“I would’ve bet my house that they would not have gone the distance on our defense in that amount of time and maneuver into field-goal range,” Whittingham said, “but they did, so credit to them. We weren’t able to make a play.”
The timeout he called with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave new life to the Huskies, who two plays later, completed a stunning comeback to douse Utah’s hopes of an upset, in the 33-30 win over the Utes Saturday at Husky Stadium.
Whittingham again explained his rationale Monday, saying it was a matter of field position, an aggressive coaching scheme — which already featured 3-for-3 on fourth downs, plus a successful fake punt and onside kick — betting on Utah’s defense and having the superior placekicker in Matt Gay.