COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Huskies reach fifth loss of the season

After the game, Washington athletic director Scott Woodward was asked if he could understand how a school with Washington’s history and resources could go longer between wins than any of the other 118 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

“No,” he said. “It’s troubling.”

Neither coach Tyrone Willingham nor any of the other UW coaches and players had any better explanations for the latest loss.

“We could not get ourselves out of a hole to start,” Willingham said. “We had some terrible field position. … We got behind, and it was very difficult to get out.”

The game seemed to end almost before it started.

Arizona won the toss and deferred. Washington elected to receive, which meant the Huskies would spend the first quarter going into a constantly whipping wind.

Willingham said he considered the unconventional move of giving up possession in order to have his team start with the wind at its back.

But he didn’t, and the decision seemed to come back to bite him.

The first six possessions were played entirely in Washington territory. And by the time the Huskies finally got across midfield, they were down 10-0. By the time the first quarter ended they were down 17-0.

Washington cut it to 17-7 early in the second quarter – with the win at their backs. But Arizona (4-1 overall, 2-0 in the Pac-10) scored the next 31 points and dominated so throughout.

“We played a complete game on offense, defense and special teams,” Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. “We were very efficient and balanced. Our running backs were strong. (Quarterback) Willie Tuatara was excellent.”

Washington’s increasingly familiar result came despite a new cast of characters.

Redshirt freshman Ronnie Fouch made the first start of his career in place of the injured Jake Locker and completed 12 of 28 passes for 181 yards with one interception and one touchdown.

“We just didn’t capitalize on drives,” he said. “Some key third downs we just didn’t connect on a pass or a run. It just killed us early.”

Redshirt freshman Willie Griffin also got his first start, carrying three times for 21 yards. Eventually, the Huskies also went to true freshman tailback Terrance Dailey, who had 18 yards on three carries in his college debut.

And with leading receiver D’Andre Goodwin on the field for only one play due to a rib injury, the Huskies gave extra time to down-the-depth chart receivers such as Charles Hawkins, Tony Chidiac and eventually true freshman Cody Bruns, also making his college debut.

But all the runners totaled only 82 ground yards, and all the receivers managed only 181 air yards. It wasn’t near enough.

“We wanted to establish some type of run, but we struggled with that in the first half,” offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. “… I thought we could knock them off the ball. We had some size on them, but they had good quickness. There wasn’t a whole lot of area to run the football with one back or two back, and to give Ronnie the best chance to win we’ve got to be able to do that. … Because he’s good enough to win with. I thought he threw some nice balls tonight in some tough situations.”

The Huskies were subdued after the game, but they promised to keep trying, as they have after each of the losses in this string.

“It’s tough,” senior Mesphin Forrester said. “We’re 0-5 now, and I look back at my career here at UW and it’s not been too bright. It’s tough. It gets to you. But we have to find a way. We have seven more games. I was here for the 1-10 year my freshman year, and I don’t want nothing like that happening around here. We’ve got to go out and fight.”

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