Huskies' 51-38 loss to Nebraska sparks controversy in a cornfield

LINCOLN, Neb. – For three of four quarters Saturday, the Washington Huskies played even with the 11th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. And, at times, may have actually played better.

But a ghastly third quarter when everything seemed to go wrong left the Huskies wandering off the field at Memorial Stadium wondering what might have been in a 51-38 loss to the Cornhuskers.

“The reality of it is that we had a complete meltdown in the third quarter, where I think we lost our composure a bit and got rattled” UW coach Steve Sarkisian said.

Meltdown might be putting it nicely. Down 20-17 at halftime, the Huskies watched as that three-point deficit turned into a 17-point hole in the span of five minutes.

It started out with a mild bit of controversy. After going three-and-out on their first possession, the Huskies appeared to make a nice play on Kiel Rasp’s booming 52-yard punt. Desmond Trufant immediately tackled returner Tim Marlowe for no gain. However, referees said that Marlowe had made a fair-catch signal and Trufant was penalized for interference.

“I didn’t see the guy give a fair-catch signal,” Trufant said. “I was looking at him the whole way. I didn’t see it. I just did what I was supposed to do.”

Sarkisian also seemed mystified by the call.

“I felt like the guy caught the ball and we tackled him,” Sarkisian said. “I will have to get an explanation on it. I don’t quite understand that.”

The Huskies’ sideline erupted in disapproval, drawing another flag for delay of game. While it appeared that penalty was aimed at defensive coordinator Nick Holt, who was about 15 yards out on the field, Sarkisian said it was called on the whole team.

“We were all screaming,” he said.

Instead of Nebraska starting on its 24, the 20 yards of penalties gave the Huskers the ball on their 44. The Huskers used nine plays to reach the end zone for a 27-17 lead, capped by Rex Burkhead’s 1-yard scoring run. Burkhead also converted a big third-and-2 with a 15-yard run in which he broke three tackles, to keep the drive alive.

But on the ensuing kickoff, things fell completely apart.

With Jesse Callier on the sideline battling hamstring problems, Sarkisian inserted true freshman Bishop Sankey on the kickoff return squad with Kevin Smith. Sankey, who played in the first two games but never actually touched the football, took the kickoff near the goal line. The ball hit his arms and popped into the air. He tried to grab it, only to drop it on the 2. Smith, seeing what was going on, made a dive for the ball at the same time as Sankey, each keeping the other from recovering it. Instead, Mathew May pounced on the ball for Nebraska at the Huskies’ 1.

It was a game-changing, momentum-sapping miscue.

Burkhead plunged into the end zone on the next play, leaving the Huskies in a 34-17 hole, and a promising game was suddenly heading into rout territory.

“That really shifted the momentum their way,” UW running back Chris Polk said. “We come out and go three-and-out and they came out with their hair on fire.”

Down 17 points, the Huskies couldn’t answer the Nebraska scores the way they had against others this season. Washington followed the back-breaking sequence with another three-and-out, and Nebraska answered with a 29-yard field goal from Brett Maher to make it 37-17.

The Huskies had a chance to stop the hemorrhaging. They marched down the field into the red zone but failed to convert on a fourth-and-2 as quarterback Keith Price scrambled and was sacked.

“I’ve got to make that play there,” Price said.

In that all-important third quarter, Washington was outscored 17-0.

“That sequence of plays was really the difference of the ballgame,” Sarkisian said.

But it wasn’t just the mistakes of the third quarter that defined the Huskies’ loss. They sprinkled miscues and blown assignments throughout the game to ultimately seal their fate.

It started with the first play from scrimmage for Nebraska after Ameer Abdullah returned the opening kickoff 40 yards. With the ball at the Nebraska 47, quarterback Taylor Martinez faked an option run, dropped back and hit Kenny Beck, who had beaten Quinton Richardson by 5 yards on a post pattern, on a pass for a 50-yard gain down the Huskies’ 3.

On the next play, Martinez passed to Tyler Legate for a touchdown to put the Huskers ahead 7-0 in the first 34 seconds.

Huskies coaches warned the defense of that possibility all week.

“It still happens to be a veteran guy that knows better,” defensive coordinator Nick Holt said of Richardson. “We just didn’t get it done on the first play. They score on the next play, you’re down 7-0 and it starts tumbling from there.”

Another costly miscue came after Washington took a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter on Price’s 6-yard scoring pass to Jermaine Kearse, the second TD catch by Kearse. On the ensuing kickoff, Erik Folk booted the ball into the end zone for a touchback. However, Will Shamburger was flagged for being offside.

Forced to kick again from 5 yards farther back, Folk’s kick was fielded by Abdullah at the goal line and he returned it to the Washington 34.

Instead of starting at their own 20, the Huskers were 46 yards closer to Washington’s zone.

“A lot of self-inflicted wounds,” Sarkisian called them.

Still, Washington wouldn’t go away. The offense picked up in the fourth quarter. Chris Polk ran for a score, and Price hit James Johnson for touchdown passes of 10 and 52 yards. But an interception thrown by Price late in the game ended UW’s hopes.

The Huskies gave up 464 yards of total offense, including 309 yards rushing. They produced 420 total yards of their own, with Chris Polk running for 130 yards and Price throwing for 274 yards.

“Our kids battled and competed in the fourth quarter and made this thing very interesting,” Sarkisian said. “We’re a team that has spirit, which is a lot better than not (having it). We’re a team that knows how to compete. We just have to fix some things.”

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports