HUSKIES FALL JUST SHORT OF UPSETTING THE #11 BUCKEYES

In an exciting game yesterday in front of a sold-out crowd, the Washington Huskies showed just how much they've improved over the course of two seasons as they nearly beat the #11 Ohio State Buckeyes but fell short. Of course, the Buckeyes have a history of playing down to their competition early in the season (see any game against San Diego State the past five seasons) but pulling those games out with spectacular defensive plays.

The Buckeyes took advantage of a costly 15-yard penalty on their first drive and scored on a 2-year touchdown run by Chris Wells which topped off a 15-play drive.

The Huskies had chances to score points in the first quarter but Locker was a victim of dropped balls, his receivers dropping two sure third-down conversions.

The Bucks widened the lead to 10-0 early in the second quarter on a drive that included passes of 14 yards, 21 yards, 18 yards, and 17 yards. The Buckeyes seemingly did anything they wanted to before allowing a sack to force a 42-yard field goal. Ohio State then turned their next drive into points as well, again settling for a long field goal.

The Huskies' next drive started out innocently enough with a 5-yard penalty and a 3-yard scramble by Locker. He then threw an incompletion before hitting Corey Williams for an 18-yard gain. On the next play, Louis Rankin burst free for a 50-yard touchdown run that put the Huskies back within striking distance. Ryan Perkins (patently awful at this point) missed the extra point attempt, however. The Buckeyes led 13-6 at the half.

A 23-yard completion to Williams on third down sent Locker and company on their way to a successful drive to open up the second half, as Perkins hit a 38-yarder to finish off the drive.

Ohio State showed that they remained in control however, marching right down the field on the ensuing drive for a touchdown to take a 20-9 lead. The Dawgs weren't giving up; they followed the Buckeyes' lead with an impressive 17-play drive made up of short runs by Rankin and clutch passes by Locker. Somehow, Perkins missed his second extra point attempt of the game (and third of the season).

The Buckeyes looked like they were going to strike quickly again, but Maurice Wells followed up a 14-yard gain with a fumble, and free safety Jason Wells recovered for the Huskies with plenty of time left to make a run at it.

Locker handed off to Rankin for 7 yards before throwing a 21-yard seed to Marcel Reese to get the Huskies past midfield. Locker then followed that pass up with a 20-yard beauty to Corey Williams, putting the Huskies at the 26 yard line. Locker singlehandedly maintained the drive with a scramble for six yards and a keeper for five yards. Rankin then finished off the drive with runs of three, seven, and five yards for a go-ahead touchdown. Locker then threw a nifty 2-point conversion pass to Johnie Kirton to give the Huskies a 23-20 advantage. With just 3:48 remaining, the Huskies definitely had their work cut out for them against the prolific OSU offense.

The defense was game, forcing an incompletion and a dropped pass on their way to their first three and out of the game. On the second play however, Locker was hit and fumbled for the second time in the game. Ohio State took advantage of the miscue scoring on seven plays on a 3-yard touchdown run by Maurice Wells.

The Huskies had 1:55 on the clock, but Locker was forced out with an ankle injury and Carl Bonnell threw an interception to seemingly end any chance of a surprise win.

Yet the Husky defense forced a missed field goal, and Locker came back into the game with less than 40 seconds to go. Jake threw a couple of quick passes to get the team past midfield, and the team burned two timeouts. Ohio State picked up a damaging 15-yard pass interference penalty which put the ball on the 29 yard line with 0:14 to go in the game and the Huskies didn't have to burn their last timeout just yet.

With time running out, Locker threw a dart to Marcel Reese, who broke two tackles and nearly scored; he was dragged down inside the one yard line and suffered a broken thumb on the way down. The Huskies called their final timeout, and had to either score or throw a quick pass. Locker handed off to Rankin, who was blown up in the backfield as 70,000 strong looked on in disbelief. Dexter Larimore had saved the Buckeyes' season.