SEATTLE — While most of Washington’s players apparently didn’t want to relive last week’s Apple Cup loss — almost every player requested for interviews Tuesday declined to show up — safety Tripper Johnson, a player who took a lot of heat for the loss, was available to discuss his role in one of the game’s biggest plays.
Johnson was on the field for the fateful fourth-quarter play when Kevin Lopina connected with Jared Karstetter for a 48-yard pass that set up the game-tying field goal.
Johnson tried to make a play after Karstetter got past cornerback Quinton Richardson, but misplayed the ball and watched it sail over his head and into Karstetter’s hands.
“I thought I was there, I thought I made the right read and I came up short on the read,” Johnson said. “It’s pretty disappointing, I’m pretty disappointed in myself. I feel partly responsible for that loss.”
Johnson, the only player aside from a few redshirting freshmen that talked to the media Tuesday, added “I’ve been sick to my stomach ever since.”
Johnson, a 26-year old walk-on who played eight years of minor league baseball before enrolling at Washington last spring, thought he was in position to intercept the pass.
“At first I thought I was going to have an easy interception,” he said. “When I broke on the ball I thought I was going to pick it off, and running over there I just remember the ball kept sailing and sailing and just got over my head. It’s frustrating, I’m embarrassed and frustrated and disappointed that that happened.”
Johnson said the Huskies were in quarters coverage, meaning each defensive back was responsible for a quarter of the field. The ball was thrown to Richardson’s side of the field, “But it is my responsibility to help out,” Johnson said. “As a safety you’ve got to be able to help out in that situation and I didn’t do it.”
Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell reiterated Tuesday what he said after the game — that it was just a case of a big play happening at an inopportune time.
“It just comes down to, we had a big situation in the game, it was a drive to close the game and we didn’t get that done,” he said. “We didn’t execute like we wanted to and the biggest thing is to learn from that and do it better the next time.”
In addition to talking about the Apple Cup, Johnson spoke briefly about the attitude of the team.
“The one thing I’ve noticed just being around sports my whole life is that I’ve been around teams where we have a winning attitude and a losing attitude, and it seems like now we kind of expect to lose,” he said. “I’ve been on teams like that in the minor leagues … and we just had the attitude that we expected to lose and we’d have to play perfect to win a game. I just feel like kind of right now if something bad happens, it just kind of waterfalls. Just to be able to believe that we can win is the main step.”
Another year for Tui?
Senior linebacker Trenton Tuiasosopo might be back next season even though he is currently on the roster as a fifth-year senior. Tuiasosopo, a Mariner High School graduate, missed almost all of his freshman year with a knee injury, then sat out the next year after suffering a head injury in a March 2005 bike accident. UW defensive coordinator Ed Donatell mentioned Tuesday that Tuiasosopo is seeking a sixth year.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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