Washington running back Jayden Limar ripped off a season-long 27-yard carry midway through the second quarter that set up the second field goal of the game for the Huskies.

That wound up being Limar's third-to-last touch of the afternoon, with only a 1-yard loss on the following play and a third quarter catch that went for no gain in UW's 28-25 defeat at home to Penn State. Still, the Oregon transfer and in-state Lake Stevens High School product led the team with nine carries for 66 yards, his highest yardage output as a Husky and his fourth career game with 50-plus yards on the ground.

One week after the veteran transfer back made his return to the field coming off a significant elbow injury suffered in the Huskies' season opener against Washington State, Limar gave third-year coach Jedd Fisch and the offense a significant jolt early against PSU that put the team ahead 3-0 on the opening series.

Limar took his first carry for 15 yards to near midfield and later ripped off two carries for 8 yards and 7 yards to get the offense inside the Nittany Lions' red zone to set up fourth-year kicker Tyler Robles for a 29-yard field goal, a positive start but also an opportunity missed given the final score margin.

"I thought offensively it was a really nice 14-play drive to start the game," Fisch said after the defeat. "I would've liked to end with a touchdown, but we didn't start the game very good on defense, and then we didn't respond well on offense for a few series in a row."

Three different UW players—first-year wide receiver Trez Davis, first-year running back Brian Bonner and sixth-year Trey Cooley—each took carries on the next three offensive possessions before Limar took his next carry just over 10 minutes left before halftime.

The trio totaled three yards combined on four carries, due in part to Davis' run going for -6 yards, with Cooley tallying for seven yards on back-to-back runs after Penn State took a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter. All three drives that Limar didn't record a carry resulted in punts for UW, which created a hole that ultimately Fisch and the offense weren't able to overcome despite scoring 19 unanswered points in the second half.

"We weren't trying to establish the pass; we were trying to convert a third down," Fisch said of Limar's absence on the trio of possessions.

"I think we had two plays and then we had a chance for a third down and I think we didn't get it. I think it was a third-and-long. And then the next time I think Brian Bonner went on the second series. And then on the third series, we had a third-and-3; we didn't convert. You convert, you get a lot more runs. We weren't able to."

When Limar did get back on the field, he picked right up where he left off with a 4-yard run, an 11-yard catch, and a run for no gain, but included a 15-yard facemask penalty on the Nittany Lions that got the offensive juices flowing again. Third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who finished second on the team with five carries for 43 yards, ran for 9 yards to put the ball inside Penn State territory before Limar hit his season-long 27-yard run down to the PSU 9-yard line.

Unfortunately for UW, a 1-yard loss by Limar and an 8-yard sack of Williams Jr. killed the drive and forced the team to settle for a 31-yard Robles field goal to cut the deficit to 21-6 with just under six minutes left before halftime.

"It was just a matter of we can't give Jayden 60 plays coming off of an injury," Fisch added, explaining why Limar didn't factor much beyond his first half impact.

"I think he played about 40 plays, 35 plays, something like that. Jayden's a really good player. He's mature. I think we ran the ball better today. We felt very balanced. We felt like we were able to move the ball. We were disappointed in a couple third downs. We had the chance to hit Rashid (Williams) on a third down that we missed by a fingertip. We had a chance to convert a third down at the end of the (first) half. We had a chance to convert a third down earlier. If you don't convert those third downs, it's hard to get more runs called."

After Robles' second field goal, UW only ran the ball six times for the remainder of the game for 15 yards combined between Bonner, Cooley and second-year wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck. Williams Jr. doubled that total with two carries for 32 yards in the second half to give the offense 134 total yards rushing in the 3-point home loss, just the third 100-yard rushing game against Big Ten opponents this season.