UW wins thriller
Interception off foot results in winning score
SEATTLE – All that head football coach Steve Sarkisian has ever really promised of his first Huskies team is that it will play hard to the finish.
Washington certainly did that Saturday night, mounting an incredible comeback to pull off one of the biggest shockers in its history, a 36-33 Pacific-10 win over Arizona.
The Huskies were dominated for most of the second half before scoring two touchdowns in a span of 18 seconds late in the fourth quarter, the latter one of the more amazing plays in school history as linebacker Mason Foster plucked a pass that bounced off the foot of Arizona receiver Delashaun Dean and returned 37 yards for a TD. The two-point play put UW ahead 36-33 with 2:37 left.
Arizona drove to the UW 38-yard line but the drive stalled, thanks in part to a Daniel Te’o-Nesheim sack of Arizona QB Nick Foles.
The Wildcats took advantage of a good kickoff return, a mishandled UW punt snap, and a dropped UW kickoff return to score 17 straight points to start the second half, appearing to grab control of the game for good.
With just 4:16 to play, Arizona held a 232-43 edge in yards, dominating the second half.
But the two quick TDs gave the Huskies the lead and had the stadium rocking just as it had the last time the team played here against USC three weeks ago.
The win makes UW 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in Pac-10 play while Arizona falls to 3-2, 1-1.
Just when the Huskies seemed dead, trailing 27-14, they came back to life. A good Chris Polk kickoff return and an Arizona personal foul put the ball at the Wildcats’ 39, and on the second play, Locker hit Aguilar for a 29-yard scoring pass to make it 27-21 with 2:11 left in the third quarter.
Arizona again drove, getting a 29-yard field goal by with 13:20 left. After another UW drive stalled, the Wildcats drove for another Alez Zendejas field goal to take a 33-21 lead with 4:22 left.
The Huskies again proved resilient. Jake Locker hit Kavario Middleton with a 25-yard TD pass with 2:55 left, his third of the night, to cut the lead to 33-28.
Foster then turned in his miraculous catch and run on the first play of Arizona’s next drive.