There was time for one final play for Washington to somehow, some way, pull off another Chris Petersen miracle in the Fiesta Bowl.

As Dante Pettis crossed into Penn State territory -- :08 seconds remaining in the game and needing a touchdown to tie – the Huskies senior receiver turned left, and threw a desperation pass picked off by linebacker Brandon Smith, sealing the Nittany Lions 35-28 victory.

“It was a hook and lateral, so normally we try to keep the ball alive,” Pettis said after the game. “I didn’t know there were still five seconds left, so I just tried to make a play. Looking back, knowing there were 5 seconds, I easily could have stepped out of bounds."

Trailing 28-7 with 8:55 remaining in the second half it seemed unfathomable that the Huskies (10-3, 7-2) could be in a position at the end to push the game into a potential overtime. UW’s defense, which hadn’t allowed 400-plus yards to a team until Stanford in early November, struggled throughout much of the first half to at-best contain Penn State.

Saquan Barkley ran for 92 of his 137 yards to push the Nittany Lions (11-2, 7-2) lead to three scores. Meanwhile UW saw its run game stifled, managing just seven total rushing yards in the first half.

UW capitalized on miscommunication between PSU quarterback Trace McSoreley and Miles Sander, recovering a fumble as cornerback Myles Bryant came off the edge. Ryan Bowman, a redshirt freshman walk-on defensive end, recovered the ball at the PSU 33 yard-line.

The Huskies turned the turnover into points, capping off a six-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown by Myles Gaskin to cut the deficit to 28-14 and the score holding to form heading into the half.

UW continued its momentum with the longest scoring drive of the game. Converting three third downs on the drive, the last a 28-yard touchdown from Jake Browning to Aaron Fuller, the Huskies pulled to within a touchdown, trailing 28-21 with 9:57 in the third.

But again, McSoreley and the Nittnay Lions marched right back with a touchdown drive of their own. PSU converted two of its 13 third down attempts on the drive, the last a 24-yard strike from McSorley to DaeSean Hamilton.

James Franklin continued to press heading into the fourth quarter, eating up almost six minutes of time of possession before Austin Joyner shined new light to the Huskies hopes. Huskies LB Ben Burr-Kirven, who finished with five tackles and two pass breakups, one of which came on the interception that fluttered for seemingly an eternity, before falling into Joyner’s hands.

The Huskies continued to fight but were unable to turn the third turnover of the game into points, trailing 35-21 with 10:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Gaskin provided the last punch from UW on the night. The junior, who is still considering whether or not to return for his final season in 2018, took a direct snap out 69-yards, cutting the PSU lead to 35-28 with 6:52 remaining.

But the Nittnay Lions would let the Huskies get no closer. PSU held the ball for 6:18 on its final drive of the game before a 45-yard missed field goal by Tyler Davis gave UW one last shot with :34 seconds left in the game.