Washington cornerback Adam Long, covering a receiver on the other side of the field, could do little but wish for luck as Chris McGaha settled under the ball in the end zone.
"I was just hoping he would drop it or something," Long said.
Instead, when McGaha caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Danny Sullivan with five seconds left in Saturday's game, what dropped was not only the hearts and stomachs of the Huskies, but also their postseason hopes.
A win over Arizona State would have left UW two games away from bowl eligibility and set up a showdown for first place in the Pac-10 Saturday with rival Oregon.
Now, after a loss as shocking as it was sudden, UW is 3-4 overall and in seventh place in the conference at 2-2, needing to win three of the last five to get the minimum 6-6 record needed for a bowl game.
"It's really frustrating because we are still a very young football team and we're a team that week to week we have been in so many of these tight games and battles where every play counts, every play is worth its weight in gold for us," said first-year coach Steve Sarkisian.
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