Associated Press

Arizona quarterback Jason Johnson is hit by Washington free safety Wondame Davis during the first quarter of Washington's 31-28 win Saturday, in Seattle. Johnson left the game with a separated shoulder.

Monday October 22, 2001

SEATTLE - Cody Pickett the former rodeo team-roper showed the toughness his coach has been talking about all season.

Two weeks after separating his throwing shoulder, the Washington quarterback ran 3 yards for the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left as the No. 15 Huskies managed yet another amazing fourth-quarter comeback, beating Arizona 31-28 Saturday.

"When you get out there and get the adrenaline going it helps a lot," said Pickett, a former cowboy from Caldwell, Idaho. "After the game is when the pain starts setting in."

Pickett threw touchdown passes of 78 and 75 yards in the first quarter and finished 29-of-49 for a career-high 455 yards, with three touchdowns and four interceptions.

"It was like something out of a movie," said receiver Paul Arnold, who caught the 78-yarder. "Two weeks ago he separated his shoulder as bad as you can, and today he's out there throwing TDs and setting records."

Associated Press

Arizona wide receiver Andrae Thurman (4) celebrates a first quarter touchdown pass against Washington while being held up by teammate Justin Levasseur in Seattle, Saturday. Brandon Marshall (6) also celebrates in the endzone.

The Huskies (5-1, 3-1 Pac-10) overcame five turnovers to bounce back from their first loss in 13 games. They haven't lost two straight since coach Rick Neuheisel's first two games in 1999.

Saturday's win marked the fourth time this fall the Huskies have come back to win in the final quarter. They did it five times in last year's Rose Bowl season.

Arizona is winless in four Pac-10 games and has lost nine straight conference games. For the second straight year, the Wildcats (3-4, 0-4) surrendered a fourth-quarter lead at Husky Stadium.

"We played better but the bitter taste is still in our mouth," Arizona linebacker Ray Wells said.

The Huskies got the ball back with 2:18 to go after Arizona was forced to punt following Ben Mahdavi's quarterback sack.

Washington started the game-winning drive on its own 45. Pickett completed a 19-yard pass to Todd Elstrom, then ran for 6 yards.

He then threw a 27-yard completion to Patrick Reddick to set up first-and-goal on the 3. But the Huskies were called for a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty.

Player of the game: UW sophomore quarterback Cody Pickett, who played with a separated shoulder, set a new Huskies passing record with 455 yards. Play of the game: With 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Pickett - running a bootleg on third-and-goal - ran the ball for the game-winning touchdown from 3 yards out. Stat of the game: Washington's two tailbacks were held to only 3.3 yards per carry, well below their season average. Senior Willie Hurst had seven carries for 16 yards and sophomore Rich Alexis had 45 yards on 11 carries. Stat of the game: The Huskies rushed only 28 times for 83 yards in the game. It was the third-lowest rushing total and the fewest number of attempts on the season for Washington. Conversely, Arizona rushed for 199 yards on 44 attempts. RUSHING - Arizona: Farmer 21-147, Mills 12-56, Johnson 2-4, Rattay minus 8. Washington: Alexis 11-45, Pickett 8-18, Hurst 7-16. PASSING - Arizona: Rattay 9-18-1-115, Johnson 7-10-0-80. Washington: Pickett 29-49-4-455. RECEIVING - Arizona: Wade 6-74, Leonard 4-77, Thurman 3-29, Farmer 2-8, Marshall 1-7. Washington: Arnold 7-138, Elstrom 7-99, Williams 7-80, Hooks 3-34, Reddick 2-102, Ware 1-13, Hurst 1-0, Pickett minus 11

On first down from the 8, Michael Jolivette batted down a pass by Pickett intended for Reggie Williams in the end zone. Then Pickett completed a 5-yard pass to Elstrom to get back to the 3.

On third down, with less than 25 seconds on the game clock, Pickett faked and took the ball to his right into the end zone.

Roc Alexander ran back a kickoff 74 yards to Arizona's 15 with 5 minutes left, but the Huskies again struggled in the red zone and settled for a 39-yard field goal by John Anderson that made it 28-24.

Arizona broke a 21-all tie on Clarence Farmer's 16-yard scoring run with 5:18 left. Farmer ran for 147 yards on 21 carries.

The Wildcats lost starting quarterback Jason Johnson to a concussion on the second-to-last play of the first quarter. Johnson ran for 10 yards on third-and-6 and was brought down on a hard hit by free safety Wondame Davis.

Johnson stayed in for two more plays and was 7-for-10 for 80 yards and two touchdowns before being replaced by backup John Rattay.

"Jason could not remember throwing the two TD passes," first-year Arizona coach John Mackovic said.

Rattay completed 9 of 18 passes and ran for his first career touchdown with 12:30 left in the third quarter to tie it at 21. He also suffered a concussion and needed stitches in the chin after a game-ending sack by Mahdavi.

It was Pickett's best start since he was selected as Marques Tuiasosopo's successor during spring drills. But until the strong-throwing sophomore took the field for Washington's first offensive series, there was still some question whether he would start.

Pickett practiced all week but was still undergoing daily treatments on his shoulder. Neuheisel said it would be a game-day decision on who would start because backup Taylor Barton also was banged up. Starting in place of Pickett against UCLA on Oct. 13, Barton suffered a concussion and a sprained left foot in the 35-13 loss to the Bruins. Freshman Casey Paus also was considered to play Saturday though he hasn't appeared in a game all year.

"He just felt like he could do it," Neuheisel said of the decision to play Pickett. "I watched him in pregame and I thought he could be a guy we could go with. Certainly the way he started, it looked like it was going to be a great night for him."

Pickett completed six of his first nine passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter.

He struggled in the second half, however. Jermaine Chatman intercepted two of Pickett's passes.

Early in the fourth quarter, Pickett again had the Huskies in the red zone, but had a third-down pass attempt tipped back to him off an Arizona defender for a loss of 11 yards with the completion to himself. Then Anderson missed wide right on a 35-yard field-goal attempt with 14:07 left.

Arnold continues to shine in his new position for the Huskies. He switched from tailback to receiver this season, and made seven catches for 138 yards. Pickett's 75-yard scoring pass was caught by Reddick.