No. 4 Huskies escape Utah with 31-24 win over No. 17 Utes
Oct 29, 2016, 4:26 PM | Updated: 7:13 pm
DANTE PETTIS! 🔥🔥🔥
— UW Football (@UW_Football) October 29, 2016
Pettis runs it back 58-yards for a Washington touchdown. #PurpleReign
Watch: @FS1 https://t.co/Wkl8LWbQfI
The Washington Huskies passed their toughest test yet.
No. 4 UW escaped Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday with a 31-24 victory over the No. 17 Utah Utes, with Dante Pettis’ explosive 58-yard punt return for a touchdown in the final quarter being the decisive blow.
With the game tied at 24, the Huskies were able to push Utah into punting from deep in its own territory inside the final 4 minutes. Pettis took the 55-yard punt at the UW 42, broke a pair of tackles and got some blocks to find their sideline, and he raced to the end zone to give Washington the lead.
Utah didn’t give in quite yet, though.
Starting at its own 36, running back Joe Williams provided 19 yards on two runs, and former UW quarterback Troy Williams completed a pair of passes to get the Utes all the way to Washington’s 26. The Husky defense put a stop to any Utes hopes there, though, with Keishawn Bierria leading the charge on a sack that caused a fumble and put Utah back at the 35. Troy Williams then couldn’t find a receiver in the end zone on fourth down, giving the Huskies the ball back with 43 seconds left, enough to run out the clock even with two Utah timeouts.
UW jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half thanks to a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Myles Gaskin and 16-yard pass from Jake Browning to John Ross for the first of two scores by the duo. Ross now has 11 receiving touchdowns this season.
Utah came back with 17 unanswered points, though, to take a three-point lead with 8:17 left in the third quarter. It was just the third time all season the Huskies had trailed, the other two times being 7-0 and 14-7 in their Week-4 game at Arizona.
Washington answered big on its next drive, marching 75 yards downfield on six plays and eventually scoring on a 5-yard pass from Browning to Ross. The story of the drive, however, was Gaskin, who reeled off back-to-back runs of 16 and 26 yards to get UW in Utah territory.
The Huskies added a 41-yard Cameron Van Winkle field goal early in the fourth quarter to push their lead to seven points, but Utah came back with a seven-play, 75-yard drive culminating with a 24-yard Evan Moeai touchdown reception from Troy Williams to tie the game.
UW continues Pac-12 play on the road next week at Cal.
Turning point: You might think Dante Pettis’ 58-yard punt return is a no-brainer here, but that play doesn’t happen if not for – wait for it – Jake Browning’s pooch punt to the Utah 1-yard line. That’s right, the Huskies’ Hesiman-candidate quarterback pinned the Utes as deep as possible in their own territory with a punt in the fourth quarter. The UW defense stood tall over the next three plays, setting Pettis up for his thrilling return that put the Huskies ahead for good.
Biggest takeaway: The Huskies are unquestionably the team to beat in the Pac-12 after going on the road and defeating the highest-ranked team from the conference besides themselves. The offensive line showed that it deserves some recognition, leading the way in a big third quarter for Myles Gaskin against an impressive Utah front seven. The defense held red-hot Utah running back Joe Williams to less than 5 yards per carry (172 yards on 35 carries) and came up big with the Utes threatening on the final drive of the game to prevent overtime, hammering quarterback Troy Williams for a sack on third down and then smothering the Utah wide receivers in the end zone on fourth down.
Player of the game: Gaskin made the most of his 19 carries, rushing for 151 yards, a touchdown and an average of 7.9 yards per attempt. Furthermore, he and the offensive line put the team on their backs in a big drive in the third quarter that served as an answer to Utah taking the lead for the first – and only – time in the game.
Passing grades: Jake Browning had a quiet day against a frenzied Utah defense, but he was still plenty efficient. He completed 12 of 20 attempts for 186 yards, two touchdowns (both to John Ross) and a rare interception. That was just his third pick of the season, which looks awfully good next to his total of 28 touchdowns.
On the ground: Gaskin wasn’t the only Husky to find success carrying the ball behind the UW line on Saturday. Lavon Coleman added 60 yards on eight carries for a 7.5 average, including a long run of 23. On the day, the Huskies had 199 yards on 36 carries for a 5.5 average.
