UW Huskies top Oregon State 27-21 in long-awaited season opener
It was game day at Husky Stadium, but the parking lots were dark and nearly empty.
Most the entrances were locked, and Lake Washington silently absorbed the steady rain without a sailgater in sight. Inside, the scene was just as eerie. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the only fans that witnessed Washington’s 27-21 win over Oregon State on Saturday night were made of cardboard. They were spread out across six sections behind the Huskies’ bench, each about a quarter full. They didn’t make much noise.
UW took the field under the traditional purple smoke, but there was no cheering student section waiting to greet them. No cheerleaders. No band. A solo trumpet played “America the Beautiful.” A lone singer performed the national anthem.
Then the long-awaited 2020 season — the one that had three openers canceled, the one that looked like it might not happen at all — finally started.
And after that, it was just football. The stands remained empty. The crowd noise was artificial. Even so, for a few hours, there was some semblance of normalcy. Attention turned toward UW’s new starting quarterback (Dylan Morris), the state of the ground game without Salvon Ahmed (quite good) and the run defense (not so good).
“It was an incredible feeling,” said redshirt sophomore outside linebacker Zion Tupuola-Fetui, who made his first career start and finished with four tackles and two forced fumbles. “I know we as a team, we were really looking forward to the Cal game last week. For that to play out the way it did was a bummer. . Coach Lake was able to screw our heads on again and just tell us, next opponent. We were just super happy, super grateful to be on the field.
“It’s different (playing in an empty stadium). Obviously, we have some of the greatest fans in the country. But it’s also cool at the same. It kind of feels like a practice. It’s not silent, but just like some music playing and us having to hype each other up. The way we’ve been practicing and the way that we played tonight is a direct translation.”
In true 2020 fashion, the first touchdown of the game sprung from chaos. On its opening offensive drive, UW decided to punt from Oregon State’s 40-yard line. But freshman long snapper Jaden Green sent the ball sailing off Race Porter’s head. The ball was bobbled and kicked. It went skidding across the grass. Several Huskies had a chance to grab it, but none of them could.
It was Oregon State’s Jaydon Grant who finally scooped up the ball, carrying it 11-yards into the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. If the stands had been full, the crowd would have been dejected. On Saturday night, it was all the same silence.
Fueled by its running game, UW responded on its next possession. The Huskies ran the ball five times for 57 yards on the drive, which was capped by a 21-yard touchdown run from Sean McGrew.
The Huskies racked up 267 total yards on the ground. McGrew finished with nine carries for 91 yards, an average of 10.1 yards per carry. Kamari Pleasant had 61 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while Richard Newton finished with 41 yards on 15 carries.
“I think we came out juiced up,” McGrew said of the tailbacks. “It was the first time we were able to go against someone in another colored jersey and I think we were extremely excited about that. Obviously, we want to be the most physical team in the Pac-12 and establishing the run is something that’s going to be important in every game.”
Oregon State established its running game, too. After limiting the Beavers to 12 rushing yards in the first quarter, UW’s run defense crumbled. The Huskies allowed 251 rushing yards the rest of the way, including 84 in Oregon State’s 14-point second quarter. UW went into halftime clinging to a 24-21 lead.
But despite struggling against the run, the Huskies held Oregon State scoreless in the second half. In fact, neither team scored in the second until Peyton Henry made a 23-yard field goal with 1:45 left in the game to put the Huskies up 27-21.
And it was Morris who made sure that happened.
First, Morris kept the drive alive with successful quarterback sneaks on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1. Then, with UW facing 3rd-and-18 on Oregon State’s 21-yard line, he came up big with his legs again. Not only did he scramble for 14 yards, but the Beavers’ Kitan Oladapo was called for targeting on the play. The penalty moved the Huskies to the 5-yard line.
Morris didn’t finish with eye-popping numbers, and the play-calling in his first start was conservative at best. Still, he completed 14-of-24 passes for 141 yards and rushed for 21 yards and a touchdown. Most importantly, he didn’t make any mistakes — no fumbles, no interceptions. And when UW needed him the most, the redshirt freshman remained perfectly poised.
“He’s just got a really good demeanor and good leadership qualities,” Lake said. “He’s got a long way to go, just like a lot of our guys do. But I’m definitely proud of him for his first college football game. Think about that. That was his first college football game in grimy, rainy weather. We grinded it out for Dylan in his first start. He’s 1-0.”
The Beavers still had an chance after the field goal, taking over at UW’s 21-yard line with 1:40 left. But UW’s defense came through. The Huskies forced fourth down, and Oregon State quarterback Tristan Gebbia had his pass tipped and then intercepted by sophomore cornerback Asa Turner. UW ran out the clock from there.
Afterward, the players gathered in the end zone where the band would have been. The fight song played over the loud speakers. The celebration was on, but there was no one around to see it.
“It was a definitely a lot different,” McGrew said. “There was times on the sideline where I felt like there were too many of us sitting on the bench. I was trying to get everyone up. We got to bring our own energy. Since there’s no fans here, we’re our own energy.
“In the second half when things got close, we needed to pick the energy up and I think we did. On the sideline, we were screaming for everybody and getting hyped. We’re all we got when we’re out there on the field right now and we can’t feed off the energy of the crowd. It’s definitely different but we’re going to get used to it and keep getting better.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 11:30 PM.
