Washington Huskies Defensive Coordinator Discusses 3rd Down Miscue vs. Penn State

SEATTLE — Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch said he was sure that his team would come out with a win in its game against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Nov. 7 after his team's last score.

Huskies third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. connected with second-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. with seven minutes, 40 seconds left in the game. The signal-caller then found second-year tight end Baron Naone on the ensuing two-point conversion in front of their home crowd at Husky Stadium.

The play resulted in Washington cutting its deficit down to 28-25. At that point, the Huskies had scored 19 unanswered points after going into halftime trailing the Nittany Lions 28-6.

Instead of getting that final stop and going on to send the game to overtime and take the win, Penn State held onto its three-point advantage and handed Washington its fourth loss of the season.

The Nittany Lions were able to run out the final 7:40 of game clock on their final drive of the game, in large part due to miscues on the side of UW.

One of those miscues came with Penn State facing third-and-5 from Washington's 17-yard line after the home team called a timeout.

The Nittany Lions lined up in 14-personnel (one running back, four tight ends), or a goal line formation. The Huskies were unprepared for the surprise formation given the situation and were flagged for 12 men on the field, which gave Penn State the first down. Washington was unable to call a timeout due to having just called one. An attempt to do so would have resulted in a 5-yard penalty and the same result — a first down for the Nittany Lions.

The Huskies had one last chance on that drive to set themselves up for one more possession and forced a Penn State fourth-and-1 from their 3-yard line, but Nittany Lions quarterback Rocco Becht picked up the first down on a quarterback sneak and the visitors were able to run out the clock from there.

In a weekly news conference Tuesday at Husky Stadium, Washington defensive coordinator Ryan Walters explained, typically, the team's defensive formation against 14 personnel would mean second-year cornerback Dylan Robinson would come off the field and a safety would guard his assignment.

Second-year linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, who has the mic in his helmet on defense for calls from Walters, was unable to hear his coach over the crowd noise and Robinson stayed on the field.

Walters took the responsibility for the miscue and explained that Robinson had guarded Penn State senior tight end Benjamin Brahmer throughout the game. Brahmer was one of the four tight ends on the field, which added to the confusion.

"There (was) no indication, from (Robinson's) standpoint, that he should not be on the field," Walters said Tuesday. "That's why, as a staff, we have to make sure that we have all the guys on our sideline, get all the personnel from the offense and then send out our 11 (players) together. It can't be assumptions. ... Whenever there is a stoppage of the clock or a change of possession, we can't take the field early. That is on me, being the organizer. That's on our staff for (not) being more disciplined, more detailed. It is not on Dylan. But that's exactly what happened."

Walters said that will be an area the coaches will be more deliberate in as to not make the same mistake again.

The loss against the Nittany Lions means UW (5-4 overall, 2-4 in Big Ten play) has just three more chances to become bowl eligible. It'll have arguably its best opportunity against the 3-6 Michigan State Spartans at 1:15 p.m. PT on Saturday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.