No. 15 Washington pulls away late to beat Colorado

SEATTLE — After misfiring on a key third-down pass, Jake Browning showed the resolve of a fourth-year starter.

Clinging to a four-point lead with less than four minutes remaining, Washington kept its offense on the field for a pivotal fourth-and-5 play. Colorado brought heavy pressure, but the Huskies’ senior quarterback didn’t flinch.

Browning connected with Aaron Fuller on a slant route for a 26-yard touchdown pass as 15th-ranked Washington pulled away for a 27-13 win over Colorado on Saturday afternoon in front of 68,798 fans at Husky Stadium.

“I just held onto the ball long enough for Aaron to get open, gave him a strike-point ball and he was able to get in,” Browning said. “That was huge.”

On the previous play, Browning missed a wide-open Ty Jones for what likely would’ve been a key third-down conversion. But Washington’s all-time leading passer shook off the mistake and delivered a strike to Fuller, who sprinted into the end zone for a 24-13 lead with 3:50 to play.

“We just had the right play called,” Fuller said. “Once I saw the coverage, I knew I had to give it my best release, since I was the first read on the play.”

Several minutes earlier, Browning converted a third-and-8 with a 12-yard scramble to extend the pivotal 12-play, 84-yard touchdown drive, which chewed nearly six minutes off the clock.

The lengthy touchdown march helped Washington (6-2 overall, 4-1 Pac-12) rebound from last week’s heartbreaking loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium, where the Huskies missed a potential game-winning field goal on the final play of regulation and saw their College Football Playoff hopes essentially disintegrate in a 30-27 overtime defeat.

“We moved on from the Oregon game,” Browning said. “Going into this game, I had five games left in my whole entire career here. I’m not going to let one loss in a rivalry game affect the future. It definitely hurt, but I’m excited to get this win. Regardless of if we win or lost last week, we are on to the next game.”

Washington’s defense compiled another shutdown performance, limiting Colorado to a season-low 263 total yards. It was the fifth time this year the Huskies have held an opponent to less than 300 yards of total offense.

Washington shut out the Buffaloes (5-2, 2-2) in the second half, yielding just 91 total yards after the break.

“Proud of the guys for grinding that one out,” Huskies coach Chris Petersen said. “We made it a little bit harder on ourselves sometimes than we needed. … But at the end of the day, we grinded it out in the fourth quarter against a really good team.”

IMPACT

With the victory, Washington stayed in the thick of the Pac-12 North race. The Huskies are one of three teams — along with Stanford and Washington State — atop the North division standings with one loss apiece in Pac-12 play.

And with both the Cardinal and Cougars still remaining on Washington’s schedule, the Huskies control their own destiny.

BOTH TEAMS MISSING STARS

Washington standout senior running back Myles Gaskin, a Lynnwood native, was sidelined with a shoulder injury. It was the first missed game of Gaskin’s career, ending a streak of 47 consecutive games played.

Without their leading rusher, the Huskies turned to the sophomore trio of Salvon Ahmed, Kamari Pleasant and Sean McGrew. Washington totaled a season-high 201 yards on the ground, led by Ahmed’s 73 yards and a touchdown.

“Some other guys got in there (and) ran the ball really well,” Petersen said. “The line blocked really solid. … It’s always hard when you lose your best player, but we have confidence in those other guys.”

Colorado was missing one of the nation’s top receivers in Laviska Shenault Jr., who was out with a toe injury. The star sophomore entered the game ranked third in the nation with 780 receiving yards.

HIGHLIGHTS

Colorado struck first on its opening possession, scoring on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Steven Montez to former Jackson High School standout Daniel Arias. It was the first career reception for the 6-foot-4 true freshman receiver, who raced down the left sideline on a fade route and hauled in the pass for an early 7-0 lead.

Midway through the first half, Washington marched downfield on an 84-yard scoring drive that was extended by a fourth-down pass-interference call in the end zone. On the ensuing play, Ahmed burst around the right side on a toss sweep for a game-tying 7-yard touchdown run.

Then after Colorado hit a field goal for a three-point lead, the Huskies responded with a 75-yard scoring drive that Pleasant kept alive with a 2-yard gain on fourth-and-1. Pleasant capped the drive three plays later, sprinting through a gaping hole up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown to give Washington a 14-10 second-quarter advantage.

The Huskies finished 2-for-2 on fourth downs, with both conversions leading to touchdowns.

“We’re not afraid to go for it,” Browning said. “I don’t really think too much about it. If (the coaches) say we’re running the play, then we’re running the play, and (we) just make it work.”

Late in the first half, Colorado defensive back Nick Fisher intercepted Browning and returned the ball 30 yards to the Washington 9. But the Huskies’ defense held strong, limiting the Buffaloes to a field goal that chipped Washington’s lead to 14-13.

In the second half, the Huskies drove inside the Colorado 10 on back-to-back possessions, but came away with just three points.

The first of the two red-zone trips resulted in a 31-yard field goal by Peyton Henry, pushing Washington’s lead to 17-13. The second drive ended on a turnover, with receiver Chico McClatcher taking a screen pass to the 1-yard line before fumbling out of the end zone for a touchback.

The Buffaloes drove into Washington territory on their ensuing possession, but the Huskies forced a punt. Washington then marched downfield and scored on Browning’s fourth-down touchdown pass to make it an 11-point game.

TOP PERFORMERS

Fuller led Washington with five catches for 63 yards, including the pivotal fourth-quarter touchdown catch that helped seal the victory. The junior receiver also made a spectacular one-handed grab late in the first quarter, reaching behind him with his right hand for an 11-yard reception over the middle.

Washington linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven delivered another massive performance, intercepting a pass and posting 15 tackles to bring his season total to 108. Midway through the third quarter, the standout senior teamed with Greg Gaines to stuff Colorado running back Travon McMillian on fourth-and-1 to force a turnover on downs.

Burr-Kirven is the first Washington player to reach 100 tackles in a season since John Timu in 2012.

LOOKAHEAD

Washington travels to face California (4-3, 1-3) next Saturday in Berkeley. The Golden Bears routed last-place Oregon State 49-7 on Saturday for their first conference win.