Beavers hand Huskies 14th straight Pac-10 loss

They used to celebrate when rainstorms blew through Husky Stadium, figuring it was yet another weapon that the home team could throw at jittery opponents. Not Saturday.

"It just made it seem even more kind of down," said Washington tailback James Sims.

In fact, bleak as the weather was, the Huskies' offense was even more depressing, held to a field goal until 48 seconds remained in an 18-10 Pac-10 loss to Oregon State.

"You got any answers?" Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano asked a reporter afterward. "I didn't have any today."

It wasn't for lack of trying.

After being shut out in the first half for the first time this season, the Huskies replaced Isaiah Stanback at quarterback with Johnny DuRocher, giving the Oregon transfer his first meaningful playing time.

"We thought that might spark some momentum," Lappano said.

But little changed with DuRocher in the game, raising the frightening possibility there's not much that can be done to fix Washington's ailing offense.

Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said the quarterback job likely will remain open in practice this week as the team prepares to play Saturday at Arizona.

The offensive futility — Washington was held to a season-low 226 yards — wasted a solid defensive performance as the Huskies held Oregon State to six field goals by Alexis Serna. Serna — whose six field goals set a Husky Stadium record — has hit 11 of 11 field goals in Seattle the last two years, making five last year in a 29-14 Beavers win.

That's been the story of the season for the Huskies, who have never had every part working well at the same time.

"We just keep making some of the same mistakes over and over," linebacker Scott White said.

And while the focus was inevitably on the quarterbacks, no aspect of the offense escaped blame. Center Brad Vanneman said the offensive line turned in its "worst performance" of the season.

"We can't play like that and expect to win," he said.

Officially, 60,717 paid to watch the Huskies (1-8 overall, 0-6 Pac-10) lose their 14th consecutive conference game. But perhaps 45,000 hardy fans were at the stadium when the game began, and that number dwindled quickly as the game wore on and the rain and wind continued.

The Huskies knew they would have difficulty running against an Oregon State defense. OSU came in ranked No. 2 in the Pac-10 against the run and the Beavers ganged up even more to stop UW's ground game, knowing conditions would make it hard to throw.

The Huskies hoped to run enough to use play action to get some open receivers. But Oregon State's pass rush was relentless, and when receivers were open, neither Stanback nor DuRocher could get the ball to them, or the receivers dropped the ball.

"Our biggest problem was that we didn't execute the basics — the blocking, the catching," Willingham said.

Down 3-0 in the second quarter, for instance, UW drove to Oregon State's 9-yard line. But Stanback was sacked and fumbled, and Oregon State recovered.

When Washington's next two drives failed to get far, UW decided to change quarterbacks. But Oregon State scored on long drives to end the first half and begin the second, taking a 9-0 lead before DuRocher could get in the game.

DuRocher's first drive didn't get far, and a dropped snap by punter Sean Douglas gave the Beavers the ball at the UW 18. That led to another Oregon State field goal.

A 31-yard Sims run moved Washington to Oregon State's 25. But the drive stalled there, and UW's Evan Knudson missed a 42-yard field goal.

The Huskies got new life as the Beavers fumbled at their 19-yard line on the next play. Washington settled for Knudson's 31-yard field goal with 13:58 left, UW's first points of the game.

DuRocher then had a pass picked off and lost a fumble when hit hard on a blitz on consecutive offensive plays late in the fourth quarter. The Beavers piled on the field goals to go ahead, 18-3.

With time running out, DuRocher led Washington on a 72-yard drive, concluding with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chambers with 48 seconds left to make it 18-10. But Oregon State recovered UW's onside kick to seal the win.

Washington has lost 18 of its last 20 games dating to the 2003 Apple Cup. But Huskies players said they don't sense any quit.

"I'm going to go take a long look in the mirror tonight, evaluate the way I played and come back tomorrow and work hard in the weight room," Vanneman said.

"Got to come back and try to salvage something out of this season."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com