Disaster in the desert

TEMPE, Ariz. - Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant could only watch as his team's bowl hopes floated over the heads of the Huskies' secondary. "I was just shocked, basically," Trufant said. "I don't know what happened. We must have done something wrong, and it didn't work out for us." They must have. Because when ASU quarterback Danny Sullivan dropped back to throw from the 50-yard line with 13 seconds left in a tie game on Saturday night, he had two receivers at least 5 yards behind the UW secondary. And so his 50-yard pass easily fell into the arms of a waiting Chris McGaha, who hauled it in with five seconds remaining to give the Sun Devils a 24-17 win in front of 53,219 at Sun Devil Stadium. UW players were so stunned, they lined up on the wrong side of the field for the ensuing kickoff. "It's hard to explain," head coach Steve Sarkisian said of the touchdown pass. "We're in three-deep coverage, and we jumped a route, a crossing route, and left the middle of the field wide open. Why that happened, I'm not sure. We haven't had a chance to analyze it yet." When they do, they'll see that McGaha and another ASU receiver simply ran right past everyone in the secondary, a complete breakdown reminiscent of defenses from the Tyrone Willingham era. But it might never have happened had Sarkisian played things a little more conservatively on UW's previous drive. Facing a third-and-one from the UW 19-yard line with 28 seconds left, Jake Locker dropped back to throw. He got hurried and threw a deep, incomplete pass intended for James Johnson down the sidelines. The clock stopped with 22 seconds left, and the Huskies had to punt. If they'd run the ball and gained a first down, they could have run out the clock and forced overtime. "We were just hoping we could get a first down," said Locker, who was 22-for-38 for 279 yards. "We weren't able to do it, and we weren't able to convert on third down." Sarkisian said hindsight is 20/20. "We were playing with the mindset of, if we can get some yards to get going, we'll see what happens," Sarkisian said. "The mindset was also, let's end the game with the ball in our possession. It was just a poor call." It seemed almost fitting that this game had an unordinary ending. The entire game felt strange from the beginning, as both teams seemed intent on helping each other with penalties and turnovers. Washington was whistled for 12 penalties that cost them 124 yards, and ASU was flagged nine times - eight in the first half - for 99 yards. The Huskies struggled to put a drive together against the Sun Devils' quicker front seven, though Jake Locker took advantage of a drive-saving personal-foul penalty on third down by finding Devin Aguilar from 49 yards out for a touchdown on UW's first possession of the game, giving the Huskies an early 7-0 lead. They wouldn't lead again. ASU took a 14-7 lead into halftime and extended it to 17-7 with 4:45 left in the third quarter. Chris Polk spun off a tackle and sprinted 23 yards for a touchdown on the Huskies next drive, then the UW defense held twice - once after Johri Fogerson muffed a punt return and ASU regained possession - before Erik Folk tied the game with a 29-yard field goal with 3:50 to play. But one big, defensive lapse ended up being too much to overcome. "It's the worst feeling ever," Trufant said. "We were battling the whole game. It always comes down to the last play it seems like, for us." One week after a miraculous interception gave them an improbable win, it was the opponent who was celebrating a stunner after this one. "We just messed up, pretty much, on the last play," Trufant said. "So we've just got to execute better in the end. But we'll be all right." Needing three wins to be bowl eligible with five to play, that last part remains to be seen. Reach Sports Editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

Disaster in the desert

Disruptor interrupts Psych 210, professor and students chase man on to Red Square

2025 Seattle and King County primary election endorsements

UW mechanical engineering students are now required to pay $250 quarterly fee to participate in department-affiliated RSOs

College Inn Pub reopens under new ownership