Washington defense leads way against Northwestern for first Big Ten win

SEATTLE – For the first 29 minutes of the game, Washington’s defense seemed to have an answer for everything Northwestern’s offense attempted.

But with 54 seconds left before halftime, Northwestern still had a chance to make it a one-score game. The Wildcats and sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch, making his second career start, began to drive from their 32-yard line. For the first time all game, they strung together two first downs without the aid of Husky penalties to reach UW territory.

Instead, UW defensive coordinator Steve Belichick slammed the door on Northwestern one final time to end the half. Lausch, feeling pressure from senior defensive lineman Sebastian Valdez, floated to his left before firing a pass intended for A.J. Henning.

The Wildcats wide receiver slipped, but it likely didn’t matter, as UW linebacker Carson Bruener, lurking under the route, easily intercepted the pass.

Bruener’s interception was the exclamation mark on a dominant performance from Washington’s defense, which led the Huskies (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) to a 24-5 win against Northwestern (2-2, 0-1) at Husky Stadium in front of 69,788 fans including Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti. It’s UW’s first win in the Big Ten since joining the conference before the season

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The Huskies held the Wildcats to 112 total yards, 2.1 yards per play, and 12 first downs in the game. Bruener and Sebastian Valdez led Washington with six tackles each. UW also accumulated two sacks, four tackles for a loss and five pass breakups.

Washington quarterback Will Rogers finished with 215 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 71% of his 28 pass attempts and added a 20-yard scramble, the longest rush of his career. Sophomore wide receiver Denzel Boston hauled in seven catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back Jonah Coleman led the Huskies with 67 rushing yards on 15 carries, including one for a score. Coleman had perhaps the play of the night when he caught a pass, turned upfield and hurdled a Wildcats defender, landed back on his feet and kept running for a 16-yard gain.

UW’s defense set the tone early. Northwestern went three-and-out on its first two drives, gaining a combined 8 yards.

Rogers and the Washington offense, however, found some rhythm on UW’s second drive.

After methodically driving down to the Northwestern 43-yard line, Rogers uncorked a 46-yard pass to find Boston on a deep post route over the middle of the field. It’s the longest passing play of Washington’s season .

Boston got into the end zone again in the second quarter, as Rogers found him from 13-yards out. It’s Boston’s second multitouchdown game of the season, and he’d surpassed his single-game career-high yardage mark with 5 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Washington led 17-0 before Northwestern got out of its own half.

Washington’s defense, meanwhile, held Northwestern to 63 total yards – including 11 rush yards – in the first half. The Wildcats only managed seven first downs, averaged 2.2 yards per play and went 0 for 7 on third down.

Northwestern’s longest play of the first half went for 15 yards, which it managed twice. The first time was a Lausch pass. The second was a defensive pass interference penalty on UW redshirt freshman defensive back Jordan Shaw.

The only points Washington conceded in the first half were caused by its offense. After a false-start penalty backed up the Huskies to their 3-yard line, Rogers was called for intentional grounding in his end zone after a play-action call was blown up by the Wildcats’ defensive line.

Northwestern finally scored offensive points with 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

A fumbled snap by Rogers gave the Wildcats solid field position, but they settled for an 18-yard field goal after Washington got the stop on third-and-1 from the 1-yard line.

Washington answered with a nearly 6-minute drive, punctuated by an 8-yard touchdown run by Coleman. It was his first rushing score since UW’s season-opening win against Weber State.

Northwestern had one final chance after Wildcats sophomore Joseph Himon II responded with a 96-yard kickoff return, but Washington’s defense held on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line to maintain the lead.