The Husky Penalty That Killed A Comeback

In a season full of bad decisions, the University of Washington football team gave new meaning to the term "12th man."

After gamely rushing back from a 28-6 halftime deficit to get within three points against Penn State, the Huskies found themselves in a third-and-5 situation at their 17-yard line with the game clock inside the final four minutes.

Coming out of a timeout, the Nittany Lions shoved the ball into the midsection of Carson Hansen, who ran into the line for 3 yards, shy of a first down.

UW safety Rylon Dillard-Allen, credited with the tackle, began girating and stomping his foot. He stopped celebrating when he and everyone else in a purple shirt realized a yellow flag had been thrown on them.

The Huskies were guilty of having too many bodies on the field -- a 12th man -- one more than the allowable amount.

It was first down Penn State at the UW 12 with 3:51 left to play. The penalty enabled the Nittany Lions next to run out the clock and secure a 28-25 victory.

'That can't happen coming out of a timeout," UW coach Jedd Fisch lamented at his Monday media briefing. "That's on us. That's not on any players."

Well, there was one player out there who shouldn't have been.

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While it's unclear who was on the field without permission, the Huskies lined up with eight players on the front line, beginning with cornerback Dylan Robinson to the left in press coverage on a receiver, and four standing behind them.

The rest of the guys up front, moving left to right, were safety Alex McLaughlin, edge rusher Jacob Lane, defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa, defensive tackle DeSean Watts, defensive tackle Elinneus Davis, edge rusher Isaiah Ward and linebacker X'ree Alexander.

Behind them were linebackers Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, Buddah Al-Uqdah and Donovan Robinson, plus Dillard-Allen at safety.

Broken down, the Huskies had three defensive tackles and four linebackers out there when the ball was snapped.

Chase Sowell and Penn State had the last laugh on Rahshawn Clark and the UW who had too many men on the field at the end. — Chase Sowell and Penn State had the last laugh on the Huskies who had too many men on the field at the end. | Dave Sizer

Interesting enough, the official who spotted the infraction stood near an end-zone pylon and was on to the infraction from the beginning. As the teams were coming out of the timeout, a woman on the field handing out Gatorade bottles approached the ref who waved her off without looking at her. He was too busy counting.

Had he let his thirst get in the way, the guy in the striped shirt might not have spotted the penalty initially, though someone would have.

Either way, the flag was highly damaging to the UW comeback attempt and yet another indication this season (5-4 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) just hasn't been always about the details for the Huskies.

"Very, very disappointed, " Fisch said. "Yet after that happened, we still have to get a stop. ... We had the opportunity to get the ball back with two minutes left and we didn't get it done."

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