BOULDER, Colo. — Dante Pettis thought for a moment.

What was he probably doing on Oct. 18, 2003?

On that day, Washington’s do-everything back, Charles Frederick, returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown against Oregon State in Corvallis.

“I’m not sure,” he said.

To be fair, the recently-turned 19-year-old Husky freshman would have been 7 at the time.

“I was probably playing football somewhere, maybe at home or in Pop Warner,” he said.

It was just some very early preparation for what he did on Saturday at Folsom Field.

Pettis and the Husky punt-return unit snapped a frustrating streak of touchdown-less returns in a blazing-quick piece of execution to put a topper on Washington’s 38-23 win over Colorado.

With the Huskies leading 31-23 early in the fourth quarter, Pettis grabbed the rugby-style boot from Darragh O’Neill on the 13-yard-line.

He started upfield and then moved right, anticipating a block from Hayden Schuh, who bumped a Colorado tackler just enough without committing a penalty to spring Pettis into open field in front of the Husky sideline. Pettis kept sprinting, picking up a crushing block from Josh Perkins, who leveled O’Neill onto his back.

From there, it was just a straight sprint for the end zone.

“Before the play, I knew the return we had on is normally a pretty good one for us,” he said. “I saw the punter roll out and he kicked it pretty far. I knew there would be a pretty good chance, and my blockers did an amazing job. After that, it was pretty easy.”

It was an 87-yard return for a touchdown, ending the nation’s longest streak of games by a power conference team without a punt return for a score.

Pettis knew about the streak, but didn’t dwell on it.

“It was mentioned earlier in the season when we first started playing,” he said. “And I’ve had a few fans tell me to break the streak. And I knew we had gone a long time without one. I always dreamed of scoring on a punt return in college football.”

UW coach Chris Petersen believed that it would happen sooner rather than later for the Huskies.

“We’ve been saying this for two or three weeks that we felt like we were close on special teams and we’d change the game somehow, whether it’s on punt return, kickoff return or blocking a punt,” he said. “We’ve done all that. And we’ve had some penalties so they haven’t come through. We’ve been preaching that all week.”

Pettis took over the punt-returning duties in the Huskies’ second game of the season against Eastern Washington. Since then, he’s shown glimpses of being able to break a big return.

“I think it’s just something that comes natural,” he said. “Coaches tell you one time and then you kind of realize it. My first game I wasn’t patient. I just tried to run.”

He’s also learning the offense more. On Saturday, he hauled in a 48-yard pass from Cyler Miles early in the first quarter to put Washington on the 10-yard line. The drive stalled on a dropped snap for a fumble by Miles.

In the third quarter, he found the end zone for his first collegiate touchdown on a 28-yard pass from Miles to give the Huskies a 24-23 lead.

“It was just a little double move,” Pettis said. “I did a little stutter and go. The corner bit on it and Cyler made a beautiful pass.”

Pettis’ snaps at wide receiver are increasing with each week.

“When he knows what he’s doing and can line up quickly, as you can see he’s really good. He’s very natural and very athletic to the ball,” Petersen said. “It’s a progression for any player.

“He had a great week of practice,” offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith said. “And the last few weeks, he’s really grown and developed more and more. The ball went his way a few times today, and he made some things happen.”

Ryan Divish: 206-464-2373 or rdivish@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @RyanDivish

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