Huskies Suffer Shocking 13-7 Season Opener Loss To Montana

On a night where Husky fans were entering Husky Stadium for the first time in two years full of excitement, they actually left feeling dejected. Washington entered the game as 22.5 favorites to beat their FCS counterpart in the Montana Grizzlies. In the end, the Huskies suffered a shocking 13-7 defeat, which marked one of the worst losses in program history and their first-ever loss to an FCS opponent.

On offense, the Huskies started out the game imposing their will on the Grizzlies by manufacturing a touchdown drive of 9 plays, for 78 yards and a time of possession of 4:45 minutes. Husky quarterback Dylan Morris ran in from the 1-yard line and it appeared that Washington was going to dominate the game. In reality, it was quite the contrary. All game long, the Husky offense struggled to move the ball, sustain drives, create balance, rhythm, and momentum. They couldn’t put up points on the board to put away the Grizzlies, but instead, they let them hang around and gain confidence. The strength of the Husky football team is the offensive line and they were pretty much manhandled all night by a stout and scrappy Montana defensive line. After the initial scoring drive by the Husky offense, they went 12 consecutive drives without scoring, as Morris threw three picks along the way.

Defensively, Washington played well enough to pull out the win and keep the Grizzlies out of the end zone for most of the night, until the end. They held Montana to only 232 yards but allowed quarterback Cam Humphrey to make plays with his legs and extend plays during critical times down the stretch. In the fourth quarter, Montana was able to produce 10 points that turned the tide of the game. Those points came on methodical drives of 69 yards on 10 plays and 42 yards on 11 plays. The Husky defense can definitely play stouter defense, especially in the 4th quarter. Washington was led by inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon who had 9 tackles on the night.

There is no beating around the bush here! This was a monumental clunker for the Huskies and completely unexplainable! It will be hard for head coach Jimmy Lake to keep the fans on board after this defeat and time will tell if the Huskies can recover and rebuild from this. There is no rest for the weary, as Washington travels to Ann Arbor next weekend to play in “The Big House”. Michigan looked very good at home today, as they beat Western Michigan 47-14 at home. The Huskies will have to get things figured out in a hurry this week to have any chance at pulling out a victory in a hostile environment against Wolverines.

Next up for the Huskies (0-1) is the Michigan Wolverines, at “The Big House” in Ann Arbor, Michigan, next Saturday night, September 11th, with a kickoff time of 5:00 PM PT. The game will be televised on ABC.

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