5 Husky College Football Debuts to Watch for on Saturday

A competitive football game would serve both teams best, but there's still a real chance the University of Washington might put considerable distance between itself and Montana in Saturday's season opener. Playing time for a bunch of inexperienced guys would be one reward.

Early non-conference games, especially against an FCS team such as the Grizzlies, usually is where young Huskies make their college debuts.

That said, we picked out five guys on the UW roster who haven't played at this level yet and have a very good chance to show off their talents in this match-up.

A couple are fairly obvious choices, a couple of them not so much, but they're all worth watching.

Carson Bruener

No true freshman or redshirt freshman player made more strides in recent practice than this UW legacy player, whose father Mark was a Husky and NFL tight end. This Bruener, however, makes his plays coming up from his inside linebacker spot. The coaches say he has the right instincts and residual toughness to be a playmaker fairly soon. He's so versatile, the coaches had him at outside linebacker until injuries to others scuttled those plans and brought him back inside, where he's best suited.

"He's very slippery," defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said. "He does a nice job manipulating blocks and he's very instinctual, so he's made good progress."

Sam Huard

Close game or not, Huard will play on Saturday. Second or third quarter? He's earned that right with his pinpoint passing and general advancement during fall camp. The true freshman quarterback needs to be ready if anything should happen to Dylan Morris. He can make four appearances without wasting a year of eligibility. If he plays against Montana, he probably won't get the chance to really air it out and go downfield because that would be piling on. Yet his first game time should be memorable just the same.

"My confidence would be extremely high if we had Sam Huard in there," coach Jimmy Lake said. "Because I know we would prepare him."

Kuao Peihopa

The true freshman from Hawaii might be the player in his 2021 class most ready to play right away and make a difference, and that includes Huard. While the starters are fairly set, Peihopa spent spring and fall practice mostly running with the No. 2 defense and pushing players such as Jacob Bandes, Faatui Tuitele and Noah Ngalu for their minutes. A foot injury set him back for nearly a week, but he seems ready to play meaningful minutes now while coming off the bench.

"First you could just see his physical stature," Lake said. "He looks like he's a second- or third-year player. He plays with a high motor, he plays with energy, he plays with juice."

Jay'Veon Sunday

The freshman tailback from Waco, Texas, wants to get out and run so bad he can barely contain himself. He's no higher than fifth on the depth chart at his position, but Sunday made it clear in practice going back to last spring that he intends to be a fan favorite when he begins carrying the ball in Husky Stadium, and he'll make that happen as soon as possible. He plays with pure joy and a lot of swagger, high-stepping his way past defenders, raising fingers in the air and celebrating the moment. A 35-yard touchdown run or so by Mr. Lone Star against Montana would be a fitting end to this opener.

"Jay'Veon's running style is downhill and physical," Lake said. "He's one of the guys I had to pull back and say, 'Hold on, you're going to get your time to run over people.' "

That could be Saturday for Sunday.

Bralen Trice

Trice opted out last season after redshirting in 2019. He carries the stigma of being called a better UW edge rusher eventually than first-round NFL draft pick Joe Tryon, who certainly was no slouch for this program. In his fall absence from the Huskies, the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Trice transformed his body and made himself ready to play when he returned. It was more of a surprise that he didn't win the starting job than it was him becoming the back-up behind Cooper McDonald. He's still just a redshirt freshman. He will play a lot regardless of the score against the Grizzlies.

"Without putting any pressure on him, Bralen will probably be better than Joe Tryon," outside-linebackers coach Ikaika Malloe said. "He's long and athletic."

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