Huskies Win Long Drive With Methodical, 92-yard Closing Series

The UW took its time in putting away the Beavers with a patient approach.

Kalen DeBoer promised offense when he took over as coach of the University of Washington football program — a high-scoring, passing-minded, always-in-a-hurry attack. 

So it was with some bemusement on Friday night when the Huskies took possession of the football perilously on their own 3-yard line with 4:33 left to play against Oregon State in a tie game and turned oh so methodical to win. 

They took their own sweet time in running all but eight seconds off the clock and put together a masterful 18-play, 92-yard drive to claim a 24-21 victory decided by Peyton Henry's 22-yard field goal.

It was like watching a surgeon across the street at the UW Medical Center carefully make a difficult incision, put everything in order and confidently step away.

The Beavers, who had every reason to win this football game but didn't, could only watch with great consternation as DeBoer's guys followed this ball-possession script without veering once from the plan and walk off with an at times frustrating but deeply satisfying outcome that night.

The most difficult part about this deliberate but climatic finish for the head man, himself, was to watch his Huskies move all the way to the OSU 2 and settle for a field goal. 

"It's really hard for me to not try to score a touchdown," DeBoer admitted afterward once he had quarterback Michael Penix Jr. finally drop to a knee to secure the best kicking angle for Henry. "That's the first time I've ever done that, where we intentionally center it to win a game. Never done that."

Yet DeBoer also is used to winning — guiding the Huskies to a 7-2 record so far and extending his career coaching mark at three schools to 86-11 — and he's shown himself willing to do whatever it takes to make this happen.

With his approach, he bored Oregon State to death.

"I felt like that's been the difference with the offense from the beginning, is I feel like we've executed at a higher level," DeBoer said. "We have the ability to have the explosives, but compared to most offenses that I've been part of I felt we have the players that just will continually grind and execute that play, and make the play, that's needed to extend the drive."

It all began when Beavers' punter Luke Loecher deftly sent a kick to the UW 1 only to have it bounce backward away from the goal line and downed on the 3.

Here's how the grand master plan unfolded from thereafter at a windy by dry Husky Stadium:

FIRST-AND-10 AT THE 3

Tailback Cam Davis took a handoff and powered for 2 yards. Davis caught a pass for 3 yards. Tight end Devin Culp ran a precise route over the middle and picked up the first down with an 8-yard catch.

Wide receiver Rome Odunze snagged a 7-yard pass. Davis snapped off a 15-yard run, nearly breaking it and giving the Beavers a jolt. for another first down.

Ja'Lynn Polk hauled in a 3-yard pass. Penix threw an incompletion. On third-and-7, the lefty connected with Polk for a 13-yard gainer over the middle and another first down, crossing midfield to the Beavers 46.

MIDFIELD MINDSET CHANGE

The Huskies now were in control of this late-game situation rather than playing cautiously to overcome their dire field position.

"We got close to midfield and we knew, 'Now we're the aggressors,' " DeBoer said. "There was a point we get out of our territory and this is in our court."

The officials called pass interference on Oregon State cornerback Kitan Oladapo, trying to defend against Jalen McMillan, and placed the ball first down at the Beavers 35.

Odunze hauled in a 10-yard pass for a first down at the 25. Penix threw one away. Davis made a 4-yard grab.

DAVIS ON THE DIVE

On perhaps the most crucial play of the drive, Davis ran in motion to the left on third-and-6, turned up field and made a high-degree-of-difficulty catch by diving for a 6-yarder over his left shoulder at the 15, just enough for the first down. A bare 1:08 remained on the clock.

"I was fortunate to make that catch," Davis conceded, knowing it was coming to him all along.

Penix ran for a yard and the Huskies used a timeout with 32 seconds left. Giles Jackson caught a ball for 12 yards, running and aggressively diving into a pile at the OSU 2. The Beavers called timeout with 24 seconds to go.

On first-and-goal, Penix threw incomplete on one intended for Davis on the left. He threw another incomplete meant for McMillan.

Now it was time for DeBoer to concede the touchdown and go for the win. He had Penix kneel down at the 5 in the middle of the field and called timeout with 12 seconds showing on the scoreboard.

HENRY DELIVERS

Henry, who had watched kicks get blown all over the place during pregame warm-ups, had a chip shot. He'd missed a kick similar to this at Oregon in 2018. Not this time. He treated it like an extra point as split the uprights with a slight curl. 

A kickoff and a Beavers scrimmage play later, full of hapless laterals, and the game was over.

DeBoer, with his aggressive offensive mindset, was still thinking about the touchdown well after Henry's left-footed field goal was signaled good.

"We were trying to score," the coach said. "You could see we had two good plays and just missed them."

The alternative worked just fine, too.

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