Big-Play Oregon State Beavers Too Much for Washington

Washington actually looked a lot better on both sides of the ball despite losing to Oregon State Saturday, 34-13.

The Huskies had their first 100-yard rushing game by a running back this season. Terrance Dailey showed that he has a lot of talent; the coaches were correct in playing him the second half of the season. He simply is better than Brandon Johnson and Willie Griffin at this point.

D'Andre Goodwin had his best day catching the ball during his Husky career. He finished with five catches for 136 yards and a long of 48. Devin Aguilar added five catches for 73 yards and a had a couple of very nice punt returns for positive yardage.

Ronnie Fouch, despite four turnovers, had a nice touch on most of his passes, going 17-of-32 for 276 yards. Three interceptions and a fumble took a bit of the luster off the performance, but the redshirt freshman showed a lot of improvement in his second start.

His offensive line didn't give him a lot of help last night. He was constantly hurried throughout the evening; the fact that he was only sacked once was a miracle. Overall, the Husky offense was able to gain 377 yards in total offense, which is usually enough to win a football game if you don't turn over the ball four times.

What hurt the Husky offense were turnovers and a lack of efficiency in the red zone. UW only punted once Saturday, but still only put 13 points on the scoreboard. I am not going to hang all the turnovers on Fouch. The offensive line simply had him running for his life most of the night in desperation, trying to make something happen.

Lack of performance in the red zone cost UW 13-to-20 points on two missed field goals and the failure to run it in to the end zone from the 1-yard line on four straight plays in the fourth quarter. UW also was stalled by a couple of interceptions in the end zone. If you put those 13-to-20 points on the board, you have a completely different ballgame, with UW in it till the end.

Washington Drive Summaries
START	QTR	POSS.	YRDL	PLAYS	YARDS	RESULT
15:00	1	02:33	UW 31	3	-15	Punt
09:25	1	04:31	UW 6	8	66	Field Goal Good
02:23	1	01:33	UW 33	3	-9	Interception
14:09	2	02:56	UW 35	7	16	Fumble
08:43	2	05:15	UW 19	11	58	Field Goal Missed
01:25	2	01:00	UW 26	6	47	Field Goal Good
08:29	3	04:30	UW 32	9	46	Field Goal Missed
02:27	3	02:10	UW 48	4	22	Interception
12:52	4	00:53	UW 27	3	73	Rushing Touchdown
05:20	4	03:27	UW 32	9	67	Turnover on Downs
01:12	4	00:11	UW 41	1	0	Interception

Defensively, Washington looked a little better than they had over the last two games, but the story of the game was the old fly sweep to wideout James Rodgers. Rodgers finished with 110 yards rushing on three carries and scored on runs of 55 and 52 yards. He also caught three passes for 53 yards and one score, and posted another 53 yards on kick returns.

Jacquizz Rodgers did his part, too, adding 94 yards on 20 carries and a one-yard touchdown early in the second half, but UW had him contained for most of the evening. Most of his yards were gained in the second half while running down the clock after the game was out of hand.

Oregon State quarterback Lyle Moevao had the most efficient passing day of his career, completing 18-of-22 passes for 191 yards. He had just one incompletion in the first half.

The big plays to James Rodgers are what killed Washington last night. You eliminate those three plays and combine it with better performance in the red zone, you have a close football game.

Overall, even though there are some moral victories, you can take from this one that Washington simply wasn't very competitive. It is going to be very tough for this football team to win more than one game this season.

The big worry going in was whether the Washington players would quit once they fell behind. The team kept scrapping till the last play, and you have to acknowledge that. They all know the season is over and the coaching staff is going to be fired. You have to give the kids some credit for continuing to fight under those circumstances.