Day After: 3 Observations from Eastern Beatdown

The UW freshmen came out in full force and did a lot of things right.

Ansu Sanoe gets lifted up by his UW teammates after scoring against Eastern. | Dave Sizer photo

Freshmen are supposed to be nervous on the college football field, aren't they?

Too wide-eyed and starstruck to be of much help early on, right?

In need of seasoning, no doubt?

For some reason nearly every first-year player the University of Washington football team puts in the game this season seems to act like it was his birthright to make something happen almost immediately, if not many of them find their way into the end zone.

Freshmen play is one of three things that stood out in Saturday's game:

Brian Bonner gets around the corner on his 55-yard run against Eastern. | Dave Sizer photo

1. READY TO PLAY ROOKIES

Three of the seven Husky touchdowns in Saturday's 48-16 victory over Eastern Washington came from freshmen, with wide receivers Jordan Clay and Trez Davis and running back Ansu Sanoe each crossing the goal line, and Ansu doing it for the second time in two weeks.

Add to that another freshman wide receiver in Mason James, who made his Husky debut and nearly scored in the fourth quarter, having his 14-yard pass reception at the Eastern 1 finally overruled as a catch following a long review.

Just the same, James, who's from Norman, Oklahoma, and one of three highly regarded first-year pass-catchers, looked impressive in his first college outing, which included 3 catches for 23 yards, including a 21-yard grab, and a fly sweep for 3 more yards.

Freshman receiver Mason James made his Husky debut against Eastern and caught 3 passes. | Dave Sizer photo

"He's very fast and he's very twitchy and all the things we thought when we recruited he showed that today," UW coach Jedd Fisch said. "The more we play Mason, the more comfortable he will get, and the more comfortable he will get, the more explosive plays he will make."

In all, the Huskies used 14 freshmen and started five of them while opening with defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa, edge rusher Ramzak Fruean, cornerback Jeron Jones, offensive tackle Kodi Greene and running back Brian Bonner Jr.

Freshman corner Jeron Jones (24) helps bring down an Eastern runner. | Dave Sizer photo

Fruean had a season-high 4 tackles while Jones came up with 2 tackles and a pass break-up. Clay finished with 3 catches for 10 yards and Davis had his 2-yard scoring grab late in the game.

Besides James, other freshmen who made their UW debuts this weekend included cornerbacks Elijah Durr and Ksani Jiles, edge rusher JD Hill and defensive tackle T.I. Umu-Cais.

While he didn't get into the end zone, Bonner Jr. looked like was going to end up there before he got pushed out of bounds after a 55-yard run to the Eastern 6. He finished with 81 yards on six carries, breathing life into a dormant rushing attack.

"We have an explosive group of guys," Fisch said. "We'll just continue to feed them."

Grady Gross, shown in 2024, made his season debut in his fifth year for the UW. | Skylar Lin Visual

2. GROSS RETURNS

Near the end of the first half, Grady Gross took over the Husky kickoff duties after two of three kicks for Hunter McKee, a former Eastern player playing against his old team, had two of his offerings sail out of bounds to begin drives at the 35.

Gross was the UW's No. 1 place-kicker for each of the last three seasons and presumably had used up his eligibility until the rules changed, giving him a fifth season. He had to sue to play again and received a positive response earlier in the week.

The last time Gross was the Huskies' kickoff man only was in 2022 for Kalen DeBoer's first team in Montlake. For now, it appears he will back up Texas State transfer Tyler Robles, who made good on both of his field-goal attempts from 25 and 32 yards.

3. BROWN READY

The Huskies received an unwanted scare when starting quarterback Demond Williams Jr. left the field early in the second quarter and headed for the medical tent.

Stanford transfer Elijah Brown immediately began throwing the football.

As it turned out, Williams was OK. Instead, Brown entered the game for the final UW offensive series, took six snaps, completed 2 of 3 passes and moved the Huskies in range for a Robles field goal.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Brown, who started three games for his Palo Alto team, appears capable should Williams have a future absence.

"We have full trust in Elijah Brown," UW tight end Baron Naone said.