ATLANTA – The initial reaction to Washington dropping its season opener to Auburn was par for the Pac-12 course Saturday night.

UW proved it’s the best team from the conference, and that they are capable of matching any level of competition. However, the issue remains doing so for 60 minutes.

“We’re close, but that doesn’t count in a game like this,” Huskies head coach Chris Petersen said after the Huskies 21-16 loss to the Tigers.

Petersen is dead on. The blame doesn’t solely fall on senior quarterback Jake Browning for his questionable decision making. Peyton Henry’s missed 40-yard field goal with 5:42 left in the third quarter, UW trailing 15-13, also wasn’t the reason.

The collective problem for the Huskies remains getting out of their own way on both offense and defense. That doesn’t mean they don’t have the talent or the coaching to pull out a victory against a team like Auburn.

In fact, UW had four drives that if just one was converted into a touchdown instead of a FG or turnover, the outcome of the game would produce a much different narrative.

Drive No. 1: The Huskies second drive of the game turned the tables early. Browning completed two passes during the series, the first a 10-yard reception by senior tight end Drew Sample. His second completion went to junior Aaron Fuller, one of his seven catches on the night, but it only resulted in a 1-yard gain.

On the next play Browning was forced out of the pocket and subsequently picked off by cornerback Jamel Dean at the Auburn 37 yard line. UW’s defense managed to hold the Tigers to a 32-yard FG, avoiding a seriously early setback and keeping Auburn out of the end zone.

The score after Anders Carlson converted his first of three FG’s extended Auburn’s lead to 9-0 with 5:39 in the first quarter.

Drive No. 2: To start the second half UW forced a three-and-out and picked up where ended the first half, an offense with confidence. The Huskies scored on consecutive drives only one time against the Tigers, the final two series prior to halftime.

Browning threw his only touchdown against Auburn, a 13-yard pass to Quinten Pounds, on the final drive of the first half. On the prior drive Henry knocked a 28-yard FG through the uprights to cut the deficit to 12-6.

After marching nine plays and covering half the length of the field, Henry missed his second kick of the game a 40-yard attempt. If Henry had made his first third quarter FG attempt it would have given UW a 16-15 lead with under 10 minutes left before the fourth.

Instead the score remained 15-13 Auburn.

Drive No. 3: Carlson did Henry and UW a solid, unintentionally, by missing his last FG attempt on the following drive in the third quarter. The 54-yarder, one yard further than his prior kick, missed wide right.

The opening gave UW the ball back at its own 37-yard line and another lifeline trailing by two with 7:23 left in the third. Seven plays later the Huskies returned the favor.

Somewhat buried in the loss was Myles Gaskin setting a new all-time career rush yards’ record at UW, surpassing former record holder Napoleon Kaufman on a 25 yard run with under seven minutes in the third quarter.

The run, followed by a 17-yard completion to sophomore Ty Jones, put the ball on the Auburn 8-yard line with another chance for UW to put seven on the scoreboard.

Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan was visibly disappointed after the game, knowing full well that at the very least UW should have put more than 15 points on Auburn.

“This one hurts man, because too many opportunities for touchdowns that turned into field goals,” Hamdan said. “There was about, in that third quarter, there was an opportunity to go and get it and we didn’t get it.”

But the issue that has haunted UW – at no actual fault to Petersen – reared its head again.

With first-and-goal at the Auburn 8-yard line the Huskies got nothing. Browning threw an incomplete pass intended for Andre Baccellia on the first play. Gaskin moved UW position to leave a rose at the doorstep with a 5-yard carry the following play.

Tigers defensive end Nick Coe put a licking on Browning, forcing the ball lose and leading to a fumble recovery for Auburn. With just over five minutes remaining in the third UW began controlling the game by forcing a quick three-and-out and taking just 1:23 off the clock.

But the Huskies were only able to control field position, not the scoreboard battle.

Drive No. 4: Once the fourth quarter came around UW had left at minimum six points, and what should have been a touchdown on the Browning fumble drive, which brings the true total to 13 points left on the field.

With that in mind the Huskies managed just two drives in the fourth quarter. Henry nailed his final FG, a 30-yard kick, to finish off a third quarter drive with 14:06 left in the game.

The first drive lasted three plays and gained only nine yards. That left one final drive after Auburn added another touchdown, the lead up to 21-16, to prove a college football nation wrong.

UW began its drive with 6:15 on the game clock. The offense used almost five minutes of it to march down the field, sparked by a 19-yard completion to Baccellia from Browning and a 13-yard scramble on 3rd and 11 by the senior QB to keep the series alive.

The Huskies managed to reach the Auburn 37-yard line, exactly the spot they got the ball back after Carlson missed his FG in the third quarter, but no further. Browning took a sack on 3rd and 13, and again on fourth down with the Tigers bringing the house and both next door neighbors to take down the UW QB one last time.

After the game Browning acknowledged most of the mistakes he made.

"Kind of had too many negative plays," he said. "On the second to last one just got to throw the ball away to get an easier fourth down. But just trying to make too much happen I think.”