PULLMAN — Washington’s Willie Griffin was on the verge of a spectacular game until, strangely, he was out of the game.
Griffin, a redshirt freshman who has played sparingly this season — he entered the game with just 13 carries — was forced into the starting role because Terrance Dailey has been slowed by a hip injury and Brandon Johnson missed two practices this week because of a death in the family.
And in the first half, Griffin made the most of his opportunity, rushing for 86 yards and a touchdown as the Huskies tried to pound the ball against one of the country’s worst run defenses. But after Griffin carried four times on Washington’s first possession of the second half, he came out of the game and didn’t play until overtime.
Griffin still had a good game, rushing for 112 yards on 26 carries, but those numbers likely would have been a lot bigger had he played more. Dailey instead took most of the second-half carries, and also ran well, gaining 89 yards on 20 carries. The Huskies finished with 224 rushing yards, their highest total of the year.
Washington coach Tyrone Willingham didn’t say much when asked about the decision to switch to Dailey, only that they wanted to get Dailey involved, and he pointed out that Dailey had a good game as well.
Griffin said he wasn’t given a reason for his limited second-half role, but that he wasn’t upset about it.
“No, not at all,” he said. “It’s a team thing. I believe in Terrance, I believe he could have led us to a victory.”
Griffin also said it wasn’t an issue he would take up with his coaches.
“That’s really not up me to ask them about the changes,” he said. “Again, you don’t want to make it personal, so I was satisfied with the decision they made. If I could have helped more, so be it, but what is done is done.”
While the loss was a brutal one for the Huskies, the game marked a breakout for Griffin, who started one other game this year but was benched after two early fumbles.
“It’s something that I’ve prepared myself for since the beginning of the season, and that was just the chance that I need to go out there and prove myself, but we couldn’t get the win that we wanted,” he said.
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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