Montana shocks No. 20 Washington in Seattle, hands Huskies season-opening 13-7 loss
The sideline emptied in a hurry as the sun set over Husky Stadium, as the victorious team rushed toward midfield on this warm evening in early September.
The winning coach pumped his fists in the air in excitement. The quarterback, playing only a few miles away from his hometown, let out a yell as the final seconds ticked off the clock, after leading his offense on what turned out to be the game-winning drive early in the fourth quarter. There were high-fives and congratulations exchanged as the stands emptied and fans filtered out of the stadium.
It wasn’t No. 20 Washington celebrating this thrilling season-opening win on their home turf in front of an announced crowd of 64,053.
It was Montana.
When the clock ran out, Washington, expected heading into this 2021 season to again be a top contender in the Pac-12 North, suddenly had many questions looming only hours into its schedule.
13-7. The scoreboard was stuck there as the Huskies made their way back up their tunnel, staring down a shocking loss in a game they were heavily favored in, and the first in their history to an FCS opponent. It will surely be considered as one of the most troubling defeats — if not the most troubling — in UW’s program history.
The Huskies last lost to the Grizzlies more than a century ago, long before Division I football was subdivided, when they dropped the first-ever meeting between the two programs in 1920. UW had won 17 contests against Montana since, with one tie breaking up the string of wins back in 1929.
The most recent meeting between the two teams prior to Saturday was four years ago, and resulted in the biggest scoring gap in the all-time series — a 63-7 win in favor of UW. That gap was clearly closed on Saturday.
The Huskies scored only once, punching in a touchdown on their season-opening drive, and then never reached the red zone again, finishing the game with 12 consecutive drives that ended without points.
The offense collectively finished with less than 300 yards, and three drives, including the drive that solidified the win for the Grizzlies ended with interceptions.
For its part, the defense kept UW in control for much of the contest, holding Montana’s offense to an even lower total, but finally relented in the fourth quarter, eventually conceding the game-winning touchdown.
Huskies linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio summed up the stunning loss in a phrase — “just not good enough.”
“I don’t know what else I can say,” he said. “We went out there and we just didn’t perform at our best, and anybody can be beat any day.”
Even as the offense sputtered, it seemed until the final moments the Huskies would break through on the shoulders of their mostly steady defensive effort, squeak by with a win, and avoid the stunning upset.
But, the needed points never came as the fourth quarter wound down. Montana quarterback Cam Humphrey, an Issaquah High School product, delivered the game-winning touchdown for the Grizzlies on their first drive of the fourth quarter. He capped a long drive by diving into the end zone for a 4-yard score, giving Montana its first lead, at 10-7, with 10 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the game. Still, UW had three chances to take it back.
The ensuing drive ended in a quick three-and-out, offering no comfort to a crowd that was growing increasingly uneasy with each passing minute.
Dylan Morris’ first pass of the drive sailed by the outstretched hands of Taj Davis. On the next play, Morris was sacked by Patrick O’Connell for a 12-yard loss. Third-and-22 ended with a short completion to Richard Newton over the middle, but he was knocked down by O’Connell well short of the first down marker, and the Huskies punted for the fifth time in the game.
Montana chewed up the next six minutes by marching into the red zone again, and pushed the drive inside the Huskies’ 5, but the defense held there. The Grizzlies still added a bit of cushion with a 26-yard field goal from Kevin Macias, giving them their final six-point lead.
Still somehow only trailing by a single touchdown, the Huskies started their next drive with 2:54 to work with. They picked up a quick first down on a 5-yard carry from Newton and a 7-yard pass from Morris to Newton, but the drive stalled four plays later.
Morris completed a 7-yard pass to tight end Cade Otton. Newton rushed for 1 yard. Then Morris’ pass intended for Davis fell incomplete. Staring down fourth-and-2, Morris looked for Giles Jackson over the middle, but that pass was broken up and ended up on the turf, and the Huskies turned the ball over on downs with less than two minutes to go.
Their defense gave them one final opportunity, ending Montana’s next drive in four plays with a missed field goal attempt. At that point, 1:12 remained, and it seemed this would surely be the moment the offense would somehow rally for the needed touchdown to end the unlikely upset bid.
“I thought we were going to drive down the field,” Ulofoshio said. “And it just didn’t turn out that way. I think we were all pretty positive, and we all believed we were going to get this win.”
But, that’s not how it ended.
Morris threw incomplete on three consecutive passes before finally finding Otton for a 25-yard completion on fourth-and-10 to set the Huskies up at Montana’s 43. Morris tossed the next pass out of bounds. And, his final throw of the evening landed in the arms of Marcus Welnel.
“It’s extremely disappointing we weren’t able to put points on the board for such a long period of time,” Huskies coach Jimmy Lake said. “I think the longer that happens, the longer you let your opponent hang in there, they’re going to gain confidence in your house, and all the sudden they start believing that they can get this thing done. We allowed that to happen.”
Humphrey lined his team up in victory formation moments later, took a knee, and it was over.
“It stings a lot, just because I know how hard this team worked during the offseason, and what we wanted to do,” Ulofoshio said. “And to have an outcome like this just isn’t what we wanted.”
The Huskies scored their first and only touchdown moments into the contest.
Morris found Texas Tech transfer Ja’Lynn Polk for 13 yards and a first down on the game’s first play. Newton then carried the ball twice to move UW across midfield.
Two more completions to tight end Devin Culp and Newton, and a roughing the passer call, kept the Huskies moving along.
Three more carries by Newton — who rushed for 34 yards on the drive, and finished with a team-high 62 on 17 attempts — set the Huskies up at the Montana 1, and Morris pushed his way into the end zone as the siren sounded.
Montana cut the lead to 7-3 on their first drive when Macias connected on a 26-yard field goal.
But, the Huskies’ offense never seriously threatened after that opening drive. Their only other drive that nearly ended in a score was a field goal attempt on their second, which missed wide right from 50 yards out.
The Huskies were without the three receivers projected to be the starters when camp began in Terrell Bynum, Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan. Bynum and McMillan were both on the sideline, but not in uniform. Polk, Jackson and Davis were the three wide receivers who logged catches, and Sawyer Racanelli was the other receiver who played much of the game after Polk exited in the first quarter, and didn’t return to the game. UW’s receivers combined for 11 catches and 87 yards, led by Davis, who had six for 59. None of those four receivers targeted had caught a pass for the Huskies before Saturday, and Racanelli is the only one who had even played in a game for UW.
Otton, UW’s leading receiver a season ago, led the Huskies in receiving with eight catches for 82 yards. Morris finished 27-of-46 passing for 226 yards and three interceptions, and was sacked three times. The Huskies were dropped for losses eight times.
The offense finished with only the 226 yards through the air, and 65 on the ground. Lake noted “there was a little bit pared down” to the offensive plan given the personnel the Huskies had available for the opener.
“But we still had our playbook there, just different bodies in different spots,” he said. “You probably saw more tight ends on the field. But again, that’s no excuse. We’ve got to make sure we have plays in there to move the ball and score points. And we didn’t get that done.
“So, we’re going to have to make sure, starting tomorrow, we have plays ready no matter what personnel is at our disposal, plays ready to move the ball and score points.”
The Huskies have six days to prepare for Game 2 — a daunting matchup in Ann Arbor against a Michigan team that routed Western Michigan, 47-14, earlier on Saturday in its season-opener.
“You’ve got to get back on your feet and you’ve got to keep moving,” Ulofoshio said. “There’s 11 other games guaranteed, and we’re going to try to win all of them.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 8:35 PM.
