Washington quarterback Keith Price made this touchdown pass in the first quarter despite being under pressure. Photo by Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Arizona’s lack of a passing game was exposed, as B.J. Denker completed only 14 of 35 throws in a 31-13 loss to Washington on a rainy night in Seattle.
Denker frequently missed his targets high, on those occasions when his receivers created a glimmer of separation from defenders. Denker often looked harried and confused, passing for just 119 yards. TV cameras twice caught coach Rich Rodriguez laying into Denker on the sideline after a mistake.
Arizona was still in it, trailing 25-13 and at the Washington 42, when Denker forced a throw into traffic on first-and-10. It was picked off and returned to the Washington 41, and the Huskies drove down for a game-securing touchdown.
The Wildcats got 132 rushing yards on a career-high 30 carries from Ka’Deem Carey, but Washington never had to respect the passing game and loaded the box to make Carey earn every inch and not giving him game-breaking runs. Carey also caught four passes for 49 yards.
Washington, ranked 16th, moves to 4-0 overall, 1-0 in the Pac-12. Arizona is 3-1, 0-1.
The Cats, who were coming off a bye, are off again this week and next play at USC on Thursday, Oct. 10.
* * *
Start the bus. Arizona is stuffed on fourth-and-1 from its 38 with 2:19 to go.
* * *
Javelle Allen replaces B.J. Denker with 3:31 to go. His first career pass misses the mark by a mile on a sprint-out.
* * *
Washington is putting this one on ice. Jesse Callier scores on a 2-yard run with 3:34 to go to push the lead to 31-13. The Wildcats hung around, but the lack of a passing game cost UA while the Huskies’ attack found its second-half stride.
* * *
This doesn’t look good. Senior linebacker Jake Fischer needs helped off the field as he is unable to put any weight on his right leg. He tore the ACL in his right knee in spring 2011.
* * *
A tough passing game for B.J. Denker just got tougher. Denker scrambles near the left sideline, throws late, across his body, back toward the middle of the field. The pass is broken up and picked off by the Huskies at their 41 with 7:36 to play.
* * *
When Rich Rodriguez talks about how “hungry” Ka’Deem Carey runs, he’ll use this Washington game tape as Exhibit A.
* * *
The Arizona defense gets a stop, giving the ball back to the offense, albeit at the UA 9, with 10:49 to play. Washington leads 25-13, but we’ve seen strange endings in Husky Stadium haven’t we?
* * *
Arizona not well-equipped to pass in obvious passing situations. B.J. Denker is not particularly patient today, and the receivers aren’t exactly wide open. A pass interference penalty on Washington gives UA hope but its drive ends in an incompletion on fourth-and-10 from the UW 41 with about 13 minutes to go.
* * *
On the final play of the third quarter, Ka’Deem Carey goes past 100 yards rushing. Yawn. He’s done that 11 times in his past 12 games.
* * *
Washington fakes out the Arizona defense on a play-action, with Keith Price going deep to a wide-open Kevin Smith for 49 yards to the UA 22. The Husky Stadium crowd is energized again and then roars one more when Bishop Sankey finishes off the drive with a 1-yard plunge.
The Huskies have marched 95 and 90 yards on two second-half possessions, overcoming illegal block penalties on both kickoffs.
UW leads 25-13 with 1:25 to go in the third quarter.
* * *
Makes sense for UA to go four it on fourth-and-10 from the Washington 35 … and the Cats slip Ka’Deem Carey out of the backfield for a 24-yard gain as B.J. Denker puts a lot of touch on the pass down field. Arizona keeps on moving and scores on a fake reverse as Denker keeps the ball, headed to the left corner of the end zone and he pushes his way into the end zone.
Arizona answers Washington with a TD, so it’s 18-13 with 5:14 to play in the third quarter.
The offenses have picked up; lots of grit on both sides. Looks like we’re headed for a good finish.
* * *
Washington had a great start to the game … and now has the drive it needed at the beginning of the second half. The Huskies capped a 14-play, 95-yard drive — during which Bishop Sankey bulldozed FS Jourdon Grandon during a 17-yard run — with a 1-yard pass to Austin Seferian-Jenkins.
Huskies lead 18-6 with 10:19 to go in the third quarter.
* * *
Arizona shut out Washington TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins in the first half, but he catches a 20-yarder over the middle on the first drive of the second half as the Huskies cross midfield.
* * *
B.J. Denker is only 7 of 18 for 42 yards, with an interception, in the first half.
Washington’s Keith Price is 4 of 12 for 39 yards and an interception.
Call it a forgettable draw.
* * *
Here is the battle of running backs: Ka’Deem Carey has 17 carries for 75 yards. Bishop Sankey has 23 rushes for 101 yards.
* * *
Arizona gets a game-changing touchdown with six seconds left before halftime. UA goes 84 yards on 14 plays, with the big moment coming when B.J. Denker made a good read on the option, pulling the ball back from Ka’Deem Carey on fourth-and-2 and sprinting 33 yards to the Washington 3.
Three plays later, Carey bulled his way into the end zone with six seconds before halftime.
Jake Smith missed the extra point, though — another special teams miscue — leaving the score at an unlikely 11-6 at the break.
Washington will get the ball to start the second half.
* * *
Pass interference penalty on Washington, on third down, gives UA a chance to score before halftime. UA at its 46 with 1:14 to go.
* * *
B.J. Denker scrambles and throws it away on third down, bringing on UA’s sixth punt of the game. Rich Rodriguez grabs Denker before he leaves the field and is as hot as I’ve ever seen him on the sideline. Denker, whose decision-making is supposed to be a strength, doesn’t seem to be reading the game well.
* * *
Arizona’s defense holds on fourth-and-4 from its 35 with about six minutes left, as the Wildcats are still very much in the game, trailing 11-0, despite a miserable offensive game. With the rain easing, perhaps UA can find its football and get on the scoreboard before halftime.
* * *
Arizona does put together its best drive of the drive — six drives for 34 yards (hey, I didn’t say it was a great drive) — before sending out Drew Riggleman to punt again. RichRod has him rugby punt into the wind, but the kick is so low that it travels just 14 yards before hitting a UA player at the Washington 45.
And another attempt to flip field position fails.
I’m just not as big a fan of the rugby punt as Rodriguez continues to be.
* * *
Jared Tevis just misses a pick-six along the sideline, as he steps in front of TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins. He breaks up the pass, though, and the defense forces a punt as it continues to do its job; now the offense needs to string together a few first downs to at least get out of a field-position hole.
(Or maybe Ka’Deem Carey will find just enough of the kind of opening he needs to break a long one.)
* * *
At the 12:43 mark of the second quarter, Arizona completes its first pass (insert sarcastic exclamation point).
* * *
At the 13:12 mark of the second quarter, Arizona picks up a first down (insert sarcastic exclamation point).
* * *
Washington adds on a 40-yard field goal by Travis Coons with 14:11 to go in the second quarter. The Huskies have 11 points. The Wildcats have 11 yards.
* * *
More weather-related follies: UA punter Drew Riggleman lets a high-but-catchable punt snap go through his hands as he stands in the end zone. The ball goes out of the back of the end zone for a safety and an 8-0 Washington lead with 22 seconds to go.
The punt came after UA’s fifth consecutive three-and-out. UA’s best chance for a first down came on a third-down pass that slipped through Johnny Jackson’s fingers.
More trouble after the safety: Arizona’s kickoff is returned 49 yards by Kasen Williams to the UA 28, putting UW in position to extend the lead early in the second quarter.
* * *
Arizona’s defense is holding, but the Cats are slowly losing the field-position battle. Washington pins Arizona at its 7 to start its fifth drive.
* * *
Cats discombobulated on offense, gets a delay-of-game penalty on first down coming out of a timeout, as B.J. Denker tried to change the play. Four possessions so far for UA, no first downs.
* * *
Dan Pettinato makes his season debut with about seven minutes left in the first quarter. He missed spring ball and the first three games because of a knee injury.
* * *
Arizona’s first three possessions: 9 plays, 9 yards, 1 INT.
* * *
Right tackle Fabbians Ebbele, who was questionable because of an ankle injury, has played the past two series, with Lene Maiava moving over to right guard. No immediate word if RG Cayman Bundage suffered an early injury.
* * *
Arizona gets back the turnover, as cornerback Shaq Richardson picks off Keith Price on a pass over the middle. That’s the seventh swipe of the season UA, which had 12 all of last season. UA starts drive at its own 45.
* * *
B.J. Denker gets jittery in the pocket on the second possession, tries, unsuccessfully, to scramble on third down and is dropped for a sack. The Huskies have bottled up Cats on the first six plays. This is what Arizona fans feared would happen when UA finally saw a good defense.
* * *
WR David Richards did make his season debut on the first series. RichRod hopes to get about 20 to 25 plays out of him today.
* * *
In the non-conference season, Arizona was clean in terms of turnovers and penalties, but the early interception, followed by a dead-ball personal foul on Jourdon Grandon … followed by a staying-alive 7-yard touchdown pass from Keith Price to Kevin Smith gives Washington a 6-0 lead with 12:44 to go in the first quarter.
The Huskies botch the PAT try, so that’s something for Arizona.
* * *
B.J. Denker entered the game with no interceptions in the first three games, spanning 55 throws. But his first attempt today, on third-and-long in the rain, sails high over the middle and is intercepted.
* * *
Rich Rodriguez in his pregame interview on FOX, regarding weather/crowd noise: “We have to embrace the adversity.”
* * *
Here’s one more thing to watch: Arizona has been penalized only 10 times through three games. Washington entered this week tied for last nationally with 12.0 penalties per game.
* * *
In case you didn’t see this earlier, Arizona recruits Cameron Denson and Brandon Dawkins are having great senior seasons.
* * *
Arizona’s uniform combination is red helmets, white jerseys and red pants. That’s a new combo (well, at least since the late 1970s). The Cats wore all red last year vs. ASU and went red-blue-red in the New Mexico Bowl.
* * *
Copper, blue, white and now red.
The Arizona Wildcats will be wearing their red helmets for the first time this season after re-introducing the color last season for the first time since 1980.
Arizona donned the red helmets in the regular-season finale against Arizona State (a 41-34 loss) and again in the New Mexico Bowl (a 49-48 victory).
But the Cats’ helmets are only the second sartorial storyline of today’s matchup.
Washington is set to debut its super-shiny chrome gold helmets today … although it’s not like their will be a lot of sunshine to bounce off that crazily reflective surface.
* * *
Arizona’s defense was so bad last season that it’s impossible to pick the biggest thing that went wrong. Among the worst-of possibilities is how UA defended against elite tight ends.
That list includes Washington’s Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who had eight catches for 110 yards and a touchdown last season vs. the Cats. Seferian-Jenkins is a preseason first-team All-American.
“You’ve got to play physical, you’ve got to break on the ball, put pressure on the quarter — all those things,” coach Rich Rodriguez said.
* * *
A good anecdote from the Husky Insider blog at the Tacoma News-Tribune:
Washington quarterback Keith Price sent a text this week to Arizona linebacker Marquis Flowers, saying: “We got you this week.”
Flowers responded to his good friend by reminding him of his sack and forced fumble against Price in last year’s game.
“He sent me back a picture making me fumble,” Price said, laughing. “I thought it was pretty funny.”
* * *
Arizona won last year’s meeting against Washington 52-17, which UA coach Rich Rodriguez called “probably the most complete game we played.”
Can the Huskies have a big turnaround in just one season?
Of course.
Arizona won by 30 in Tucson in 2010, then lost in Seattle 42-31 in 2011 — a 41-point turnaround.
That’s nothing compared to what happened a couple of decades ago. The Wildcats lost 54-0 in Seattle in 1991 and then beat the top-ranked Huskies 16-3 in 1992 in one of the biggest wins in school history. That’s a 67-point reversal.
* * *
Prediction
Washington has been building toward this season, with senior quarterback Keith Price surrounded by loads of talent in an up-tempo offense (just like Matt Scott and Arizona last season).
Unless Price reverts to his turnover-prone ways of last season, when he often tried to do too much, the Huskies have too many weapons to be slowed for long. Coach Steve Sarkisian, whose team walloped Boise State in the opener, appears ready for a breakthrough in his fifth season, and he has to have this game heading into this stretch in the next three weeks — at Stanford, Oregon, at ASU.
The Wildcats, about 10-point underdogs, are a mystery team.
The play of the defense has been encouraging. They have more offense than they’ve shown so far, so Rodriguez could spring some surprises. But calling for an upset requires a lot of faith on very little evidence so far.
Washington 38, Arizona 24.
* * *
Pregame reading/listening:
Arizona-Washington: Five things to watch
QB B.J. Denker’s incredible journey to Pac-12 starter
Javier Morales looks at the five-best Arizona-Washington games
ESPN: A Q&A with Arizona safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant
Greg Hansen’s Mr. Football column at the Arizona Daily Star
Seattle Times: Huskies say they’ll be ready for Arizona’s read-option this year
Brad Allis at WildcatSportsReport.com has a pregame podcast breaking down the matchup