 had a hard time shaking Arizona (2-2, 0-1), which was down to its fourth-string running back after J. J. Taylor suffered what coach Rich Rodriguez said was a broken left ankle. Washington had the ball first in overtime and Pettis made a tough grab in traffic. Washington's defense then forced a turnover on downs to eke out the harder-than-it-should-be victory.'' We can do better than that,'' Washington coach Chris Petersen said. Brandon Dawkins kept the Wildcats in it, dazzling with 176 yards and two touchdowns rushing, 167 yards and another score passing. He escaped what appeared to be a sack to hit Shun Brown on a 54-yard pass , then found Josh Kern on a 3-yard TD pass with 17 seconds left to tie the game at 28. Dawkins couldn't come through in overtime, though, unable to find a receiver on the final play after scrambling to grab a bad snap.'' We had some mistakes that cost us against a good team; they're a really good team,'' Rodriguez said. ''We've just got to get some execution things cleaned up in all three phases and try to get better.'' Coleman kept the Huskies moving with Browning limited to passes underneath and scored on a 55-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Browning finished 14 of 21 for 160 yards and two touchdowns. THE TAKEAWAYWashington: The Huskies faced adversity for the first time after three easy wins to open the season and survived. Washington failed to capitalize after manhandling the smaller Wildcats to start the second half - a 171-12 advantage in total yards - yet made the plays when it needed to down the stretch. Arizona: The Wildcats' quick-tempo offense went into a slumber for a long stretch of the second half and its defense was manhandled at times by the Huskies. Arizona had a shot at the end and failed, but the bigger concern is depth after seeing another running back go down.'' Just unbelievable,'' Rodriguez said of the injuries. UP NEXTWashington: The Huskies host No. 7 Stanford next Friday in what should be just the fourth game ever between top-10 teams at Husky Stadium. Arizona: The Wildcats play at UCLA next Saturday.)
The No. 9 Washington Huskies were dominant through an easy non-conference schedule. They will be tested more rigorously as their Pac-12 season begins this weekend." We'll find out quickly what we have," Washington coach Chris Petersen said. After home victories over Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State, the Huskies face a road challenge Saturday in Tucson against Arizona, which is 2-1. The game starts at 10:30 p.m. ET at Arizona Stadium. Tougher conference tests await -- the Huskies host No. 7 Stanford and then play at Oregon after this -- but the Wildcats have been known to pull off some big upsets. Arizona is 7-5 at home against top-10 teams since 2005, and it has a win over a top-10 team in each of coach Rich Rodriguez's first four seasons." When you get into your league ... I don't want to say it means more, but it means more," Petersen said." I think everybody plays pretty hard anyway, but everybody plays a little bit harder and all those type of things. And then you factor in that we're going away, night game, first league game -- I know what the energy will be like in that stadium. That will feel completely different to us." Washington is on a six-game winning streak, dating to last season, having scored more than 40 points in each game. Sophomore quarterback Jake Browning has thrown nine touchdown passes in the past two games and leads the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 206.9." I was impressed with him last year, but you can just see he's more comfortable with everything they're doing," Rodriguez said. "He's almost spot-on in every decision, which, for a second-year player, is pretty remarkable." Washington's first-string defense hasn't allowed a touchdown this season, and the Huskies rank 15th nationally in total defense, allowing 269.3 yards per game. Rodriguez said NFL scouts tell him Washington has at least seven players on defense who will end up playing on Sundays. NFLDraftScout.com ranks three Huskies among the top 100 prospects for 2017 -- safety Budda Baker (No. 34), cornerback Sidney Jones (No. 47) and linebacker Azeem Victor (No. 95). Arizona's offense likely will counter with a different starting backfield combination than it had at the start of the season. Sophomore quarterback Brandon Dawkins has started the past two games in place of injured Anu Solomon, passing for 200 yards and running for 100 in both victories over Grambling State and Hawaii. The status of Solomon (knee) wasn't known early in the week, but Dawkins seems likely to start again. He is a superior running threat, while Solomon, a two-year starter, has more experience." The thing he did well (against Hawaii) was his decision-making was good," Rodriguez said of Dawkins. "His eyes were in the right spot. He was decisive in all of his actions, and I think that is why he gained some confidence as the game went on." Arizona starting tailback Nick Wilson spent the second half Saturday night with his left foot in a boot, so he likely will be replaced by J. J. Taylor, a 5-foot-6, 170-pound true freshman. Taylor dazzled with 18 carries for 168 yards against Hawaii, displaying a variety of spin moves and quick cuts." He has probably learned as quickly as any true freshman I have ever had, and I have had some really good ones throughout the years," said Rodriguez, who compared Taylor's style to that of Noel Devine, one of his former West Virginia backs. "He's not the biggest guy, but he has good strength and he's a very competitive person." Arizona's defense under first-year coordinator Marcel Yates -- a former assistant under Petersen at Boise State -- is a work in progress. The Wildcats allowed second-half touchdown drives of 13, 10 and 12 plays against Hawaii. Arizona is small up front, starting a couple of 247-pounders among its three down linemen. This is the area that could get exposed the most by Pac-12 teams. Washington is averaging 143.3 rushing yards per game but could turn it up against Arizona by delivering a steady dose of running back Myles Gaskin, who gained 1,302 yards last season as a true freshman. Gaskin wasn't needed much in Washington's early blowouts -- 40 carries for 217 yards -- but he should be a bigger factor as the Huskies' competition improves.
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