Before this game started I did some research on the Husky Defensive Coordinator, Steve Belichick, and was going to include it below. But after watching this super ugly 21-18 loss to Rutgers on the road I think I’ll save it for another day. If you’ve never been to a Washington Husky game and walked through the parking area devoted to tail-gating for the high end RV’s or looked over the rail out onto Lake Washington to see all the boats that show up for sail-gating it’s clearly obvious that some these fans have a shit-load of money. And I’m sure a number of these folks flew across the country to New Jersey to watch their beloved Huskies win their Big Ten opener against Rutgers—a game so heart-wrenchingly disappointing I can only imagine that a number of those spouses, who just went along to support their significant other’s rabid addiction to all things Husky football, have already put their foot down and made it clear that a trip like that is never happening again in their lifetime or else.
One would think that if you record eight more first downs, you rush for over 200 yards and your QB throws for over 300 yards—more than the total yards of your opponent—along with 2 TD’s and no interceptions that you’d win the game. But once you throw in a penalty after a blocked field goal that results in a TD instead of a turnover and your field goal kicker misses three of four you’ve shot yourself in the foot too many times to win. As Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said afterwards; “You can’t play two teams. [We] can’t play ourselves and our opponent. Not to take anything away from Rutgers, but we didn’t handle our penalties and that’s the saddest part of the night.” Two weeks previously in their Apple Cup loss to Washington State where they were called for 16 penalties for 135 yards he said this; “We had 10 more penalties than they did. You usually aren’t going to win when you have that many penalties in a game. I’m very disappointed in the 15-yard penalties we had. We need to be far better there. Again, I take responsibility for that. We’ll be better there. That’s not who we are. That’s not how we play.” Well, they did have fewer penalties in this one, but the ones they had were real game changers, including a late hit and targeting penalty on their first drive that ended up in a turn-over on downs in addition to a false start on their second that forced them to settle for three points instead of a TD. But the real back-breaker came later.
Washington got an early lead with a 22 yard field goal on their 2nd possession of the game after holding Rutgers to a three-and-out. The Scarlet Knights came right back on a 15 play 75 yard drive and 1 yard TD run by their Senior RB Kyle Monangai to take a 7-3 lead. Washington had a chance to cut the lead to 1 on their next possession, but instead the drive resulted in the first of three missed field goals by their Junior Place Kicker, Grady Gross. After back-to-back three-and-outs and with less than five minutes remaining in the half Rutgers drove the ball nine plays down to the Washington 20 yard line where they were 4th and 5 and attempting a field goal. But the Washington defense, who played well enough to win this game and holding Rutgers to under 300 total yards of offense, blocked the kick and gained possession of the ball with less than a minute left. However, a freshman on the Huskies sideline ran onto the field to celebrate the block while the ball was still loose and Washington got hit with an Illegal Substitution Penalty which resulted in Rutgers getting the ball back 1st and 10 at the Washington 15 yard line with 30 seconds left before the break. One play later the Scarlet Knights Senior QB Athan Kaliakmanis connected with Ian Strong and instead of going into the locker room just four points down, the Huskies trailed by 14-3 at the break with Rutgers getting the ball first after the half.
Washington was able to hold the Scarlet Knights to a three-and-out on their first possession after the half and were sitting 1st and goal at the Rutgers’ 7 yard line after back-to-back Jonah Coleman runs of 35 and 11 yards. But after two more Coleman runs for just 5 yards and an incomplete pass by Husky Senior QB Will Rogers, Washington decided to go for it at the 2 yard line and didn’t make it—turning it over on downs. After forcing Rutgers to punt on their next possession, the Huskies would finally close the gap to 14-10 on a 51 yard TD pass from Rogers to Sophomore WR Denzel Boston.
Holding Rutgers to another three-and-out Washington would commit a personal foul on their first play of the drive resulting in a 2nd and 21 at their own 14 yard line and dooming the possession. The Scarlet Knights would take the ball and score on a 37 yard Samuel Brown V TD run at the end of a 10 play 85 yard drive enabled by a Husky face-mask penalty on a play in which their would have been a loss resulting in a 3rd-and-long instead of a 1st down. Now down 21-10. Eight plays and 58 yards later sitting 4th and 5 from the Rutgers 20 yard line, Gross would miss his second field goal in a row, this one from 37 yards out. But the Husky defense was not giving up and held Rutgers to a three-and-out once again and then took the ball down field 76 yards in 12 plays to score on a 12 yard TD pass from Rogers to Boston as well as a successful two-point conversion to get them to within three points, 21-18 with under two minutes left in the game. The Huskies would actually get the ball back and have an opportunity to tie the game and send it to overtime if their field goal kicker—who has missed his last two and never made a field goal of 50 yards or more—could have connected on a 55 yarder from the Rutger’s 38 yard line. Needless to say that effort missed with time expiring.
I’m thinking after this game Jedd Fisch is wishing he would have never left Arizona. But no time to ponder that thought with Michigan on the road next week to take on the Huskies at home.