Still ahead: Washington’s clearly been the superior squad, and Chris Polk has already rushed for 130 yards, but the Huskies haven’t been able to tack on any more points. There’s 12:01 left and the Huskies lead, 10-7.
Numbness starts to set in: I’m talking about my fingers. It’s a little chilly up here in the box. Wonder what the new press box will be like after the stadium improvements? The project got the go-ahead from UW regents earlier today. Here’s the story on the UW Website.
UW Leads: Washington got a FG on its first possession of the second half. It was a 9-play, 68-yard drive. UW 10, UCLA 7. Huskies were favored by 2.5 points so they’ve got it covered right now.
Halftime: 7-7. Locker capped an impressive drive with a 3-yard run. The drive was set up by a Cort Dennison interception. Washington’s maligned defense was starting to rise to the occasion against UCLA.
End of 1st Quarter: UCLA 7, UW 0. Not a good quarter for the Men in Black, though Locker ended it with an 11-yard run where he ran through and over about four UCLA defender. That was vintage Locker. Run, Jake, Run! When he has success running it, the Huskies are at their best on offense. We’ll see if they let him carry the rock a little more. There’s reason to hold anything back now. It’s not like they need to save him for Cal and WSU.
Yikes! Locker was nearly picked. He rolled left and threw a perfect pass to a UCLA defender, who dropped what might have been a ball he could have returned for an easy six. Locker was picked two plays later. Scrambling to his left, a pass for Devin Aguillar was intercepted by Evan Hester in front of the UCLA bench at the 31. UCLA doesn’t take advantage as Kai Forbath misses badly on a 44-yard FG attempt.
Ground Rick: UCLA just pounded out a 13-play 92-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead. Johnathan Franklin broke through a big hole the right side to score from 31 yards out. Just because you look faster in black uniforms, it doesn’t mean you tackle better.
Pregame: When ESPN decided to move tonight’s game to Thursday and put it on national television, they probably didn’t imagine that it would be matching a 3-6 Washington team against the 4-5 UCLA Bruins. No, they envisioned this game to be a showcase for a potential Heisman Trophy winner in Jake Locker and a Washington football team that seemed to be on the rise. And you never know what you’re going to get out of UCLA, but I’m sure they thought Rick Neuheisel’s Bruins would be better than they are.
But that was then, and this is now. Locker’s Heisman hopes were dashed long ago, and it’s still a meaningful game. The stakes aren’t all that high, but both teams still harbor bowl hopes.
And, yes, it’s officially a blackout. The Huskies are wearing black uniforms, the student body and most of the fans are in black and the end zones are black.
Here we go. It’s 35 degrees with an 8 mph wind. Chilly and it’s going to get chillier.
