Washington Football: Pac-12 dream run dies for Hawaii in Huskies win

Washington football came out looking to rebound from a Week 2 loss against Cal. That killed Hawaii’s dream of finishing their Pac-12 season a perfect 3-0.

Hawaii came to Seattle on a dream streak for a Group of Five program. Through their first two games of the season, the Rainbow Warriors toppled Arizona and Oregon State to build a 2-0 record against Pac-12 opponents. As a result, Hawaii arrived at Husky Stadium with a chance to finish a perfect 3-for-3 against the Pac-12 in non-conference play.

But they caught Washington at the worst possible time. Had the Huskies not fallen to California in Week 2, they might have been more susceptible to getting caught in a trap against their Mountain West opponent. After sustaining their first defeat of the year against the Golden Bears, however, there was no way that Chris Petersen’s team was going to get caught flat a second straight week at home. After a 52-20 blowout on the road, Hawaii heads back to the islands needing to regroup and refocus.

Scoring on five of their first six possessions, the Huskies ran up a 21-0 score after one quarter and led 38-7 by halftime. Cole McDonald was baited into a pair of interceptions, earning himself a spot on the bench in favor of Chevan Cordeiro. But the backup proved even more ineffective, going 2-of-7 for 12 yards and taking a sack to quickly earn his place back with the clipboard.

Coming back into the game after the intermission, McDonald took the Rainbow Warriors on a 14-play drive that pulled Hawaii within 38-14 on the scoreboard. McDonald went 5-of-8 for 59 yards and ran three times for 22 yards on the opening drive of the second half. After forcing Washington to punt, Hawaii got the ball back and the offense went on another 14-play drive to pull the game to 38-20. Chipping away, Hawaii kept things interesting as they tried to stoke the dying embers of their dream of achieving Pac-12 perfection.

Just as quickly, Washington quashed any hope of a comeback as they extended the lead back to 32 points. McDonald finished 22-of-35 for 218 yards with a touchdown and three picks. The brightest spot, though, was two rushing touchdowns and 65 hard-fought yards on the ground by Miles Reed against a strong Washington defensive front.

Washington will remain in the AP Top 25 another week, consolidating their position after the upset against Cal. Jacob Eason broke out for the first time as the Huskies starter, going 18-of-25 for 262 yards and three scores. The ground game busted out 190 yards and four touchdowns by committee.

In the end, Hawaii still has a spectacular chance to reach the New Year’s Six after playing one of the most ambitious non-conference slates among Group of Five teams this season. That the Rainbow Warriors went 2-1 against Pac-12 teams is still quite impressive, especially for a team that was just happy to go bowling last year.

But the dream of a perfect run is now gone, and Hawaii must regroup quickly if they hope to keep the larger goal alive. After watching its hopes ebb and then flow irrevocably out of the thousand tiny wounds rendered by the Huskies over the course of the evening in Seattle, it will take a supreme effort by Nick Rolovich and the Rainbow Warriors coaching staff to rebuild the team’s confidence.