Huskies GameCenter: Live updates, how to watch as home underdog UW hosts No. 9 Utah

Zack Moss rushes two yards into the end zone and the Utes have now scored 30 of the last 37 points in this game. Samson Nacua, brother of UW freshman Puka, reeled in a 28-yard pass to the 15 that got Utah even closer after a hands-to-the-face penalty on Elijah Molden was tacked on the end.

https://twitter.com/Pac12Network/status/1190766331693387776

The Huskies had the Utes backed up to third and 12. But Jaylen Dixon beat Dominique Hampton for a 41-yard gain, then Tyler Huntley found Brant Kuith for eight yards and Zack Moss rushed for 13, setting up a Huntley scramble and score from 1 yard out. The Utes take their first lead of the game, 26-21.

The Utes are on 🔝@_SNOOP1 with the scramble & score!

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/dSTrykIhda

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 2, 2019

Jacob Eason threw three interceptions in his first eight games.

He threw two in the third quarter. The first ended a promising drive at the Utah 23-yard line. The second was returned by Utah’s Jaylon Johnson down the sideline for a 39-yard score.

All things considered, that was unquestionably Eason’s worst quarter of the season. But Washington’s defense has responded, forcing and recovering two fumbled of its own. UW enters the final quarter with a 21-19 lead. The Husky offense needs to make key plays in crunch time to seal a win. It couldn’t against Oregon. We’ll see if anything changes today.

What a wild series of events. Consecutive Utah drives end in fumbles with UW recoveries, but the Huskies get zero points out of it. In fact, they come out six points in the red. Following the second fumble, Jaylon Johnson intercepts Jacob Eason and takes it to the house for a pick-six. Utah goes for two and is stopped just short, leaving us with a 21-19 game as the third quarter winds down.

PICK. 6.@Utah_Football are right back in it 😤 pic.twitter.com/eocLIHytkC

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 2, 2019

Hunter Bryant is having himself a day. He hauls in a 40-yard touchdown from Jacob Eason, to go along with his early 34-yard touchdown, for a five-catch, 97-yard game so far. After momentum seemed to be swinging away from the Huskies, it shifts back in a big way with a quick-strike drive.

Jacob Eason and Hunter Bryant do it again #UTAHvsUW pic.twitter.com/01kE47btjd

— Seattle Times Sports (@SeaTimesSports) November 2, 2019

Jacob Eason makes a bad mistake, throwing into triple coverage while trying to find Cade Otten near the end zone. Instead, it's intercepted by Julian Blackmon. The Utes takes over facing a 90-plus yard field in front of them.

"Mine" - @JulianBlackmon

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/AM7BLd1HIX

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 2, 2019

What a swing.

With 1:31 left in the second quarter and UW facing fourth-and-1 from Utah’s 45-yard line, Chris Petersen, Bush Hamdan and Co. opted to go for it … and the risk nearly paid off.

Honestly, it should have. Junior quarterback Jacob Eason faked a handoff and lofted a perfect pass behind the Utah defense.

And redshirt freshman tight end Devin Culp dropped it.

Instead of UW having an opportunity to close the half with a field goal at the very least, Utah’s offense tacked on an extra field goal. The Utes entered the locker room with all of the momentum, trailing just 14-13.

Eason has played well, completing 12 of 17 passes for 129 yards and two scores. But things felt like they were starting to slip away for the Huskies in the second quarter. The Utes piled up 126 total yards in the quarter, including 56 rushing yards and 4.3 yards per carry. They scored 13 points.

UW gets the ball first in the third quarter. Let’s see how the Huskies respond.

At last, the Utah offense comes alive. And it's all Zack Moss. The running back hauls in a 9-yard touchdown reception on third-and-8. He touched the ball nine times on 12 plays and accounted for 64 of the Utes' 80 yards.

This series brought to you by #ZackMossed!#goutes #UTAHvsUW
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/GC6v6GbuUp

— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) November 2, 2019

Hellooooo, Hunter Bryant. The uber-athletic junior tight end gets open behind Utah's defense and Jacob Eason sails a beautiful ball to him for a 34-yard touchdown. It's been all Huskies so far, and they lead 14-3.

Jacob Eason. Hunter Bryant. 💰💰💰.

UW takes a 14-3 lead on No. 9 Utah #UTAHvsUW pic.twitter.com/znq92GU6c4

— Seattle Times Sports (@SeaTimesSports) November 2, 2019

Jacob Eason giveth, and Jacob Eason taketh away.

UW’s junior quarterback did everything in the first quarter against Utah – and that’s not all positive. He completed 6 of 8 passes on the Huskies’ opening drive, including an 11-yard touchdown on a slant to Jordan Chin. He also threaded the needle on a crossing route to Marquis Spiker on third-and-17 for 21 yards. But in UW’s second drive, he fumbled on a third down scramble and gave the Utes the ball at the UW 13-yard line.

On the other side, UW’s defense has impressed early, forcing two first quarter punts. Utah running back Zack Moss has managed just 10 rushing yards and 2.5 yards per carry. Plus, the UW defense that recorded zero sacks against Oregon managed two of them against Tyler Huntley in the first quarter.

Washington has strung together a pair of strong defensive series to open this game. The Utes' second drive ends with Ryan Bowman storming the backfield to sack Utah's alternate QB Jason Shelley for a loss of six. That's UW's second sack today after not recording one in the loss to Oregon. Utah has just one first down between its first two drives.

Ryan 💪 Bowman 💪#PurpleReign

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/QazOzWsp4O

— Washington Football (@UW_Football) November 2, 2019

Washington sends a message with a methodical opening drive that ends in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Eason to Jordan Chin. The Huskies marched 70 yards on 13 plays in 5 minutes, 56 seconds. Salvon Ahmed, carrying the load today without Richard Newton, rushed five times for 20 yards and Eason completed 6 of 8 passes for 45 yards.

That was @chincredible! 😱@UW_Football marches down the field on the opening drive. #Pac12FB

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/hwencTKJXb

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 2, 2019

It’s no secret Washington needs help in its receiving corps.

The Huskies may be about to get some.

Junior wide receiver Ty Jones — who missed the first eight games this season with a dislocated lunate bone and torn ligaments in his right wrist — will make his 2019 debut against Utah on Saturday, it appears. The 6-foot-4, 213-pound junior has suited up for the first time this season and is warming up with teammates prior to the 1 p.m. kickoff. UW head coach Chris Petersen reiterated on Thursday that Jones has been practicing fully and the plan was to reintegrate him into the lineup prior to the end of the regular season.

It’s also Jones’ preference to redshirt and maintain an extra season of eligibility, per Petersen, which means he could only appear in a maximum of four games this fall.

“We’re trying to get him back going,” Petersen said. “He’s practicing full speed, all those type of things. It’s really hard for a guy that hasn’t been in the mix to just go, ‘OK, here we go,’ and pick up where he left off. These other guys that we got have been grinding for a long time in a different way. So I think before this thing’s all said and done we would like Ty back in the mix with us. But it’s a work in progress.”

It appears that progress has been made — and that’s significant news for the Huskies. In 14 games last season, Jones led the Huskies with six receiving touchdowns and added 31 catches for 491 yards. It remains unclear whether the team’s leading receiver, senior Aaron Fuller, will be active after missing the vast majority of the Oregon game with an injury.

Chico McClatcher will also not play today against Utah, a UW spokesperson confirmed. But receiver Aaron Fuller is suited up after missing much of the Oregon game. Freshman running back Cameron Davis is not suited up, with a cast on his left hand, nor is running back Richard Newton or linebacker M.J. Tafisi.

UW freshman wide receiver Puka Nacua will not play against Utah on Saturday because of health reasons, a UW spokesperson confirmed. A separate source told The Times that Nacua suffered an injury this week that could be season-ending. Read more here.

We're trying out a new and (hopefully) improved live updates format. It looks like this! Stay tuned for more from the game.