The Washington Huskies came out of Friday night’s game against Oregon State with a 24-21 victory, thanks to some big plays by the offense, timely stops on defense and a power outage that just might have given UW the boost it needed.
Here are three impressions from the game.
UW defense comes through when it counts
The Husky defense came through when it counted on Friday against Oregon State, as UW forced a pair of fourth-quarter Beavers’ punts, the second of which set up the Huskies’ 92-yard, 18-play game-winning drive.
The Washington D struggled to stop the OSU run game, giving up 175 yards on 40 carries, but got stops when it mattered most. Damien Martinez had an OSU-best 107 rushing yards on 19 carries.
Oregon State went nine plays for 75 yards and a touchdown on its first possession, with Deshaun Fenwick finishing it off on a three-yard score. Fenwick scored again with 6:03 left in the third quarter, taking the ball 19 yards for a touchdown that put OSU ahead by seven points.
But UW came through with a pair of fourth-down stops in the first half, when Mishael Powell and Zion Tupuola-Fetui combined to stuff Jack Colletto for no gain on 4th-and-2 at the UW seven yard line with 1:52 left in the first half, and Ben Gulbranson incompletion on 4th-and-3 gave UW the ball at their own 15.
The second first-half stop led directly to the 15-play, 85-yard scoring drive that ended with a two-yard Taulapapa touchdown run, while the second Oregon State punt in the fourth quarter led to the Huskies’ game-winning drive.
When the defense came through, the offense responded in kind.
Offense gets it done
Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. played the hero once again for UW, passing for 298 total yards on 30 of 52 passing, with one touchdown pass and one interception in the game.
Penix hit eight different receivers on Friday, with receiver Rome Odunze hauling in seven catches for 102 yards, and Jack Westover catching a 24-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.
The Huskies run game finished with 100 total yards on 24 carries, and outgained the much-vaunted Oregon State offense in total yards, 398 to 241.
Let there be light
With 11:38 to go in the game, the lights went out at Husky Stadium, leading to a 23-minute delay in the game. The lights went out almost immediately after UW kicker Peyton Henry made the extra point to cap off UW’s nine-play, 66-yard scoring drive that ended with a four-yard Taulapapa touchdown.
Once the lights finally came back, Washington forced the Oregon State offense to punt twice, and then went 92 yards on 18 plays to win the game on Henry’s field goal.
Pac-12 After Dark might not be popular with fans, but the Huskies sure seemed to enjoy it.