Huskies Ride Lowe Around Block

Deep into the fourth quarter Saturday against Michigan, Washington cornerback Omare Lowe was suffering the fate of many a Pacific Northwest salmon. He was getting smoked.

But Lowe’s day--and Washington’s game--turned around in less than a minute after Lowe made two tremendous plays to help give the 15th-ranked Huskies a 23-18 come-from-behind victory over No. 11 Michigan and a swell of momentum heading into a game against No. 1 Miami.

Exhausted from trying to cover Michigan receiver Marquise Walker on a 15-reception day, Lowe lined up as Michigan prepared to try a field goal that figured to put the game away.

“OK, just try to make a play,” Lowe told himself. Then he broke through and blocked the kick, getting up in time to see teammate Roc Alexander grab the ball and race 77 yards for a one-point Washington lead with 9:11 left.

Washington Coach Rick Neuheisel knew Alexander was gone. “He’s the fastest guy on our team.”

Lowe didn’t have any doubt.

“I jumped up to block somebody and saw Roc with it, and I said, ‘Whew, I can take a little break,”’ Lowe said. “Nobody was going to catch him. I ended up running the 80 yards anyway to celebrate.”

Less than a minutes later--two plays after Washington kicked off--Lowe got his hands on the ball again, this time for an interception he ran back 20 yards for a touchdown and a 20-12 lead with 8:20 left.

“I was still a little winded,” Lowe said. “But the quarterback threw a bad ball and the guy couldn’t handle it. I took a present and went to the house.”

The house was rocking by then, as the sellout crowd of 74,080 at Husky Stadium roared at another Washington comeback.

That became the Huskies’ trademark during their Rose Bowl season last year: Eight times during an 11-1 season, Washington came from behind to win. Five times, it came back after trailing in the fourth quarter. But with quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo gone and a sophomore named Cody Pickett with one completion to his name starting Washington’s opening game, it seemed too much to expect the tradition to continue.

“Last year, Marques was our star, our go-to guy. He made things happen,” Lowe said. “This year, we have a group of guys, seniors, and somebody is going to make something happen. It may not be the same guy every game, but somebody is going to do it.”

Michigan (1-1), had eight more first downs than Washington and outgained the Huskies, 372-268, holding Washington to 69 yards rushing.

But the Wolverines went home with a loss.

“Luck’s fine with me, it doesn’t matter,” Neuheisel said.

Michigan seemed about to take a 15-6 lead over a Washington team that had managed only two field goals by the fourth quarter when Lowe beat his blocker and laid out to get an arm solidly on Hayden Epstein’s kick from 33 yards.

“I dove and I’ve got a bruise on my arm to prove it,” Lowe said.

In the space of a minute, Michigan went from anticipating a nine-point lead to trailing by eight.

“It’s disappointing any time you lose, but to lose the way we did today

Michigan stopped the Huskies on third down as time ticked away, only to have a roughing-the-passer penalty against free safety Cato June extend a drive that ate up almost five minutes. That drive culminated in a 30-yard field goal by John Anderson for a 23-12 Washington lead with 2:36 left.

Even though Michigan scored another touchdown with 49 seconds left when new quarterback John Navarre connected with Walker on a 20-yard pass over Lowe, it wasn’t enough.

Walker was little short of spectacular, making 15 catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns, faking out Lowe repeatedly.

“He made a couple of moves that left Omare hanging a little bit,” Neuheisel said.

Lowe knew it.

“No. 4 was making me look bad,” he said.

Most eyes were on the quarterbacks, as Washington tries to replace Tuiasosopo and Michigan breaks in Navarre, Drew Henson’s replacement. Both teams had a conservative game plan, and both teams watched a receiver steal the show.

For Washington it was 6-foot-4 freshman Reggie Williams, who caught four passes for 134 yards in his college debut--including a spectacular 74-yard catch-and-run play.

The Huskies have some work to do, but they hope they’ll lead the charmed life they did last season. Pickett, heretofore best known for his calf-roping skills growing up in Idaho, completed 13 of 21 passes for 199 yards.

Michigan’s Navarre attempted 44, completing 26 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Washington walks away the winner.

Maybe it was the 1991 national championship team gathering in one end zone before the fourth quarter. Maybe it was more of last year’s charm.

“Fourth quarter is ours,” Washington safety Greg Carothers said. “We knew if we could hang in there, we’d win it in the fourth quarter.”

Hanging in there with Miami might prove a more difficult task.