If you watched the first half of the Huskies versus Arizona game in Tucson, you would have thought that the Huskies were still suffering from P.S.D. following the Stanford loss last weekend, but once the third quarter started, there was no question that they were so over it.
Jacob Eason finished the night with 243 passing yards and Sean McGrew recorded 106 yards rushing to help the Huskies overcome that terrible first half, and beat the Wildcats 51-27.
“We had a good meeting in the locker room at halftime”, Eason said following the game, adding that there was a “lot of talk” and the team “checked themselves”.
“I’m super proud of the guys…the way they battled back”, he said.
The Huskies first two scores came on field goals (Peyton Henry is still perfect for the season), and red-zone issues kept the offense out of the end-zone, with the only actual first-half touchdown coming from the defense.
The Husky defense was stout the entire game but the offense struggled repeatedly.
Arizona finally got uncorked and scored halfway through the second quarter and again with just over a minute left in the half to give them a halftime lead of 17-13 over Washington.
The last time Washington overcame a halftime deficit to win was against USC in 2015.
On this night, they did just that.
The defense pinned their ears back throughout the second half, and Jacob Eason began airing it out and getting the offense down the field quickly with long bombs to the likes of Aaron Fuller, Jordan Chin, and Puka Nacua.
But it was tight end Jack Westover and tailback Savon Ahmed who got into the endzone to give the Huskies a 27-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Arizona didn’t go away though; Lucas Havrisik hit a 31-yard field goal to bring the Wildcats to within a touchdown early in the quarter, but Washington wasn’t having it.
The Huskies scored two un-answered touchdowns and then a field goal from Henry to give them a 44-20 lead with 4:25 left in the game.
Arizona got into the endzone one last time, but it was too late by then and Washington finished with the 51-27 victory.
“We finally got a little rhythm”, Chris Petersen said following the game, admitting that the coaches need to continue to work on red-zone issues, “The offense got on track and we played like we hoped to play”, he added.
The Huskies now extend their record to 5-2 for the season, and next up is the Ducks, who beat up on Colorado Friday night by a score of 45-3.
“They’re all hard to win in this league”, Petersen said of some of the parity of the Pac-12, “We learned a bunch about ourselves and are just trying to figure out how to take the next step.”
Ahmed came close to the 100-yard mark; he finished the night with 95 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns.
Puka Nacua led all receivers with 97 yards on 3 catches.
NOTES:
** MJ Tafisi left the game in the second half with, what looked like, a serious neck injury. But his hands began to move and as we was taken off the field on a stretcher, Tafisi held up one hand and gave the crowd a thumbs up. Cheers went up in the stands from both Husky and Arizona fans. Chris Petersen said that Tafisi is headed back to Seattle with the team tonight, “It was pre-cautionary”, he said of the steps taken on the field to help Tafisi, “We feel good about where he is right now.”
** Despite the terrible offensive start, Washington still finished the night with 450 total yards; 243 passing and 207 rushing.
** The Husky defense forced four turnovers, while Washington turned the ball once after Aaron Fuller muffed a punt return and the ball went into the hands of Arizona.
** Washington is now 3-0 against the Wildcats in their last three meetings (2016, 2017, 2019) and still own the series, 22-11-1.
