2008 Week 5

Washington survived three turnovers and beat UCLA by the score of 23-20 thanks to firmly outproducing the Bruins on offense.

The Huskies produced 21 first downs to just 14 for the Bruins, and out gained their counterparts in total offense, 344-240. The mismatch would have been much more pronounced were it not for the turnovers, which came over a span of four possessions at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second half.

"We kept shooting ourselves in the foot," said quarterback Jake Locker, who was guilty with a fumble of his own, along with running backs Jason Howard and J.R. Hasty. "Really, it seemed like we weren't even on offense for an entire quarter there. But we hung in there and made some plays."

UCLA put together a strong opening drive but were stopped and forced to kick a 45-yard field goal. The Huskies responded with a slow, methodical drive of 14 plays that resulted in a seven yard touchdown run by Jake Locker. Ryan Perkins missed the extra point, so the Huskies had a 6-3 lead.

After forcing the Bruins to punt, Locker led the team on another scoring drive that culminated in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Johnie Kirton. Before the end of the first half, UCLA would take advantage of the first of the three fumbles and score on a 12-yard pass. The Huskies led 13-10 at halftime.

The Bruins missed some prime opportunities as the Huskies turned the ball over on their opening drive of the second half as well as their second drive of the half, and UCLA could only come away with a 52-yard field goal for their efforts.

Anthony Broyles snagged a 3-yard touchdown pass toward the end of teh third quarter to make it 20-13 in favor of the Dawgs. A Ryan Perkins field goal made it 23-20 late in the fourth quarter. The Bruins were able to move down and score on a 12-yard pass from Ben Olson to freshman Chris Washington.

It wasn't enough as the Huskies were able to get two first downs with less than two minutes remaining. They forced the Bruins to futilely use their timeouts, thus ending the game.

"We're definitely not doing anything special right now in terms of dominance or style points," said Coach Mora. "All we care about is chalking up another W."