'Divine intervention' for Washington
Huskies beat Arizona St. on last chance 63-yard TD pass
Posted: Sunday September 06, 1998 04:41 PM
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Arizona State tailback J. R. Redmond carried the ball 12 times in the first half for a touchdown and 77 yards AP |
TEMPE, Arizona (AP) -- Throughout fall practice, Brock Huard and
Reggie Davis couldn't make the play work.
Until it was fourth-and-17 Saturday night in the waning seconds
against eighth-ranked Arizona State. Then Huard hit Davis with a
perfect pass and Davis outran the Sun Devils' secondary on a
63-yard scoring play with 28 seconds remaining to give 18th-ranked
Washington a stunning 42-38 victory.
"This is the greatest game ever," Huard said. "It was meant
to happen. It was just destined with divine intervention to
happen."
Hardly anyone who saw the thriller would argue.
The Sun Devils had gone ahead 38-35 when Ryan Kealy threw a
fourth-down, 8-yard touchdown pass to his old high school teammate,
Tariq McDonald, with two minutes remaining.
The Huskies seemed dead after Huard's bad pitch left them in the
desperate fourth-down situation on their 37. But Davis, the tight
end, outran defensive back Phillip Brown, caught the ball and raced
downfield, avoiding Mitchell Friedman's tackle for the score.
"It came down to believing we could make the plays,"
Washington coach Jim Lambright said.
Davis had dropped a couple of balls in the first half, one that
would have been for a touchdown. But he came back to make one big
catch and run to set up a touchdown, then the miracle play at the
end.
"Brock threw the ball up there perfect," Davis said, "It was
like NFL films, the ball coming out of the lights in slow motion.
After I caught it, it was just catch-and-run."
Huard, who made his college debut almost two years ago to the
day in a 45-42 loss in the same Sun Devil Stadium, completed 27 of
47 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns.
J.R. Redmond, his 67-yard punt return for a touchdown called
back early in the fourth quarter, returned another one 61 yards to
set up Arizona State's final score.
Kealy threw two incompletions and the Sun Devils were down to
one last play when McDonald, who had dropped a wide-open pass
earlier in the fourth, made a leaping grab against tight defense.
Arizona State had one last chance, even after Kealy threw an
interception in the final seconds, because Washington was called
for a personal foul on the play, giving the Sun Devils one last
chance on the Huskies 39. But no receiver was anywhere near Kealy's
desperation pass.
"It's a huge letdown," Kealy said. "We're all pretty hurt
right now."
Dane Looker, a transfer who played basketball at Western
Washington and was a high school teammate of Huard, tied a
Washington record with 11 receptions for 108 yards and two
touchdowns in his first game for the Huskies.
Kealy completed 20 of 35 passes for a career-high 302 yards and
three touchdowns. Redmond rushed for 108 yards in 22 carries and
caught four passes for 68 yards. In the first half, he scored on a
22-yard run and set up another touchdown with a 47-yard swing pass
reception.
"I'm emotional right now, but J.R. Redmond is the best football
player in the country," Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder said.
The Huskies, in a supposed rebuilding year after having 10
players drafted by the NFL last season, lost wide receiver
Ja'Warren Hooker, the Pac-10 100- and 200-meter champion, with a
shoulder separation early in the game. But it didn't slow the
Washington offense.
After falling behind 28-14 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first
half, the Huskies scored 21 unanswered points. The two
third-quarter touchdowns came on drives of 49 and 50 yards, the
first after Redmond fumbled the ball away and the second after he
was stopped on fourth-and-inches.
Huard's 2-yard touchdown pass to Looker with 3:04 left in the
second quarter cut the lead to 28-21 at halftime. The Huskies tied
it 28-28 with 9:05 left in the third quarter when Huard's pass
bounced off intended receiver Gerald Harris and was caught by
Looker for a 9-yard touchdown.
After Arizona State's fourth-down play failed at midfield, the
Huskies went 50 yards in six plays, Jason Harris scoring on a
5-yard run to put Washington ahead 35-28 with 4:45 left in the
third.
After a 7 1/2-minute drive stalled, Mike Gauthier kicked a 42-yard
field goal to cut Washington's lead to 35-31 with 12:21 to play.
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