SEATTLE — The game began with maybe the most dismal first half in recent University of Washington football history.
Thank heavens the Huskies had a second half.
Washington, somewhere between lethargic and lifeless through the first two quarters, roused itself from a 14-0 halftime deficit on Saturday afternoon to defeat Georgia State 45-14 in front of 64,608 initially unhappy but ultimately relieved spectators at Husky Stadium.
With an onslaught of six touchdowns and one field goal in the second half, “it was good, it was inspiring and it was the way football should be played,” UW coach Chris Petersen said. “But I thought the first half was probably as bad of football as I’ve been around, maybe ever.
“The kids didn’t show up to play in the first half and that’s on me,” he said. “We’ll analyze, we’ll adjust and we’ll get them going. … I just really hope this is a lesson we can all learn from.”
It was the final non-conference tune-up for the Huskies, now 4-0, heading into next week’s Pacific-12 Conference opener against Stanford.
Are the Huskies ready for a top conference foe like Stanford? “Did you just see what I saw?” Petersen replied. “I know we’re not ready.”
Georgia State, under second-year head coach Trent Miles (a former UW assistant) went 0-12 a year ago, losing to the likes of Samford, Chattanooga, Troy and Louisiana-Monroe. The Panthers dropped two of their first three games this season, losing to New Mexico State and Air Force.
But on Saturday, Georgia State gouged the UW defense in the first half for 231 yards, including 184 through the air, for a two-touchdown halftime lead. The irony was, the Panthers hurt themselves with two first-half turnovers, both interceptions by UW cornerback Marcus Peters.
Bad as it was for Washington, it could have been worse.
“It was very, very sloppy with not a lot of energy in the first half,” UW quarterback Cyler Miles said. “We took them lightly, pure and simple. I’m not going to sugarcoat nothing. Our team took them lightly and we can’t do that.”
“Everybody thought it was just Georgia State,” linebacker John Timu said. “We can never do that, no matter what team we’re facing.”
“Honestly, for me, I was looking past these guys,” nose tackle Danny Shelton added. “I wasn’t really focusing in. I apologize to my team for that. I should’ve come in expecting the fight they were going to give us.”
Chased off the field at halftime by a noisy chorus of boos, Washington returned in the second half with a surge of new emotion and, more importantly, execution.
The Huskies started the second half with two punts wrapped around a touchdown on their first three offensive possessions. But the Huskies then scored TDs on their next four possessions — all in the space of 10 scoreboard minutes — then tacked on a defensive touchdown on Timu’s 35-yard interception return, and finally capped their scoring blitz late in the game with kicker Cameron Van Winkle’s 25-yard field goal.
“In the second half we did get back to Husky football,” Miles said. “We responded, we stuck together, and I’m very, very proud of our team for doing that.”
“Our guys played hard to get us back into it,” Petersen said. “I was pleased with the second half. But I’m still kind of irritated on the first half. … I thought we had our best week of practice (this season). But for whatever reason, if you lose your edge for one second around here that’s exactly what’ll happen.”
Washington’s four-game non-conference schedule resulted in four wins against mediocre to average opponents. But as the Huskies prepare to face Stanford — a quality foe, to be sure — they still have plenty of unanswered questions.
“We’ve been kind of on a roller coaster,” Shelton acknowledged. “This game really showed that we still have a lot more to improve on. And this week, we’re going to need to practice like we’ve never practiced before.”
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