Husky Quarterback Competition Doesn't Look Like 3-Man Race
University of Washington football players were already hard at work on Saturday when fans began to trickle into Husky Stadium.
That didn't stop some of the Huskies from pausing from what they were doing and taking a peek at them.
Whether having added eyes on these players made any actual difference, the UW wasn't real efficient offensively when the first scrimmage portion of spring practice No. 12 began.
On the second snap, Michael Penix Jr., the first of three quarterbacks up, dropped the football.
At one point in this workout, as each of them struggled, the QBs combined were a woeful 5-for-20 passing, then a laggard 9-for-29, before finishing with 20 completions in 42 attempts.
The biggest takeaway from this: The race for the Husky QB starting job appears to be a two-man competition, not three.
Over two hours, Penix and Dylan Morris, the veteran signal-callers each with 15 or more college starts, were able to regroup following a tough beginning while Sam Huard, the redshirt freshman with a lone UW game-opening assignment to his name, could not settle down.
Penix completed 10 of 17 scrimmage passes overall, but he was good on 7 of his last 9, two going for touchdowns, to finish strong.
Morris was 6-for-13 passing while completing 5 of his final 8 throws, one for a score, as he notably picked up the pace.
And Huard?
The young lefty could not find a groove as he completed just 4 of 12 throws overall.
Indicative of how Saturday went for Huard showed in his final turn behind center. Wedged between scoring drives engineered by the other QBs, he took the snap and was done after one play.
He rose up and threw the only interception of the day, putting the ball up for grabs in a crowd down the left sideline that safety Julius Irvin came down with.
Huard simply looks like the young, relatively inexperienced college quarterback that he is while the others appear far more resilient.
Other Observations
Dominique Hampton appears to be a natural as the hybrid Husky defensive back. On the third play of the scrimmage set, the junior came so hard and fast on a blitz that Penix, in trying to avoid him, was sacked by edge rusher Jeremiah Martin, who chest-bumped Penix because the quarterbacks are off limits to fierce tackling.
Continuing to impress was redshirt freshman cornerback Davon Banks, an overly athletic defender like the guys who just left in NFL-bound Kyler Gordon and Trent McDuffie. When Penix launched one deep for Taj Davis, the receiver got his hands on the football but the springy Banks stayed with him, timed his collision just right and efficiently broke up the play. Not only that, Davis limped away after taking the Banks hit.
Sophomore inside linebacker Carson Bruener returned to the No. 1 group again after having to work his way back following a couple of absences caused by a minor injury. The linebackers weren't as noticeable in the scrimmage because the level of contact on any particular tackle is controlled and something more akin to a love tap.
Gaard Memmelaar, a 6-foot-4, 292-pound redshirt freshman, took turns as the second-unit center, trading places with 6-foot-4, 299-pound Geirean Hatchett, who went from hiking the ball to playing left guard. A third player from their promising group of five redshirt freshmen O-linemen, 6-foot-6, 294-pound offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten, drew some first-unit snaps, spelling starter Matteo Mele. It's a race to which one of these young players becomes a full-time player first.
Fans and high school coaches who haven't seen him before were enamored in watching the always animated UW wide-receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard at work. He chattered instruction and praise incessantly, energetically ran routes alongside his players and offered up witticisms such as this one: "Be the hammer, not the nail."
Wide receiver Jalen McMillan had a vocal practice, choosing on the first scrimmage play to take a short gainer that was stopped and still run nearly 70 yards to the end zone, loudly shrieking as he crossed the goal line. He later got into a loud discussion on the sideline that wasn't fully explained.
Ever the trend-setter when it comes to team fashion, safety Asa Turner played with his No. 20 jersey rolled up high and his midriff fully exposed. He's clearly trying to portray a tougher image.
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