It’s never a defense’s desire to let an opponent score.
But maybe Washington should have made an exception Sunday morning.
Trailing 19-17 with 44 seconds left, California running back Christopher Brown Jr. took a handoff at UW’s 3-yard line. Senior linebacker Kyler Manu shed a block and bolted across the line, taking out the 230-pound tailback’s legs for no gain.
But should he have?
Of course, everyone knows now Cal kicker Greg Thomas ultimately nailed the go-ahead 17-yard field goal, and — thanks, in part, to some questionable clock decisions by Huskies coach Chris Petersen — UW got the ball back with zero timeouts and eight seconds left.