Inside The Huskies

UW Likely Without All of Its Original WR Starters

The Huskies looks to play UCLA without Denzel Boston, Raiden Vines-Bright and Rashid Williams.
Dan Raley|
Audric Harris touches down in the end zone on his 61-yard TD catch against Purdue.
Audric Harris touches down in the end zone on his 61-yard TD catch against Purdue. | Dave Sizer photo

The University of Washington football team likely won't have the services of leading receiver Denzel Boston and freshman pass-catcher Raiden Vines-Bright for Saturday's game against UCLA -- which means the Huskies will be missing their entire starting receiver corps from the beginning of the season.

The UW (7-3 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) opened against Colorado State with Rashid Williams, Boston and Vines-Bright as its No. 1 receivers.

All likely won't be available to the Huskies for the 7:30 p.m. game against the Bruins (3-7, 3-4) at the Rose Bowl.

If that's the case, the UW would look to open with freshman Dezmen Roebuck, Penn State senior transfer Omari Evans and possibly sophomore Audric Harris, should the latter choose to give up the redshirt year he has been pursuing.

Other receivers who will be in the mix to play in Pasadena are freshman Chris Lawson, junior Kevin Green Jr., freshman Marcus Harris and walk-on redshirt freshman Luke Gayton.

Marcus Harris, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounder, and Gayton, a 6-foot-1, 190-poudner, have not appeared in a UW game before.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Audric Harris already is at the maximum four games in order to preserve his eligibility, giving him three more seasons. He played in this past Saturday's 49-13 victory over Purdue after Vines-Bright suffered a concussion and caught 2 passes for 90 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown throw.

"I think he's mulling it over to make the best decision that he feels that he and his family can make," UW coach Jedd Fisch said of Audric Harris. "I do believe there's great value in playing football and playing in these games and the potential to start in these games."

Williams, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore, suffered a broken collarbone on the first play of the Huskies' second game against UC Davis and was re-injured in practice and lost for the season.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Boston, who has a team-leading 52 catches for 730 yards and 8 TDs, injured an ankle on a punt return in the 13-10 loss at Wisconsin two weeks ago and missed last week's game against Purdue.

"I think he's going to be a stretch to play in the game," Fisch said of Boston.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Vines-Bright left the field during the Purdue game in an emergency vehicle after he caught a 10-yard pass, got hit from the side and received a concussion.

Injured against Purdue, Raiden Vines-Bright is loaded into the Medic One emergency vehicle.
Injured against Purdue, Raiden Vines-Bright is loaded into the Medic One emergency vehicle. | Dave Sizer photo

Also, Fisch said redshirt freshman wide receiver Justice Williams is out for the season after having toe surgery and junior defensive tackle Armon Parker had surgery on Monday to repair a torn ACL in one of his knees and likewise won't play again this season.

One the team's more hard-luck players, Parker, a 6-foot-3, 320-pound junior and one of a set of twins, has had three knee surgeries since joining the program. Playing for the first time this season, he appeared in eight games and finished with 8 tackles and a sack.

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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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