Hat's off to Ohio State for sticking to it's game plan, and wearing a young University of Washington team down enroute to victory. Washington had their chances, but you can't make mistakes against the tenth ranked team in the country, and Washington kept making them all day long. The Huskies had four turnovers, a couple of dropped interceptions, and some ill timed penalties which sealed their doom on a day that the mighty Buckeyes were very beatable.
Washington led 7-3 at the half, but could have of blown the Buckeyes out if they hadn't fumbled at the five yard line on one drive, and dropped a couple of key interception opportunities deep in Buckeye territory.
The two quick touchdowns, which followed a long Washington drive that ended up scoreless at the OSU 19, turned a 7-3 UW lead into a 17-7 deficit with 8:57 left in the third quarter. The Buckeyes' hold on the game was never seriously threatened again.
Ryan Perkins had another field goal blocked at the conclusion of that drive, and a long Boeckman pass to Brian Robiskie two plays later for a 68-yard catch-and-run touchdown put the Buckeyes ahead 10-3. On the kickoff Curtis Shaw fumbled the kickoff, giving Ohio State the ball at the Huskies' 25. Two plays later, Wells ran 14 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-7.
Washington at this point was forced to play catchup with the Buckeyes suddenly in control. Washington did try to come back, but a drive to the Ohio State 23 late in the third quarter ended when middle linebacker James Laurinaitis picked off a Locker pass, his second of the game, confusing the UW quarterback by dropping back into coverage after faking a blitz.
At that point the game the depth and experience of the Buckeyes took over and Washington never seriously challenged again even though they scored a late TD, but OSU was able to tack another score on to end the game in garbage time.
The key to the game was the OSU defense, and Washington mistakes. Washington needed to play a clean game against the Buckeyes to win, and put them on their heals early. The Huskies didn't get it done early, and the patient Buckeyes finally broke them down in the third quarter when the Huskies continued making crucial errors.
UW should bounce back from this, they are a good young football team, but it is unfortunate that they didn't take advantage of what was given to them yesterday. Chalk this loss up to being a painful lesson of youth, but someday in the near future this team will look back on a day like this and use those lessons to beat more powerful opponents.
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Tough one to listen to! So close in so many ways, but the gist of your post is correct. The better team won. So much would have been different without the mistakes, but we made them and it was disappointing .
On to next week though and another game that's looking a lot more winnable than I thought it would be during preseason. I found it hard to believe the score of the Utah/UCLA game. It sounds like their O-line is hurting a bit and I think we'll need the extra pressure that some inexperienced Bruins might allow us.
It's always tough at the Rose Bowl, but this team has a lot of fight left in it. I like the way they play, even with the mistakes. The potential is there, but it's tough watching some of them grow up under fire.
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