For the third time in three years, the Wildcats made the trip up to Washington and were unable to hold on to a fourth-quarter lead.

"This is three times in a row," said senior linebacker Lance Briggs. "Three times in a row, same stadium. Same quarter."

Last year, Washington junior quarterback Cody Pickett scored the go-ahead touchdown with 13 seconds left to give the Huskies a 31-28 win.

This year, it was sophomore receiver Reggie Williams that caught an 80-yard slant that sealed the Wildcats' fate.

"Losing is hard ÷ it doesn't matter what it is," UA head coach John Mackovic said.

In the last five contests between the two schools, the games have been decided by a total of 21 points.

The Wildcats were plagued by penalties the entire game, but one in particular stuck out in the Wildcats 32-28 loss to the Huskies.

With 3:34 remaining in the game and the Wildcats leading 28-26, junior receiver Andrae Thurman was flagged for a personal foul penalty. That drove the Wildcats back 15 yards and forced them to punt to the Huskies with more than two minutes remaining.

"That one hurt," said Mackovic. "It's not very smart, but sometimes (penalties) happen just by hard play."

Mackovic said he reviewed the tape after the game and thought the officials made the right call.

Mackovic said he was a little bit under the weather after the loss to Washington. He said he had a little bit of a cold and his head was stuffy.

One thing that didn't make Mackovic feel any better was the loss of his starting safety, senior Jarvie Worcester.

Worcester broke his arm late in the game and could miss the entire season. Mackovic said there is an outside chance that he could return for the season's last few games.

Before the Washington game even started, on Friday the Wildcats were hit with another injury, one that on any other team would be considered bizarre. But after all the injuries that have hit the Wildcats this season, it wasn't a real shock to Mackovic.

On his way out the garage door to catch the bus to leave for the airport, freshman defensive tackle Brad Brittain injured his knee.

Brittain was trying to get underneath his garage door, which was partially stuck. He tore his meniscus in his knee and had orthroscopic knee surgery Saturday morning. He should be out for at least three weeks.

"We have had them all," said Mackovic, referring to the injuries his team has suffered this season.

Sophomore offensive lineman Keoki Fraser was also injured in the Wildcat loss, but is not expected to miss any time.

On the plane ride up to Seattle this weekend, one couldn't blame most of the Wildcats' veteran players if they didn't recognize the teammates sitting around them.

Of the 60 UA players that were allowed to travel to Washington, 27 were either walk-ons or rookies. That meant a lot of Wildcat players were seeing their first game action.

"Under the circumstances of who was playing and how they were playing is really telling about our guys," said Mackovic.

Even with over 45 percent of the traveling squad with little or no previous colligate experience; Mackovic still had high hopes for his team.

"We still felt we would win. We felt we would be prepared, play well and beat them," said Mackovic.

Mathew Chernicoff from The Daily at the University of Washington contributed to this report.