Immediate observations on the UW Huskies' error-related loss to Rutgers

The UW Huskies' first Big Ten road trip was a horror show of self-inflicted mistakes.

Rutgers 21, UW Huskies 18: Box score

The Huskies outscored Rutgers 521-299 in yardage, but were undone by a parade of crushing penalties, missed field goals and missed red zone opportunities in a 21-18 loss to the Scarlet Knights on Friday night. UW rallied late, but Grady Gross' 55-yard field goal attempt went wide left as time expired and the Huskies fell 3-2 in their second crushing loss in 14 days.

It was all very reminiscent of UW's 24-19 Apple Cup loss to the WSU Cougars two weeks ago, when they struggled in red zone situations and conceded a whopping 135 penalty yards.

Here are five observations that stood out from the Huskies' loss to Rutgers:

• Costly penalties extend two Rutgers TD drives: The story of this game was UW's barrage of devastating penalties, and none bigger than the game-winning faux pas in the final minute of the first half. The Huskies appeared to have come away with a huge stop when Lance Holtzclaw knocked down a 38-yard field goal attempt with 30 seconds left, keeping the game at 7-3. However, after the kick was blocked, UW redshirt freshman safety Vincent Holmes briefly ran onto the field to celebrate. This resulted in an illegal substitution penalty that negated the block and gave Rutgers an automatic first down. On the very next play, the Scarlet Knights took advantage of the extra chance with a 15-yard TD pass that gave them a 14-3 lead at halftime. There was another drive-extension penalty early in the fourth quarter when UW defensive back Jayvon Parker was called for a facemask, brushing off a second-down tackle for a loss. Instead of facing a third-and-long, Rutgers scored an automatic first down and then launched a 10-play, 85-yard TD drive that extended its lead to 21-10.

• Costly penalties destroy scoring opportunities on offense: The many game-breaking penalties also caused problems for UW on offense. The Huskies totaled 160 yards on their first three drives but only managed three points, largely due to poorly timed flags. On their first possession, the Huskies advanced to the Rutgers 40-yard line, but a late score from center D'Angalo Titialii sent them into a second drive from which they were unable to recover. On their second possession, the Huskies marched 69 yards into the red zone, but a false start on first down put them behind the uprights and they ended up settling for a field goal. And on their third possession, a third-down conversion on a short pass to Giles Jackson was negated by an illegal low-block penalty on running back Cameron Davis. That forced the Huskies into a third-and-long and forced them to settle for a 42-yard field goal attempt that kicker Gross missed on the left edge.

• Red zone issues remain: Two weeks ago at the Apple Cup, the Huskies totaled 452 yards and finished with just 19 points. In that loss, they shot the ball inside the 30-yard line on five different drives and only scored a total of 10 points on those drives. It was a similar story against Rutgers on Friday evening. The Huskies totaled 521 yards but finished with just 18 points. And once again, they scored just 10 total points on those drives, despite snapping the ball inside the Rutgers 30-yard line on five different possessions. The penalty issues mentioned above were a big part of this. The same goes for the field goal misses from the normally reliable Gross, who missed from 37 and 42 yards in addition to his last-second 55-yard miss. There was also a turnover on downs early in the second half when the Huskies had a second-and-goal from the 3-yard line but failed to convert it on a 1-yard run and two consecutive incompletions hit into the end zone by Will Rogers. Additionally, on a third-and-3 from the 4-yard line in the first quarter, there was an apparent miscommunication between Rogers and receiver Giles Jackson on a fade route to the end zone, resulting in an incompletion that forced UW to give up You settle for a field goal.

• Defense struggles on third down: For the most part, the UW defense did a pretty good job of keeping reigning Big Ten leader Kyle Monangai in check on early downs and forcing Rutgers into third-and-long situations. Given their talent in the secondary and the fact that the Scarlet Knights are a bottom-heavy team, that should have benefited the Huskies. However, the UW defense allowed three third-down conversions on third-and-8 or longer in the first half, all three of which came on Rutgers TD drives. The Huskies also had a chance to stop Rutgers on a third-and-4 in the fourth quarter, but backup running back Samuel Brown V took a handoff up the middle and broke a tackle en route to a 37-yard TD run The Scarlet Knights led 21-10 with less than 11 minutes left. Rutgers converted 7 of 15 third downs while UW managed just 2 of 12.

• Coleman and Boston have big nights: Lost in all of the Huskies' mistakes were the great performances of star running back Jonah Coleman and leading receiver Denzel Boston. Coleman rushed for 148 yards on 16 carries, averaging 9.3 yards per attempt, and had several impressive runs, including a 39-yarder. Boston, on the other hand, finished the game with six catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns – all in the final 20 minutes of the game. The sophomore wideout had a 51-yard catch-and-run TD that helped keep the Huskies in the game and later kept their hopes alive in the final minutes with a juggling 30-yard reception on fourth-and-1 second and a 12-yard reception alive to score. It was the second straight big game for Boston, which had seven catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Northwestern last week.

More about the UW Huskies

• How Bruener overcame his injury to star in the Dawgs' first Big Ten win
• UW Insider: Three things to know — including injury updates
• Huskies “defend every blade of grass” in a defensive feat
• Immediate observations from UW's first Big Ten win
• UW Huskies defeat Northwestern 24-5 in Big Ten debut

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