Seattle – For much of Saturday, Desmond Trufant was locked in a losing battle with lanky Eastern Washington receiver Brendan Kaufman. Kaufman, at 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, outleaped and outmuscled the smaller Trufant throughout the day.
But when the Huskies needed it most, Trufant got a little bit of redemption.
The Wilson High grad saved the Huskies and saved a little face for a tortured secondary, intercepting Bo Levi Mitchell’s pass intended for Kaufman in the end zone with less than a minute remaining to secure Washington’s 30-27 escape from the Eastern Washington Eagles.
“We knew they were going to take a shot,” Trufant said. “The ball just came my way and I went up to go get it. He beat me sometimes and I won sometimes, it was back and forth. It was a good battle. It was a good test. … Sometimes you bend as a corner, but you try not to break.”
Trufant could have easily been talking about the game as a whole for the Huskies.
Washington bent and bent and bent, but somehow never quite broke to find a way to start the season 1-0 for the first time in head coach Steve Sarkisian’s tenure.
But they very easily could have been 0-1.
Most teams that start the season 1-0 don’t give up 473 yards passing, especially to a team from a division below them.
Of course, the Eagles aren’t just any team from the Football Championship Subdivision. They are the defending national champions and came in the No. 1- ranked team in the FCS.
“We beat a pretty good football team,” Sarkisian said. “We knew that coming in and they were extremely scary. I thought these guys are really good.”
And yet?
“We can’t be satisfied with this,” said junior running back Chris Polk. “It’s only going to get harder. We haven’t even started (conference play) yet. We still have to play Nebraska. It’s going to get way harder.”
Mitchell and his cadre of tall, physical receivers abused the Huskies secondary for much of the day. The senior quarterback set career highs in completions (39), attempts (69) and yards (473).
“I knew we would put up numbers, but I didn’t know we would put up career numbers like that,” Mitchell said. “But the most important thing is we didn’t put the number 31 to win.”
Kaufman had a career high in catches (10) and receiving yards (140) as did Foss grad Nicholas Edward, who had 12 catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.
“They passed on us a crazy number,” Sarkisian said.
The Huskies expected plenty of passes and worked extensively on their coverage units – particularly their nickel and dime packages - for the past two weeks.
“The issues was third downs, the quarterback scrambling and us not doing our part,” defensive coordinator Nick Holt said. “I think we were tentative and not really dropping to where we need to drop. I think its something we can clean up as coaches.”
They will need to, because they are going to face the same type of attack next week against Hawaii.
“This was a good test,” Trufant said.
It was a test the Huskies barely passed.
Polk, who wasn’t supposed to be ready to play after knee surgery two weeks and two days ago, came back and rushed for 128 yards on 23 carries.
“Being that I was out for two weeks, I really couldn’t get back in tune,” he said. “I need to get my timing back and work on my cuts. It will come with practice.”
The Huskies needed every one of his yards.
The first three EWU turnovers led to points for the Huskies.
Eastern came up with a stop on Washington’s first drive of the game, forcing a fourth down punt. However, returner Matt Johnson fumbled the return with the help of Trufant’s strip and Gregory Ducre picked up. Washington scored three plays later as quarterback Keith Price hit fullback Jonathan Amosa on a play action pass for a 7-yard touchdown.
Eastern answered the miscue immediately as Mitchell scrambled and found a wide open Ashton Clark on a blown coverage by the Huskies for a 35-yard touchdown on fourth down and 12.
“When he would scramble out of the pocket, we had guys in coverage that were going to run and tackle the quarterback and leave their men free,” Sarkisian said.
Eastern took a 10-7 lead on a Mike Jarrett 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter.
Washington scored 13 unanswered points in the second quarter. Price hit James Johnson for a 9-yard touchdown, and Erik Folk followed with a 53-yard field goal. A Mitchell interception to Garrett Gilliland set up a 47-yard field goal from Folk.
But the Eagles wouldn’t go away. Mitchell guided them down the field with less than a minute and half before halftime and Jarrett booted a 28-yard field goal as time expired.
Washington looked like it might put the Eagles away in the third, when Rasp’s punt bounced off the head of Eastern’s Darrielle Beaumonte and Anthony Gobern recovered to give the Huskies the ball. Four plays later, Price hit freshman Kasen Williams for a 6-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 27-13.
But the blowout never materialized. Mitchell coldly led the Eagles to an answer, hitting Greg Herd with a 43-yard touchdown pass on third down and 26, moments after Herd had been flagged for offensive pass interference on an apparent touchdown pass.
Washington’s offense, which Sarkisian labeled “spotty” and was hampered by the loss of Jermaine Kearse to a sprained ankle and a minor knee sprain that slowed Price, managed a 40-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter to go up 30-20.
With 6:11 remaining, Mitchell led the Eagles on a 12-play, 49 yard drive where he hit Nick Edwards on a 5-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 30-27. The Eagles got the ball back and had a chance to win the game until Trufant’s interception.
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports/
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