Missed opportunities, mistakes add up in bungled third quarter

Seven wicked minutes. They started with a blocked kick and ended with the quarterback prodigy lofting a pass into a linebacker's hands.

Seven wicked minutes. They included back-to-back mistakes from true freshmen.

Seven wicked minutes. They gave Ohio State two touchdowns and ruined a game as tight as Tony Soprano's T-shirts.

"You wish you could have that back," said Washington defensive tackle Jordan Reffett, his forehead red after a 33-14 loss to Ohio State that once seemed winnable. "You look at the scoreboard, and we're winning 7-3. Then you look back up at the scoreboard, and they're winning 17-7."

So the Huskies still remember how to lose, how to beat themselves. They're a new team, with an improved attitude, but they're still vulnerable, especially against a perennial national-title contender.

Their young players, refreshing for the season's first two games, faltered Saturday at Husky Stadium, dramatically so. Now they are presented with a dilemma.

They are green at key positions, but they can't be green. They are a developing program, but they can't play like a developing program.

The schedule is too difficult, the openings for victories too slim.

For certain, an opening existed. Ignore Ohio State's No. 10 ranking. The opportunity was there.

Washington led 7-3 at halftime, after a bold pass to the end zone landed in Anthony Russo's hands three seconds before intermission. Then the Huskies had the ball to start the third quarter and drove to within field-goal range.

That's when the chaos began.

First, there was the blocked field goal. Poor offensive-line protection helped Ohio State strong safety Kurt Coleman bat down Ryan Perkins' kick.

Forty-nine seconds later, Ohio State flanker Brian Robiskie ran past UW freshman cornerback Vonzell McDowell Jr. and changed the game's momentum with a 68-yard touchdown reception.

Eight seconds later, on the ensuing kickoff, freshman Curtis Shaw fumbled.

Thirty-one seconds later, Ohio State running back Chris Wells juked past a diving McDowell and ran into the end zone.

Five minutes and 38 seconds later, redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker failed to see James Laurinaitis and threw a pass right to him. It was the second time Laurinaitis ended a promising drive with a pick.

Seven wicked minutes.

That's all it took.

There were still 18 minutes to play, but the Huskies couldn't rally. The crowd of 74,927, the third-largest in Husky Stadium history, was deflated.

Washington created this avalanche of misfortune because it never rebounded from the blocked field goal. Despite all their mishaps, the Huskies kept getting opportunities. Rarely did they use them.

Receivers dropped passes. Defensive backs dropped interceptions.

So long, buzz. Welcome back, fret.

Will this become a pattern?

"I sincerely hope not," Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham said. "Those kinds of swings happen with every football team. With the good ones, rarely, but we have to have that kind of mental toughness to get through those kinds of swings."

During their encouraging 2-0 start, the Huskies made plenty of mistakes but won anyway. They played an uneven game against Boise State, but they still ended the Broncos' 14-game winning streak. They began slowly against Syracuse, but they still won by 30 points.

The Huskies are good enough to play with a top-10 foe, bad enough to collapse on national television.

Take away the meaningless touchdown the Buckeyes scored as the game ended, and the score was 27-14. Ohio State's margin of victory came from those two third-quarter touchdowns.

The Huskies probably won't have a seven-minute stretch this disastrous the rest of the season.

Then again, mediocre-to-bad teams lament their mistakes constantly. There are always a few plays that could've turned the game in their favor.

Good teams learn and prosper.

The learning has begun.

"I'm still a freshman, but I'm not a freshman," McDowell said. "There are no excuses. I've already played three tough games."

The prospering is still in the future.

"I don't expect to make mistakes," Locker said. "Obviously, things go bad sometimes. It's how you respond from it."

They follow Willingham's belief system of balance and focus after victories and defeats. They are the Willing-Huskies. This season, they have much to work with and much to improve.

For evidence, they have this game of yips. They have the memory of that horrid third quarter.

Seven wicked minutes.

That's all it took.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com. For more columns and the Extra Points blog, visit seattletimes.com/sports