As Chris Petersen searches for his fourth wide receivers coach since coming to Washington in Dec. 2013, one of his most accomplished players at the position ponders along with him.

Dante Pettis, one of the first recruits to commit to Petersen at UW and the cousin of Austin Pettis, a former WR for Petersen at Boise State, watched as players and coaches walked off the field after the 28-23 loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

It was an all too familiar sight for the now San Francisco 49ers receiver who just finished his rookie season in the NFL. Pettis hauled in five touchdowns and totaled 467 yards to go along with 27 receptions in 12 games.

The former JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, California) product embraced senior quarterback Jake Browning, among others, coming off the field before he shared his thoughts on the game with UW offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan.

Pettis, who became a fan favorite in Seattle during his four years as a Husky from 2014-17, told TheDawgReport.com outside the team locker room after the game he isn’t sure what the problem was on Jan. 1, but it can’t happen again.

“We have to win these bowl games,” Pettis said. “I don’t know what it is, to be completely honest. I don’t know what it is. But we have to fix it.”

The Huskies outscored the Buckeyes 20-8 in the second half, all three touchdowns coming in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough. Much of the first 30 minutes UW spent building drives together before a penalty or dropped pass stalled the offense.

For a third time, after losing to No. 1 Alabama 24-7 in the 2016 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and 38-25 to No. 9 Penn State last year in the Fiesta Bowl, UW found itself heading into the offseason in defeat.

However, the Huskies are expected to once again contend for a fourth straight New Years’ Six bowl in 2019. Led by redshirt junior Jacob Eason at QB, a former five-star who transferred home after spending two seasons at Georgia from 2016-17, UW has the pieces in place to avenge its last three bowl losses.

With Petersen at the helm, Pettis believes the staff will find a way to make that happen.

“It’s always something different,” he said, when asked if the same problem has stifled the Huskies over the last three years. “If it was just one thing obviously we would have fixed it. If if was one thing we would have fixed it by now.

“We definitely will fix it. That’s one thing I know about this program. The coaches, they’ll get this thing right.”