TEMPE, Ariz._Down go the Dawgs.
The No. 5 Huskies were hapless on offense, unrecognizable on defense and appalling on special teams in a stunning 13-7 loss to Arizona State late Saturday night, putting a major dent in Washington's push for another College Football Playoff berth.
Add another chapter to Washington's strange history of desert debacles.
Jake Browning was foiled again by the Sun Devils' blitz-happy defense. Five times Arizona State sacked the Huskies quarterback, who was often running in the wrong direction attempting to flee from a relentless pass rush.
Washington has lost seven in a row in Tempe_its last win here was in 2001 _ and 13 of its past 14 games in the state of Arizona. Something strange always seems to happen to the Huskies in this neighborhood, and this listless showing by the UW offense was as puzzling as anything that's happened in the Chris Petersen era.
Inexplicably, it came against an Arizona State defense that came into the game ranked 120th in the nation and 127th in yards per play allowed. UW came into the game average 44.0 points per game, tied for first in the Pac-12.
Browning finally got the Huskies on the scoreboard with 5:32 left in the game when he surged in from 1 yard out. That cut ASU's lead to 13-7.
But the Sun Devils sealed the victory by driving to the UW 7-yard line after Manny Wilkins completed an improbable pass on fourth-and-three to CJ French-Love for a 30-yard gain. At the end of the play, UW cornerback Jordan Miller suffered a left leg injury and had to be carted off the field.
Wilkins took a knee three times to end it.
The Sun Devils, coming off a bye week, sacked Browning three times in the first half and held the Huskies to 42 yards of offense on 20 first-half plays.
The Huskies had just 12 net yards on their first 13 plays of the game. And just when it looked like things couldn't get worse, they did when junior left tackle Trey Adams exited with an apparent right-knee injury late in the first quarter. He did not return.
Arizona State scored on its first possession, driving 63 yards on 16 plays and taking a 7-0 lead after Kalen Ballage's 1-yard touchdown run.
UW's defense, to its credit, buckled down after that, keeping the score within reach the rest of the game.
UW's special teams, on the other hand, were unusually bad. Joel Whitford had a punt blocked early in the second quarter, which set up an Arizona State field goal to extend its lead to 10-0.
Brandon Ruiz added a second field goal, from 25 yards, to give the Sun Devils a 13-0 lead at halftime.
His counterpart, UW redshirt freshman Van Soderberg, missed both of his field-goal attempts, two chip shots from 27 and 21 yards.
His second miss, in the final minute of the third quarter, hit the right upright in front of Arizona State's student section. It came after Petersen decided not to go for it on fourth-and-two from the ASU 4-yard line.
Browning appeared out of sorts most of the night. He never had much time to throw, particularly after Adams went down, and the UW offense too often faced third-and-long situations. He finished 17 of 30 for 139 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, and the Huskies were held to a season-low 230 yards of offense.
