Huskies lose again: 'It's shocking'

Freshman wide receiver Puka Nacua was one of the last Washington football players to leave the field on Saturday.

He wore a gray boot. He was coming off surgery this week for a broken left foot, out for the season. He had to build up considerable momentum just to get his scooter up the tunnel.

Compared to his teammates, Nacua got off relatively easy. They let another game slip away late, losing to the ninth-ranked Utah Utes 33-28 at Husky Stadium on an otherwise perfect day to play college football. Their season is badly broken.

It brought things around Montlake to a harsher reality—these guys in the purple jerseys simply aren’t that good this year. They lost for the third time in four games. They suffered their fourth defeat of the season, their third at home.

“It’s shocking,” sophomore linebacker Joe Tryon said.

Same as they did against Cal and Oregon, the Huskies (5-4 overall, 2-4 Pac-12) couldn’t finish. They entered the fourth quarter leading 21-19 and then imploded against the Utes (8-1, 5-1).

Jacob Eason, while tying a season high with four touchdown passes, gave one right back with a pick-six to Utah’s Jaylon Johnson, who scored from 39 yards out late in the third quarter. It might have been his worst play of the season.

“That one’s on me,” the junior from Lake Stevens said.

Eason earlier made another similar and numbing mistake, this one preventing his team from scoring. To open the second half, Eason led the Huskies on an impressive drive only to throw the ball into triple coverage at the Utah 8. Utes free safety Julian Blackmon came out of the crowd with it.

On the defensive side, Washington played exceedingly well for a quarter and half, sacking Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley three times. Then these Huskies wore down and were more than generous.

In particular, young UW defensive backs got beat on three crucial third downs in the fourth quarter. A different guy was responsible each time. It was painful to watch.

At the beginning of the quarter, on a third-and-13 situation, Huskies reserve Dominique Hampton gave up a 41-yard pass to Utah’s Jaylen Dixon that was carried to the UW 24.

Two plays and a penalty later, Huntley scored on a 1-yard run to put Utah ahead for good at 26-21.

On Utah’s next series, on third-and-eight, Huntley beat UW starting cornerback Trent McDuffie with a 14-yard pass to Solomon Enis to the Husky 47.

Three plays later, on third-and-six, Huntley hit Samson Nacua, Puka’s brother, on a 28-yard completion over starting cornerback Elijah Molden to the UW 15. An unsportsmanlike penalty on the Huskies put the ball on the 7.

Three plays later, Utah picked up the game’s deciding points. Running back Zack Moss bounced into the end zone from 2 yards out, giving the Utes an insurmountable 33-21 lead with 5:22 left. Moss finished with a game-high 100 yards rushing, though on 27 carries.

“We didn’t do a good job on third down,” said Tryon, who picked up two sacks. “It is what it is.”

The Huskies were left to ponder how a once promising season, which included a convincing victory over USC, has come apart.

“We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves,” UW coach Chris Petersen said. “We’re going to keep working. We all know that losing is tough. We all get that.”

Eason attempted a season-high 52 passes—16 more than his next-best total—largely because the Huskies went into catch-up mode in the fourth quarter. He completed a season-best 29.

He threw a pair of long TD passes to junior tight end Hunter Bryant, covering 40 and 34 yards.

He completed seven throws to sophomore wide receiver Terrell Bynum, who was making his first start of his career—in place of the Huskies’ Nacua—and led his team in catches.

But those were small victories during another team letdown. The Huskies are left with road games at Oregon State and Colorado, and the Apple Cup at home against Washington State to prevent a total meltdown.

After consecutive seasons of 12-2, 10-3 and 10-4, the UW, even with a possible bowl game, can’t reach double-digit victories and keep that streak of success going. More than ever, the Huskies are playing for pride now.

“We’re just trying to get better, man,” Tryon said.