Scolding sparked Huskies

SEATTLE – Some players say it was typical Tyrone Willingham. Others say the Washington coach was a little more energized than normal.

Whatever the case, there seems little question that what Willingham said to his team at halftime of Saturday’s comeback victory over UCLA worked.

A lethargic Washington team turned things around in the second half, overcoming a 16-point deficit to win 29-19 and improve to 3-1.

“He really challenged us,” senior linebacker Scott White said. “A lot of guys were upset, a lot of guys knew that we were not playing good and we were only down 16-7. He really made that emphasis to us, that we were playing terrible – as bad as we had all year – and we were only down 16-7.

“He did a great job. That’s exactly what we needed at the time, a kick in the pants. It woke everyone up and told us we can’t go out and play around with these guys, we can really beat them if we go out and play.”

Willingham would not discuss much about his halftime speech. He reportedly asked his team if they were scared, but on Monday said it was “only a question,” and wouldn’t say what he meant by it. Willingham said the team just needed a jump start because they were “playing a little bit tentative.”

Offensive lineman Stanley Daniels said Willingham told the team the way they were playing was “embarrassing.”

“That’s what I remember most,” Daniels said. “He was yelling, but it wasn’t in anger. He was yelling out of disappointment. He was yelling to get us going, to get our blood boiling, to get us up for the second half. It was a different type of yelling. He did what he had to do, he did the right thing. It got us going.”

“He gave us a decision of if we were going to play or not,” added quarterback Isaiah Stanback. “We were there physically but we weren’t there mentally. We had a decision, are you going to play or are you going to sit here and get beat? We thought we might as well go out and play.”

White said he took Willingham’s question about whether they were scared not to mean if they were scared of UCLA, but instead scared to play how they were capable of.

“Are we scared to be great?” White said. “Are we scared to take what we want? It was a valid question. There was so much uncertainty amongst our team at the time. We had never been in the position we were in. It seemed like guys were feeling their way around.

“Once we figured it out that we were going to play our kind of football, that momentum got the ball rolling. Guys got emotional, got positive. Once we got that going, we weren’t going to be stopped.”

Douglas Player of the Week: Senior punter Sean Douglas was named the Pacific-10’s Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging 48.8 yards on five punts against UCLA. Douglas – the UW’s career leader in punting average (43.5) – leads the nation with a 48.8 average.

Injury update: There were no new injuries in the UCLA game, but Willingham said he doesn’t expect any players who missed the game to return for the Arizona game. The biggest names in that group are linebacker E.J. Savannah and tight end Robert Lewis. Willingham expects Savannah (broken thumb) to be out two weeks. Willingham said it’s “debatable” if cornerback Jordan Murchison (knee) is healthy enough to play.

What about Dashon? Senior cornerback Dashon Goldson (ankle sprain) played about 12 plays against UCLA and Willingham thinks he may be close to full health.

“We were very pleased with those 12 snaps, pleased with the way he moved around,” Willingham said. “Hopefully he’ll continue to get stronger. Maybe we’re at that point where he becomes healthy enough to really get more involved.”

Freshmen to sit: Willingham said he expects the remaining true freshmen on the roster to redshirt this season. The Huskies have played two freshmen this season, fullback Paul Homer and linebacker Donald Butler. Willingham said he doesn’t anticipate playing any other freshman “unless something drastically changes.”

USC game on TV: The Oct. 7 game at USC will be televised by Fox Sports Northwest. Kickoff is at 12:30 p.m.