Instant observations from UW Huskies’ mistake-filled loss to Rutgers

The UW Huskies’ first Big Ten road trip was a horror show of self-inflicted mistakes.

Recap | Box score

The Huskies outgained Rutgers 521-299 in total yardage, but were undone by a barrage of back-breaking penalties, missed field goals and blown red-zone opportunities in a 21-18 loss to the Scarlet Knights on Friday night. UW mounted a late rally, but Grady Gross’ 55-yard field-goal attempt as time expired sailed wide left and the Huskies fell to 3-2 with another crushing defeat.

It was all very reminiscent of their 24-19 Apple Cup loss to the WSU Cougars two weeks ago, when they struggled in red-zone situations and racked up a whopping 135 penalty yards.

Here are five things that stood out from the Huskies’ loss to Rutgers:

• Back-breaking penalties extend two Rutgers TD drives: The story of the game was UW’s slew of crippling penalties, and none was bigger than the game-swinging gaffe in the final minute of the first half. The Huskies appeared to come away with a massive stop when Lance Holtzclaw blocked a 38-yard field-goal attempt with 30 seconds left to keep it a 7-3 game. However, after the kick was blocked, UW redshirt freshman safety Vincent Holmes briefly ran onto the field to celebrate. That resulted in an illegal substitution penalty that wiped away the block and gave Rutgers an automatic first down. On the very next play, the Scarlet Knights took advantage of the extra opportunity with a 15-yard TD pass that gave them a 14-3 halftime lead. Another drive-extending penalty occurred early in the fourth quarter, when UW defensive lineman Jayvon Parker was called for a facemask that nullified a second-down tackle for loss. Instead of facing a third-and-long, Rutgers got an automatic first down and went on to mount a 10-play, 85-yard TD drive that stretched its lead to 21-10.

• Costly penalties kill scoring chances on offense: The parade of back-breaking penalties burned UW on offense too. The Huskies totaled a combined 160 yards on their first three drives, but came away with just three points to show for it, largely because of ill-timed flags. On their opening possession, the Huskies drove inside the Rutgers 40-yard line, but a late hit by center D’Angalo Titialii pushed them into a second-and-long they couldn’t recover from. On their second possession, the Huskies marched 69 yards into the red zone, but a first-down false start put them behind the sticks and they ended up settling for a field goal. And on their third possession, a third-down conversion on a short pass to Giles Jackson was wiped away by an illegal low-block penalty on running back Cameron Davis. That pushed the Huskies into a third-and-long and forced them to settle for a 42-yard field-goal attempt, which Gross hooked wide left.

• Red-zone woes continue: Two weeks ago in the Apple Cup, the Huskies totaled 452 yards and finished with just 19 points. In that loss, they snapped the ball inside the WSU 30-yard line on five different possessions and came away with just 12 points combined on those drives. It was an eerily similar story Friday night against Rutgers. The Huskies totaled 521 yards, but finished with just 18 points. And once again, despite snapping the ball inside the Rutgers 30-yard line on five separate possessions, they scored just 10 points combined on those drives. The aforementioned penalty issues were a major part of that. There also was a turnover on downs early in the second half when the Huskies had a second-and-goal from the 3-yard line before failing to reach the end zone on a run play and back-to-back incompletions from quarterback Will Rogers. In addition, on a third-and-3 from the 4-yard line in the first quarter, there was an apparent miscommunication between Rogers and Jackson on a fade route to the end zone, which resulted in an incompletion that forced UW to settle for a field goal. That was the only made field goal for the usually reliable Gross, who had a rough night with misses from 37, 42 and 55 yards.

• Defense struggles on third down: For the most part, UW’s defense did a pretty good job of keeping reigning Big Ten rushing leader Kyle Monangai in check on early downs and forcing Rutgers into third-and-long situations. That should have played into the Huskies’ favor, given their talent in the secondary and the Scarlet Knights being a ground-heavy team. However, UW’s defense surrendered three third-down conversions on third-and-8 or longer in the first half – all of which occurred on Rutgers TD drives. The Huskies also had a chance to stop Rutgers on a third-and-4 in the fourth quarter, but backup running back Samuel Brown V took a handoff up the middle and broke a tackle on his way to a 37-yard TD run that gave the Scarlet Knights a 21-10 lead with less than 11 minutes to go. Rutgers converted 7 of 15 third downs, while UW went just 2 of 12.

• Coleman, Boston have big nights: Lost in all of the Huskies’ miscues were big performances from star running back Jonah Coleman and leading receiver Denzel Boston. Coleman rushed for 148 yards on 16 carries for an average of 9.3 yards per attempt. He had several impressive runs, including gains of 39 and 35 yards. Boston, meanwhile, finished with six catches for 125 yards and two TDs – all of which came in the final 20 minutes of the game. The sophomore wideout had a 51-yard catch-and-run TD in the third quarter and kept their hopes alive in the final minutes with a juggling 30-yard reception on fourth down, followed by a 12-yard scoring grab. It was the second big game in a row for Boston, who had seven catches for 121 yards and two TDs in last week’s win over Northwestern.

More on the UW Huskies

• How Bruener overcame injury to star in Dawgs’ first Big Ten win
• UW Insider: Three things to know – including injury updates
• Huskies ‘defend every blade of grass’ in defensive masterpiece
• Instant observations from UW’s first Big Ten win
• UW Huskies thump Northwestern 24-5 in Big Ten debut

Follow @CameronVanTil