Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

UW Wonders What’s Wrong A Lackluster 21-13 Win Over Army Has The Huskies Scratching Their Heads

Jim Cour Associated Press

After three unimpressive starts in their first season back from a two-year bowl probation, the No. 18 Washington Huskies still have a major question about themselves.

How good are they?

“We’re going to wonder all week as we lay in bed why we didn’t blow this team out,” UW quarterback Damon Huard said. “Maybe that’s a good thing.”

Washington moved up four spots in the AP poll released Sunday, but maybe the voters weren’t aware of how mightily the Huskies had to struggle in beating Army 21-13 Saturday.

The Cadets, 26-point underdogs, led 13-7 in the fourth quarter and were in front 10-0 in the third.

“We need to come out and start each game a little faster,” Huard said.

Huard, a fifth-year senior who is supposed to be the focus of the Huskies’ offense, was 2-for-7 for 15 yards with an interception in Washington’s inept first half when Army led 3-0.

When J. Parker kicked his second field goal for the Cadets on the first play of the final quarter, Washington trailed 13-7 and looked in trouble.

Huard got the Huskies in front with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Andre DeSaussure and then moved them 48 yards for another touchdown, scoring on a 2-yard keeper with 5:42 remaining.

Army got the ball back with 5-1/2 minutes left and drove from its own 27 to the Washington 1 where the Cadets, with no timeouts, ran out of time after Lawyer Milloy stopped Steve Carpenter for no gain on a third-and-1 run.

Talk about close! Talk about lucky!

“What you’re looking for is for your leader to make great things happen,” coach Jim Lambright said. “If Damon is struggling, then Shane’s going to get a shot.”

Shane Fortney, Huard’s backup, played two series in the second quarter and he didn’t do much better than Huard. So Lambright started Huard in the second half and he finally got it going in the fourth quarter, when he completed six of seven passes for 119 yards.

“All I want to do is get to the Rose Bowl and I’m going to do what it takes to get us there,” Huard said.

The Rose Bowl? That might be pretty ambitious for a Washington team that had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to win its Pac-10 opener at home against Arizona State 23-20 and then lost to No. 7 Ohio State 30-20 on the road.

After Oregon State (1-3) next Saturday in Corvallis, Washington will face No. 15 Notre Dame in Seattle in two weeks. In Pac-10 games, the Huskies will play No. 5 Southern Cal and No. 19 Oregon in Seattle, and No. 22 Stanford on the road.

The Huskies may have slipped since their 1991 national championship season, but they’re still a big draw in Seattle. The Army game drew 76,125 fans, the largest crowd in Husky Stadium history.

There’s two ways of looking at Washington’s near future. Lambright looks at it one way.

“Our expectations are the highest of anyone possible,” he said.

Linebacker Jerry Jensen was more realistic.

“We need to get a lot better to beat Oregon State,” Jensen said. “We’re definitely not satisfied with our performance.”