McLaughlin Explains Why He Didn't Score Against WSU

The Husky safety was under marching orders if he came up with a late interception.

Alex McLaughlin holds up his Apple Cup interception. | Dave Sizer phot

Maybe with one more touchdown, the University of Washington football team wouldn't have heard so many complaints about their opening-day performance against Washington State in the Apple Cup that wasn't as convincing as expected.

With seven more points, it's possible the Huskies wouldn't have dropped two spots in the Associated Press poll either.

Well, that added score was there to be had last Sunday and in the hands of the UW's defensive scoring whiz Alex McLaughlin.

Yet after intercepting a Cougars pass with 1:47 remaining in the 24-10 victory, the always alert Husky safety took a couple of steps and then slid to the ground, with 36 fairly wide-open yards between him and the end zone.

"Yeah, I would have scored," McLaughlin said.

EVERYTHING'S COMING UP HUSKIES! 🐺 Alex McLaughlin comes away with the interception to secure the win!

📺: Washington State at #17 Washington on NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/vRpcukW10a

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 6, 2026

The Husky defensive leader passed up a third touchdown for him over 14 UW games. All along, it was by design.

"It definitely crossed my mind to take it back, " he said of streaking to the end zone. "But we said before we got out there, if we got an interception we were going to go down. So I knew when I caught it, I was going to go down."

Had he scored, McLaughlin would have been the Huskies' first defensive player with three touchdowns or more in his career since linebacker Shaq Thompson had five scores in 2013-15, with three coming on fumble recoveries all in 2014.

Yet the UW and its veteran safety went with the safe play with so little time left, so there was no chance of a fumble on the runback. Plus it might have been the sportsmanlike thing to do, which is not rub it in with a late touchdown in a 14-point game.

Either way, McLaughlin remains stuck on two defensive scores, having victimized Washington State a year ago with a 47-yard pick-six in Pullman and near the end of the season picking up a UCLA fumble and going 59 yards to the end zone in Los Angeles.

In his college career counting Northern Arizona, he has 9 interceptions, with three of them coming at the UW.

Alex McLaughlin had a interception against WSU again, but turned down another touchdown. | Dave Sizer photo

In Sunday's situation, McLaughlin came up with the football at the WSU 40 after it deflected off the hands of running back Kirby Vorhees as he got hit over the middle by UW linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale.

The Husky defensive back ran four yards with the ball and then slid into home plate.

Yet the opportunist in McLaughlin still emerged some as he bounced to his feet and started running to the end zone before stopping at the 10, with his arms outstretched, and permitting his teammates to catch up to him and share in the moment.