Huskies remain at loss for lack of production

Terrance Dailey knew it wasn't going to be easy, but considering the way the Washington tailback burst upon the scene last week, he had no reason to imagine things could get this bad.

And yet, it was worse than he could have ever imagined. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were everywhere. They blitzed from every angle, which clogged running lanes and prevented quarterback Ronnie Fouch from finding open receivers.

Still, Dailey held out hope that if he could just break one take, then maybe he could deliver another 51-yard touchdown like he did last week against Oregon State when he ran for 102 yards in his first start.

"You're always thinking that if you can slip past that first wave [of defenders], then there's really nobody behind them and you can get a big one," Dailey said. "You try to be patient, but it never happened."

Notre Dame's 33-7 victory, which dropped Washington to 0-7 only tells half the story. The statistics tell the rest. Washington finished with just 26 rushing yards, 98 passing yards, 124 total offense and nine first downs.

Dailey sat through postgame interviews with a blank stare on his face and he was not alone. Every player and offensive coordinator Tim Lappano had the same what-just-happened look.

"Everybody is to blame for this," said Dailey, who ran for 102 yards last week and had a team-leading 24 on eight carries. "You can't say it's this guy or that guy. It's everybody. It's pretty bad right now. You never want to say that, but I don't know of anything else to say."

If not for a 10-play, 69-yard touchdown drive with 3:17 remaining, the outcome might have been much worse.

"I don't even want to think about what it would have been like if we hadn't gotten it in there," Dailey said. "You always want to take something positive away from a game and we can look at that drive and say, we did one thing right. It was just too late."

The Huskies said they were unaware they hadn't crossed their 44-yard line before the final drive.

"All I was thinking about was scoring," Goodwin said. "You can't get shut out."

With Notre Dame's starters on the sideline, the UW went to a no-huddle offense and Fouch connected with freshman receiver Cody Bruns for a 21-yard reception to the Irish 44. It was Washington's longest play and the first time past midfield.

"I thought at that time with the limited success that we've had, just staying the course would be our best thing to do," coach Tyrone Willingham said.

Fouch, who finished with 98 yards on 11-for-25 passing, threw on every play and completed six, including a 6-yard reception in the end zone to D'Andre Goodwin.

"It felt good for a second," Goodwin said. "But then you look up at the scoreboard and things don't change all that much."

Fouch said the UW coaching staff reviewed everything he saw Saturday from the Irish defense. He knew Notre Dame was going to blitz and yet the Irish sacked him four times and hurried him on countless other passes.

"Their blitz was hard to counter," Fouch said. "We tried to keep some extra guys in for protection, but it was tough."

Even when Fouch had time to throw, Washington receivers dropped four passes.