It Was a Very Good Weekend for Current and Former Husky QBs
Everywhere you looked last weekend, a current or former University of Washington quarterback turned up somewhere in the football stratosphere, often doing something unprecedented or unusual.
On Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium, Dylan Morris was at his passing best in a breezy 52-3 victory over the Arkansas State Red Wolves. The 6-foot, 200-pound redshirt freshman from Puyallup, Washington, established career highs in passing yardage (367) and touchdown throws (3), while tying his high-water mark for completions (23) against the visitors from the Sun Belt.
Morris' yards were 95 yards more than his previous high against Oregon State and his scoring tosses were one better than his career standard. He played just three quarters before giving way to his back-ups, true freshman Sam Huard and Colorado State transfer Patrick O'Brien.
Hours later in the Rose Bowl, Jake Haener, a Morris teammate during the Huskies' 2019 fall camp before transferring out, stepped up and engineered Fresno State's stirring 40-37 upset of UCLA.
While his passing numbers against the Bruins certainly were impressive — 39 of 53 for 455 yards and 2 touchdowns — they weren't career bests for the 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior from Danville, California. The year before, Haener supplied the following stat line in a 37-26 Mountain West setback to Nevada in Reno: 41 of 65 for 485 yards and 2 scores. Against Utah State in 2020, he unloaded 4 TD passes.
Jake Haener threw for 455 yards and 2 scores in beating UCLA.
USA TODAY Sports
Where the banged-up Haener was wondrous was when he took the ball with just 55 seconds left and, wincing with every throw, directed a hurry-up 75-yard drive for the game-winner. He settled this one heroically with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Cropper with just 14 seconds left on the clock.
Some called this Bulldogs' outcome the greatest victory in school history.
On the opposing sideline, former UW quarterbacks Ethan Garbers and Colson Yankoff played for UCLA in special-teams assignments. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Yankoff, of course, is no longer a QB, having shifted to wide receiver for the Bruins.
On Saturday afternoon at LSU, Jacob Sirmon, a Husky quarterback teammate for Morris, Haener, Yankoff and Garbers, started his third game for the Central Michigan Chippewas in a big setting and his MAC team lost 49-21.
While completing 17 of 24 passes for 156 yards and a score against the Tigers, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound sophomore from Bothell, Washington, unleashed a career-best 78-yard touchdown pass to JaCorey Sullivan in the first quarter. Sirmon gave way to his back-up Daniel Richardson for the final two series.
Ex-Husky Jacob Sirmon threw a 78-yard TD pass at LSU.
USA TODAY Sports
As ludicrous as it sounds, Jacob Eason had a career day on Sunday in the NFL — but only because he made his league debut for the Indianapolis Colts inside the game's final three minutes. A second-year pro from the Lake Stevens, Washington, the 6-foot-6, 231-pound Eason completed 2 of 5 passes for 25 yards, getting intercepted once, in a 27-24 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams in Indy.
Oh, and one more ex-Husky quarterback: Jake Browning spent the day as a practice-squad member for the Cincinnati Bengals, watching from afar as his pro team dropped a 20-17 decision to the Chicago Bears.
If nothing else, it showed that the UW is good at landing determined quarterbacks, even if it can't keep them all.
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