By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Sept. 19, 1998
SEATTLE -- Some people around the University of Washington these days are figuring divine intervention had a lot to do with the Huskies being ranked ninth in the nation entering this week's games.
|
There was no other explanation for the way Brock Huard hit Reggie Davis with a 63-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-17 with 28 seconds left to beat Arizona State 42-38 in Tempe two weeks ago.
"I had to figure," Huard said, "the offense carried us to that win. This time, the defense was going to carry us."
There was little doubt his theorizing was better than the offense following the Huskies' ugly 20-10 victory over Brigham Young Saturday afternoon in Husky Stadium. With only 14 first downs and 295 yards total offense, the Huskies relied on big-time plays from sophomore cornerback Toure Butler. Butler scored on a 35-yard fumble recovery and run in the second quarter and his 98-yard kickoff return in the third quarter salted this game away to give the Huskies a 2-0 record.
Indeed, the Huskies' first touchdown was a classic 52-yard scoring pass down the left sideline from Huard to freshman Chris Juergens, but if you consider Huard had just 142 yards passing the rest of the game, you can understand his concern.
THIS WAS HARDLY A DAY FOR THE HUSKIES to remember as groundbreaking ... unless you are coach Jim Lambright. Considering Huard came out claiming BYU was a virtual lock to win the WAC because of its defense, Lambright was a lot more confident heading into next Saturday's game at Nebraska because of the way his defense rose to the occasion on this chilly, overcast day in the Pacific Northwest.
"I'm real happy the way things turned out," Lambright said. "If we're going to keep improving all season to get where we want to go, then each game we're going to have to improve in a different phase. The offense was exceptional against Arizona State, and today, it was the defense and the (special teams). I have to start by complimenting the defense. They never stopped hitting the whole game."
The beneficiary of all that hitting and focus was Ronney Jenkins, the sophomore running back for the Cougars (1-2) who set a national prep record in 1995 with 619 yards in one game. To add validity to his reputation, Jenkins rushed for a career-high 171 yards in last week's 26-6 victory over Arizona State. He was ranked 16th nationally with 339 all-purpose yards entering the game. All the build-up ended in a resounding thud -- with just 36 yards on 12 carries and two fumbles -- the second one bouncing into Butler's hands for the key touchdown in the second quarter. He carried the ball four times for minus-1 yard in the first half.
|
|
Washington's Toure Butler (10) reaches
for a fumble, which he returned for a touchdown. He had two scores on the day.
(AP)
|
Everywhere Jenkins turned, he was getting leveled from different directions. His first fumble, which was recovered by quarterback Kevin Feterik, came when the Husky defensive line shoved the Cougar line back into Jenkins just as he took the handoff.
"We zeroed in one or two people on everything he did," Lambright said. "You've got to have inside leverage and outside leverage on runs and as a receiver with him. He's a great running back with great ability."
BUT NOBODY SHOWED MORE ABILITY than Butler, who at 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, was hardly the most dominant-looking player on the field. As Jenkins was circling right end, the ball popped out of his hands, hit the turf and Butler grabbed it and scooted behind blockers down the left sideline before diving just over the goal line.
Filled with humility, Butler was almost embarrassed with all the attention. However, considering the always-potent BYU offense, to take a 14-0 lead into the locker room at halftime was impressive. The Huskies are the first team to hold them scoreless in a first half since 1995. And although he had run back some kickoffs for touchdowns in high school, Butler had never had two touchdowns in one game before.
"Every day in practice we practice that ... scoop and run," Butler said. "We're out there on defense to make big plays in the first place. The ball just popped into my hands and I followed the blockers. Same thing with the kickoff return. Every play out there, you've just gotta believe something is going to happen right for you. That's the way I approach the game."
GOOD THING BUTLER BELIEVED. HIS kickoff return made it 20-3 just 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the second half. Meanwhile, Huard, who was 16-of-33 for 178 yards, saw his streak of 90 passes without an interception end with a pair of picks. The offense just couldn't get it going. And when it did, it couldn't convert in short-yardage situations.
Add to that the horrid kicking game, crippled by the loss of Nick Lentz to a pulled quad -- an extra point and 25-yard field goal were missed in the first quarter -- and this appeared to be a team on the ropes. Too many times, the powerful front seven of the Cougars were blitzing in his face, with the young Huskies unable to respond with the audibles Huard called. Only the long touchdown pass worked on a blitz -- with Juergens and Huard taking advantage of man-to-man coverage.
Otherwise, a couple of trap running plays worked early. The rest of them were stuffed for losses. Three times, the Huskies were inside the BYU 20-yard line and came up with no points. That's not the kind of statistic a Top 10 team generally has. And it certainly isn't the kind of feeling an offense wants just a week removed from heading to Lincoln against a far more experienced Nebraska team.
"I can't believe how old this team makes me feel sometimes," said Huard, the 6-5, 225-pound junior. "I would have liked to have played better, but it puts us where we want to be -- 2-0 headed for Nebraska. We have to give BYU credit, that's probably the toughest front seven we'll face all year.
"I'm sure Nebraska will see how they blitzed us and they'll do a lot of the same things. We'll get better and we'll just have to mix it up more. We're just gonna have to play a lot more disciplined and make more plays."
Either that or hope the Butler can do it again.
Mike Kahn is CBS SportsLine's executive editor.