Instant Analysis: Oklahoma-Washington

For roughly 12 minutes, the Washington Huskies looked like they could go toe-to-toe with the Oklahoma Sooners. Then Jake Locker made a real mistake… unlike the previous week against Brigham Young University.

Back on Sept. 6, Locker—the talented young Washington quarterback—did nothing to hurt his team’s chances of winning, even though the Pac-10 officiating crew penalized him for throwing a ball into the air in the final seconds of a close game against BYU. On this Seattle Saturday, however, Locker did indeed prevent his team from giving the third-ranked Sooners a better battle.

The defining moment in this intersectional clash—the back end of a home-and-home series between the two schools—wasn’t hard to identify. In the first 12 minutes of play, the homestanding Huskies stood up to their bold Big 12 opponent. Roused by a typically loud Husky Stadium crowd, the boys in purple shirts forced two Oklahoma punts and, down just one score, had a drive going near midfield, with Locker—their leader and chief playmaker—putting the finishing touches on a 17-yard run. The ebb and flow of this contest suggested that the Huskies were going to stay within striking distance entering the second quarter, a sign of tremendous hope for a young team in search of a breakthrough win.

But just before he hit the turf on his first-down scamper, Locker couldn’t wrap up the rock, and it was stripped from his grasp by a Sooner defender at the UW 47. In an instant, the Huskies’ momentum vanished, and the ample optimism that had been building in the Pacific Northwest turned into a familiar sense of dread. Just two snaps later, the revived Sooners rediscovered their swagger and superiority, strolling into the end zone on the strength of a 25-yard Chris Brown run and a 22-yard catch by Jermaine Gresham. The score stood at a mere 13-0, but the will of the under-Dawgs had been broken, and the Oklahoma onslaught was on.

Upsets occur all the time in college football, but in order for a surprise to happen, the weaker team needs to sustain momentum in certain moments. When Washington lost its grip on Big Mo—because Jake Locker lost his grip on the pigskin—the Huskies saw their hopes evaporate, and the rest—as they say—was history.