Good, Bad and Ugly from the Huskies' Trip to the Desert
While Jimmy Lake's University of Washington football team improved to 3-4 overall with its fourth-quarter comeback at Arizona, the Huskies still haven't showed they can beat anyone halfway decent.
They pulled out a 21-16 win in the fourth quarter over a Wildcats team that's been winless for parts of three seasons now, and holds the nation's longest losing streak at 19, which is also a Pac-12 and school record.
Of the UW's three conquests, California and Arkansas State each are 1-5 heading into this weekend's games while Arizona now sits at 0-7. Collectively, these three teams own a miserable 2-17 ledger.
Replacing Eddie
How many players does it take to fill in for injured sophomore inside linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, the team's leading tackler entering the weekend? Let us count the guys. Redshirt freshman Daniel Heimuli drew the start. Second-year freshman Carson Bruener pulled significant snaps. Fellow second-year freshman Alphonzo Tuputala made his season debut following his spring injury. Second-year walk-on Ruperake Fuvai appeared in his second UW game, pulling Ulofoshio's special-teams duty, just as he did against Arkansas State when Edefuan was limited by injury.
What's My Line?
At one point in the fourth quarter, the Huskies put the following offensive line onto the field: Troy Fautanu and Matteo Mele at tackles, Luke Wattenberg at center and Ulumoo Ale and Henry Bainivalu at guards. That's change for three of the five spots since the second half of the Oregon State game as the UW continues to fill in holes or look for a combination that works.
Blocked Punt
On the game's first series, Race Porter's punt was swatted down by Arizona. Name another time that you've seen a team block an enemy punt on the game's initial drive? Somebody on the Wildcats side obviously spotted a serious flaw in Lake's punt unit formation because freshman Isaiah Taylor reached the ball without anyone touching him, setting up Arizona on the Husky 23. "Our shield blocked the wrong guy," Lake said.
12 Men on the Field
On Jamarye Joiner's 1-yard touchdown run that put Arizona up 10-0 in the second quarter, the UW's Bruener ran onto the field and nobody came off, giving the Huskies too many players on the field. The home team didn't need the penalty after scoring, but it still was a serious breakdown in communication. Arizona committed the same infraction late in the fourth quarter and it proved costly, getting marked off and enabling the Huskies to run a significant amount of time off the clock to help salt the game away.
Career Moment
Redshirt freshman running back Cameron Davis early in the fourth quarter took a handoff, pulled a nifty spin move on a defender and scored from 9 yards out for the Huskies. This was his first career touchdown. It seemed to atone for his recent miscues that had cut into his playing time, most notably a disastrous fumble at Oregon State two games ago.
Last-second Sin
Ten seconds remained and the game was still in question when UW edge rusher Bralen Trice drew a personal-foul penalty for throwing down Arizona quarterback Will Plummer, unnecessarily stopping the clock and extending play. If this was just a rare moment of emotion getting the better of Trice, it might be easier to digest, but this was his second such infraction this season.
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