Washington at Washington State
After winning the Apple Cup last year on the road in Husky Stadium the Cougars were very excited to retain it this past Saturday at home in the Palouse. But after Washington took the ball right out of the gate and found the end zone nine plays later on a TD pass by Sophomore QB Demond Williams Jr. to Junior WR Denzel Boston to go up 7-0, the Cougars got off to a bad start with an interception on their first possession and another Husky TD just five plays later. This one on a 23 yard TD run by Williams to make it 14-0 at the end of the 1st Qtr. The Cougs came back to score a TD at the beginning of the 2nd Qtr on a 12 yard pass from Senior QB Zevi Eckhaus to Freshman TE Beau Baker to close the gap at 14-7. But just four plays later Jonah Coleman, who also caught a 45 yard pass during this drive, would run it 12 yards into the end zone to make it 21-7. After getting bogged down at the Washington 19 yard line on their next possession, Washington State’s Freshman Place Kicker Jack Stevens would kick one in from 36 yards out to pick up three more points on the scoreboard. About five minutes later the Husky’s found themselves in a similar situation but a bit further away which didn’t seem to bother their Place Kicker Grady Gross who nailed one from 51 yards out to make it 24-10 at the break.
Unlike the first half the Cougars came out strong in the 3rd Qtr and scored on back-to-back TD’s on either side of another Washington TD to make it just a one possession lead for the Husky’s at the end of three, 31-24. Unfortunately for Washington State, after the Husky’s started off the 4th Qtr with another TD pass from Williams to Boston to go up 38-24 Washington State QB Zevi Eckhaus would throw up a pass that was picked off by Husky Junior Safety Alex McLaughlin and taken 47 yards back to the house to make it a 45-24 game. And the misery for Eckhaus didn’t stop there when, after the kickoff, he fumbled on the first play at their own 25 yard line, a ball that was recovered by Washington Junior DL Bryce Butler. Just three plays later Washington was back in the end zone on a TD pass from Williams to Coleman to go up 52-24. The Cougs had a chance going into the fourth quarter just seven points down but giving 14 points away on mistakes was a back-breaker and put the game away for Washington. The Huskies would score seven more late in the quarter on a 59 yard pass from Williams to Senior WR Omari Evans to give us our final score of 59-to-24.
For Washington, Sophomore QB Demond Williams Jr. was surgically lethal connecting on 84% of his passes for 2 clicks shy of 300 yards, 4 TD’s and no interceptions while also leading the team with 88 rushing yards on 13 carries and another TD. Junior WR Denzel Boston and Senior RB Jonah Coleman would combine for 6 receptions each, 211 yards and three TD’s— two for Boston and one in the air for Coleman who also rushed for two more. Boston, Coleman, and Omari Evans—who caught the fourth TD—would account for 270 of the 298 total yards in the air. On the ground, Washington rushed 32 times for 175 yards and 3 TD’s.
For the Cougars, Senior QB Zevi Eckhaus was 25-of-36 for 277 yards, 2 TD’s and 2 picks—both leading to points on the scoreboard for the Husky’s. Eckhaus was responsible for Washington State’s only rushing TD as the rest of their ground game was pretty non-existent and consisted of 27 attempts for 28 yards. The Cougars had the ball 11 minutes longer than Washington but that’s the only category in which they came out on top. In addition to successfully converting their third downs attempts at an almost 90% rate, the Husky’s led in first downs, 23-21; total yards, 473-305; averaged 15.7 yards per pass compared to 7.7; 5.5 yards per rush compared to just 1 yard; and had no turnovers compared to three for the Cougars. Like their fellow Big Ten former PAC-12 teams of USC and Oregon, Washington is off to an undefeated start. But this coming Saturday we’ll find out if they are as good as they look as they’ll host No. 1 Ohio State at Husky Stadium. For the Cougars, now 2-2, they’ll be hitting the road to take on Colorado State.