Three games and three defeats into their season, the Washington Huskies believe they saw their toughest opponent Saturday.
After suffering a 55-14 pounding at the hands of the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners at Husky Stadium, several UW players and coaches implied they may not see a better team this season because there may not be any.
“They deserve to be the No. 1 team in the nation,” safety Johri Fogerson said.
Fogerson is one of four true freshmen who made their first college starts on Saturday. However, coach Tyrone Willingham has been around considerably longer, and he didn’t disagree.
“That’s one of the best football teams I think we’ve played since I’ve been here,” Willingham said. “They were good in every phase of the game – running it, throwing it, defending it. That is as all-round strong a football team as I think I’ve seen.”
And they jumped on the Huskies instantly, holding UW to a three-and-out before rolling out their own eight-play, 51-yard touchdown drive.
The margin climbed to 13-0 by the end of the first quarter, 34-0 at halftime, and 48-7 by the end of the third quarter. The final spread was the largest in Willingham’s time at Washington.
And while the first half ended with boos, the game ended without enough folks remaining from the crowd of 67,716 to make much noise one way or the other.
“I didn’t give them anything to get excited about, and that’s the honest truth,” Willingham said. “That is a fact. But I do believe that this football team has faced one of the most difficult stretches that any team has had so far this season. And I do think we are a better football team. And now we’ve got to build on it as we get this next portion of this football season started.”
After opening with losses against No. 21 Oregon, No. 15 Brigham Young and No. 3 Oklahoma (3-0), the Huskies head into a bye week before starting a four-game stretch against unranked Stanford, Arizona, Oregon State and Notre Dame.
Washington hopes they will prove more manageable than Oklahoma, which had 591 yards of total offense, completed 19 of 24 passes and scored the second-highest point total since Willingham arrived in 2005.
Two Sooner tailbacks – Chris Brown and Demarco Murray – rushed for 107 and 100 yards respectively. Sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford completed 18 of 21 passes for 204 yards and five touchdowns.
“I wish we could have tackled those guys better – that disappoints me,” defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said. “But we have to look at this other team. I think this is going to be a rare team. This team is very deserving of their rating. I really don’t see a weakness.”
And when Oklahoma wasn’t making things tough on Washington, the Huskies made things tough on themselves.
Center Juan Garcia was off target on a dozen or more shotgun snaps, kickers missed field goals of 47, 28 and 48 yards, and after turning the ball over only once in its first two games, the Huskies lost three fumbles in the first half Saturday, and Oklahoma converted all three into touchdowns.
“It’s always on us, any time you lay the ball on the ground,” offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. “But I’m going to give (Oklahoma) some credit, too. When they hit you, you go down. There were some jarring tackles a little more forceful than what we’ve seen the last couple of weeks.”
The Huskies hung onto the ball in the second half and had some success. They got on the scoreboard with a 15-play, 83-yard drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown run by Jake Locker. Their other touchdown came on 38-yard pass from Ronnie Fouch that deflected into the hands of Brandon Yakaboski in the end zone.
It was the kind of combination of talent and luck that they hope will blend more often when they return to action Sept. 27.
“We didn’t come through (the tough start of the schedule) the way I hoped we’d come through it,” Willingham said. “… I think it’s a good time for us to have time off. It gives us a little extra time to prepare for our next opponent. It gives us a chance to hopefully mend and get healthy. And hopefully we can do all those things and position ourselves to really kick-start into the Pac-10.”
Don Ruiz: 253-597-8808
blogs.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
Game in review
Player of the game
Oklahoma sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford completed 18 of 21 passes for 304 yards and five touchdowns, including a 77-yarder. He also recorded his first career rushing touchdown.
Huskies of the game
On offense, D’Andre Goodwin had a game-high nine receptions for 82 yards. He has been UW’s receptions leader in all three games this season.
On defense, safety Johri Fogerson had a game-high nine solo tackles in his debut.
Turning point
There was none. Washington went three-and-out on its first possession. Oklahoma took over and marched 51 yards on its first possession for a 7-0 lead. The lead would grow to 41-0 before UW got on the scoreboard deep in the third quarter.
Key stats
Washington, which had committed only one turnover in the first two games, lost three fumbles Saturday. Oklahoma converted all three into touchdowns.
How bad was it?
The margin of defeat does not rank among Washington’s top 10. However it is the most one-sided loss of Tyrone Willingham’s time as UW coach. … Oklahoma’s 55 points were the most by a UW opponent since Oregon’s 55-34 win last season. The most points of the Willingham era were scored on Sept. 9, 2005 in his second game at UW: a 56-17 loss to California.
Kicking troubles continue
The Huskies lost to Brigham Young last week when Ryan Perkins’ 35-yard point-after-touchdown attempt to tie was blocked. The team’s placekicking troubles continued this week with Jared Ballman missing 48- and 47-yard attempts, while Perkins was wide right from 28 yards.
Injury report
“I think we came out of this game reasonably healthy,” Willingham said. “We saw a few guys come out, but they all went back in. I think the only one that did not go back in was Quinton Richardson (knee bruise), and I think he was OK.”
Also, UW tight end Michael Gottlieb played for the first time since a hamstring injury in fall camp.
Oklahoma quote
“I’m just really overall pleased with the way our players executed and played, and with the attitude they came into the game with. I felt really confident in the way they practiced all week, the way they got on the plane, the way they came into the stadium. I really felt like they had something to prove.” – Coach Bob Stoops, who recorded his 100th career win.
Extra points
Oklahoma is now 2-1 all-time vs. Washington. … The Sooners topped 50 points for the third straight game. … UW’s first touchdown came on a 15-play, 83-yard drive – the longest of the season in terms of yards and time: 7:56. … QB Jake Locker led UW in rushing for the third time with season, this time with 44 yards on 12 carries. … Four more true freshmen made their first career starts for Washington: Fogerson, tailback David Freeman and receivers Devin Aguilar and Jermaine Kearse. That brings the number of true freshman starters this season to seven. … Three redshirt freshmen also made their UW debuts: linebacker Cort Dennison, defensive tackle Nick Wood and tailback Brandon Yakaboski. … Yakaboski and walk-on receiver Tony Chidiac each had their first career receptions, and Yakaboski’s also marked his first touchdown. … UW game captains were Mesphin Forrester, Luke Kravitz, Jake Locker and Daniel Te’o-Nesheim.
Next
The Huskies are off this week. They return to action at 7 p.m. Sept. 27 vs. Stanford at Husky Stadium.
Don Ruiz, The News Tribune
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.