In Week-11 of Washington’s dismal 2021 season their QB, Dylan Morris, threw as many interceptions as he did TD’s and the AD fired Jimmy Lake who had taken over as head coach for Chris Petersen after also having fired the Offensive Coordinator in Week-8 whom she found offensive but not in a good way. They rushed for under 100 yards, fumbled leading to a TD, and allowed their opponent to score 21 points in the 4th Qtr. By the time the Apple Bowl came around in Week 13 Morris had been mercifully replaced by Sam Huard who the Huskies hoped would cure their ills—a hope that was long gone by his 4th interception. They only trailed 13-7 at the break but allowed the Cougars to score 27 more points in the 2nd half, aided by three of those four interceptions, including a pick six. Final score, 40-13 and for the Washington fans to have had to watch this on their own field seemed a fitting ending to the perfect mess of a season that began in Week-1 when they were only able to muster 7 points against FCS Montana. They were ranked 20th in the nation going into 2021 and ended up with a 4-8 record.
Enter Kalen DeBoer who had been Head Coach of a Fresno State team that was averaging better than 450 yards of total offense a game and close to 35 points. Also enter Indiana transfer QB Michael Penix Jr. who, having been coached by DeBoer–Offensive Coordinator there in 2019, would be completely familiar with the new spread offense that Washington would now be running. According to Athlon Sports Washington should be strong in the receiving corp and have seven scholorship RB’s to pick from for their ground game including New Mexico transfer Aaron Dumas who ran for 143 yards against Fresno State last year. DeBoer has moved some players from the offensive line to shore up a defense that was allowing almost 200 yards a game rushing and has had to come up with solutions for the secondary which lost both starting cornerbacks.
Well, how did it go against the Golden Flashes of Kent State? As the AP points out in their review for ESPN; “Whether Washington is any good won’t be answered for a couple more weeks,” when they’ll host Big-10 Michigan State. But as far as the home opener went—it was gangbusters! The offense was referred to in the review as “entertaining and innovative” and was led by a QB who thoroughly understood what needed to be done to get the most out of it as the Huskies scored on every possession in the first half, including 2 TD passes by QB Michael Penix Jr. Having won the toss and deferring to the second half, Washington got the game off with a bang by intercepting Kent State’s first pass from scrimmage leading to a 4th and 1 28 yard TD run by Wayne Taulapapa and a 7-0 lead with less than 2 minutes gone in the game.
In spite of a miscue on the Special Teams that allowed a 52 yard return by Kent State on Peyton Henry’s subsequent kick-off leading to a 7-7 tie on the next play, the Huskies scored TD’s on their next three possessions and a field goal with just 24 seconds left in the half to go up 31-13 at the break. Not resting on their laurels the Huskies started the 2nd half off with a bang on a 13 play 74 yard drive that ate up almost six minutes on the clock and resulted in a 3rd TD pass for Michael Penix Jr and a 38-13 lead. Washington’s rebuilt secondary would intercept the ball two more times and Penix Jr. would connect on his fourth scoring pass early in the 4th Qtr leading to a 45-20 lead that wouldn’t change the rest of the way.
Penix ended up connecting on 26-of-39 for 345 yards, 4 TD’s and no interceptions. Dylan Morris also got in for a bit in garbage time and picked up another 48 yards without doing any damage. The Huskies rushed 36 times for 132 yards and 2 TD’s, one each by Senior RB Wayne Taulapapa and Sophomore RB Cameron Davis. But there were some mistakes with three fumbles, one lost, Additionally the run defense allowed Kent State to rush for 147 yards—certainly better than last year’s average, but it’s Kent State and in three weeks it will be Michigan State. But that aside, all-in-all a great start to the Kalen DeBoer era. Washington led in first downs, 29-to-19; total yards, 525-to-340; and time-of-possession. DeBoer had this to say after the game; “This is only the beginning. This is the journey that we’re on and there’s going to be a lot of highs just like tonight and there’s going to be adversity.” It’s going to be a long month for Kent State as they still have No 9 Oklahoma and No. 3 Georgia on their schedule. Washington stays home again next week to face Portland State.