UW Notebook | Even rare interception turns out bad for UW

It should have been a moment to celebrate when Washington's Nate Williams picked off a pass to thwart a Notre Dame drive on fourth down.

Instead, it was a fitting symbol for a lost season, as Williams collided with teammate Mesphin Forrester to give his offense the ball at the 1-yard line midway early in the second quarter.

When the UW offense couldn't move, Notre Dame got the ball back in good field position and ended up getting a field goal en route to a 33-7 win over the Huskies Saturday.

Williams grabbed a tipped pass as Notre Dame tried to convert a fourth-and-19 from the Washington 32 for what was only Washington's third interception of the season and first since the second game of the year. If the ball had been batted down, UW would have taken over at the 32.

"It would have been nice to drop that one," said coach Tyrone Willingham. "But you can't tell a young man to do that, so you hope that maybe instinctively [he does] or he might have that extra awareness. But that's just a natural reaction and he made a play. We'll take any plays that he can make."

Williams, a sophomore, said it all happened too quickly to think about dropping the ball.

"When you are in the heat of the game, I didn't even know I was on the 1," he said. "I just knew the ball was in the air and that's what I'm supposed to do."

Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said he tells his players to try to think through the situation if they can.

"You just teach the amount of yardage that is involved," he said. "That was just like a good punt that pinned us down there. But these guys are young, they are energetic, they are starved for the ball. I don't know how to keep them from clamping on to it."

The interception is the only turnover the UW defense has forced in the last three games.

Kelemete injured

In another sign of just what kind of season it has been, the Huskies lost starting defensive tackle Senio Kelemete to a knee injury during warmups. He was forced to sit out the game and could be out for a while.

"I think he was just making a move in normal line drills, and it affected his knee," Willingham said, adding the team will know more after it is evaluated over the weekend.

Running back David Freeman was also forced to leave the game after re-injuring an ankle. He hadn't played since the Stanford game Sept. 27 with injuries to both ankles.

Bruns back in action

True freshman receiver Cody Bruns, who lost his redshirt season when coaches decided to play him in the second half of a blowout at Arizona three weeks ago, finally saw some significant action.

He played only three snaps against Arizona and then sat out last week's loss to Oregon State with a hamstring injury, further raising questions about the decision to make him active.

But he was on the field for a few plays in the first half Saturday and then saw regular action in the second half, making the first catch of his career with 6:03 left on a 21-yard reception from Ronnie Fouch.

That play was the first time all day UW crossed midfield and was the longest play of the day for the Huskies.

Tyrone chats it up

After the game, Willingham gathered with Irish cornerback Terrail Lambert, linebacker Maurice Crum and defensive end Justin Brown near midfield for a brief conversation. The fifth-year Irish seniors are the only remaining Willingham recruits from his days at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who said he felt no extra motivation facing his predecessor, chatted with Willingham before kickoff.

"We talked before the game," Weiss said. "I think we both felt that talking back in 2005 we were glad to get it out of the way then as well."

Notes

• The Huskies opened the game in a nickel defense, with an extra cornerback replacing a linebacker, to try to defend against Notre Dame's three- and four-receiver passing sets. That gave cornerback Vonzell McDowell his first start of the season as the fifth defensive back. That alignment also featured linebacker Chris Stevens as a rush defensive end.

• After surrendering touchdowns on the first two drives, the Huskies defense stiffened and allowed just three points the rest of the first half. Still, Notre Dame compiled 238 yards and 13 first downs.

• Washington passed for just 5 yards in the first half and had just 38 in total offense before halftime. They finished with 98 yards passing and a season-low 124 in total offense. The Huskies had zero passing yards three times in a game, most recently in 1965. UW's record for fewest total yards is 61, which was set in 1948.

• Washington true freshman defensive end Everrette Thompson got his first career sack in the third quarter. It was just the fourth of the year for the Huskies and first other than three by Daniel Te'o-Nesheim against Arizona. Linebacker Donald Butler followed with a sack on the next drive of the game, and UW finished with two.

• Washington receiver Devin Aguilar wore No. 98 when he served as a punt returner so as not to conflict with Butler, who is also on the punt team and also wears No. 9.

• Washington game captains were Juan Garcia, Te'o-Nesheim, Stevens and Paul Homer.

• Safety Shane Pahukoa was honored as the day's Husky Legend at the end of the third quarter. Pahukoa played from 1989 to 1992, earning second-team All-Pac-10 honors when UW won a share of the 1991 national title.