The University of Washington's spring football games were played under cloudy and windy conditions, rather than the 70-degree and sunny skies predicted by the up-and-coming Montlake meteorologist in the coach's headset.
Although the attendance was closer to 15,000, rather than double the expected attendance, it was still one of the highest attendance numbers for a Huskies spring game in decades.
And Teddy Purcell became the first Husky quarterback to lead a scoring drive, leading the Purple team 50 yards in five plays on freshman Adam Muhammad's 3-yard touchdown run and Purcell's 41-yard run to Denzel Boston. He set up the score with a looping pass.
Purcell?
Not everything went according to script when new manager Jed Fisch threw his first pitch of the spring Friday night, but he was satisfied with what happened in 48 minutes of play, 12 minutes less than regulation. It seemed like there was.
With the scoring format not fully explained, his Purple Team was able to score Grady Gross' game-ending 30-yard run with all of the kicker's teammates, offensive and defensive, on the field. They won 24-23 with a field goal. His surroundings were close enough that you could almost reach out and touch him before the snap.
Afterward, Fisch said he had seen progress through 15 practices, and was somewhat surprised to say that the Huskies' roster was nearly complete, but that meant a few transfers had yet to be announced, and some new players. He added that since he has not signed the scholarship documents, it may not materialize for a while. Until June 17th. Maybe you just don't have a Twitter account or friends on job sites.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how much I can do this summer,” Fish said. “I think there are some commitments that I can't comment on. Our roster is almost full. We're pretty close to getting 85 scholarships.”
Recently drafted Michael Penix Jr. was in town for this spring's windup, and his Husky QB was hiding under a hoodie until the Pac-12 Network's cameras revealed his presence. His replacements, Will Rogers and Demond Williams Jr., had lackluster starts. They had to get used to the gusty winds blowing in off Lake Washington.
Leave it to the third QB on the roster, the 6-foot-1, 186-pound Purcell, to make the most of the first big chance to start the offense while watching from the stands. He is a junior walk-on from San Francisco. After three seasons in the program shadow. His claim to fame so far was that he led the travel team to multiple UW games the previous season, but he didn't play.
On this Purple drive that started at 50 yards, Purcell took his second snap and sent a looping pass to Boston, who got behind Arizona junior transfer cornerback Efesians Prysock and ran a 41-yarder to the 6. I decided on the gain. Two plays later, Mohammed scored. This was a kind of payback for Prysock, who intercepted Rodgers' pass intended for Boston in the end zone.
On the next series, senior cornerback Thaddeus Dixon, who has been one of this spring's top performers and is fighting for a starting role, stepped in front of Williams' pass, intercepted it, and ran through the defense for 41 yards. The purple team managed to score again. zone.
Gross ended the first half with a 34-yard field goal for the white team, but without the peanut gallery surrounding him, the purple team led 14-6, but all of that scoring distribution is still not fully explained. Not yet.
The second half became more offensive-minded as Rodgers ended the first drive with a 28-yard touchdown strike to Boston, leaving redshirt freshman cornerback Leroy Bryant open as he turned back at the goal line. Ta.
For entertainment purposes only, senior linebacker Carson Bruner was given two opportunities to expand his football skill set in ways not seen during the regular season. Play was stopped when Bruner contested a field goal kick with Boston and won with a 30-yard shot over the uprights while the wide receiver sank the shot.
Shortly after, when normal play resumed, Bruner lined up on offense with the white team, received an end-around pitch, dropped a flat pass in the opposite direction, and covered 38 yards to the opponent's base, hitting Jonah Coleman's ball. He played running back. On the 11th, Drew Fowler, a fellow linebacker and good friend of Brunner, will be chasing the purple.
On that drive, Williams found wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter, a transfer to California, in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard TD pass that went just past the hands of redshirt freshman cornerback Carly Reed. did.
With 3:20 left in the game, Gross made a 42-yard field goal to give the white team a 23-21 lead.
Rodgers then calmly advanced his team 70 yards down the field, using walk-ons such as redshirt freshman running back Ryder Bumgarner and redshirt freshman wide receiver Luke Luchini to move into scoring position. He showed his veteran presence by giving Gross another chance to kick.
In addition to Penix, former UW starters Asa Turner, a safety last season, and offensive guard Nate Calepo, who transferred to SEC schools Florida and Mississippi, respectively, attended among their old teammates.
For most fans, they want to know what the Huskies have in terms of talent following their 14-1 run to last season's National Championship Game and subsequent roster shakeup. Ta. According to the coach, there are a lot of personnel being committed but not disclosed, so expect this team to be very different and even better once fall camp begins.
“We're going to be good,” promised Arizona transfer Coleman. “I'm not worried. It's a process.”
Someone better tell him that a flat pass from Brunner is not part of it.
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