The Washington Huskies traveled to Provo, Utah to take on the BYU Cougars in their first road test of the season so far.
What took place is the Huskies passed their test with flying colors, as they dominated the Cougars with a 45-19 victory.
One of the big keys to the game for the Huskies, was to come out to a fast start and take the BYU crowd out of the game.
At the 12:31 mark in the 1st quarter, the Huskies struck first when junior quarterback Jacob Eason scrambled and found redshirt freshman running back Richard Newton open in the corner of the endzone on a 17-yard pass.
The Huskies took an early 7-0 lead and set the tone early in the game, and never really looked back the entire game.
BYU answered with a field goal of their own and the score was cut to 7-3, but the Huskies would answer back at the 3:50 mark in the 1st quarter.
Once again, Eason found the endzone with his 17-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Aaron Fuller and the Huskies led 14-3.
Defensively, the Huskies have found their way the past two weeks, with coming up with timely turnovers and making impact plays.
Nearly 1 minute and 33 seconds later, Husky senior outside linebacker Ryan Bowman knocked the ball loose from BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.
What would ensue was a fumble recovery by Husky senior inside linebacker Brandon Wellington, who ran it 69-yards for a touchdown.
At the end of the first quarter, the Huskies were in full command of the game and had a 21-3 lead on the road in a hostile environment.
In the 2nd quarter, the lone score for the Husky offense was a 30-yard FG by sophomore placekicker Peyton Henry. BYU put up 10 points of their own with a touchdown and a FG in the 2nd quarter.
Going into halftime..the Huskies were up 24-12, and had given up some of that early momentum they had established earlier in the game.
The trend this season for the Huskies in 3rd quarters had not been great. The Huskies had been outscored 41-17 in 3rd quarters, through the first three games of the season.
Heading into the 3rd quarter..nobody knew what version of the Huskies would “show-up”. Well..they definitely answered the bell! They scored three straight touchdowns in the quarter.
At the 12:28 mark, senior wide receiver Andre Baccellia caught a 35-yard bullet from Eason for a Husky touchdown, and the Dawgs were off to the races.
The Huskies have prided themselves on improving their special teams unit and so far this season, they have greatly improved.
Maybe the biggest momentum play of the game was an 88-yard punt return TD by Aaron Fuller that really broke the game open for the Huskies.
With the score, the Huskies took a significant 38-12 lead at the 10:37 mark of the 3rd quarter, but they were not finished on the scoreboard.
At the 5:22 mark of the game, the Huskies would punch in their final points of the game on a 3-yard TD scamper by redshirt freshman Richard Newton, which pushed the score to 45-12.
After intercepting an Eason pass intended for tight end Hunter Bryant, the Cougars returned the ball to the Washington 7-yard line.
The Cougars would cash-in with a 7-yard TD reception by tight end Matt Bushman and that would be the final score of the game for either team.
During the 4th quarter, the Huskies did a great job of gaining first downs and running down the clock with long sustained drives to “ice” the game.
In the end, the Huskies constructed a complete “wire-to-wire” performance and rode off into the beautiful Provo sunset with a 45-19 victory.
Eason was simply sensational and finished with a stat line of 24 of 28, 290 yards, 3 TD’s and 1 interception. This Husky offense has a different feel to it this season with Eason’s ability to throw the football.
A huge piece of news broke before the game that junior running back Salvon Ahmed didn’t make the trip to Provo. Washington head coach Chris Petersen confirmed to a reporter before the game that Ahmed reaggravated a lower leg injury, but he doesn’t expect it to be longterm.
The “two headed-monster” rushing attack of junior running back Sean McGrew and RIchard Newton proved to be too much for the Cougars.
McGrew broke his previous career high from last week and finished with 18 carries for 110 yards on the night. He was extremely productive and efficent for the Huskies all game long.
Newton continued to impress as the next great Husky back’, with 16 carries for 80 yards with 1 rushing TD and 1 TD reception. These two guys filled the void in Ahmed’s absence.
Welcome back Mr. Fuller and Mr. Baccellia! The senior receivers bounced back with a tremendous effort, after being under scrutiny lately for dropped passes.
Fuller finished the game with 8 catches for 91 yards and 1 TD catch and 1 punt-return TD. Baccellia had 4 receptions for 72 yards and 1 TD.
It was great to see the Husky wide receivers at the top of the stat sheet this week for receptions. Previously, tight end Hunter Bryant had led the team in all three games heading into today’s game.
On defense, the Huskies came away with some timely turnovers, which helped change the momentum of the game at key times for the Huskies.
The Husky defense was able to notch 3 turnovers on the night, with the highlight being the 69-yard fumble recovery TD by Wellington.
Senior safety Myles Bryant led the Husky defense on the night with a total of 9 tackles. On the 9 tackles, 4 of those were solo tackles.
Sophomore outside linebacker Joe Tryon was ejected in the 3rd quarter on a questionable targeting call, after hitting BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.
Overall, the Huskies made a statement today at Lavell Edwards Stadium and it was evident that they were “on a mission” the entire game.
With the dominating performance, they reminded the rest of the college football world to not forget about them just yet. They showed everyone what a focused Husky team looks like, and that could spell trouble for their opponents the rest of the way.
Next up for the Huskies is the USC Trojans, next Saturday afternoon, September 28th at Husky Stadium, with a kickoff time of 12:30 p.m PST.
Washington vs. BYU Final Game Stats
Below is the actual video of the Chris Petersen Postgame Press Conference…..
Below is a Highlights Video of the game…..
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