Morris-led Huskies Do Just Enough to Beat the Beavers in Season Opener

On a chilly Saturday night at Husky Stadium, Jimmy Lake pulled the wraps off his University of Washington football team and it was full of surprises in a 27-21 victory over Oregon State.

Some good, some bad. Some really bad. But not too bad.

"I'm so proud of the way we did it," said Lake, who won his head-coaching debut. "It was hard and it was grimey."

Redshirt freshman Dylan Morris, not everyone's obvious choice as the starter, won the UW quarterback sweepstakes and played well enough, if not cautiously.

The Huskies had no trouble moving the ball at the outset with him in charge, scoring four times in the opening half. He also proved effective in playing ball control when the second half turned into a defensive stalemate.

Hey, the Huskies are a running team now -- they churned out 267 yards on 51 carries, topped by Sean McGrew's 91 yards on 9 tries. Kamari Pleasant chipped in 61 yards on 12 carries.

"It was really close," Lake said of his selection of Morris, which came following the fourth and final scrimmage. "I feel really confident about the other three quarterbacks. But Dylan does a real good job of not making mistakes."

Grad transfer Kevin Thomson didn't even suit up. He stood on the sidelines, wearing his jersey over street clothes. No word yet as to why.

Like nearly every other college team these days, the UW defense got pushed around. This was concerning.

The Huskies proved far too submissive up front. Part of the problem was they played without two guys normally listed as starters.

Sophomore defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa came dressed to play and sophomore outside linebacker Laiatu Latu didn't put on a uniform. Neither got on the field. Again, no explanation for the absences was available right away.

"I'm not going to address an injury or why guys were missing until Monday," Lake said.

Freshman outside linebacker Sav'ell Smalls had a sensational first collegiate play.

He shoved Beavers left tackle Joshua Gray, a guy 40 pounds heavier than him, into quarterback Tristan Gebbia. That forced a fumble and created an instant turnover that led to a UW touchdown.

Welcome to the big show.

On the other hand, Jaden Green, the Huskies' freshman long snapper, had a forgettable college introduction.

He sailed his first snap over punter Race Porter's head, leading to a blocked punt and touchdown return just 10 plays into the game.

Green nearly did it again on his second one, forcing Porter to jump for the ball in front of his goal line.

He apparently needed an adrenaline check.

The Huskies also struggled on special teams throughout the night. Besides the shaky snaps and giving up a couple of long kick returns, the UW's Ryan Bowman ran into the Beavers punter Caleb Lightbourn.

In the end, the Huskies built a 24-21 halftime lead and hung on to turn back the Beavers and their great tailback, Jermar Jefferson, who led all rushers with 133 yards on 23 carries.

The bad-snap touchdown came five minutes into the game to a familiar adversary. Ever opportunistic safety Jaydon Grant, a high school teammate of UW cornerback Elijah Molden, scored on an 11-yard return.

Twelve months earlier in Corvallis, this same Grant victimized the Huskies and quarterback Jacob Eason on a 36-yard interception for a score.

The Huskies responded from that opening disaster with McGrew's 21-yard touchdown run and a 15-yard scoring by Pleasant, sandwiched around Peyton Henry's 25-yard field goal for a 17-7 lead.

Morris, looking comfortable in the pocket, showed a nice touch while using a short-range passing game and he scored a touchdown himself on a 1-yard sneak. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 141 yards.

The Huskies showed a few new wrinkles under offensive coordinator John Donovan. Notably, they resembled a Don James team at times, lining up in the I-formation and either running behind Jack Westover or handing him the ball. He rushed three times for 16 yards.

They also put the fly sweep into their arsenal. Morris handed the ball to wideouts Terrell Bynum, Jalen McMillan and Rome Ozunde, using a play previously not part of the Chris Petersen playbook.

The only second-half points were Henry's 23-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter, which came at the end of 7:24 drive that ate up clock when the Huskies needed it most.

What requires immediate attention is that UW defensive front wall. It offered very little resistance, getting pushed off the ball. It also put almost no pressure on Gebbia, the Beavers' quarterback.

Sophomore Sam Taimani started in place of Letuligasenoa and played alongside returnee Josiah Bronson at defensive tackle. Zion Tupuola-Fetui, another sophomore, stepped in for Latu at edge rusher.

Taimani finally gave the Huskies something to get excited about, stopping Jefferson on a fourth-and-one play at the UW 4 on the second snap of the fourth quarter.

This sent his teammates jumping around and high-fiving each other. It prevented a go-ahead score. It likely saved the game.

"It was definitely awesome," McGrew said. "It was a huge chain of events. We definitely needed a stop."

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