Huskies hang tough in double OT against Oregon State

SEATTLE – Jake Locker threw a career-high five touchdown passes, two in overtime to Jermaine Kearse, and Oregon State’s two-point conversion attempt in the second overtime fell incomplete as the Huskies beat the No. 24 Beavers 35-34 on Saturday night.

A wild and chilly night along the edge of Lake Washington ended in the Huskies’ favor, but only after Washington blew an early 21-0 lead and celebrated a bit prematurely in overtime.

At the end, Washington (3-3, 2-1 Pac-10) kept its bowl hopes alive with a victory it absolutely needed with Arizona, Stanford and Oregon awaiting the next three weeks.

“We’re coming to the realization as a football program that winning is really hard,” UW coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We’ve got a football team still learning their way, but they made us very proud tonight.”

Meanwhile, Oregon State (3-3, 2-1) was stopped short in its attempt to begin conference play 3-0 for the first time in 42 years.

Locker was a big reason why. He was nearly flawless for the first 20 minutes when Washington jumped to a 21-0 lead. OSU rallied to pull even on Jacquizz Rodgers’ TD run on the first possession of the second half and it stayed that way through regulation.

The teams exchanged touchdowns in the first overtime, with Rodgers scoring on a 10-yard pass from Ryan Katz, and Locker answering with a 17-yard strike to Kearse.

In the second overtime, Washington went first and Locker found Kearse open on a corner route for a 21-yard TD strike on second-and-17.

“It shows we can finish tough games,” Kearse said.

Katz tried to rally the Beavers. After getting sacked by Hau’oli Jamora for a 7-yard loss and a false start penalty, Katz hit Jordan Bishop for 23 yards on third-and-20. Then on fourth-and-1 at the 3, Katz’s pass for John Reese feel incomplete but a late flag from back judge Johnny Jenkins led to a pass-interference call against Desmond Trufant that gave Oregon State a first down.

Rodgers scored from the 2 on the next play to pull Oregon State to 35-34, just moments after celebrating Washington players were shoved off the field.

Beavers coach Mike Riley decided to end it there. But Katz’s throw fell out of Halahuni’s hands and Washington’s celebration was on again.

Locker finished 21 of 35 for 286 yards and ran for another 60 yards. Chris Polk rushed for 105 yards for Washington, while Kearse had nine catches for 146 yards and four touchdowns. Kearse had TD catches of 16 and 45 yards in the first half.

Rodgers ran for 140 yards on 32 carries and three touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 49 yards.

Washington 35, (24) OSU 34 (2OT)

Oregon St.	0	14	7	0	7	6	—	34
Washington	7	14	0	0	7	7	—	35

 UW—Je.Kearse 16 pass from Locker (Folk kick), 4:22.

UW—Goodwin 4 pass from Locker (Folk kick), 14:53.

UW—Je.Kearse 45 pass from Locker (Folk kick), 10:06.

OSU—Katz 5 run (Kahut kick), 6:11.

OSU—Jac.Rodgers 6 run (Kahut kick), 3:09.

OSU—Jac.Rodgers 4 run (Kahut kick), 11:26.

OSU—Jac.Rodgers 10 pass from Katz (Kahut kick).

UW—Je.Kearse 17 pass from Locker (Folk kick).

UW—Je.Kearse 21 pass from Locker (Folk kick).

OSU—Jac.Rodgers 2 run (pass failed).

A—65,235.

	OSU	UW
First downs	22	26
Rushes-yards	44-147	43-189
Passing	206	286
Comp-Att-Int	17-31-3	21-35-1
Return Yards	15	24
Punts-Avg.	6-40.5	4-48.0
Fumbles-Lost	0-0	2-2
Penalties-Yards	10-80	10-70
Time of Possession	29:43	30:17

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

 RUSHING—Oregon St., Jac.Rodgers 32-140, Katz 11-6, Wheaton 1-1. Washington, C.Polk 25-105, Locker 12-60, Callier 5-20, J.Polk 1-4.

PASSING—Oregon St., Katz 17-31-3-206. Washington, Locker 21-35-1-286.

RECEIVING—Oregon St., Nichols 5-72, Jac.Rodgers 4-49, Wheaton 4-43, Bishop 2-32, Halahuni 1-5, Munoz 1-5. Washington, Je.Kearse 9-146, Goodwin 6-75, C.Polk 2-29, Bruns 1-15, J.Polk 1-9, Barnett 1-6, Callier 1-6.