WATCH: What Does a Full Season of Dylan Morris Look Like?
The Husky media and most fans were surprised when redshirt freshman Dylan Morris took reins of the University of Washington offense. Morris earned the job shortly before the season opener against Oregon State.
Morris beat out true freshman Ethan Garbers, sophomore Jacob Sirmon and Sacramento State graduate transfer Kevin Thompson.
On the surface, Morris' numbers appear modest: In four games, the freshman generated 897 passing yards, threw 4 touchdowns and had 3 interceptions.
His numbers actually were very respectable. His completion percentage climbed steadily throughout the season, from 58 percent against Oregon State to 65 percent against Stanford in the final game.
Offensively, the Morris-led Husky offense became more efficient as the season progressed. As his completion percentage climbed, so did his yards per completion. While he finished the season averaging 8.2 yards per completion, it rose from 5.9 in the win over Oregon State to 11 in the Stanford game. He averaged nearly more than 13 yards per completion.
It's important to remember that Morris' 897 passing yards in four games came against only Power 5 teams. That was 224.25 yards per game. If he'd played a full 12-game schedule, he likely would have finished with 2,700 yards.
His 3 interceptions occurred in the come-from-behind win over Utah-one on a half-ending Hail Mary.
Add in a bowl game, and the freshman's yardage would have topped 2,900. That nearly matches Jacob Eason's 3,132 total the year before.
A big chunk of Eason's stats came in games against Eastern Washington, where he threw for 350 yards; Hawaii, where he had 262 yards; and BYU, where he piled up 290 yards. In the Las Vegas Bowl, Eason added another 210 yards against Boise State.
Morris hit the ground running against a decent OSU team. There was no Eastern field day for him.
The redshirt freshman's completion percentage trended up the entire season, as did his yards per completion. In his first start, he completed 58 percent and it rose to 65 percent in the finale. Eason averaged just a little over 64 percent for his final season.
The best way to quantify the quarterback performances is to take averages and compare them in nine conference-only games. Eason averaged 224.555 yards per game, Morris, with his number adjusted, 224.25.
Here is a nine-game, conference-only comparison between Morris and Eason:
- Morris: 150-247 for 2,018 yards, 9 TD, 6.75 INT, 13.45 per completion, 224.25 YPG
- Eason: 169-284 for 2,021 yards, 13 TD, 7 INT, 11.95 per completion, 224.55 YPG
