Kearse’s electric receiving guides Husky rally
SEATTLE – OK, now let the excitement begin.
The University of Washington’s 2010 football season took a little longer than expected to get going – more than five full quarters – and yet by Saturday night the optimism that catapulted the Huskies into the year was flowing again.
After spotting the visiting Syracuse Orange a 10-0 lead, UW put it all together and breezed to a 41-20 victory. The Huskies (1-1) scored 27 unanswered points, 18 on receiver Jermaine Kearse’s career-high three touchdowns – and outgained Syracuse 448-249 over the final 49½ minutes to bounce back from last week’s opening loss at Brigham Young.
“The last three quarters of this game – that’s the team we can be,” junior linebacker Cort Dennison said. “So why not live up to it? We have a goal that we’ve set, so let’s stick to it.”
Just like in the loss to BYU, special teams cost the Huskies after a penalty gave Syracuse (1-1) new life on fourth down early on.
Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib made the most of the second chance, breaking off a 28-yard touchdown run, and Syracuse added a field goal on its next drive.
The 10-0 deficit took much of the wind out of the crowd’s sails, but it took just one Husky to bring it back.
Huskies junior receiver Kearse caught three touchdown passes within a 12-minute span over the second and third quarters to turn the tables and give UW a 27-10 lead.
He scored on a 5-yard pass from quarterback Jake Locker in the second quarter, opened the second half with a 57-yard reception on the first snap, then added a 28-yard catch-and-run with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Kearse, who finished with nine catches for 179 yards, sparked an offense that finally seemed to be living up to the sky-high expectations.
UW 41, Syracuse 20
| Syracuse | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10—20 |
| Washington | 3 | 10 | 14 | 14—41 |
Syr—R.Nassib 28 run (Krautman kick), 12:41.
Syr—FG Krautman 29, 4:29.
UW—FG Folk 37, :05.
UW—FG Folk 24, 6:50.
UW—Je.Kearse 5 pass from Locker (Folk kick), 4:09.
UW—Je.Kearse 57 pass from Locker (Folk kick), 14:40.
UW—Je.Kearse 28 pass from Locker (Folk kick), 6:20.
Syr—FG Krautman 37, 12:24.
UW—C.Polk 52 run (Folk kick), 10:04.
Syr—Lemon 19 pass from R.Nassib (Krautman kick), 7:13.
UW—Aguilar 14 pass from Locker (Folk kick), 6:33.
| Syr | UW | |
| First downs | 16 | 20 |
| Rushes-yards | 31-112 | 33-175 |
| Passing | 224 | 292 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 19-37-1 | 23-34-0 |
| Return Yards | 56 | 0 |
| Punts-Avg. | 6-43.0 | 6-40.3 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 4-1 | 2-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 10-80 | 7-65 |
| Time of Possession | 28:06 | 31:54 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Syracuse, Carter 18-91, R.Nassib 7-20, Bailey 4-16, Weaver 1-(minus 7), Loeb 1-(minus 8). Washington, C.Polk 20-117, Callier 8-46, Locker 5-12.
PASSING—Syracuse, R.Nassib 17-35-1-202, Loeb 2-2-0-22. Washington, Locker 22-33-0-289, Price 1-1-0-3.
RECEIVING—Syracuse, Chew 6-83, Weaver 4-58, Provo 3-19, Lemon 2-34, Bailey 2-11, Cruz 1-16, Carter 1-3. Washington, Je.Kearse 9-179, Aguilar 7-81, Barnett 2-15, Goodwin 1-6, Sylvester 1-6, Johnson 1-3, C.Polk 1-2, Tolar 1-0.