SEATTLE — Don’t let the final score fool you.

It was never that close.

The Washington Huskies pulled within a field goal late in a 28-25 loss to Penn State, but it ended the way it went for the Huskies during much of Saturday’s loss.

They were overrun.

In the end, it was a major mistake and an inability to finish that finished the Huskies in a game they forgot to start against a 4-4 Nittany Lions team that won its second Big Ten game in six tries on Saturday. Any serious chance for a comeback win at Husky Stadium went away when UW fell down 28-6 in the first half.

“I don’t know. I really don’t have a good answer for you,” said Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch, whose team fell to 5-4 overall and 2-5 in conference play. “We need to come out and be able to handle whatever we’re getting, be able to make plays at home, and be able to start fast, or at least start moderately fast.

“And we haven’t done that, and we put ourselves in the hole this week again.”

Somehow Washington found itself in position for a second straight comeback, needing just a stop and a score when Penn State began a drive at its own 25, leading 28-25 with 7:40 to go.

Though the Huskies maintained the second-half shutout, they failed to get the final stop Washington needed for a chance at another fourth-quarter comeback.

The best chance came on third-and-5 at the UW 17 with 3:51 to go. Fisch called timeout, and as the teams took the field, many on the UW sideline began jumping up and down while shouting when they became aware there were 12 Huskies on the field.

They were not heard.

Flag thrown. First down, Penn State.

“We were trying to get the attention of our players to send one guy off the field,” Fisch said. “You could see everybody was jumping up and down the sideline, but we were not heard, and we missed it, or we didn’t get the communication right. So we can’t take back-to-back timeouts. It’s the same penalty as having 12 guys on the field. So, very disappointing.”

Penn State faced a fourth-and-1 at the 2-minute timeout, but quarterback Rocco Becht put it away with a 2-yard run

There was no miracle like last week against Nebraska. This wasn’t a 7-3 deficit, and this wasn’t the same Washington defense that held the Cornhuskers down long enough for Chris Lawson to catch a fourth-and-18 prayer from Williams shortly after he came off the bench. Lawson continued his strong play in Big Ten games, finishing with five catches for 89 yards against Penn State.

This week, Washington’s defense joined the offense’s penchant for first-half struggles.

“It’s very disappointing because I know we’re a better defense than that,” Huskies safety Alex McLaughlin said. “I know we’re a better football team than that, and we just need to start faster, so we don’t have to come out of a hole.”

The Huskies entered this week’s hole against a Penn State program that fell in its first four Big Ten games before last week’s 31-17 win over the same Purdue team Washington beat on Oct. 16. Penn State failed to score more than 23 points in its first four conference games before jumping all over UW with 28 in the first half.

The Nittany Lions scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions, driving 75, 68, 55 and 75 yards while Washington mixed two Tyler Robles field goals in with Hunter Green’s four punts.

“I appreciate the grit and toughness that we play with, never being out of the game fully, and being in that situation multiple times this year, as far as going down early and having to kind of claw our way out of the hole,” said Williams, who completed 19 of 33 passes for 172 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. “I think it was just another example of how resilient we are as a team. But at the end of the day, if we don’t get the win, really doesn’t matter.”

UW attempted to attack Penn State on the outside often, but with limited success. Williams missed open receiver deep on two occasions, which contributed to an average of just 5.2 yards per pass attempt.

Washington established the run early with Jayden Limar gaining 36 yards on six first-drive rushes to set up Robles’ 28-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead. Limar, who missed seven games before returning against Nebraska, was seldom seen after that, however, and he finished with nine carries for 66 yards.

Including Williams’ five rushes for 42 yards, UW compiled 134 on 25 rushing attempts.

“It was just a matter of, we can’t give Jayden 60 plays coming off of an injury,” Fisch said.

Penn State’s first drive began with a 7-yard loss on a bad snap, but the Nittany Lions recovered by averaging nearly 17 yards on their next 16 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Washington’s defense struggled with gap discipline during the drive, which culminated in Carson Hansen’s 12-yard TD run up the middle. Hansen, who finished with 119 yards on 14 carries, started left, then cut back up the middle after Washington defenders bit outside.

UW’s defense forced Penn State into third-and-long situations during its second drive, but the Nittany Lions were able to wriggle free. Becht found Chase Sowell (4 catches, 125 yards) on third-and-9. He then turned a third-and-11 into a fourth-and-1 with a 10-yard scramble. Becht then finished the deal with an option keeper to pick up the first down.

Three plays later, on third-and-10, Becht found Zay Robinson across the middle for an easy 24-yard TD behind a trailing Rahshawn Clark.

Washington’s fourth drive nearly ended in disaster. It began at the 2 when Dezmen Roebuck fair-caught a ball at the 4, and it was pushed back to the 2 because of freshman tight end Sam Vyhlidal’s facemask penalty.

Williams threw wide twice to tightly-covered freshman receiver Jordan Clay. Taking the ball in his own end zone, Williams held the ball before being hit for a near safety. He was able to get the ball out, and Hunter Green booted the ball 63 yards.

As it turned out, disaster was merely delayed, as Becht hit Sowell in stride for an easy 45-yard TD and a 21-3 Penn State lead in front of a late-arriving, early departing announced crowd of 67,879.

With Washington’s defense pitching a shutout in the second half, the UW offense began finding its groove in the middle of the third.

After UW cornerback Dylan Robinson snuffed out a Nittany Lions hook-and-lateral play on fourth-and-7, Williams capped a 40-yard TD drive with a 4-yard toss to wide-open tight end Barone Naone for a 28-17 score.

Williams underthrew a deep ball for a Penn State interception on UW’s next drive, but then led a six-play, 69-yard drive to shave Penn State’s lead to 28-25 with 7:40 to go.

But that was the last time the offense saw the ball.

This story originally appeared at emeraldcityspectrum.com.