There are no “do-overs” in football. But if there were, the Washington Huskies would take a mulligan on these four plays.
In every football season, there are plays that teams wish they could have back. After a 10-2 season, there aren’t very many moments the Washington Huskies would take a do-over on.
Then again, even with the great record, UW didn’t reach a New Year’s-6 bowl game. That’s because they finished 12th in the College Football Playoff poll. Since there were a couple of upsets in other conference championship games and a team from the “Group of 5” schools got an automatic invite, Washington was squeezed out.
Here are four plays from the 2022 season that could have changed things for the Huskies.
The first two are Washington Huskies specific.
Play 1 – Tualapapa Fumble
On September 30, the 15th-ranked Washington Hunkies came into the Rose Bowl with a 4-0 record for Friday Night Lights. They were taking on UCLA, who struggled two weeks prior at home to beat South Alabama 32-31.
The game started as well as it could. Washington received the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards to the house, including a 33 yard touchdown pass from Michael Penix to Rome Odunze.
Trailing 7-0, UCLA got a nice kick return from Kazmeir Allen. He went 40 yards with an additional 15 tacked on due to a UW personal foul. The Bruins had excellent field position at Washington’s 43 yard line.
Ten plays later, UCLA had 1st and goal from the 7 yard line. After a 4 yard run by Zach Charbonnet, the Huskies shut Bruins quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson three times to force a turnover on downs.
On Washington’s second play, running back Wayne Taulapapa muffed a handoff. He was tackled for a two-point safety. Even worse, UCLA drove down the field for a touchdown after the free kick. So, instead of a 7-0 lead with a chance to go up by more, the Washington Huskies were down 9-7.
Play 1b – Penix Picked
Two positions later, UCLA defensive back Stephan Blaylock jumped a Penix pass intended for Jalen McMillan. It took only one play for the Bruins to score another touchdown. By halftime, the Washington Huskies were down 26-10 and couldn’t catch up.
