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Articles
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Reggie is one way to skin a 'Cat 'Cats dealt 4 sevens, 1 in each quarter, but Dawgs win By: Richard Linde, Posted 14 October 2002
Gunslingers Cody Pickett and Jason Johnson dueled evenly for most of the show. The brilliant supporting cast included wide receivers Reggie Williams of Washington and Bobby Wade of Arizona. On a beautiful, sunny day at Husky Stadium, they played to the script of "Duel in the Sun," Cody playing Lewt and Jason playing Jesse. In the end, Lewt gunned down Jesse, even though Lewt (Pickett) was outgunned by Jesse (Johnson) by almost 100 yards passing, 443 to 345 yards. Pickett threw without an interception, and Johnson had one. Williams had 184 yards receiving on 8 receptions, and scored 3 touchdowns. The elusive, cat-like Wade had 155 yards receiving yards on 10 catches; he scored 2 touchdowns. In the end, it was Williams who stole the show--and he won the Oscar for player of the game. The Huskies seemed dead in the saddle before his 80-yard run, which jolted a disappointed Husky crowd. "Just about anytime, magic can happen with this offense," linebacker Ben Mahdavi was quoted as saying. Neither team ran the ball effectively, and that was especially disappointing to Dawg fans, since Arizona came into the game ranked last in Pac-10 rushing defense, giving up an average of 175 yards per game; the Huskies got less than half of that on the ground, 82 net yards. Going into the game, the Wildcats had lost 12 of their last 14 games played in the Pacific 10 conference. And, by all means, they were no gimme. Johnson, out of Puyallup, passed with impunity against a Husky defense, which fans booed at times. Call them Don James' fair-weather holdovers. College football has changed markedly since James coached the Huskies, and there is a whole lot of parity goin' on in the Pac. Unfortunately, for the coaches and players, some Husky fans haven't caught on yet. Due to the 85-player scholarship limit, each team in the Pac-10 is going to have an off-year from time to time. Considering Washington's porous pass defense (111th in the nation) and its anemic rushing attack (107th in the nation), it may be the youthful Huskies' turn this season. We'll know more about that when the Dawgs take to the road and play USC next Saturday. As Ted Miller of the Seattle P-I writes this morning, "The disconcerting reality: The toughest part of the schedule is ahead. The Huskies' remaining six opponents are a combined 29-10; three are nationally ranked and two others have been at some point. Four of the final six games are away from Husky Stadium, where the UW has lost five of its past six." The youthful Huskies may be riding a teeter-totter. Of those six remaining opponents, the teetering Huskies--who may be tottering after next week's game against USC--look capable of beating OSU, and, perhaps, ASU. The rest (Oregon, UCLA, USC and WSU) will be toughies to win for a team that is one-dimensional, on both offense and defense. Thus far, the Dawgs have put the kibosh on opposing teams' rushing attacks and, as of last week, were second in the Pac-10 in that category. They allowed just 24 rushing yards against Arizona; stopping the run was one of their goals going into the game. In reality, nobody is going to stop Bobby Wade in Pac-10 play, so maybe the Dawgs' future is not so bleak looking. Right now, as far as the next six games go, I'd settle for a split--a 7-5 season say. Ben Mahdavi on playing in the Pac-10. "You better be up for the game or you are going to lose it."
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Wide
receiver Reggie Williams snatched a win from the jaws of Husky defeat by
catching a short pass from Cody Pickett and then racing 80 yards for a
touchdown, with a little over 2 minutes left in the game played in Seattle against the Arizona Wildcats. Washington took a four-point
lead and hung on to win, 32-28. Of Rick Neuheisel’s 30 wins at Washington, 14
have been fourth-quarter come from behind wins.