UW has Pac-10 cellar all to itself
SEATTLE – The Pac-10 elevator went to the basement on Saturday afternoon, and only the Washington football team got off.
Keeping their season on a steady course to uncharted disaster, the Huskies lost for the eighth time in nine games, permitting a rare halftime lead to slip away and result in a 23-13 defeat to the Arizona Wildcats at a Husky Stadium hardly two-thirds full.
The outcome broke a last-place tie between the two teams, leaving the Huskies (1-8, 0-6) all alone at the bottom with just two games left. Finish with losses to California at home and Washington State in Pullman, and UW will have its worst record in its 115 seasons, surpassing a 1-9 dip in 1969.
Leading 13-9 at the break, the home team proved as generous as ever in the third quarter, fumbling and watching the loose ball get scooped up by Arizona cornerback Wilrey Fontenot and returned for a 33-yard score and the game-winning points.
Late in the same period, a UW interception led to Mike Bell’s 13-yard TD run and the Wildcats (2-7, 1-5) had their first victory since early September.
The Huskies tried everything. They switched quarterbacks. Twice.
But in the end, they turned the ball over four times, twice each on fumbles and interceptions, and couldn’t move the ball in any meaningful fashion.
“It was just an awful day of offense,” said lame-duck UW coach Keith Gilbertson, who already has resigned effective at season’s end. “I’m not sure what I’m known for anymore – certainly not offense. It was a bad, bad day. Week after week, it’s been a source of frustration for us.”
Passing remains to be nonexistent for this team. Starting QB Casey Paus suffered through a 13-for-37 outing, collecting 164 yards while throwing an interception. His replacement, Isaiah Stanback, had no better success through the air, hitting just 3 of 10 tries for 33 yards and an interception.
Even with their struggles, the Huskies overcame a horrible start and an early 9-0 deficit with their first touchdown in 10 quarters on Shelton Sampson’s 5-yard run and added a pair of field goals by Evan Knudson.
But they couldn’t squeeze out anything more.
“It wasn’t easy, but I was really proud of the way our kids hung in there and made some plays in the third quarter to reverse some of the momentum,” Arizona coach Mike Stoops said.
The Wildcats had plenty of it at the outset.
The Wildcats pulled off a flea-flicker pass play on their second snap – something Oregon tried the week before against the UW, had wide open for a touchdown and couldn’t complete. Arizona was far more opportunistic.
Freshman quarterback Richard Kovalcheck handed the ball to Bell, got a pitch back from his tailback and delivered one over the middle to wide receiver Syndric Steptoe, a good step behind Huskies cornerback Sam Cunningham. Steptoe got pulled down on the UW 1. The Wildcats needed two plays to punch one in.