Huskies defending goal line

Oct 12, 2009, 12:00 AM

As poorly as the Huskies' defense may have looked against Nick Foles and the Wildcats on Saturday, it could have been a lot worse. That's because for the second consecutive week, the UW was at its best with its backs against the goal line, once stopping Arizona on a fourth-and-goal from inside the 1-yard line and forcing four field goals after the Wildcats had driven into the end zone. They did the same thing the week prior, forcing Notre Dame to settle for field goals on five of its possessions. And without both of their starting safeties for Saturday's thrilling win over Arizona, the only way the Huskies managed to stick around was by clamping down in the shadow of their own goal line. "I think it's just execution," head coach Steve Sarkisian said. "It's not panicking. Credit to Nick [Holt], it's not trying too hard on defense and just all out blitzing and giving up easy things. [It's] hanging in there; the field gets short, it's hard to complete balls down there, and then it's tackling when we're inside the 10, and our guys did that again tonight." That's part of the reason Sarkisian chose to kick it deep instead of attempting an onside kick after Washington scored a touchdown with 2:55 remaining, trimming Arizona's lead to 33-28. The Huskies had two timeouts left, and Sarkisian didn't want to put all of his team's efforts into one onside kick, fearing that an unsuccessful attempt would seal their fate. "We kept looking at the clock," Sarkisian said. "We had two timeouts and just kind of talked as a staff briefly [about] the belief in our defense. They were bending and not breaking. There were opportunities there. I thought we got better [at] our formation recognition, [at] seeing what was coming, and that we wanted to put the pressure back on them. If we onside kick right there, it becomes a, 'that's our one shot' type-play, and by kicking it deep, you put the pressure back on them. You let our defense play with two timeouts and see what happens." Mason Foster, of course, intercepted a Foles pass on the next play and returned it 37 yards for the game-clinching score. OF NOTE Starting left guard Gregory Christine left the game late in the first half with a broken fibula. He'll probably miss the rest of the season. ... E.J. Savannah and Cameron Elisara both exited with stingers, though neither injury is thought serious. ... Tailback Chris Polk came out for a bit with a shoulder issue - on the same shoulder he had surgery on last season - but returned, and should be OK for next week. Reach Sports Editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

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