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Washington Huskies@ USC Trojans Football Recap

Washington 32, USC 31

The more things change for Washington and USC, the more they stay the same.

Husky kicker Nick Folk was the hero again Saturday afternoon when he kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired to beat the USC Trojans for the second year in a row. The Huskies, who were staring a loss square in the eyes midway through the fourth quarter, rallied behind quarterback Jake Locker to knock off the Trojans once more, 32-31. Last year, UW bumped off USC in Seattle. This time, however, the Huskies managed to do the deed in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Locker, who had a career-worst game two weeks ago against Nebraska, found himself sidelined for six Washington offensive plays after taking a knee to the helmet with what looked to be a possible concussion.  Backup quarterback Keith Price stepped in admirably to complete a pass to Chris Izbicki for a one-yard touchdown, giving the Huskies a one-point lead with 13:45 remaining in the game. Price missed on the attempted 2-point conversion, however, and the Huskies - up 29-28 for a very brief stretch - fell behind by two just minutes later after seven-play, 49-yard drive by the Matt Barkley-led Trojan offense.

With the ball in Locker's hands, USC's defense desperately tried to keep the Trojans undefeated, and for a short while, that appeared to be the case. After successful gains courtesy of the Huskies' running game placed the Washington offense on the USC 45, the Huskies turned the ball over on downs following two incomplete passes by Locker to Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar. Fortunately for the Huskies, the fourth quarter swung their way with Trojan kicker Joe Houston missed a 40-yard field and Locker began the game winning drive. Inside the three-minute mark of regulation.

With 2:34 left on the clock, Locker connected on a 4th-and-10 pass to D’Andre Goodwin for an 18-yard gain and a Washington first down. Polk then found a hole for 26 yards on the ground when USC's defense backed off the line of scrimmage. Locker kept the ball on the next play for an eight-yard gain on third and five. Finally, after a Polk gain of five, the Huskies were in position to kick a field goal with three seconds remaining in the game. Folk split the uprights, just as he did to give Washington a 16-13 win over USC the year before at Husky Stadium.

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Locker, who was just four-for-20 passing against Nebraska two weeks ago - in a performance which garnered much speculation about his ability to get the job done at the next level - responded by passing for 310 yards in this game, with one touchdown and no interceptions. The former Heisman hopeful and projected number one overall pick for the 2011 NFL draft proved again his ability as a dual-threat quarterback, carrying the ball 12 times for a total of 110 yards on the ground, including valuable third- and fourth-down conversions to keep his team in contention for a much-needed victory.

Washington did an excellent job of spreading the ball around, with eight different players contributing receptions and five adding to the Husky rushing game.

On a sour note, the inability to hang on to the ball cost the Huskies valuable yardage and nearly cost them the game. Defensively, the inability to step up and make a tackle is also proving costly for the Huskies and will be a much bigger problem when they head to Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., to face the Oregon Ducks later this season. The Huskies must find a way to make tackles and adequately stop the run, because allowing nearly 300 yards on the ground every Saturday will not win them very many games in the ultra-competitive Pac-10.

By Ganelle Swehla
DFN Sports Staff Writer