In Weird Times, Always Sure-Handed Roebuck Dropped 2 Passes

The UW receiver had a most unusual and trying game against Utah State.

Dezmen Roebuck is tackled after a catch against Utah State. | Dave Sizer phot

When things repeatedly go south for a college football team, when everyone begins to press because things are badly out of sync -- such as what is happening at the University of Washington these days -- it can affect even the best player like a debilitating strain of influenza shooting through the roster.

No one is exempt from this sort of football illness as Dezmen Roebuck demonstrated in the game against Utah State.

The second-year wide receiver catches everything that comes his way, conventionally, acrobatically, undeniably.

Except last Saturday when he dropped a pair of passes, including one at the 5-yard line with a touchdown staring him in the face.

It was like the stadium power went out without explanation. For a moment, everyone was left sitting in the dark.

After two games, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound pass-catcher from Marana, Arizona, has 14 catches for 100 yards. Team-leading numbers. Overly productive stats.

Yet if you spoke with him, he'd probably only want to agonize over the two that got away from him.

“Dez Roebuck has the best hands of any player I’ve ever been around other than T-Mac (Tetairoa McMillan), and they’re equal," UW coach Jedd Fisch said, referring to his former Arizona receiver now in the NFL. “I’ve never seen that happen. I think that was just a fluke."

Making matters slightly worse, both drops came in the fourth quarter with the less than offensively efficent Huskies trying to close out a close game.

Dezmen Roebuck has had a team-leading 7 catches in each of the first two UW games. | Dave Sizer photo

Early in the final period. the UW faced a third-and-goal possession from the Utah State 9 when a wide-open Roebuck slid out into the flat and simply dropped the ball. He immediately grabbed his helmet in agony with both hands.

Inside the final two minutes, the Huskies had the ball on first down at the opposing 43 trying to close things out and it happened again. The ball and his hands were not a good match. The team went 3-and-out and punted.

It felt almost like a highly proficient golfer suddenly suffering the yips.

Dezmen Roebuck tries to set up a tackler in the Spring Game. | Dave Sizer photo

While the Huskies survived the trying afternoon and won 16-14, Roebuck was somewhat inconsolable.

Fisch tried to hug his receiver following the game, but it was the last thing the receiver wanted at that moment.

"He really didn't want to hug me," the coach said. "He did hug me, but I could tell it was a forced hug. He was more disappointed in himself than anything I could have told him in terms of how many good things he does."

Yet to get this UW team straightened out, the Huskies will need Roebuck to return to top form and maybe then everyone else will follow.