Washington Huskies Offense Stumbles Again in 27-24 Loss to Minnesota Golden Gophers

SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team looked unprepared and overmatched for most of its Big Ten opener against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday at Husky Stadium.

The Huskies fell to 3-1 with the loss. It was a disappointing result for a team that begun the year ranked 17th in the country and considered a potential darkhorse for the College Football Playoff.

"I think that all our goals are still in front of us," UW third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. said after the game. "We have a whole lot of ball to play, a whole lot of good teams to play still. For us, I think that we have to use this game as a learning lesson and, go into the next week with a clear state of mind."

Washington's secondary was without starting cornerbacks Emmanuel Karnley and Rahshawn Clark. Both were listed as game-time decisions in the final injury report and both suited up for pregame warmups. Clark was limited to his punt and kick return duties whereas Karnley was held out of the game.

The shorthanded secondary, and the rest of the UW defense, was unable to provide any answer for Minnesota's offense and third-year quarterback Drake Lindsey in the first half.

The junior signal-caller finished the first 30 minutes of the game 15-for-16 for 125 yards and three touchdowns. It was the first time in his career he had three passing in the first half. Lindsey finished the game 21-for-29 for 204 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

"I thought they did a good job, shout out to them, but we just got to be better making our plays," UW linebacker Jacob Manu said in a postgame interview Saturday. "I feel like they did a good job of, when we were showing different coverages, running the ball. We just got to make our tackles and make those plays."

The Huskies were only able to muster one touchdown in the first half.

That score came via a 16-yard touchdown pass from Williams to second-year wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck with 13 minutes, nine seconds left in the first half.

Washington kicker Tyler Robles connected on a 33-yard field goal with 1:56 left in the first half, which cut Washington's deficit down to 21-10. The game went into halftime with the same score.

The defense was able to put together a better showing in the second half and limited the Gophers to a field goal. That kick came with 54 seconds left in the third quarter and bolstered Minnesota's lead to 24-10.

Washington's offense was unable to award its defense's persistence. The Huskies had four drives on offense in the fourth quarter and only mustered one first total first down. The last drive of the third ended in Williams' second interception of the game thrown to senior Gophers tight end John Nestor.

That pick gave Minnesota the ball back in Huskies territory, but the visitors were unable to cash in.

The Huskies offense showed its biggest signs of life in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-5 from the Gophers 15-yard line, Williams channeled former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and extended the play before finding second-year tight end Baron Naone in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. That pass and the subsequent extra points cut Minnesota's lead to 24-17.

A field goal bolstered the Gophers lead back to 10 with just under seven-and-a-half minutes to go in the game, but Washington was able to muster one last scoring drive.

Williams scored on a 13-yard quarterback keeper with 1:53 left in the game, which resulted in the eventual final of 27-24.

Unfortunately for UW, wasted seconds ended up coming back to bit them.

Before Williams' keeper, the Huskies had the opportunity to run one play in the end zone before the two-minute timeout, which would have given the Huskies two timeouts and an opportunity to get the ball with just over a minute left if it got the defensive stop on Minnesota's last possession.

Washington was late getting the substitution on the field and the game clock ran to the two-minute timeout before Williams' touchdown run.

The Huskies were able to get the stop against the Gophers on defense and got the ball back, but there wasn't enough time left on the board for Washington to have a realistic chance to drive

"We wanted to get a certain red zone play in," UW head coach Jedd Fisch said after the game. " ... We wound up subbing, and the sub came in way too late. And with that, then they got the hold, another 10 seconds (off the clock). That's my fault. Certain personnel group that I wanted in the game for that play so we wound up having to call it after the two-minute warning."

The Huskies will be looking to bounce back in their first road game of the year against the Southern California (USC) Trojans at 4:30 p.m. PT on Oct. 3 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.