There were flashes of some issues when Washington played Arizona earlier this month as college football's most productive passer was held without a touchdown. It led to a close victory over the Wildcats.

Maybe there's something about schools from the Copper State. Penix again was held without a touchdown pass Saturday night as the Huskies faced the Pac-12's last-place team, Arizona State.

UW didn't gain its first lead of the night until the 8:11 mark of the fourth quarter, and it came by way of a defensive play. After the Sun Devils decided against kicking a field goal that would have put them up by 4 points, they instead attempted a fourth-and-3 play looking to put the game away for good with Penix waiting on the other side.

Instead, it turned into a defensive score as junior cornerback Mishael Powell stepped in front of the pass from ASU quarterback Trenton Bourguet and returned the interception 89 yards for what would be UW's lone touchdown in the 15-7 victory.

The defense came up once again to end the game with the Sun Devils trying to tie the game on their final possession. Linebacker Ralen Goforth broke up a pass from Bourguet to Jalin Conyers on fourth-and-15 giving the Huskies their seventh win of the season.

"A win's a win," UW head coach Kalen DeBoer said after Saturday's game. "There's a lot of teams that don't find ways to get through that. It was a struggle in different ways, and finding a way to get the dub is huge. We can get back and go to work, and learn from it and be better because of it.

"... Proud that we found a way. I think finding ways to win with our defense today doing what they did, it only makes us stronger. It only makes our team have that much more belief. I'm confident our offense will get back on track, and get out there and do their thing again."

The biggest story of the night was the lack of production by the most talented passing offense in the country. Penix came into the game as the top passer in the FBS with an average of 383.5 yards per game.

However, the ASU defense continued to give Penix fits throughout the night holding him to 203 yards passing through the first three quarters. It wasn't just the lack of production that stood out, it was the errors the Sun Devils forced him into that had a bigger negative impact on the offense.

Penix threw two interceptions in the one-score win and also had a fumble on a botched handoff exchange. He finished the game with 275 yards passing and completed just 64% of his passes (27 for 42).

It wasn't just the Heisman hopeful who struggled offensively in the game for UW. The rushing attack did little to help generate momentum. The Huskies ended the night with just 13 yards rushing leaving UW with 288 total yards.

The offense will have to thank the defense for coming through in what looked like a classic trap game for much of the night. The Huskies were able to force ASU into some difficult positions and eventually held the Sun Devils under 350 total yards despite them having 23 more offensive plays than UW.

Cornerback Jabbar Muhammad shined with a team-high 7 tackles (6 solo) to go with 2 tackles for loss. Seven different defenders came up with a pass breakup in the game for Washington include two apiece for Goforth and cornerback Elijah Jackson.

The Huskies will now hit the road to face Stanford and USC to begin a more challenging stretch in the final five weeks of the regular season.

Passing

Michael Penix, Jr. – 27/42, 275 yards, 2 interceptions

Rushing

Will Nixon – 1 rush, 13 yards

Dillon Mitchell – 8 rushes, 6 yards

Receiving

Ja'Lynn Polk – 9 catches, 102 yards

Rome Odunze – 5 catches, 82 yards

Jack Westover – 3 catches, 34 yards

Giles Jackson – 3 catches, 16 yards

Denzel Boston – 2 catches, 16 yards

Defense

Jabbar Muhammad – 7 tackles (6 solo), 2 tackles for loss

Edefuan Ulofoshio – 7 tackles (4 solo)

Dominique Hampton – 7 tackles (3 solo)

Asa Turner – 5 tackles (2 solo)

Misahel Powell – 3 tackles (1 solo), 1 interception (returned for a touchdown), 1 pass breakup

Video courtesy of Washington Athletics