On black-out night, the Huskies are out at Rutgers

After freshman running back Adam Mohammed caught a pass for a short gain, Titialii beat a Rutgers tackler and fell on top of him. The officials ruled a late hit on D'Angalo after reviewing the play for possible targeting and returned the ball to the UW 49. Fish's team ran out of downs on the Scarlet Knights' 37 and elected to play at throw a fourth throw into the end zone -and-9.

“That’s the difference between good teams and great teams,” senior linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala said of the mistakes made. “We just have to clean up on many fronts.”

After a Rutgers three-and-out, UW put renewed pressure on the Scarlet Knights defense. The Huskies shot from their own 27 to the home team's 4, but missed another chance, settling for Gross' 22-yard field with 4:10 left in the first quarter for the game's first points.

Rutgers finally settled in and got the offense going. The host team must have sensed that the Huskies were error-prone and vulnerable. The Scarlet Knights put together a laborious 15-play drive – their longest of the season – by gaining 75 yards for Kyle Monangai's 1-yard touchdown plunge to take a 7-3 lead for good at 11:26 of the second quarter . Monangai would finish with 132 yards rushing and 25 carries.

The huskies came back. On the first play of the new drive, Coleman went through a huge hole up the middle and broke through a 39-yard run to the Rutgers 39. Cam Davis followed with an 11-yard gainer to the 28-yard box. Maybe it was time for the UW to settle down and settle in.

It wouldn't happen.

That UW push stalled when Davis was called for a low block, forcing another field goal attempt. Gross prepared the ball from 42 yards out, but missed it to the left.

After Holmes' brain freeze and Rutgers' touchdown catch, the teams headed to halftime with the Scarlet Knights leading by 11 points.

When play resumed in the second half, it was more of the same for the Huskies. They forced the home team to punt, flexed more muscles and got more than enough in return. Coleman broke off a 35-yard run on the first play of the drive and followed with an 11-yard run. He personally carried the ball to the Rutgers 2 on four runs, only to have UW run out of downs again as Rogers missed two passes in the end zone and the second was deflected.

“We said that and we’re almost halfway through the season,” Rogers said of eliminating the penalties and mental mistakes.

The Huskies finally used some of their pent-up frustration to make something happen. They gained 94 yards in six plays, with Boston catching one down the left side, breaking a tackle and scoring from 51 yards out.

No flags, no stupid plays, no excuses.

With 4:23 left in the third quarter, UW crept within 14-10.

However, the Huskies weren't done self-destructing yet. In the fourth quarter, they held Monangai scoreless for its 31st point, but defensive tackle Jayvon Parker called for a face mask penalty.

Later in the drive, after Parker was subbed with a leg injury and Rutgers faced a third-and-4 at the UW 37, Samuel Brown V went down the left side, made two tackles and scored the game-winning point in a standing shootout. It was the longest run of his career. The clock still read 10:57.

With 1:40 left, Boston caught its second scoring pass, a 12-yarder in the left corner of the end zone, and tight end Keleki Latu converted a two-point conversion throw, both by Rogers, with the UW trailing by three and still had a pulse.

The Huskies made things really interesting by getting the ball back to their 39 with 35 seconds left. They even moved into field goal range for Gross, but he had his third straight kick sail left after his first and it was over.

“It’s amazing to me how automatic Gross is in practice,” Fisch said.

In a place called Jersey, the uniform color that evening was black.

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