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Originally published November 8, 2014 at 7:39 PM | Page modified November 9, 2014 at 8:48 PM

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‘Disappointing’ first half by Huskies paves way for UCLA to post a 44-30 victory

Three true freshmen start in defensive backfield for Huskies as UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley goes 29 for 36 for 302 yards


Seattle Times staff reporter

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UCLA’s Myles Jack took the handoff and ran left, delivered a violent stiff-arm to former Bellevue High teammate Budda Baker, spun out of Naijiel Hale’s attempted ankle tackle, tiptoed the sideline and surged into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown.

That, in a nutshell, summed up the night for Washington’s young defense.

Jack and the 18th-ranked Bruins jumped out to a 21-point halftime lead and held off the Huskies’ late rally en route to a 44-30 victory Saturday night before a crowd of 65,547 at Husky Stadium.

A tumultuous week for UW’s defense got even worse when star defensive end Hau’oli Kikaha, the nation’s sack leader, left the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. He did not return.

Without Kikaha’s pass rush, and without star cornerback Marcus Peters — kicked off the team by UW coach Chris Petersen on Wednesday — the Huskies (6-4, 2-4 Pac-12) were helpless to slow down Brett Hundley and the Bruins, especially early.

“The first half was extraordinarily disappointing,” Petersen said.

The Huskies had a similar slow start a week earlier at Colorado, but they were able to get it together in the second half for a comfortable victory. Nothing about this performance looked comfortable. UW tried to rally late against UCLA, getting a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from John Ross III and a 12-yard touchdown run from Dwayne Washington to pull to 41-27 early in the fourth quarter.

Those scores weren’t enough to overcome early miscues by UW’s depleted defense.

Hundley, UCLA’s junior quarterback, threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for two more scores. The Bruins, last in the Pac-12 in sacks allowed, gave up only one sack to UW — and that was by Kikaha on the play the UW senior hurt his shoulder on the first drive of the game.

After that, Hundley was free to sit in the pocket and pick apart the Huskies’ young secondary.

“I think we could all feel it, I think you guys probably felt it, that Hundley is a heck of a quarterback and when he can hang in there and not feel pressure, things change,” Petersen said. “That coupled with (UW) being young back there (in the secondary), it’s not a good combination for us at all.”

Hale made his starting debut for UW in Peters’ place. He was one of three true freshmen to start in the Huskies’ secondary.

UCLA already led 7-0 when Hundley delivered a 57-yard touchdown pass to Kenneth Walker III, giving the Bruins a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Hale and Baker, UW’s freshman free safety, appeared to have a mix-up on the play, leaving Walker wide open deep.

“We wanted to definitely play more zone (coverage) to try take some stress off those (young) guys,” UW defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said.

Shaq Thompson, UW’s star linebacker-turned-running back, played only limited snaps on defense, meaning the Huskies were without three of their most talented players on defense (including Kikaha and Peters).

“It is pretty frustrating,” UW senior nose tackle Danny Shelton said. “We are getting close to the end of the season and nobody is trying to lose, but that’s just the way it is sometimes. All we can do is just keep fighting.”

Jack helped UCLA to a 31-10 halftime lead with his long touchdown run in the second quarter, going through and around UW’s young defenders. Jack finished with 38 yards on four carries.

UCLA had 476 yards total offense to 366 for UW.

Dwayne Washington’s touchdown run early in the fourth quarter offered a glimmer of hope, but UCLA (8-2, 5-2) chewed up 5 minutes, 18 seconds off the clock on its next drive. The drive was capped by Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 46-yard field goal to push the Bruins’ lead to 44-27 with 8:30 left.

UW’s offense again struggled to string together consistent drives. Thompson, in his third consecutive game as the Huskies’ featured running back, rushed for 100 yards on 16 carries, but the passing game was, in Petersen’s word, “painful.”

Sophomore Cyler Miles was 14 of 24 passing for 155 yards with one late interception. He was sacked three times behind UW’s banged-up offensive line.

“It’s not any one guy. It’s really not,” Petersen said. “It’s got to start with us as coaches and then everybody’s involved. We can run the ball fairly effectively, but we’ve got to be able to throw the ball more effectively to give us some balance and take some pressure off the run game.”

A rank below
Washington lost its seventh consecutive game to a ranked opponent Saturday. The last time the Huskies beat a ranked opponent was in the 2013 season opener, when they knocked off No. 19 Boise State, which was then coached by Chris Petersen.
DateRanked opponentResult
Oct. 5, 2013No. 5 StanfordL, 31-28
Oct. 12, 2013No. 2 OregonL, 45-24
Nov. 15, 2013No. 13 UCLAL, 41-31
Sept. 27, 2014No. 16 StanfordL, 20-13
Oct. 18, 2014No. 9 OregonL, 45-20
Oct. 25, 2014No. 14 Arizona StateL, 24-10
Nov. 8, 2014No. 18 UCLAL, 44-30
A rank below
Washington lost its seventh consecutive game to a ranked opponent on Saturday. The last time the Huskies beat a ranked opponent was in the 2013 season opener, when they knocked off No. 19 Boise State, which was then coached by Chris Petersen.
DateRanked opponentResult
Oct. 5, 2013No. 5 StanfordL, 31-28
Oct. 12, 2013No. 2 OregonL, 45-24
Nov. 15, 2013No. 13 UCLAL, 41-31
Sept. 27, 2014No. 16 StanfordL, 20-13
Oct. 18, 2014No. 9 OregonL, 45-20
Oct. 25, 2014No. 14 Arizona StateL, 24-10
Nov. 8, 2014No. 18 UCLAL, 44-30

Adam Jude: 206-464-2364 or ajude@seattletimes.com



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