Things Turn Familiar and Comfortable for Huard in Closing Scrimmage
Sam Huard still looks so young, it's as if he's entering high school, not a University of Washington football huddle.
Yet on Saturday in something called the Spring Preview, he looked every bit the promising college quarterback he's supposed to be, maturing in front of a few thousand fans sunning themselves on a glorious afternoon in Husky Stadium.
After a few weeks of struggling with his accuracy in practice, the left-hander from the Seattle suburbs set up in the pocket with confidence and delivered the ball with authority.
Coming directly over the top with his passes, Huard put the ball in someone's hands on 13 of 20 attempts for 190 yards and a touchdown over the two-hour public scrimmage that was also viewed by a Pac-12 Networks TV audience.
He actually led his group on three scoring drives, handing the ball to Aaron Dumas for a 1-yard touchdown dive, helping set up a 35-yard Peyton Henry field goal and lobbing a 9-yard scoring pass to Lonyatta Alexander Jr.
"I do feel a lot more comfortable out there, a lot better; I do feel stronger," Huard said. "Obviously the speed is a lot faster in college and the guys are a lot more athletic, bigger, faster, stronger. It's just for me to be able to adjust to that and to be where I need to be to help this team win."
Near the end, Huard found Alexander, his high school and now college teammate, for a 37-yard gain to get close to the end zone, with the receiver making a spectacular one-handed catch.
Capping off his day, Huard two plays later threw the scoring pass to Alexander, who beat walk-on cornerback Antonio Hill to the ball.
Afterward, Huard and Alexander sat for media interviews one after the other and good-naturedly sparred a little as they intersected.
The quarterback chided his receiver for making the one-handed grab rather than use two hands and insinuated he did it just to get on ESPN and have broadcaster Scott Van Pelt describe it.
Once Huard sat down, it was Alexander's turn to give the quarterback a hard time, first asking him who's his favorite pass-catcher. The two were teammates at Kennedy Catholic High School in south Seattle and have been together again this spring once Alexander transferred from Arizona State.
"It's great to have Junior back and he was so reliable for me," the QB said. "It felt great, especially on that drive we needed a touchdown right there and Junior had him one-on-one."
Before closing with the media, Huard was asked about his potential name, image and likeness deals, which include pairing up with UW teammates to host youth football camps and having his own trading card.
Huard admitted to being a collector as a younger kid, indicating his favorite card was one signed by Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino. Huard's father Damon and Marino were quarterback teammates in South Beach more than two decades ago and currently are business partners in a Washington state winery.
The younger Huard has welcomed any advice Marino might send his way.
"He just tells me to pick a guy and let it fly," Huard said. "He's one of the best at what he did, so whenever I have an opportunity to be around him, I just soak it all in."
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