
“Offensively, we’re stuck in neutral,” Gilbertson said.
The Wildcats scored nine quick points to start the game. Bell leaped into the end zone from a yard out two plays after Arizona caught the Huskies on a 50-yard flea-flicker gadget play. Kovalcheck handed off to Bell, who faked a run into the line and pitched the ball back to Kovalcheck. Kovalcheck threw a long pass to Syndric Steptoe, who took the ball to the UW 1-yard line.
After Arizona stopped the Huskies on their next possession, the Wildcats’ Copeland Bryan blocked a Sean Douglas punt out of the end zone for a safety, giving Arizona a 9-0 lead halfway into the first quarter.
The Huskies responded with a six-play, 62-yard drive punctuated by a 5-yard touchdown run by Sampson. On the drive, a roughing penalty by Arizona on a field-goal attempt gave the Huskies the ball on the Wildcats 5-yard line.
The big play was a screen pass to Sampson, which he broke for 57 yards to the Arizona 11.
Evan Knudson converted field goals of 42 and 34 yards to give Washington a 13-9 lead.
But that was all the points the Huskies could muster. The offense made the damaging turnovers that sealed the game for Arizona and left the Huskies with one more defeat to lament.
“It’s the offense’s job to do SOMETHING with the football,” Gilbertson said. “Offensively, we’re just banging our heads against a wall with everything we’ve tried and we’re getting nothing.”
He’s right. As has been the pattern all season, Arizona’s getting more out of the Husky offense than the Huskies are themselves.
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