​SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team was unable to pull off what would have been one of the best comebacks in college football this season on Saturday against the Penn State Nittany Lions.The Huskies entered halftime trailing 28-6 and completed just six passes through the first 30 minutes of the game.In the second half, Washington scored 19 unanswered points and cut its deficit to 28-25 with over seven-and-a-half minutes left in the game. The team was unable to get a stop on Penn State’s final drive, and the comeback went incomplete.The loss rendered the Huskies 5-4 (2-4 in Big Ten play). Washington is yet to earn a conference win at home at Husky Stadium this season.Here are three takeaways from UW’s loss Saturday:First half struggles continue for HuskiesThree of the Huskies’ four losses this season have been by four points or less. Their only loss that exceeded that number was a 41-24 defeat at the hands of the Iowa Hawkeyes on Oct. 9.In Washington’s four losses, the team has scored a combined 33 points (8.25 points per half) in first half.The Huskies offense has looked significantly improved coming out of halftime, particularly in the fourth quarter, but it hasn’t played to the tune of wins. Washington has three more games on the schedule and needs one more win to be bowl eligible, which will be hard to come by if UW’s slow first halves continue.Defense unable to keep momentum from previous winsIn the Huskies’ two games before Saturday, a 38-26 win against the Purdue Boilermakers and a 17-10 win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the defense was able to stand firm in crucial moments.Washington was able to hold Nebraska to one sole touchdown, which came in the first quarter, and had three interceptions.The Huskies were unable to have the same success against the Nittany Lions. In the first quarter, Washington was able to hold Penn State to a single touchdown and the team went into the second quarter down 7-3.In the second quarter, the Huskies surrendered three touchdowns. The Nittany Lions were able to find the end zone thrice in a combined six minutes, 33 seconds of game time.Cam Wallace takes it 46 yards to the house 🙌🏠 @PennStateFballWatch on FS1 pic.twitter.com/Gouo9866a1— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 7, 2026The offense didn’t do the defense any favors. It’s only two sustained drives in the first half resulted in field goals. However, if the UW defense was able to force a longer drive or a field goal on one of the Nittany Lions’ touchdown drives, that could have resulted in less time on the clock in the first half, which would have resulted in UW’s comeback either forcing overtime or resulting in a win.In Washington’s last two home games, the defense has surrendered a combined 69 points. It hasn’t surrendered more than 27 points in any other game this year.If the Huskies hope to make a bowl game by more than the bare minimum, the defense will also need to limit the first-half damage. Its only other home game