Washington Football: 3 takeaways from comeback win over Arizona

Oct 22, 2021; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Washington Huskies wide receiver Rome Odunze (16) celebrates his touchdown catch against the Arizona Wildcats during the second half at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2021; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Washington Huskies wide receiver Rome Odunze (16) celebrates his touchdown catch against the Arizona Wildcats during the second half at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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On the ropes with just two quarters to play and trailing 13-0, Washington football needed something — anything — to click.

The Huskies were in danger of losing to the last-place team in the Pac-12 and arguably the worst Power Five team in college football, but Dylan Morris figured something out at halftime and the defense really shut the door on the Wildcats.

Washington out-scored Arizona 21-3 in the second half to win an ugly rock fight in Tucson and the Huskies are now 3-4 on the year while Arizona dropped to 0-7 and hasn’t won a game since 2019.

What did we learn from the Huskies’ third win of the season?

3. The run game may be worse than we thought

Heading into Friday’s game, Washington was averaging about 111 yards per game on the ground. It was one of the lowest totals in the country but the Huskies had a chance to really improve on that and gain some confidence against one of college football’s worst run defenses in Arizona.

The Wildcats were allowing over 200 yards per game on the ground so it looked like Washington was going to have a field day for once.

That wasn’t the case — not even close.

Washington finished the game with just 88 rushing yards and a touchdown on 38 carries. Sean McGrew led the way with 43 yards on 17 carries and Kamari Pleasant had 30 yards on seven touches. Cameron Davis had the “best” night on the ground with six carries for 27 yards and a touchdown but if that’s the best line, you know there’s a problem.

It’s not good when an already struggling offense is one-dimensional.