Tyler Robles kicked three field goals and No. 19 Washington held on for a 16-14 nonconference victory against Utah State on Saturday afternoon in Seattle.
Utah State’s Grady Brosterhous threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Eli Wood in the back right corner of the end zone with 1:56 remaining.
The Huskies (2-0) recovered the ensuing onside kick, but couldn’t run out the clock and the Aggies (0-2) got the ball back on their own 15-yard line with 46 seconds left and no timeouts remaining.
Utah State reached the Huskies’ 39 before a last-second Hail Mary into the end zone was tipped and intercepted by Rahshawn Clark.
Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. completed 26 of 41 passes for 249 yards and rushed for a team-high 56 yards on 11 carries.
Williams gained 36 yards on the final play of the third quarter to surpass 1,000 yards rushing for his career. He’s the third quarterback in school history to accomplish the feat, following Jake Locker and Marques Tuiasosopo.
That helped set up a 26-yarder by Robles that gave the Huskies a 13-7 lead with 12:55 remaining. On the play prior, wideout Dezmen Roebuck dropped a pass in the right flat at the 6-yard line that could have turned into a touchdown.
That wasn’t the only potential scoring pass the Huskies dropped. On fourth-and-2 from Utah State’s 33 late in the first quarter, Williams threw a screen pass to running back Trey Cooley that he couldn’t control with no defenders in sight.
Robles added a 43-yarder with 6:28 to go in the fourth to make it 16-7.
Brosterhous, a transfer from Virginia, started in place of former BYU quarterback McCae Hillstead, who suffered a forearm injury in a season-opening 29-17 loss to visiting Idaho State. Brosterhous completed 17 of 28 passes for 196 yards and two TDs and rushed for a game-high 81 yards on 21 carries.
After a scoreless first quarter in which both teams turned over the ball on downs, Washington broke the deadlock with 11:37 left in the half on a 30-yard field goal by Robles.
On Utah State’s next play from scrimmage, Brosterhous threw a strike over the middle to Javon Robinson at midfield and he coasted down the right sideline for a 78-yard touchdown to give the Aggies a 7-3 lead.
The Huskies responded with an eight-play, 65-yard drive with Ansu Sanoe scoring on a 1-yard run to make it 10-7.
Washington had a chance to extend its lead, but Robles missed a 48-yarder wide right on the final play of the half.
