The Washington Huskies rallied from a 21-point deficit to stun the Utah Utes, 24-21.
Washington Head Coach Jimmy Lake told his team that Utah threw their punches in the first half.
“We need to start throwing some punches,” Lake told his team at halftime.
And throw some punches the Huskies did.
After 30 minutes of play Washington trailed 21-0 heading to the locker room. The Huskies had managed just six first downs to Utah’s 12. The Utes out-gained the Huskies 221-127 yards to that point.
But the Huskies looked like a new team coming out for the second half.
“There was never a flinch in confidence,” sophomore Zion Tupuola-Fetui said about when the Huskies found themselves in a huge deficit. Tupuola-Fetui had a big night – finishing with six tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Washington went on a 6-play, 72-yard drive that was capped off by a 2-yard Kamari Pleasant touchdown to start the second half.
On Utah’s first drive of the second half QB Jake Bentley was intercepted by Elijah Molden which led to a UW field goal.
In what could have been the play of the game, the Huskies stuffed Jake Bentley QB sneak on 4th down and one yard from UW’s 42-yard line. The Huskies would turn the big stop into a 3-play, 58-yard drive that ended with a Dylan Morris to Cade Otton 21-yard touchdown. The Huskies would trail 21-17 heading to the fourth quarter.
After a defensive battle for much of the fourth quarter the Huskies trailed 21-17 with 4:31 remaining. After a Utah punt after back-to-back sacks by Zion Tupuola-Fetui, the Huskies had the ball at their own 11-yard line needing a TD.
Although red-shirt freshman QB Dylan Morris had a rough night throwing three interceptions, Morris saved his best play when it mattered. Morris led the Huskies on a 12-play 88-yard drive that was highlighted by the game winning 16-yard pass to tight end Cade Otton with 36 seconds remaining.
The game would finally be sealed when sophomore defensive back Trent McDuffie intercepted Jake Bentley’s pass with six seconds remaining.
Key Stats
* Huskies won the turnover battle 4-3
* UW had 3 sacks to Utah’s 0
* Utah rushing yards: 215 UW: 88
* Cade Otton led the Huskies with eight receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns
Next Up
The Huskies are set to host Stanford next Saturday on senior night. Covid issues of course always make these games pending. So stay tuned.
