Huskies Come Up Short Against Playoff-Bound Ducks
SEATTLE, Wash. — As they have all season, the Washington Huskies football team hung with a big dog for a while, but not all the way to the end.
UW fell 26-14 to No. 6 Oregon on Saturday at Husky Stadium, finishing the regular season with an 8-4 record, including 5-4 in Big Ten play. The Ducks (11-1, 8-1) likely assured themselves a spot in the College Football Playoff, while Washington will play in a yet-to-be-determined bowl game.
“There’s just a couple plays here and there, unfortunately, that were game-changing,” said Huskies coach Jedd Fisch, who went 6-7 last year, his first at UW. “But, I thought our players competed as well as anybody. We got to coach better, and we got to continue to improve as players, but he have a lot of good things in front of us."
It was another slow start for the Huskies, who have scored a total of 26 points in the first quarter of a Big Ten game. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. completed just two of his first 13 pass attempts for 13 yards and an interception as the Huskies were held scoreless until the final 10 seconds of the half to cut Oregon’s lead to 13-7.
He finished the day 15-for-30 for 129 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions, one of which was a desperation heave late in the game.
“It definitely hurts. It definitely stings,” said Williams, a sophomore. “You want a lot of plays back, but you can’t go back and change it. So the only way to move forward is to accept it, understand that those types you’ve got to play better. I take 100% blame as far as just going out there and be on our A game when our A game is needed.”
Though the Huskies struggled to move the ball consistently, Williams capped a 13-play, 69-yard drive with a 13-yard laser to Denzel Boston on fourth-and-8 to cut Oregon’s lead to 19-14 with 8:54 remaining.
A few plays later, though, quarterback Dante Moore delivered the dagger for Oregon.
With the crowd of 72,376 fans as loud as they had been the entire game, as the Ducks faced third-and-9 at their own 36, Moore found Malik Benson open for a first down that turned into a 64-yard touchdown. With the lead stretched to 26-14 with 7:55 remaining, Washington was unable to mount a serious threat the rest of the way.
Defense Gives Huskies a Chance
As has been the case all season, the Washington defense kept the Huskies in it. The 26 points by the Ducks were the most allowed all season. Washington was not able to force a turnover and allowed 392 yards while playing without starting safety Makell Esteen and missing leading tackler Alex McLaughlin for parts of the game.
Moore completed 20 of 29 passes for 286 yards and a TD, but the Huskies held the run game in check. The Ducks managed just 106 yards on 42 attempts — an average of 2.5 yards per carry.
“Gang tackling — there was swarm tackling,” Fisch said. “There was very rarely one guy having to make a tackle. I thought everybody did a great job of getting off blocks. … I thought we were very physical up front, and our defensive line and linebackers did a really nice job.”
Adam Mohammed Paces Running Game
While Washington’s passing game faltered, running back Adam Mohammed had his second-straight 100-yard game, finishing with 14 carries for 105 yards and two receptions for 18. Jonah Coleman started, but appeared to still be hobbled by a knee injury suffered at Wisconsin.
“I love the way Adam runs the ball,” said senior Huskies guard Geirean Hatchett after playing his final game at Husky Stadium. “Fires me up as an offensive lineman when I see him run right past me, run over somebody. He’s just been an absolute animal the last few weeks.”
