The Daily Herald Sunday, 11.15.2015
Huskies From Page C1
“We did nothing,” UW coach Chris Petersen said of the second half. He’s not wrong. The Huskies led 17-3 at halftime, gave up 264 yards of total offense in the second half despite allowing only 133 in the first, gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter alone and turned the ball over on their final four possessions. The decisive score was a 48-yard Kalen Ballage touchdown run, which came one play after UW quarterback Jake Browning threw the first of his three interceptions. ASU had already taken a 20-17 lead on a 23-yard Zane Gonzalez field goal, and Browning tried to force a 2nd-and-18 pass that was intercepted by Kweishi Brown at ASU’s 26 and returned to UW’s 48. Browning threw another interception on the Huskies’ next possession, tight end Joshua Perkins fumbled on the possession after that, and Browning capped the game with a meaningless pick in the final seconds. But if the Huskies had converted a handful of scoring chances in the first half, their margin for error wouldn’t have been so slim. Browning lofted a third-down pass toward the end zone from ASU’s 36-yard line on UW’s first possession, but it slipped just off the hands of receiver Jaydon Mickens. The Huskies punted. “A competitive person like me, if it touches my hands I’ve got to come down with it,” Mickens said. “The sun affected the ball and where I knew it was, and I just followed the blind spot of the sun to catch the ball, and it was just a little out of my reach once it came out. But that’s no excuse. I’ve got to come down with those type of plays.” On their next possession, Browning again threw a pair of catchable passes into the end zone, both intended for receiver Dante Pettis. Both flew just out of Pettis’ reach. The Huskies settled for a field goal. After forcing ASU (5-5, 3-4 in Pac12) to punt again, UW did score a touchdown when Myles Gaskin rushed 53 yards to ASU’s 1-yard line, then took the next carry across the goal line. And the Huskies could have scored another touchdown two possessions later when Perkins found himself wide open and running toward the end zone on a 4th-and-4 play from ASU’s 35-yard
line ... but Browning overthrew him, and the pass fell incomplete. “It’s frustrating, because you feel like everything has to be just perfect for us to move the ball, (and to) like sustain things, all the boxes have to be checked,” Petersen said. “We’re not there enough to create some things (when) it’s not all perfectly lined up.” Still, after yet another Sun Devils punt — they punted on eight of their first nine possessions — the Huskies took a 17-0 lead on Browning’s 29-yard touchdown pass to tight end Darrell Daniels. The offense appeared to be clicking. The defense was all over ASU quarterback Mike Bercovici and the Sun Devils’ running game. And the Huskies didn’t score again. Gaskin, who rushed for 100 yards on his first 10 carries, netted only eight yards on his final eight attempts. Browning finished with a career-high 405 yards passing on a career-high 52 pass attempts, but missed a handful of throws to open receivers. Cameron Van Winkle missed a 46-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter that would have given the Huskies a 20-10 lead. ASU scored its first touchdown on a 3-yard Ballage plunge earlier in the quarter. He finished with 92 yards rushing on 11 carries. Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said UW too often failed to wrap up in the second half, repeating that “we’ve just got to finish.” Browning, particularly dejected as he answered questions afterward, said the same. “I felt like we were moving the ball the whole game,” he said. “It’s just we have to finish, and capitalize on the opportunities that are handed to us, and that starts with me.” At 4-6 overall (and 2-5 in Pac12 play), the Huskies now must win their remaining two games, at Oregon State and home against Washington State, to qualify for their sixth consecutive bowl appearance. “We’ve got to see who’s going to be those competitors and those guys that are going to fight no matter what the outcome of the game is,” said Mickens, who moved into second-place all-time on UW’s career receptions list with 183. “They’re just going to go out and give their all. And I believe this team is going to do so. Win or lose, we’re still a team, and we’re still going to fight to the end.” That end just might come sooner than they hope.
C3
Seahawks activate WR Richardson, put WR Lockette on IR Herald news services The Seattle Seahawks activated receiver Paul Richardson off the Physically Unable to Perform list on Saturday, meaning he likely will
Patterson From Page C1
It’s almost as if the schedule makers peered into the future, predicted Seattle’s sluggish start, then set the tables for a midseason revival. Not only did the Seahawks receive a convenient time for their bye week, this stretch means they don’t have to set foot on a plane for a game for more than a month. Seattle will have much to be thankful for when it’s time for gratitude at Thanksgiving dinner. The schedule makers even saw fit to give the Seahawks the exact opponent they need at the start of this stretch, the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona currently holds a two-game lead over Seattle in the NFC West standings. A win Sunday at CenturyLink Field — which is not only a home game but a primetime game, in which the Seahawks are 15-2 since Pete Carroll took over as coach in 2010 — gets Seattle right back in the fray. And after that the opponents get easier the remainder of the homestand. First it’s a rematch with the struggling San Francisco 49ers, a team the Seahawks already beat convincingly on the road three weeks ago. Then it’s a visit by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have the pedigree, but perhaps not the skill-position players, as top running back Le’Veon Bell is out injured and No. 1 quarterback Ben Roethlisberger may be as well. It’s a far cry from the Murderers’ Row Seattle faced in the first half of the season, which included games against division leaders in Green Bay, Cincinnati and Carolina, two of those coming on the road. The Seahawks themselves refuse to acknowledge how
make his 2015 debut on Sunday when the Seahawks host the Arizona Cardinals. Richardson missed the first half of the season while recovering from a torn ACL sustained in Seattle’s playoff
win over Carolina. To make room on the 53-man roster, receiver Ricardo Lockette was placed on injured reserve, the result of a neck injury he sustained in Seattle’s Week 8 win at Dallas.
crucial this stretch is to their season. To a man, Seattle’s coaches and players this week played down the importance of these games, and Sunday’s game against Arizona in particular. The usual cliches about playing one game at a time, how every game matters and how every game in the NFL is difficult, might as well have been read from a script provided by the front office. “We’ve seen some firstplace teams this year,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said with a wry grin when asked about the importance of the game against the Cardinals. “We’ve been getting our fill of that. “I’m sure this an exciting matchup looking from the outside in,” Carroll continued. “It’s a big opportunity, as every week is. We’re going to try and play a terrific football game, just like we would no matter what’s going on.” But it’s impossible to look at Sunday’s game at CenturyLink Field and not recognize its significance to the Seahawks. While it would be wrong to describe Sunday’s game as Seattle’s Super Bowl, considering the Seahawks have been to the past two, it certainly could be this season’s make-or-break contest. A loss would drop the Seahawks three games behind Arizona with seven remaining, which would all but knock Seattle out of contention for the division title. According to ESPN. com, Seattle’s odds of winning the division drop to 2 percent with a loss Sunday. However, a win Sunday, followed by two more wins at home, and who knows? The Seahawks would be 7-4 and may even find themselves atop the NFC West and in control of their own destiny. That’s the opportunity this
favorable stretch presents Seattle. The Seahawks better take advantage of this. All it takes is a single loss during this stretch to put Seattle on the brink. A loss to Arizona Sunday would not only sound the death knell of the Seahawks’ division-title hopes, it would likely put Seattle in a position where it needed to win out just to earn a wild-card spot. The past two seasons it required 11 wins to earn a wild card spot in the NFC. Each of the past three seasons there were NFC teams that finished 10-6 and missed out on the postseason. Therefore a loss Sunday, which would drop the Seahawks to 4-5, probably means Seattle needs to win its final seven games to make the playoffs. Sure, the Seahawks can pay lip service to there being no extra urgency during this home stretch, and Sunday’s game in particular. “I don’t’ think our urgency changes at all,” Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson said. “It can’t change. Ultimately, when you focus on just trying to be at your best and just trying to find ways to win and continually win one game at a time, you don’t change your urgency. I think that kind of messes with you a little bit. I think for us we’re just focusing on playing our best football on Sunday.” But we all know better. This is sink-or-swim time for the Seahawks, and how Seattle dismounts the springboard will determine whether there’s meaningful December football for the Seahawks this year. Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http:// www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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