This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Scampering free down the sideline and with nothing but red in front of him, Dante Pettis never bothered to tilt his head up and take a glance at the massive screen inside Rice-Eccles Stadium to see if anyone was nearby.
"I probably should have," said the Washington wide receiver. "That's a big one."
Pettis didn't need to double-check a thing. The 6-foot-1 junior wideout had wiggled out of a Utah tackler aiming to drop him after his initial backpedal. Pettis instead dodged another Ute and sprinted into the end zone to keep No. 4 Washington's unbeaten season alive Saturday afternoon with a 31-24 win over No. 17 Utah.
"It was awesome for Dante to get that done then, because that punter's a heck of a punter," Washington coach Chris Petersen said. "He's a weapon. We could get nothing."
Utah punter Mitch Wishnowsky had kept the Huskies at bay with his booming roll-out punts that either hung higher in the air than Pettis imagined or just kept drifting on him, sending the returner back further and further.
"I would line up at about 50 yards and I would have to run back 15 more," Pettis said. "His leg was ridiculous."
Wishnowsky's last punt, the one that finally gave Pettis some daylight to operate, was a 55-yarder that the Australian punter had to get rid of quickly — in part because Utah's offense stalled at its own 1-yard line after a 40-yard pooch punt by Washington quarterback Jake Browning.
Petersen said Browning practices that kick on a weekly basis. Asked if he's had a quarterback drop a punt on the 1-yard line, Petersen said, "I don't know about that, but that was pretty good."
Wishnowsky didn't have his usual time to roll out comfortably to his right and put all of his right leg into the punt. Pettis knew he would have time to not only run but that Utah's coverage team would be lagging a bit due to staying more compact and not allowing a block by the Huskies.
Petersen said a good punt-return man must adapt to his opponent like a boxer waiting for a counter-punch. In the five previous punts by Wishnowsky, Pettis managed 2 yards on three returns. "You've just got to hold your ground," Petersen said.
Pettis did, and had the last word.
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
Storylines
R Utah punter Mitch Wishnowsky finishes with six punts and 322 yards, averaging 53.7 yards per punt.
• Washington WR Dante Pettis takes advantage of Utah's final punt to score game-winning TD.
• In three previous punt-return attempts before the TD, Pettis managed just two yards.