10 notes from Washington’s first win of the season over Arkansas State
After dropping two deflating losses to Montana and Michigan the past two weeks to open their season, the Washington Huskies bounced back Saturday afternoon in Seattle.
A previously sluggish offense put six touchdowns on the board, the defense scored another and forced three turnovers, and UW got in the win column with a 52-3 victory over visiting Arkansas State.
Here are 10 more notes from the win, as the Huskies get set to host California in their Pac-12 opener this weekend:
▪ This offense was much more productive than it was the first two weeks. Here’s a quick comparison:
Huskies combined offensive touchdowns against Montana and Michigan: Two.
Against Arkansas State: Six.
Huskies combined total yards of offense against Montana and Michigan: 634.
Against Arkansas State: 598.
Keep in mind Arkansas State did also give up a combined 76 points and 1,018 yards of offense to Central Arkansas and Memphis the first two weeks. Still, the Huskies appeared much more in rhythm on this side of the ball in Week 3 than they did in Weeks 1 or 2.
“I’ll say the momentum that we had coming out of spring football and the momentum that we had coming out of training camp — that’s what it looked like,” Huskies coach Jimmy Lake said. “It was awesome to see us put our players in position to go out there and make plays.”
▪ Redshirt freshman quarterback Dylan Morris completed 23-of-39 passes for a 367 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. It was the first 300-yard passing performance of the Graham-Kapowsin High School product’s career at UW.
Morris found his tight end Cade Otton for a 13-yard score on the Huskies’ second drive in the first quarter that opened a series of four consecutive touchdown drives for the offense.
He later connected with wide receivers Jalen McMillan (33 yards) and Terrell Bynum (42 yards) for scores.
“Very proud of Dylan Morris for the way he orchestrated that game,” Lake said. “We were going to have to throw the ball a little bit to open up some running lanes, and he did that effectively, and then had some awesome reads of giving the ball to the running back and opened up some huge running lanes.”
▪ The three wideouts projected to start against Arkansas State — Bynum, McMillan and Taj Davis — did indeed start for the Huskies.
McMillan had a career day, catching 10 of 11 targets for 175 yards and one 33-yard touchdown, after missing UW’s season-opener against Montana with an apparent injury, and being limited to four snaps last week at Michigan.
It was the second time in two weeks the Huskies had a receiver finish with more than 100 yards.
Bynum, after also missing the opener, had five catches for 115 yards and a touchdown in his return against Michigan, and added another four grabs on eight targets for 64 yards and a 42-yard touchdown against Arkansas State.
Davis continued the impressive three-game stretch he has put together by hauling in five of nine targets for 94 yards.
Rome Odunze, who was a projected starter throughout camp, did not play for the third consecutive game, and has been previously listed by Lake as week-to-week. Odunze was on the sideline, but not in uniform. Ja’Lynn Polk, who was injured on the first play of UW’s season-opening series and is expected to be out long term, was also on the sideline. Both receivers seemed to still be involved in conversations with the offense between drives.
▪ McMillan’s career day seemed to help spark the Huskies’ offense. The second-year freshman had one career catch entering the game, but was a key target throughout the afternoon, catching passes on five of the six series that ended with an offensive touchdown for UW.
McMillan had catches of 39, 8, 5, 30, 19, 18, 33, 8, 7 and 8 yards. The 33-yarder was on a toss down the sideline from Morris that McMillan brought in as he trotted into the end zone.
“He brings so much at the line of scrimmage,” Morris said. “He’s a technician. He can get open at the line in short space. And he has so much speed on that deep ball he can just get open and it’s comfortable for me to put it out there for him. I know he’s going to go up and get it.
“The plays he made definitely brought some juice to our whole team.”
▪ This game marked the first appearance in the backfield by Sean McGrew, who led UW in rushing in four games last season (43 carries, 227 yards, four TDs), but did not have a carry against Montana or Michigan.
The sixth-year tailback played 10 offensive snaps against Arkansas State — and he scored on two of them.
The Huskies were set up inside the red zone late in the first quarter when McGrew took a handoff from Morris, made a jump cut at the line of scrimmage between a pair of defenders, and scurried into the end zone for a 13-yard score.
His second touchdown late in the third quarter — when he muscled his way across the goal line for 2 yards, moments after a 4-yard carry when he was ushered out of bounds just short of the end zone — gave the Huskies a five-touchdown lead.
McGrew finished with six carries for 31 yards and the two scores — and was given a welcoming cheer from the crowd when his name was called after his first carry on UW’s second drive of the game. He picked up 3 and 4 yards on back-to-back attempts to pick up a first down and help set up the Huskies’ first touchdown. He also started on special teams, wearing an alternate jersey number.
“He showed up in practice as one of our best guys,” Lake said. “And we tell our team that, ‘Hey, tough physical play is always going to be rewarded,’ and Sean went out there on Tuesday and he was easily one of the toughest, physical guys during this segment of practice that we did on Tuesday.
“We put him up higher on the depth chart, and you saw what he did on special teams and then you saw also what he did on offense.”
Kamari Pleasant, another sixth-year senior tailback who was UW’s second leading rusher last season (34 carries, 144 yards, three TDs) also made his season debut in the backfield in this game, finishing with eight carries for 48 yards.
Richard Newton led the Huskies in rushing — as he has in each of the first three games — with 10 carries for 52 yards and a 2-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The fourth-year sophomore has a team-leading 39 attempts for 138 yards and the one score through three weeks.
▪ Arkansas State scored 90 points the first two weeks of the season. The Red Wolves offense was averaging 596.5 yards per game.
But, UW’s defense turned in a convincing performance in shutting them down. The Red Wolves finished with 268 yards of offense — 220 yards through the air and 48 on the ground — but never reached the end zone. Their only score came on a Blake Grupe 26-yard field goal in the third quarter, when UW was already well in control of the game.
The Huskies forced 10 punts — safety Alex Cook blocked one of them — a missed field goal and three turnovers, and limited Arkansas State to 15 first downs, 5-of-18 on third down tries and 0-of-2 on fourth down tries.
“Very proud of our defense,” Lake said. “Our D-line came to play, clogged up those running lanes and then it was nice to see some turnovers finally.”
▪ Lake hinted at the possibility of a flurry of turnovers when he spoke to media members Monday after the Michigan loss — at which point, the Huskies’ defense had not forced any through two games.
“I will say this, turnovers usually come in bunches,” he said. “And you guys have heard that, and they do. As soon as they start coming, you can get three, four, five at a time.
“That’s what our defensive job is to do — is to score or get the ball back. And these two weeks we definitely have not done that, and that needs to show up with some results here hopefully starting on Saturday.”
The Huskies did produce some results against Arkansas State.
Linebacker Carson Bruener forced a Red Wolves’ fumble late in the third quarter, which nickelback Brendan Radley-Hiles recovered.
Defensive lineman Faatui Tuitele sacked Layne Hatcher in the fourth for a 12-yard loss, Hatcher lost the ball, and linebacker Bralen Trice hustled to the end zone on a 72-yard scoop-and-score for UW’s final points of the afternoon.
Then, on the Red Wolves’ final drive of the game, safety Julius Irvin sealed the win with an interception.
▪ Five-star freshman quarterback Sam Huard — who finished his career at Kennedy Catholic High school in the spring by breaking the state’s career passing record — made his career debut early in the fourth quarter, and led the Huskies on a 10-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard field goal by Peyton Henry.
“It was so big-time,” Lake said of Huard’s debut. “I’m glad we got him out there. Got him some throws, got him some handoffs. And he’s going to be better the next time he goes out there, just because of that experience out there. And then he had some positive results. He had some completions.
“The last (throw) I knew he wanted back right away. The cool thing was, he knew where he was supposed to go with the football, and he didn’t, and he came right to the sideline and was like, ‘Coach, I should have went here!’ ... It’s just cool that he already knew before even watching the film. So exciting watching a young player go out there and make a few plays. Going to make mistakes. That’s part of the growing process. And he’s just going to continue to get better.”
Huard was cheered on by the crowd when his name was announced at the beginning of the drive, and he finished 2-of-5 passing for 31 yards. His first career completion was on his second throw, a third-and-11 toss to Giles Jackson over the middle that resulted in 23 yards and a first down.
Huard’s former teammate at Kennedy Catholic — and one of his top receivers throughout their prolific four-year high school careers — in freshman wide receiver Jabez Tinae, also debuted on the drive. Huard threw the ball to his familiar target three times — including once in the end zone on third down a play before Henry’s field goal — but the two did not connect on a completion.
▪ UW’s offense was so productive in this game the Huskies only punted three times, but Race Porter’s second attempt was an absolute gem.
The sixth-year senior took a fourth-and-8 snap and dropped the ball to his foot from about midfield, and it bounced once inside the 3 before landing out of bounds inside the 1, inches away from the pylon. Pinned in their own end zone, the Red Wolves’ next drive ended in a quick three-and-out.
Porter is averaging a career-best 47 yards per punt on 13 attempts so far this season.
▪ The Huskies made a pair of changes to their listed defensive starting lineup before game time.
Redshirt freshman Daniel Heimuli started at inside linebacker along with Jackson Sirmon, in place of usual starter Edefuan Ulofoshio.
“Guys are dealing with little nicks here and there,” Lake said. “Eddy’s still our starter. But, thankfully we do have some players that we feel really comfortable going in there and making some plays.
“Daniel is one of them. Also MJ Tafisi. Carson Bruener. He showed up big-time in training camp, so it was awesome watching him get out there and make some plays and fly around a little bit. But, Eddy will be fine.”
Ulofoshio still played six defensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus, and tallied one tackle to bring his season total to 19. Heimuli played 34 snaps and also had one tackle.
Tuitele also started at defensive tackle in place of listed starter Tuli Letuligasenoa. Tuitele played 26 defensive snaps per PFF, and had two tackles and a sack, while Letuligasenoa played 22 and had one tackle.
This story was originally published September 19, 2021 at 3:48 PM.
