Washington survived its first real test Saturday night after rolling through an easy nonconference schedule.
Jake Browning hit Dante Pettis on a 4-yard touchdown in overtime and No. 9 Washington overcame a slew of missed opportunities to hold off host Arizona 35-28 in both teams' Pac-12 opener.
"We can do better than that," Washington coach Chris Petersen said.
The Huskies (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) dominated their first three games behind Browning's prolific passing and a first-team defense that did not allow a touchdown.
Those wins came against Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State, so Arizona represented a huge uptick in competition.
Washington had a hard time shaking the Wildcats (2-2, 0-1). Its defense was unable to contain Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins most of the night but forced a turnover on downs in overtime to eke out the victory.
Dawkins finished with 176 yards and two touchdowns rushing and 167 yards passing. He escaped pressure to hit Shun Brown on a 54-yard pass, then found Josh Kern on a 3-yard TD pass with 17 seconds left to tie the score 28-28.
Etc.
• Notre Dame fired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, hours after a 38-35 home loss to Duke dropped the Irish — who started the season ranked No. 10 — to 1-3.
