Washington (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) had a solid offensive day in the desert, rallying from a 14-point deficit to tie things at 38-all in the fourth quarter on Cameron Davis’ third rushing touchdown.

But the Huskies couldn’t close things out and fell to Arizona State 45-38 for their second straight loss. After the game, coach Kalen DeBoer met with reporters to discuss the defense, the late injury to quarterback Michael Penix Jr., and more.

Here’s everything DeBoer said.

Opening statement

“Second week in a row coming down to the wire and we’re giving ourselves a chance late in the game, but we have to do a better job earlier in the game. Especially in the first quarter, second quarter we were just digging ourselves a hole. Some plays that can be made out there just were a step slow in getting off the field and a turnover that was the difference in the game as well. I don’t fault the guys for fighting all game but it is one of those things where in our program… it’s alright to be upset and mad. What transpired today, and the key is you can be upset but we’ve got to make sure we move on because there is a lot of football left to be played. There are six games left. We’re a 4-2 football team. We’re disappointed in what’s happened in the last two weeks, but we gotta take that next jump from not just being an okay or a good team, but to being a good to great team. It’s just going back to work in practice and we have to get some guys healthy that will certainly help some things out too, but I love the fight in our guys. There’s no questioning that, they keep believing. At some point we have to find ways to win and not just ride out throughout the fourth quarter and hope that happens.”

On if there were signs early they’d struggle defensively

“No, because it was different guys on the football field playing together. We knew we did not have a lot of depth as far as experience and that’s showing up. A lot of what we practice during the course of the week, it’s not those guys on the field just because we’re pretty dinged up. There’s a lot of guys that played some snaps today that I wouldn’t have expected to play many at all. Some were brought along as an emergency and had a low pitch count whether it was through special teams or on the field defensively, and they ended up having to be out there quite a bit. So, that continuity is what it is. The game of football is a physical sport and we just have to get over this hump and try to get some guys back. Having Asa (Turner) make the trip was a really big positive for us, kind of a morale boost. He played so well in the short span, and to have him out there with us for pretty much most of the game… pretty much the guys that are out there are the guys that are healthy. The healthiest.”

On Michael Penix Jr. going down

“I didn’t think that he was going to be coming back in. He was hurting pretty good. There came a point where he kind of got his wind back and he really quickly turned the corner and all of a sudden I went from, ‘OK, he’s got a chance to maybe get back out there.’ It says a lot about him. He’s been a fighter his entire life and I am super proud of him. I know he always wants to be better, and he’s going to look back on probably the pick-six that went the other way, a bad bounce but that’s just the way he is. He wants to be great, and he’s done some great things for us helping us win. He’s been a great leader for us too. Just the fighter in him is something I think a lot of guys see and we need him to continue to do that and bring the team along.”

On what he said when Penix went down

“He didn’t tell me anything… he was hurting pretty bad. It was a matter of just survival at that time for a minute or two there.”

On third-down struggles

“Unfortunately you go in with a plan and wrenches get thrown into the plan and guys are out. Certain guys with certain roles. There is some youth out there that you just can’t throw everything at them because there are so many looks that they’re going to see. There were specific down and distances and moments where we were going to have certain packages with the rotation that gets thrown off. With guys getting dinged up and guys not being in the game. Asa (Turner) again, one of those situations. A lot of it has to do with… we go through the week right now we’re just trying to get to Saturday because of health-wise. Practicing right now we’re putting everything into it and guys are grinding through it but we just need their bodies to feel better. There were a lot of snaps that were played today that were above and beyond what I imagined for many players.”

On the safety rotation

“Asa was gonna be a bigger part of that too throughout the game and then that put more pressure on a few guys that are just not moving around the way that we know they can.”

On whether they suffered any injuries during practice

“No, that’s the thing we had a lot of just carry over from last week’s game. Nobody got hurt at practice this week.”

On if they had confidence to come out in the second half and win

“Yeah, I did. I think that going into the half with that score right at the end was huge for our morale. I mean in the locker room I didn’t sense anything as far as any doubts. I felt like that that was big to pull within one score and you the guys belief was all there and we saw last week what happens when you keep fighting and keep playing and you know you just keep telling the guys it’s gonna come back to us the game is gonna keep coming back to us and then all of sudden of a 14 point deficit ends up being a tight ball game at one point again today. So that’s gonna be the case when you keep fighting, we just have to do a better job of executing and having some continuity out there on the football field.”

On why they used more running backs than normal

“Guys unable to play as the game went on. I’m just gonna say it, if a guy all of sudden is out there on the football field for us right now for our football team there is probably a reason and it’s probably health related.”

On the thought process of going for it on fourth down at their own 30

“There’s looks off of looks and just things that we do, feed off of each other and I feel like we have gone for it a lot and have been very successful and the 1 yard in that area of that field is a little bit of a risk, I get that, but it’s been something that I feel like we can do. We can be successful giving the ball to Rome, one of our playmakers who hasn’t been stopped on that sort of play yet this year from what I remember from that type of situation this year. We need to be aggressive and there’s times where we just felt like starting the third quarter we can set the tone and move the ball down the field. I have no second thoughts on that fourth-and-1 situation.”

On Josh Jackson

“Yeah, he got dinged up the rest of the game.”

On losing anyone for an extended amount of time

“That’s the thing — it kind of becomes a rotation and a wear-and-tear on guys. At some point, you’d like to just get everyone healthy and get everyone back. When you have someone get dinged up, it puts more pressure on the other guys to take more reps. And we had a couple more guys get dinged up on offense today as well.”

On the injuries

“Right now we don’t have any season-ending type of things.”

On Sam Adams

“Yeah, Sam has done a great job and just continued to grind and work. We’ve got confidence in him and with just the way the running back room and guys getting dinged up as the way the game was going on, he had an opportunity to get out there and make some plays. I thought he did a nice job creating something off of the one easy throw to him and making a couple of guys miss and try to get a few yards and fighting.”