Woes continue for Huskies

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona Wildcats vowed not to overlook woeful Washington, and they didn’t.

Rob Gronkowski matched a school record with three touchdown catches, Nic Grigsby ran for 113 yards and the Wildcats routed the Huskies 48-14 Saturday night.

Willie Tuitama completed 17 of 21 passes for 193 yards and threw three touchdown passes for the Wildcats (4-1, 2-0 Pac-10), who are looking to end the Pac-10’s longest active bowl drought at nine years.

“Overall, I’m excited about everything we did,” Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. “We played a complete game on offense, defense and special teams.”

Arizona learned from a bitter experience in 2006, when the Huskies, bound for ninth place in the Pac-10, came to Tucson and handed the Wildcats a 21-10 loss. That defeat ended up costing Arizona a bowl bid.

Driving for their first bowl berth since 1998, the Wildcats are stacking wins against a schedule ranked 90th in the nation, according to NCAA statistics. Arizona’s four victories have come against Idaho, Toledo, UCLA and Washington.

While the Wildcats are basking in their new-found success, the Huskies (0-5, 0-3) are looking for answers. There continues to be quiet speculation over the future of Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, who fell to 11-30 in three-plus seasons at the Husky helm.

“We can do a lot of things better,” Willingham said. “We obviously had a very poor showing here.”

Quarterback Ronnie Fouch, a redshirt freshman who made his first college start, said the Huskies are “not going to give up on our coach. We all came here for him, and we’re going to keep fighting and battling. No matter what it takes, we’re not going to give up this season.”

On a breezy night in the desert, Arizona wasted little time putting away the Huskies. Arizona took a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Gronkowski caught a screen pass and raced 37 yards for a touchdown.

Grigsby added a 4-yard run to give Arizona a 17-0 lead after one quarter.

Arizona moved the ball almost at will against the Huskies, who entered with the nation’s 114th scoring defense, allowing 40.5 points per game.

Mike Thomas broke the game open with an electrifying 48-yard punt return for a touchdown midway through the second period.

Thomas fielded the ball near midfield, retreated about 10 yards and then cut up the home sideline. Near the goal line, Thomas leaped over a prone Quinton Richardson and into the end zone as the Arizona Stadium crowd of 55,624 erupted.

The return put Arizona up 24-7 midway through the second quarter, and Gronkowski caught another touchdown pass later in the quarter to give the Wildcats a 31-7 halftime lead.

Facing the nation’s second-ranked defense, Washington struggled behind Fouch. He completed 12 of 28 passes for 181 yards and one touchdown, a 20-yarder to Michael Gottlieb midway through the fourth quarter. Fouch also threw an interception.

“It’s tough for a freshman to step up, especially on the road,” Willingham said. “I can’t say he was the reason for tonight’s outcome.”