Huskies lose big in Arizona, 52-17
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Matt Scott threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns, Ka'Deem Carey ran for 172 yards and Arizona raced out of its bye week with a 52-17 rout over Washington Saturday night.
Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) went into its bye worn down and beaten up after three straight losses to ranked opponents.
Refreshed and mostly recuperated, the Wildcats had their way with Washington's defense from the opening drive, eclipsing 500 total yards (533) for the sixth time this season.
Scott finished 14 of 22, throwing two touchdowns to Austin Hill, and ran for another score. Carey scored on a 2-yard run, and Richard Morrison added a 63-yard touchdown on a punt return to give coach Rich Rodriguez his first Pac-12 win.
Washington (3-4, 1-3) had no chance against Arizona's fast-paced offense, and quarterback Keith Price had another so-so game in the Huskies' third straight loss.
Price matched Scott with 256 yards passing, but his line didn't look quite as good, needing 52 attempts to get there and with two interceptions to offset his one touchdown.
Washington played a brutal schedule the first half of the season, facing four teams in the top 11 of the AP poll. The Huskies were run over in two of those, on the road against LSU and Oregon, but beat Stanford and stayed close to USC last week despite four turnovers and a blocked punt.
It didn't figure to get any easier against Arizona and its go-all-the-time offense, particularly since it didn't go so well the last time the Huskies faced an up-tempo team.
Of course, that was against arguably the fastest team in the country, No. 2 Oregon, which ran past them for a 52-21 victory.
Preparing for a no-huddle team and seeing one live should have helped the Huskies against Arizona, which had run more plays than all but one team before its bye week.
It didn't.
Snapping the ball almost as soon as the officials placed it, the Wildcats picked Washington's defense apart behind Carey's quick-burst running and Scott's pinpoint passing.
Scott set Pac-12 records for completions (45) and attempts (69) while throwing for 491 yards and three touchdowns in Arizona's 54-48 loss to Stanford two weeks ago.
The fifth-year senior didn't have to work quite as hard against Washington.
He opened by getting two Washington defenders to bite on a pump fake to set up a floating, 27-yard touchdown pass to David Richards.
Scott did it next with his legs, scoring on a 1-yard run, then his arm, finding Garic Wharton on a 33-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-3 to put Arizona up 24-3. He also had a quick answer to Washington's first touchdown — a 6-yard pass from Price to Austin Seferian-Jenkins — by hitting Hill on a 53-yard touchdown.
Scott's only real mistake came in the closing seconds of the first half, when he was hit, and his fluttering pass was picked off by Washington linebacker Travis Feeney at midfield. He rumbled to the 3-yard line, setting up Bishop Sankey's 1-yard touchdown run that cut Arizona's lead to 31-17 at halftime.
The miscue did little to slow the Wildcats down.
Arizona gained about 10 yards when the teams traded fumbles near midfield, and Hill followed with his second touchdown catch, sending Washington's Sean Parker to the turf with a wicked stiff-arm on his way to a 17-yard touchdown.
Morrison followed with his punt return touchdown, and Carey opened the fourth quarter with his touchdown run to put Arizona up 52-17 and send the fans on an exodus to the exits.
Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) went into its bye worn down and beaten up after three straight losses to ranked opponents.
Refreshed and mostly recuperated, the Wildcats had their way with Washington's defense from the opening drive, eclipsing 500 total yards (533) for the sixth time this season.
Scott finished 14 of 22, throwing two touchdowns to Austin Hill, and ran for another score. Carey scored on a 2-yard run, and Richard Morrison added a 63-yard touchdown on a punt return to give coach Rich Rodriguez his first Pac-12 win.
Washington (3-4, 1-3) had no chance against Arizona's fast-paced offense, and quarterback Keith Price had another so-so game in the Huskies' third straight loss.
Price matched Scott with 256 yards passing, but his line didn't look quite as good, needing 52 attempts to get there and with two interceptions to offset his one touchdown.
Washington played a brutal schedule the first half of the season, facing four teams in the top 11 of the AP poll. The Huskies were run over in two of those, on the road against LSU and Oregon, but beat Stanford and stayed close to USC last week despite four turnovers and a blocked punt.
It didn't figure to get any easier against Arizona and its go-all-the-time offense, particularly since it didn't go so well the last time the Huskies faced an up-tempo team.
Of course, that was against arguably the fastest team in the country, No. 2 Oregon, which ran past them for a 52-21 victory.
Preparing for a no-huddle team and seeing one live should have helped the Huskies against Arizona, which had run more plays than all but one team before its bye week.
It didn't.
Snapping the ball almost as soon as the officials placed it, the Wildcats picked Washington's defense apart behind Carey's quick-burst running and Scott's pinpoint passing.
Scott set Pac-12 records for completions (45) and attempts (69) while throwing for 491 yards and three touchdowns in Arizona's 54-48 loss to Stanford two weeks ago.
The fifth-year senior didn't have to work quite as hard against Washington.
He opened by getting two Washington defenders to bite on a pump fake to set up a floating, 27-yard touchdown pass to David Richards.
Scott did it next with his legs, scoring on a 1-yard run, then his arm, finding Garic Wharton on a 33-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-3 to put Arizona up 24-3. He also had a quick answer to Washington's first touchdown — a 6-yard pass from Price to Austin Seferian-Jenkins — by hitting Hill on a 53-yard touchdown.
Scott's only real mistake came in the closing seconds of the first half, when he was hit, and his fluttering pass was picked off by Washington linebacker Travis Feeney at midfield. He rumbled to the 3-yard line, setting up Bishop Sankey's 1-yard touchdown run that cut Arizona's lead to 31-17 at halftime.
The miscue did little to slow the Wildcats down.
Arizona gained about 10 yards when the teams traded fumbles near midfield, and Hill followed with his second touchdown catch, sending Washington's Sean Parker to the turf with a wicked stiff-arm on his way to a 17-yard touchdown.
Morrison followed with his punt return touchdown, and Carey opened the fourth quarter with his touchdown run to put Arizona up 52-17 and send the fans on an exodus to the exits.
the worst state for sports in America is Southern Alaska. Â The stench of losing and failure is overwelming and heanus. Â Everyone can smell it. Â Â Who wants to be a part of it? Â Nobody. Â Â Maybe next year.
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(sniff, sniff).......Is that heat from at least one hot seat I smell??????
"Heat" is not a smell, but in any case sniffing seats is kinda kinky.
@PilonidalCyst Experience knows best, cyst...
I'll take your word for it.
Go Ducks!
 @scared_citizen Yeah Go Ducks and the weakest schedule in the country. I mean really any team that plays the likes of Fresno State, Arkansas State and Tennessee Tech would be undefeated. And you wonder why you're #3 and on the outside looking in? Nobody wants you to play Alabama because everyone (except stuck up Duck fans) knows they'll lay 60 on you before you get a field goal, which will come against Alabama's Z Squad.Â
@PackersCougsBravesSounders LOL.....The Seahawks beat the Packers, EVERYONE beats the Cougs and you seem to consider yourself an in the know sports fan?Â
Best play of the game the stiff arm given to #1 on the dawgs, kind of sums up the Huskies season..
After Don James quit in disgrace, the corruption and organizational bankruptcy of the AD's office was finally exposed. The treated James' heir apparent like garbage, then lucked into Neuheisel via an underhanded scheme, a coach who could move that team forward, but for whatever reason smeared his reputation and ran him out of town after paying him an ungodly amount of money. They didn't get the message that Willingham had one lucky season at Stanford from seeing years of failure at Notre Dame, and brought him in anyway, for big money, primarily to prove how "enlightened" the program was. Another very expensive failure. Rather than taking stock of what the program is and where they want it to go, they threw money at it again and just hired expensive coaches. The Athletic Department have gunpowder burns up and down their arms, all over their hands and covering their face, and they still don't get it. Great, and even good, Division I programs are built, not bought. And they're built to play football, not to try to balance the scales of historical social injustice.
 @wysoumible James did not "quit in disgrace" as you say. He resigned because he felt betrayed by University President William Gerberding.
 @donner He resigned when an NCAA investigation revealed just how he won the national championship in 1991 - he cheated. And in doing that, he brought sanctions down on the team. He decided to leave the mess of 4 years of sanctions to someone else rather than manning up and cleaning it up himself. That's disgraceful.
....and I thought we fired Nick Holt.
@Sydthepiper But supposedly hired Superman to take his place..... Oh well.
Huskies lose again? Not a surprise. Price is WAY overrated. On the bright side for UW fans, WSU stinks too. Two way over paid coaches for what they do (or not).Â
The Huskies lost? Well thats a surprise. I moved here from AZ in 1997 when I was stationed at Ft Lewis and rooted for the Seahawks, the M's, and the Sonics. I have yet to see a winning team worth rooting for from UW. What little promise there was, Barbara Hedges destroyed when she fired Rick Neuheisel. For now, I will keep watching ASU. Huskies suck.
10 turnovers in 3 games for the UW QB Price. Â And he stays in and finishes the game tonight. Â Because...Sark wants to build his confidence? Â Fail Sark. Â Fail Price. Â Put in the backup QB. Â 'Produce or we replace you' should be the motto. Â Price's temper tantrums on the sidelines too are also extraordinary. Â And we let Montana slip away because this guy is our man? Â Huh?
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Next week vs. OSU, Price produces - great. Â He doesn't produce - put in the backup. Â UW goes to a bowl game - Sark gets another year. Â UW fails to make even the lowest rank of bowl games - Sark gets his golden parachute like all the other bigwig CEOs who do not get it done...and the current UW Athletic Director is given a probationary period. Â
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This is unacceptable and I can't imagine the Tyee and season ticket holders will put up with year number 12 (or so it seems) of crappy football from a once reputable team.
It doesn't matter who the Huskies play at QB...Crichton and Wynn will throw him around like a rag doll next week.
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And given what I saw from the UW secondary yesterday, Cooks and Wheaton could have career best days.