Inside The Huskies

Evans Missed Out On UW Catches, Avoided Penn State Drama

The wide receiver came to Montlake looking for more touches, but the opposite happened.
Dan Raley|
Omari Evans warms up to face Ohio State.
Omari Evans warms up to face Ohio State. | Dave Sizer photo

Some people no doubt questioned Omari Evans' decision to transfer from Penn State to Washington for his senior year.

After all, the Nittany Lions were a playoff team that had their way with the rebuilding Huskies 12 months ago, showing no mercy in a 35-6 romp.

Yet seeking more touches, Evans chose to depart State College, this after catching 21 passes for 415 yards and 5 touchdowns last season, including a 38-yard scoring reception against Boise State in the CFP quarterfinals.

"When I was in the portal, I was looking at offenses and the most efficient in the passing game and this one stood out the most to me," the Texas native said of transferring to the UW. "I felt like this would be a great choice to come here."

Omari Evans pops up after catching a first-down pass against Ohio State.
Omari Evans pops up after catching a first-down pass against Ohio State. | Dave Sizer photo

He also had deeper knowledge of the Huskies that extended back to their 2024 national championship game appearance.

"I knew they were a good team in the Pac-12 and just went to the natty and were known for receivers," Evans said.

Once in Montlake, the 6-foot, 195-pound Evans inherited the graduated Giles Jackson's jersey No. 5, but not the other guy's team-leading 2024 stat line of 85 catches for 893 yards and 7 TDs.

Instead, he got injured, made his debut two games into the schedule and finished the regular season with just 14 receptions for 225 yards and a solitary score for the Huskies (8-4 overall, 5-4 Big Ten).

"It's been a [long] road, but I feel you stay down, stick to what you know and your time will come," he said.

Omari Evans waits for the ball to be snapped against Purdue.
Omari Evans waits for the ball to be snapped against Purdue. | Dave Sizer photo

Evans has had his moments with the Huskies, some bordering on the extraordinary at times.

He hauled in a 59-yard Apple Cup touchdown pass on the dead run against Washington State in his first game with his new team and made a diving, one-handed grab against Purdue that had a high degree of difficulty. Making his third UW start, he had 2 catches for 10 yards in the 26-14 loss to the Ducks.

While the UW hasn't quite worked out the way he might have envisioned, Evans probably made a very wise move in the end.

By leaving Penn State, he sidestepped a program meltdown that led to coach James Franklin getting fired following a 3-3 start and the once third-ranked team finishing the regular season at 6-6.

Evans said he speaks almost daily with former Nittany Lions teammates about the football fallout back East. Franklin already had been hired by Virginia Tech while Penn State is still trying to hire a new leader.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy up there," he said "It's been crazy to me and all my friends."

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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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