Holtzclaw Gives Huskies an Exclamation Mark in USC Win

The edge rusher went unused against the Trojans before getting to the quarterback late.

UW edge rusher Lance Holtzclaw leaves USC quarterback Miller Moss in a heap to end Saturday night's game. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Lance Holtzclaw officially didn't end up with a sack or even a tackle. One had to look closely at the stat sheet following Saturday night's USC-Washington football game to know that he had even played.

Yet on the next to last snap of the Huskies' 26-21 victory in a cold and blustery setting, the 6-foot-3, 224-pound sophomore edge rusher was out there for everyone to see -- he was the exclamation mark.

Coming from the left, Holtzclaw raced into the Trojans' backfield on fourth-and-4 from the UW 14, got his hands on quarterback Miller Moss and spun him around so furiously that a last-ditch pass fell harmlessly to the ground without anyone near it.

While the Huskies' took a knee on offense to end things, Holtclaw's quarterback-rattling play actually brought a tense, hard-fought and at times extra wet Big Ten battle featuring two Pac-12 defectors to an emphatic end.

"He was ready to go," UW coach Jedd Fisch said. "It was a great message to guys -- that you can't just think you're not going in."

Indeed, even with starter Zach Durfee out with injuries, Holtzclaw was a little-used edge rusher in this outing, showing up as a third-teamer on the depth chart handed out prior to the game. And he appeared to be lower in the rotation than that on this night.

Voi Tunuufi and Alphonzo Tuputala, formerly a defensive tackle and usually a linebacker respectively, opened the game as the starting edges.

As the game proceeded, Isaiah Ward, Jacob Lane, Jayden Wayne, Deshawn Lynch and even Russell Davis II each took their turns on the edge, iwth Davis making his Husky debut

Holtzclaw simply watched.

He stood on the sideline as Moss went untouched throughout much of the game, standing in the pocket well protected to complete 30 of 50 passes for 293 yards and a pair of scores without suffering the indignity of a sack.

Husky offensive tackle Drew Azzopardi give Lance Holtzclaw a congratulatory hug after beating USC. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

It's quite possible that the coaches would like Holtzclaw, a speed-rush specialist who has played in all nine UW games so far, to be a little stronger and heavier in order to set the edge against the run before they use him in a more concentrated manner.

He has season-long totals of a mere 3 tackles, including a sack against Eastern Michigan.

Yet on this night, the Huskies needed a player who bills himself as "Showtime" to be a closer, to a short story rather than a full-length feature, to be a difference-maker for just one play.

"The fact that we put him on fourth down, with fresh legs and a great pass rush skill set and he just got after the tackle and the quarterback, what a way to end the game," Fisch said. "There's no better way to end the game."

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