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Inside The Huskies

Opportunistic Huskies Steal One Late in Nebraska

The UW pulls this one out in the final 90 seconds before a sellout crowd in the Midwest.
Dan Raley|
Cornerback Emmanuel Karnley (3), with safety Rylon Dillard-Allen (4) beside him, each had a first-half interception at Nebraska.
Cornerback Emmanuel Karnley (3), with safety Rylon Dillard-Allen (4) beside him, each had a first-half interception at Nebraska. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Crime does pay in Nebraska.

Especially if you have pickpockets in Rylon Dillard-Allen, Manny Karnley and Alex McLaughlin stealing everything in sight from the locals, plus a guy appropriately named Lawson, as in Chris, you can get away with just about anything.

On Halloween night, the University of Washington football team used three interceptions, including one returned 48 yards for a touchdown by McLaughlin for the deciding points, and Lawson's late-game offensive heroics, to rally the UW to a 17-10 victory over the Cornhuskers before a stunned full-house crowd in Lincoln.

Add to that, Demond Williams Jr. taking over at quarterback again entering the fourth quarter and using his arm and feet to make this victory happen.

Trailing 7-3 with the game inside the final two minutes, Lawson first came up with a miracle, a falling 24-yard grab on the sideline on fourth down of a pass delivered by Williams as the QB got hit as he threw the ball to keep a last-ditch drive alive.

Two plays later, Lawson took a 25-yard swing pass from Williams up the sideline and dove into the end zone to put the UW ahead for the first time and for good at 10-7 with 1:30 remaining.

The Huskies (5-3 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) weren't done in shocking Nebraska (5-3, 2-3) either with this sudden turn of events.

On the first scrimmage snap immediately following Lawson's score, McLaughlin stole an Anthony Colandrea pass near midfield and raced untouched to the end zone for his third defensive score since coming to the UW.

"Our guys kept battling and battling," UW coach Jedd Fisch said.

For the longest time, it looked liked the Huskies' highlight moments on their second consecutive trip to the Midwest were going to be interceptions by Dillard-Allen and Karnley on each of the game's first two defensive series.

Offensively, the Huskies had nothing to show for the first three quarters. Early in the fourth period, they held up just 1 yard rushing. They finished with 267 yards of total offense, which was a 120 fewer than the Cornhuskers.

Williams led his team in rushing with 4 carries for 28 yards. He completed 7 of 13 passes for 99 yards and the Lawson score.

Huskies wide receiver Chris Lawson (8) catches a pass against Nebraska cornerback Andrew Marshall (7) for 29 yards.
Huskies wide receiver Chris Lawson (8) catches a pass against Nebraska cornerback Andrew Marshall (7) for 29 yards. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Entering the fourth quarter, Williams replaced Elijah Brown and returned to the quarterback controls after missing a game and a half with a rib fracture. While he provided runs of 17 and 19, he couldn't move the team within scoring range until he lobbed the do-or-die ball to Lawson.

Tightly covered, Lawson pulled in the pass while he was tumbling backward and he got a foot down, which a replay verified. He finished with 12 catches for 155 yards, both career highs.

Otherwise, the Huskies didn't have much to show for the first three quarters and was saved from a scoreless first 30 minutes only by Tyler Robles' season-best 50-yard field goal.

While the Huskers came out and moved the ball without much trouble to begin the game, things twice took a positive turn for the Huskies with the turnovers, with the first interception coming on the 10th play of the opening drive.

Huskies quarterback Elijah Brown (7) lets fly with a second-quarter pass at Nebraska.
Huskies quarterback Elijah Brown (7) lets fly with a second-quarter pass at Nebraska. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dillard-Allen stole an overthrown Colandrea pass at his 8, raised his left arm almost immediately as he ran upfield and returned the ball 20 yards. It was RDA's team-leading third interception and second in two games.

On the next series, Colandrea got careless on the second play, throwing one off his back foot that Karnley intercepted at his 30.

On the home team's third possession of the game, Nebraska finally kept the ball out of the Huskies' hands and drove a season-best 95 yards in 10 plays to score the only touchdown of the opening half.

Colandrea dropped one over the shoulder of McLaughlin in the end zone to tight end Carter Nelson for a 29-yard touchdown catch and just his second reception of the season. With 1:40 left in the first quarter, Nebraska was up 7-0.

On their last possession of the half, the Huskies moved from their 12-yard line for Robles' long field goal that sailed through the uprights 41 seconds before the break and it was 7-3 when everyone headed for the locker rooms.

That was it for the first 58 and a half minutes until the UW finally let it all hang at the end for a very satisfying victory.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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