Tanner Lee wasn’t sacked. He had time to work in the pocket and watched teammate Devine Ozigbo run for a career-best 112 yards.
And yet, the junior quarterback stood at a podium inside Memorial Stadium after Nebraska’s 38-17 loss trying to explain why one of his best performances of the season didn’t translate into better results.
“I think it’s about finishing,” said Lee, who finished 16 of 32 passing for 262 yards. “We gotta finish drives with points and they kept us from doing that today. They were a solid defense just like we knew they were going to be. I think we played them well, we just didn’t come out with the win.”
The game’s opening possession drove home the point. Nebraska moved the ball 58 yards on four plays — Ozigbo broke a 13-yard run and Lee found De’Mornay Pierson-El for 37 more — before disaster struck. On third-and-2 from the UW 17, Lee’s swing pass to Ozigbo bounced off the junior’s helmet and into the arms of a waiting defender. The result was Lee’s fourth pick-six of the season.
OWH