SEATTLE — The Junior Adams Era got off to a sizzling start.
In John Donovan’s last game before being fired as UW’s offensive coordinator last weekend, the Huskies managed seven first downs in a 26-16 loss to Oregon.
In Adams’ first game as UW’s interim offensive coordinator on Saturday, the Huskies gained eight first downs — to go along with 97 total yards — in their first two drives against Arizona State.
There were empty sets. There was misdirection. There were multiple quarterbacks (but more on that later). There were inventive trick plays and run-pass options and tosses outside the tackles.
Most important, there were touchdowns, too.
Just not enough.
After bolting out to a 14-0 lead, Washington (4-6) fell to Arizona State (7-3), 35-30.
As redshirt freshman running back Cameron Davis plunged ahead to cap UW’s opening drive with a 3-yard score, quarterback Dylan Morris pulled out a spinning fist pump. Roughly five minutes later, Morris paid off a 67-yard march by beating a Sun Devil defender to the pylon for a second 3-yard score.
“We did better on the offensive side of the ball this week,” UW left tackle Jaxson Kirkland said. “But I still think we can push over that mountain and get to that really elite level. We showed in that first half that we could get stuff done.”
But after Morris got enough done to lead UW to back-to-back game-opening touchdown drives, the Huskies made a quarterback change.
Five-star freshman Sam Huard received two first-half drives Saturday — resulting in eight plays, 14 yards and a pair of punts. It didn’t help that said drives started at UW’s 5- and 6-yard lines, or that his first drive was essentially extinguished when the ball slipped out of his hands for a 7-yard loss. He finished with three drives on the night.
Morris completed 16 of 27 passes for 151 yards with a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown and a key interception, while Huard went 3 of 6 for 20 yards.
Afterward, UW acting head coach Bob Gregory said Huard’s role was expanded because “we think the guy can throw the ball well and take a little bit of the pressure off D-Mo.” He added that the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Huard will “probably” play in just one more game this season to preserve his redshirt.
In the first half, Arizona State outgained UW, 200-148.
But the Huskies entered the locker room with a 17-7 lead.
That’s thanks to a UW defense that made a critical goal-line stand with 8:18 left in the second quarter, as outside linebacker Bralen Trice chased down ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels for his first career sack (and his first of two on the night). It’s thanks to comprehensively effective special-teams play — featuring a punter in Race Porter who bombed boots of 61 and 73 yards; a receiver in Giles Jackson who ripped off 43- and 40-yard kick returns; and a kicker in Peyton Henry who sat through a pair of Arizona State timeouts, then drilled a 37-yard field goal through the rain to end the half on a high.
It’s most certainly not thanks to a typically tepid run defense that surrendered 137 rushing yards and 6 yards per carry in the first two quarters. Arizona State finished with 286 rushing yards, 5 yards per carry and three rushing scores.
“We’ve been getting worn down a little bit and we’ve got to be able to stop the run when we need to. Yeah, it’s pretty obvious,” Gregory said.
Obvious to diagnose. Difficult to address.
Plus, a pair of third-quarter mistakes threatened to derail the Dawgs. Davis failed to field a toss from Morris with 8:11 left in the quarter, and defensive end Tyler Johnson returned the fumble 32 yards to the 9-yard line. ASU running back Rachaad White rumbled in for a 5-yard score two plays later, narrowing the deficit to 17-14.
Then, after it appeared UW was forced to punt, Porter instead took off and was trucked at the Husky 39-yard line — 1 yard shy of a would-be first down.
But Alex Cook made sure the Sun Devils couldn’t capitalize. Three plays after the failed fake, the Husky safety (and former wide receiver) snatched a tipped pass and returned the interception 36 yards, barreling through bodies before finally falling.
Which is when Davis ran his way to redemption. After fumbling earlier in the quarter, the redshirt freshman running back gained 46 yards on seven consecutive carries. Kamari Pleasant added a 5-yard run and a 1-yard score.
But, trailing 24-14, Arizona State answered with a mercilessly methodical 20-play, 81-yard, nine-minute march, ending in a 4-yard Daniels scramble touchdown with 5:46 left. The drive could have — should have? — ended at the ASU 46-yard line, when linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala met White in the backfield on fourth-and-one … only for the redshirt senior running back to bounce off a tackle attempt for a 3-yard gain. It should have ended again on third-and-16 from the ASU 43-yard line, when Daniels hit White along the sideline for 18 yards.
After Morris and Co. went three-and-out, the UW defense failed to make another potentially game-saving fourth-down stop. On fourth-and-one from UW’s 47-yard line, White fell forward for just enough. He also capped an eight-play, 56-yard drive consisting exclusively of running plays for the 10-yard go-ahead score, giving ASU a 28-24 lead with 1:11 left.
White finished with 184 rushing yards, 5.8 yards per carry and two touchdowns, while Daniels completed 10 of 16 passes for 90 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and added 56 rushing yards and another score as well.
