Washington's Pettis etches name in record books

Nov 9, 2017 - 3:58 PM Dante Pettis went five games without returning a punt for touchdown and he is probably the only player in college football who could call that a deep slump.

But the Washington senior broke out with a 64-yard return for touchdown against Oregon last Saturday for his nation-leading fourth score of the season and the record ninth of his career.

Pettis had been tied for the NCAA mark of eight with Texas Tech's Wes Welker (2000-03) and Oklahoma's Antonio Perkins (2001-04) since mid-September.

"Getting the record was pretty cool," Pettis told reporters. "I owe a lot to the guys blocking for me because they're the ones who really make the big returns happen."

Pettis will attempt to add on to his record total when the Huskies (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) visit Stanford (6-3, 5-2) on Friday night

He opened the season by returning a punt for touchdown in each of Washington's first three games. The career record seemed to be a mere formality at that point.

But October passed without a punt-return score and the clock was ticking. Then Pettis saw a line-drive punt from Oregon's Adam Stack headed his way and the opportunity had arrived.

He avoided the initial tacklers and later sidestepped Stack near the Oregon 40-yard line and sped into the end zone for the historic touchdown.

"Kind of the same thing every time -- every time he seems to do that with a little bit of space," Huskies coach Chris Petersen said Monday. "Make a guy miss right away to get started. There were about three guys he kind of had to do something with himself, but there was enough space for him to do that.

"He's got such a unique knack for returning. If you give the guy space he's got that vision that we just talked about, he's got those long legs. He's like a hurdler out there. Guys are going to have a really hard time tackling him."

The fourth return this season ties the Pac-12 record shared by California's DeSean Jackson (2006) and Oregon's Cliff Harris (2010). Pettis' season average of 21.7 leads the nation.

NOTES: Washington QB Jake Browning threw two touchdown passes in the win over Oregon to match the school record of 75 set by Keith Price (2010-13). ... Washington RB Myles Gaskin's 123-yard outing against Oregon was his fourth 100-yard performance in six games. The junior has rushed for 918 yards and 10 touchdowns and looks guaranteed to top 1,300 yards for the third straight season. ... Washington leads the nation in total defense (240.9 yards per game) and ranks sixth nationally in rushing defense (91.1).