A very questionable excessive celebration penalty on Washington's Jake Locker helped cost Washington the game in a loss to Brigham Young.
The game was headed to overtime after Locker scored from three yards out with only two seconds remaining when Jan Jorgensen busted through the line and blocked Ryan Perkins' 35-yard extra-point attempt with 2 seconds left in regulation, and No. 15 BYU held on to a 28-27 win over Washington on Saturday.
The celebration call was a complete joke because Locker wasn't excessively celebrating or taunting the opposition. The official ruling was spiking the ball behind his head after while he was getting back on his feet. What it looked like to everyone in the stadium was that he was just getting rid of the ball.
It was disapointing to see an even hard fought game end this way partially at the hands of the officials. Sure you expect the special teams to come through and make the kick anyway, but the way this one ended leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
For Washington it is another moral victory, but headed into the Oklahoma game 0-2 it is of little consolation. This game hurt and this team has to wonder when they are ever going to get a break late in a game.
Washington played well today sticking with a 15th ranked BYU team that had a very balanced offense. Max Hall and Harvey Unga are a couple of guys that are going to be starting in the NFL. The 230 pound Unga broke tackles all day and looked like he was wearing down Washington in the fourth quarter as he finished with 128 yards on 22 carries. Hall was 30-41 for 339 yards.
Washington was led by Jake Locker on offense who ran for 66 yards and was 17-32 for 203 through the air. Washington receivers played well today and were open most of the evening. Locker wasn't exactly sharp as he missed wide open receivers all day.
David Freeman replaced Chris Polk who went down with a shoulder injury in the first half. Freeman looked great as he picked up 28 yards on 6 carries. Willie Griffin also looked solid. Polk was pretty tetantive in the first half only gaining 15 yards on 6 carries. Freeman and Griffin seemed to run harder. Looks like the frosh from Inglewood may have won a starting job.
Kavario Middleton had another good game with four receptions at the TE spot. Middleton is a guy that is going to keep getting better every week. He is a big smooth target wh is going to be a big play guy.
Jordan Polk and Jermaine Kearse emerged as weapons this week, both of those guys had big plays. The highlight for Kearse was a 48 yard touchdown pass from Jake in the second quarter. Polk looked very nimble returning kicks and running routes.
Post Game Thoughts
BYU is a good squad but I stick with my earlier appraisal that they would be hard pressed to finish in the upper division of the Pac Ten. I don't think they will beat UCLA next weekend.
Is Oregon a better team than BYU. I would say definitely yes even though the Cougars will be rated higher than the Ducks this week. Oregon simply has better athletes. I don't think they would have a problem with BYU.
Washington was improved this week. A few of the younger players are starting to emerge and the teams seems to be playing better. One concern is stopping the run and getting pressure on the quarterback. Washington needs to tackle better and achieve better penetration.
Jake Locker wasn't accurate at all tonight. He missed a couple on a couple of deep balls where Goodwin had three steps on the defender. Jake needs to get his timing with his receivers down. He looked a lot better on the ground tonight but is stillnot 100%.
Mason Foster had another solid game today and picked off a key interception.
Darin Harris suffered a neck injury and was rushed to the hospital. The initial word is very good and he should see action next week. Kavario Middleton, Darion Jones, and Cody Habben all were dinged up a bit but returned to action during the game.
Tripper Johnson made a goal line stop on Harvey Unga and stripped the ball cusing a fumble robbing BYU of a go ahead touchdown.
Jared Ballman punted well today averaging 47.6 yards per punt with a long of 64.