Huskies rally for three second-half touchdowns to avoid upset at Arizona
Two seasons ago, during their most recent trip to the desert before this one, the Washington Huskies played a part in starting a streak that has followed Arizona since.
When they last visited Arizona Stadium, back on Oct. 12, 2019, the Huskies piled up their highest point total of the season against a Pac-12 team, running away from the Wildcats in the final two quarters for a 51-27 win.
And so began a long drought for Arizona that has now, after UW rallied late for a win here Friday night, reached 19 games. Though, for three quarters, it seemed sure that streak that started against the Huskies would also end against them.
In their first game in Tucson since that decisive October win two seasons ago, the Huskies trailed most of the way. Their offense stalled six times in the opening two quarters, usually without even reaching midfield, and they headed to the locker room scoreless and behind. Their defense against had trouble containing the run, allowing Arizona, which hadn’t put any points up since the third quarter of its UCLA game two weeks ago, to find the needed room to stay in front until the final frame.
They were on the way to heading back to Seattle with a third consecutive conference loss, until suddenly they weren’t. UW rallied for three second-half touchdowns, ended its recent spiral, and avoided an upset on the road by closing out a needed 21-16 win.
“This always seems like a chaotic place to play,” Huskies coach Jimmy Lake said. “Ever since I’ve been here, since 2014, every game has been a roller coaster. I don’t know what it is, but I’m glad our team fought back and came back with a victory.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to clean up. Run defense is very poor right now. Run fits and tackling. It’s unfortunate that we’ve played that bad in the last three weeks. And so we’ve got a lot of work to do in that department.
“But, on the bright side, those guys, we stepped up and got (two) turnovers and we did not turn the ball over, and that was the big thing we talked about in the bye week. So we won the turnover margin (2-0) and our offense came back after a very frosty first half and came back and scored some touchdowns in the second half.”
Scoreless through two quarters, the Huskies finally found the end zone on their first drive of the third quarter.
They forced a quick three-and-out from Arizona, threatening at that point to push its lead to three scores, Dylan Morris completed a pair of long passes to Jalen McMillan (29 yards) and Terrell Bynum (28) for, by far, UW’s longest plays of the game to that point. He then tossed a 16-yard pass to Bynum in the end zone, who toppled backward, but held on as an Arizona defender attempted to muscle the catch away.
“First half we were lacking energy, I would say, and it was hard,” Bynum said. “We were coming out pretty flat and we knew that if we got one that we would keep it rolling. So, we just needed one spark. We came out and we scored a touchdown and we knew we could keep it rolling.”
Suddenly it was a one-score game. But, Arizona fired back, churning up more than nine minutes of clock before extending the lead back to two possessions on Tyler Loop’s 35-yard field goal.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter, when the Huskies were trailing, 16-7, that the momentum fully shifted in their favor. A late turnover provided the needed swing. Arizona was driving again, and seemed certain to score after moving inside the UW 30, but a short toss by Will Plummer landed in the arms of UW defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa for his first career interception.
“That play by Tuli was a huge charge to the whole sideline — for the defense, the offense, for the whole team,” Lake said.
The Huskies scored on their next two drives to take their first lead of the game with 6:44 left.
It took only four plays on the ensuing drive for UW to start closing in. Morris found Bynum on a 51-yard completion — the Huskies’ longest play of the season — a play before Cameron Davis scampered into the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown and his first career score.
Another three-and-out by Arizona led to UW’s go-ahead score. Morris and Bynum again connected for a 51-yard completion that gave the Huskies a quick red zone opportunity, and Morris later found Rome Odunze for an 8-yard touchdown that gave the Huskies their final 21-16 advantage.
“What I saw was they were covering our receivers up really, really well and they were pressuring us and (Morris) didn’t have anywhere to throw the ball,” Lake said. “ … That’s where the adjustments in the second half were crucial.
“We were able to loosen up some coverage and get some guys sprung open, and Dylan did a nice job of getting the ball to our receivers.”
Morris finished 13-of-21 passing for 217 yards and two touchdowns, while Bynum tallied 143 yards and a score on five catches.
UW forced another three-and-out on Arizona’s next drive, and the Wildcats didn’t get the ball back until less than 30 seconds remained. Their final drive ended with a last-second throw downfield and an Asa Turner interception.
It all erased one of the more sluggish performances UW’s offense has had in the first half this season.
“Bad execution by us, and good execution by Arizona,” Lake said when asked about UW’s first half on offense. “We huddled up at halftime, there were some things that all of the coaches were discussing that they were doing, and we were able to change what we were doing in the second half and expose what they were doing. So, I give a lot of credit to our staff to be able to see that.
“And that’s where you saw a bunch of explosive plays going to our wide receivers. Then all the sudden we got them on their heels a little bit and the run game opened up and we got some points on the board finally.”
This was the second time this season the Huskies were shut out in the first half. The first was on the road in Ann Arbor, against a formidable Michigan team that still hasn’t lost six games in. This time, UW couldn’t put together a scoring drive against an Arizona team that was allowing its opponents 32 points per game entering the day.
For the Huskies, though, it was six drives and six punts. Their first seemed promising until it wasn’t. Morris opened the game with a first down on a quick 10-yard completion to Jalen McMillan. Kamari Pleasant and McGrew both rotated in and carried the ball. Giles Jackson picked up a first down on a fly sweep. But, UW stalled near midfield was Morris was dropped on third down for a 7-yard loss — the first of three times he was sacked in the half.
Morris spent the next series in the injury tent, and the Huskies sent five-star freshman Sam Huard into the game for his second series of the season, but Huard handed the ball off to McGrew five times, and his first and only true passing attempt — the first fell incomplete on a free play on a defensive offsides penalty — was a deep throw to McMillan down the sideline, which was nearly intercepted.
So, the Huskies punted again. Then again on the next drive, when Morris returned only to be sacked twice more. Then again on their fourth drive after a quick three-and-out and a third-down throw that fell behind McMillan. Then again on their fifth drive, after McGrew was stopped on third-and-short near midfield. Then one more time on their final drive of a miserable half, following two throws that landed well out ahead of Rome Odunze, and a Morris scramble stopped well short of the line to gain.
UW finished the half with 65 total yards of offense — 35 through the air on six completions and 30 on the ground on 20 rushing attempts for a meager 1.5 yards per carry — and only crossed midfield once, on that opening drive, the play before Arizona wrapped up Morris in the backfield for the first time.
Arizona, meanwhile, managed enough offense in those opening two quarters to take a 13-0 lead into the break. A blocked punt on UW’s opening drive set Arizona up deep inside Huskies territory, and Loop gave the Wildcats the early lead on a 34-yard field goal.
All-American outside linebacker Zion Tupuola-Fetui’s first sack of the season, and later a tackle for loss from nickelback Brendan Radley-Hiles were among the plays that helped the Huskies force three consecutive three-and-outs on each of Arizona’s next possessions, but UW couldn’t capitalize.
Arizona then pushed its lead to two scores midway through the second quarter on Jamarye Joiner’s 1-yard touchdown, and added further when Lucas Havrisik sent a 50-yard field goal through the uprights just before halftime.
Huskies safety Alex Cook was injured on a play late in the first quarter, and tended to by medical staff for several minutes before he was carted off the field. A UW spokesperson said Cook was responsive, had movement in his arms and legs, and was taken to a local hospital.
“He was taken to the hospital, he has movement in all of his extremities, he’s awake and they’re bringing him back from the hospital to the stadium here so he can get on the bus and go back to Seattle with us on the flight,” Lake added postgame. “So that’s all good news. Still some tests to be run. But, I think that’s the most positive news that we could receive with him being able to come back with us.”
The Huskies were without several impact players in Tucson, including starting left tackle Jaxson Kirkland — who hasn’t missed a game since 2019 — starting defensive tackle Sam Taimani, starting inside linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio — who led the team in tackles the first half of the season — starting safety Cameron Williams and tailback Richard Newton.
This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 10:48 PM.
