Huskies Shrug Off Slow Start, Open Season With 38-21 Win
SEATTLE, Wash. — They don’t all have to be pretty.
The Washington Huskies got off to a slow start — particularly on defense — in Saturday’s season-opener against Colorado State before coming away with a 38-21 victory in front of 67,778 at Husky Stadium.
The Rams’ third-year starting quarterback, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, gave the Huskies new-look defense problems for most of three quarters before the tide turned. That’s when the Huskies took over. In the end, Washington nearly doubled up Colorado’s 265 yards with 509 of their own to win for the 21st straight time at home.
“I’m proud of our guys,” head coach Jedd Fisch said. “I’m really proud of our offensive line. I thought they did a really, really good job. We ran the ball for, I think, 283 yards, and that’s pretty cool.”
Much of that damage was done by senior star Jonah Coleman, who finished with 24 carries for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
His best run was a 38-yard non-scoring run that led to Washington’s final points of the night. Coleman bullied his way through several tackles and appeared to score after rolling over a defender on his way into the end zone. Officials determined that his rear touched the ground, but he powered in from three yards out on the next play to put the game away.
Coleman gave much of the credit to a re-worked offensive line.
“It’s great to see that the work they put in this offseason, loving each other, getting to know each other, and being there for each other,” said Coleman, who also had a 22-yard reception to finish the night with 199 yards from scrimmage. “You’ve got to trust in that line, because one man takes one wrong step, it can mess up the play — so just them being able to trust each other and trust the coaches and trust the details.”
Demond Williams Jr.’s Strong Start
Washington’s sophomore quarterback played well, aside from a gift to Colorado State from what he called a miscommunication with the center that led to a snap hitting him when he wasn’t expecting it. Williams finished 18-for-24 for 226 yards and a touchdown pass to Denzel Boston (five catches, 92 yards) that put Washington up 28-21 with 3:01 to go in the third. He also rushed for 68 yards on 16 carries to finish over the 300-yard mark.
Fisch felt that Williams checked all the plays correctly and knew when to throw the ball and when to hit the jets.
“I thought he did a great job on when to take off,” said Fisch, who evened his Washington record at 7-7. “ I think that he was a 75% passer again — you’re going to complete 75% of your passes, that’s pretty impressive. … He’s continuing to grow. And I just talk to him about there’s some times that maybe we can slide, maybe we can go out of bounds. We don’t need to go head-on, you know, in the open field.”
Williams said the team has some things to clean up, but overall, it’s headed in the right direction.
“As long as we continue to not have self-inflicted wounds and just take it one game at a time, I feel like the sky’s the limit for us,” said Williams, who started the final two games of his true freshman season last year.
Slow Start by Defense
It was all or nothing for defense during the first 2 1/2 quarters. Washington forced the Rams to go three-and-out four times on their first seven drives, but the other three drives were Colorado State touchdowns.
The Huskies put it together at the end, forcing a turnover and two turnovers on downs to close it out.
“There was some long yardage situations that got us a bit,” Fisch said. “We had fourth-and-13, they converted a third-and-19, they converted. So, a couple of those long yardage situations, I’d love to see us get off the field.”
The Huskies did not force a turnover or register a sack until late in the third quarter. With Washington leading just 28-21, Makell Esteen, a sixth-year senior who was recruited to UW by Chris Petersen, stepped in front of a Fowler-Nicolosi pass on third-and-four with 1:48 remaining in the third.
Nicolosi finished the game with 180 yards passing on 17-for-32 passing with a touchdown and Esteen’s pick. He misfired on six of his final nine pass attempts and was sacked by true freshman Devin Hyde.
Rahshawn Clark, who lost the starting nickel job to Leroy Butler in the middle of fall camp, later came up big for the Huskies’ first sack of the season. On fourth-and-7 early in the fourth quarter, the Rams lined up to punt but moved into a passing formation. Clark sacked Tahj Bullock, and Colorado State never really threatened again.
