UW falls asleep

TEMPE, Ariz. – Living on the edge has been the way of life for this year’s University of Washington football team, and on Saturday night the Huskies finally fell off.

Arizona State’s 50-yard touchdown pass with 5 seconds remaining not only broke a tie and ruined UW’s night, but it also may well have killed the Huskies’ chances of breaking their drought of six straight years without a bowl game. The 24-17 loss, thanks to Danny Sullivan’s touchdown heave to a wide-open Chris McGaha over the middle of the field, put the Huskies at 3-4 overall, 2-2 in the Pac-10, and in need of a similar miracle when it comes to bowl possibilities.

One week after shocking Arizona with a late interception-return touchdown, the Huskies were on the other end of a miracle. A mental lapse allowed McGaha to run unchecked over the middle between UW defenders, with no safety in sight. Sullivan floated the longest pass of his career to his wide-open receiver, ending an improbable evening that saw the Huskies stick around longer than seemed possible.

The Huskies piled up 378 yards against the nation’s third-ranked defense and narrowly missed two scoring opportunities because of a goal-line interception and a missed field goal. The Sun Devils (5-2, 2-1) had no answer for UW wide receiver Devin Aguilar, who caught seven passes for 154 yards and a touchdown.

UW got another bend-but-don’t-break performance from its undermanned defense … for 59-plus minutes.

After the Huskies had tied the score with an Erik Folk field goal with 3:50 remaining, neither team could move the ball on a pair of ensuing possessions. UW punted the ball away with 13 seconds left in regulation, and the score tied at 17, before ASU had – at most – two more shots at the end zone.

Inexplicably, the Huskies had no safety help over the middle of the field as Sullivan hit McGaha with the 50-yard game-winner.

It ended a crazy night of football for both teams.

During a remarkable first half that included 16 penalties, several clock adjustments and a 53-minute second quarter, the Huskies piled up 170 total yards but had only seven points. UW scored on its opening possession, capitalizing on an ASU penalty after an incomplete third-down pass. Aguilar’s third touchdown reception in two games gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead.

But Arizona State came right back to score a touchdown on its opening possession, and the Sun Devils took a 14-7 lead on a receiver option pass to start the second quarter.

The Huskies’ next two possessions saw them get deep into ASU territory before an interception near the goal line and a missed field goal kept the score at 14-7 heading into the break.

The score held up in part because of a late whistle that awarded ASU a timeout and wiped out Folk’s 48-yard field goal in the final seconds of the second quarter.

After the timeout, Folk’s second attempt sailed wide right.

Arizona St. 24, Washington 17

Washington	7	0	7	3	—	17
Arizona St.	7	7	3	7	—	24

Wash—Aguilar 49 pass from Locker (Folk kick)

ASU—Sullivan 1 run (Weber kick)

ASU—Simpson 32 pass from K.Williams (Weber kick)

ASU—FG Weber 24

Wash—C.Polk 23 run (Folk kick)

Wash—FG Folk 29

ASU—McGaha 50 pass from Sullivan (Weber kick)

	Wash	ASU
First downs	20	24
Rushes-yards	27-99	27-169
Passing	279	295
Comp-Att-Int	22-38-2	22-36-0
Return Yards	11	16
Punts-Avg.	5-42.6	4-43.8
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	2-1
Penalties-Yards	12-124	9-99
Time of Possession	30:20	29:40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Washington, C.Polk 12-51, Locker 8-24, Fogerson 5-16,

Aguilar 1-6, Homer 1-2. Arizona St., Marshall 4-76, Nance 13-70,

Simpson 1-30, Miles 1-0, Team 1-(minus 1), Sullivan 7-(minus 6).

PASSING—Washington, Locker 22-38-2-279. Arizona St.,

Sullivan 21-35-0-263, K.Williams 1-1-0-32.

RECEIVING—Washington, Aguilar 7-154, J.Johnson 6-29, Kearse 5-70,

Fogerson 3-20, C.Polk 1-6. Arizona St., Nance 6-41, G.Robinson 5-68, K.Taylor 4-41, K.Williams 3-29, Miles 2-34, McGaha 1-50, Simpson 1-32.