Alex McLaughlin Pick-Six Seals Washington's Late Rally Past Nebraska 17-10

For 58 minutes, Washington's offense gave Nebraska almost nothing to worry about. The Huskies had three points, a running game that barely registered, and a quarterback change in the fourth quarter. Then, in a span of 15 seconds of game clock, they took the lead and put it out of reach.

Washington beat Nebraska 17-10 on Halloween night at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Demond Williams Jr. threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Chris Lawson with 1:30 left to put the Huskies ahead 10-7, and on Nebraska's next possession, Alex McLaughlin intercepted Anthony Colandrea at the Nebraska 48 and returned it for a touchdown with 1:15 to go. John Hohl's 42-yard field goal with 35 seconds left only trimmed the margin.

Washington, a 7.5-point underdog at kickoff, improved to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten. Nebraska fell to 5-3 and 2-3 in a game it led for all but the final minute and a half.

A defense that kept handing out chances

The night started with a warning sign for the home team. Colandrea threw interceptions on each of Nebraska's first two possessions. Rylon Dillard-Allen picked off the first one at the Washington 8 and returned it 20 yards, ending a 10-play drive that had moved 49 yards. Emmanuel Karnley took the second at the Washington 30.

Nebraska recovered quickly. Starting at its own 5, the offense went 95 yards in 10 plays and 4:18, with Colandrea finishing it on a 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Carter Nelson at 1:40 of the first quarter. Nebraska's own account called it the longest drive of the Huskers' season, and for a long time it looked like it might be enough.

Washington could not run the ball at all. The Huskies were held to 1 rushing yard in the first quarter and finished with 34 on the night, against Nebraska's 132. Elijah Brown, who got the start after Washington kept its quarterback decision open into game day, completed 11 of 20 passes for 101 yards in the first half. Most of what worked went to Lawson.

The Huskies did get on the board before the break. Brown led a nine-play, 56-yard drive late in the second quarter that included a 29-yard completion to Lawson and a pass interference penalty on Nebraska, and Tyler Robles drilled a 50-yard field goal with 41 seconds left in the half. That made it 7-3, and the score did not move again for almost 29 minutes.

A long, quiet second half

Neither offense found much in the third quarter. Nebraska managed 57 yards in the period and Washington 28, and the two teams traded punts and penalties. Hunter Green kept flipping the field for Washington. Green punted eight times for a 48.9-yard average, and five of those kicks landed inside the Nebraska 20. On the other side, Archie Wilson averaged 49.8 yards on five punts for Nebraska.

Nebraska had the best chance to put the game away early in the fourth quarter. Jamal Rule, the freshman who led the Huskers with 72 rushing yards on 13 carries, broke a 20-yard run to start a 14-play drive from the Nebraska 16. A Washington holding penalty extended it on third down, a personal foul on Nebraska took back most of a 19-yard gain, and then Colandrea hit a 31-yard completion to set up first and goal at the 5.

It came apart from there. A delay of game penalty pushed the Huskers back to the 10. Two straight passes into the end zone fell incomplete, and on third down Washington's pass rush got to Colandrea for an 8-yard sack. Nebraska's 36-yard field goal try at 10:01 was no good, and a drive that took 5:50 off the clock produced nothing.

Williams and Lawson find the answer

Washington turned to Williams for its next possession, and the change brought some life. Williams ran for 19 yards on that drive and moved the Huskies across midfield before they punted from the Nebraska 42 with about six minutes left. Green's kick went for a touchback.

Nebraska's possession stalled at its own 22 when a third-down throw fell incomplete at 4:47, and Washington got the ball back with time to work. The drive ended with Williams finding Lawson for 25 yards and the go-ahead touchdown with 1:30 on the clock. Robles added the extra point, and Washington led for the first time all night.

Lawson was the best player on the field. The receiver caught 12 passes on 16 targets for 155 yards and the touchdown, carrying a passing game that had no help from the ground. Williams finished 7 of 13 for 99 yards with the scoring throw and no interceptions.

McLaughlin ends it

Nebraska still had 90 seconds and plenty of reason to believe it could tie the game. It did not get the chance to try. Colandrea's pass was intercepted by McLaughlin, a Washington captain, at the Nebraska 48, and McLaughlin went the other way for a touchdown with 1:15 left. In 15 seconds of clock, a 7-3 deficit had turned into a 17-7 lead.

Nebraska answered with a drive into field goal range, and Hohl made a 42-yarder with 35 seconds left to make it 17-10. That was as close as the Huskers got. Washington closed it out to finish off a road win that had looked unlikely for most of the night.

The numbers behind the upset

On paper, Nebraska had the better of the game. The Huskers outgained Washington 387 to 269, held a 22-17 edge in first downs, converted 7 of 13 third downs to Washington's 5 of 15, and had the ball for 30:42. Colandrea completed 24 of 44 passes for 255 yards and the touchdown to Nelson.

The difference was the three interceptions. Nebraska turned the ball over three times and Washington never did, and two of those giveaways came inside the first 10 minutes when Nebraska was already moving the ball. The third decided the game. Nebraska also committed eight penalties for 74 yards, several of them on drives that had been going somewhere.

Washington's defense also came up with the plays it needed in the red zone. Nebraska reached first and goal at the 5 in the fourth quarter and came away with no points, and the sack on third down was the biggest single snap of that sequence.

For Washington, it was a strange kind of win. The Huskies finished with 34 rushing yards, and their starting quarterback could not get the offense moving after halftime. They won anyway, on special teams, takeaways and two minutes of football that looked nothing like the previous 58.

What it means

For Washington, the win gave Jedd Fisch's team back-to-back Big Ten victories after an 0-3 start in conference play, following the 38-26 win at Purdue that came right before the bye. It also leaves a quarterback question worth watching. Brown started, but Williams, who came into the night as the team's leader in passing yards this season, was the one on the field for the winning drive.

For Nebraska, the loss was a third straight, and all three have come by a touchdown or less. Matt Rhule's team had won its first five games of the season, including a home win over Maryland, before losing 20-17 to Indiana and 17-14 at Oregon. Saturday was Nebraska's first home game on Halloween since 1998, played in a Black Out with the program also marking the 25th anniversary of Eric Crouch's Heisman Trophy season. The defense did plenty to win it. The offense left too many points on the field.

Up next

Washington returns home to face Penn State at Husky Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7, in its Homecoming game. Nebraska goes on the road to face Illinois next.

Full stats are in the ESPN game page (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN play-by-play, theScore box score, Washington Athletics, Nebraska Athletics, 247Sports. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Washington Athletics.