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Inside The Huskies

As His Team Comes Up Short, Lawson Advances His Game

The second-year player made an unforgettable catch late against the Trojans.
Dan Raley|
Chris Lawson gathers himself during the UW-Utah State game.
Chris Lawson gathers himself during the UW-Utah State game. | Dave Sizer photo

Small victories often get lost when you come up short on the scoreboard, but the University of Washington football team against USC showed signs of life with its rushing attack, with freshman Brian Bonner picking up 89 yards.

In Saturday night's 25-21 loss, the UW largely fixed the most glaring defensive shortcoming from the previous Minnesota outing. After giving up three touchdown passes to the Gophers, cornerback Manny Karnley was healthy again and provided tight coverage in Los Angeles.

Also, wide receiver Chris Lawson, a reserve to begin the season, stepped up in what might have been the most clutch play of the season.

Under do-or-die circumstances with Trojans defender Christian Pierce running alongside him, Lawson made a difficult 43-yard catch of a fourth-and-2 Hail Mary pass from Demond Williams Jr. with two minutes left in the game.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, it was die after that as the seven plays that followed couldn't get them into the end zone for the win.

Yet Lawson gave his team a last bit of hope as he reached over Pierce to bring the ball iat the USC 40 before stumbling another 30 yards to give his team a last bit of hope. Two minutes were left to play.

"Chris Lawson continues to make great plays," UW coach Jedd Fisch said. "He had a huge, huge catch he had to make."

Lawson, a 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore from San Francisco, finished tied for top UW game receiving honors with Dezmen Roebuck by finishing with 5 catches for 82 yards while Roebuck had 5 receptions for 30 yards.

On the season, Lawson has moved up to become the Huskies' second-leading receiver overall with 18 catches for 294 yards and a touchdown, which trails only Roebuck, who has 35 grabs for 338 yards and a score.

Huskies wide receiver Chris Lawson (8) catches a pass against Utah State.
Huskies wide receiver Chris Lawson (8) catches a pass against Utah State. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Before the season began, Lawson and Kennesaw State transfer Christian Moss engaged in one of the team's most stringent position battles of fall camp, seeking the third starting receiver role, a job known as the X and previously occupied by Denzel Boston, now doing great things in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns.

Lawson lost that August competition. Yet Moss lasted just one play of the season against Washington State before he tore a quadriceps muscle, had surgery and likely was lost for the season. Lawson ended up with the job anyway.

"Chris deserves the starting role at the X," Fisch said when the position change was forthcoming.

So ready or not, Lawson has had to make plays and he's done that, with his USC grab a small consolation for his team not pulling out the victory, yet a big deal.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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