UW’s start is all about the finish

SEATTLE – It was one of those coach-speak talking points that Steve Sarkisian repeated constantly when he took over as coach at Washington: No matter the situation, his team would play all four quarters.

Halfway through his first season, he has been right. His team is playing all the way to the end, and giving their fans a serious case of heartburn in the process.

Saturday’s 36-33 win over Arizona was the latest example. Washington put together an incomprehensible rally highlighted by the most unlikely of plays. Mason Foster caught an interception that deflected off the foot of Arizona’s Delashaun Dean and returned it 37 yards for the winning touchdown with 2:37 left.

“When you play hard and you do things right, you catch breaks,” Sarkisian said. “That’s how breaks occur, when the other team makes their mistakes, you’re there to capitalize on them. … I thought that’s what showed up in this game.”

Burned all night by Arizona’s quick screen passes, the Huskies picked the right time to disrupt things. Safety Victor Aiewya read the screen and Foster jumped the route, forcing Arizona quarterback Nick Foles to pull back his throw. When he did release the pass for Dean, it was low and behind the receiver.

Dean reached back and the ball caromed off his left hand, then off his left foot and right into the hands of Foster.

It’s the third time this season Washington (3-3, 2-1 Pac-10) has gone down to the final ticks before things were settled, and its opening loss to LSU was still in question into the fourth quarter. The Huskies’ dogged competitiveness is a stark turnaround from the winless 2008 season when only three times the Huskies were within a touchdown when the fourth quarter started.

Most of the country saw Erik Folk’s 23-yard field goal with 3 seconds left that gave the Huskies their headline-grabbing 16-13 upset of Southern California. Many also saw last week’s overtime loss at Notre Dame.

But lost in the noise of missed replays and missed assignments against the Irish was Washington’s effort to the final seconds. After Notre Dame had taken a 30-27 lead, quarterback Jake Locker rushed Washington downfield and in position for a tying field goal.

That late rally at Notre Dame was the kind of resiliency missing at Washington in previous seasons. But Saturday night’s comeback fell into the realm of unimaginable, trailing by 12 with less than 5 minutes remaining.

“I’m sure a lot of people counted us out at that point,” Locker said. “The guys just kept fighting and kept playing, (and) knew as long as there was time on the clock there was a chance to win the game. It’s proven when you are rewarded for that kind of effort.”