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DeBoer Sends Best Wishes to Duck Injured Late in Game

UW coach refrains from getting worked up over questionable play late at Oregon.
Dan Raley|
DeBoer Sends Best Wishes to Duck Injured Late in Game
DeBoer Sends Best Wishes to Duck Injured Late in Game

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Washington Huskies

Two days following Oregon wide receiver Kris Hutson lying on his back in Autzen Stadium, urgently requiring trainers to rush to his side — thus preventing Saturday night's game from ending right away with six seconds remaining — University of Washington coach Kalen DeBoer did the only thing he felt he could.

At his Monday media briefing, he registered his concern for the opposing player's health.

"I just hope he's OK," DeBoer said with all sincerity or a straight face.

The Husky coach didn't differentiate whether he meant OK for Hutson possibly twisting or straining a body part or OK after the Ducks player appeared to fake an injury and mislead the officiating crew in order to keep the clock from running out on the play, which most seemed likely.

No one else believed an injury was involved — with Hutson's action comparable to a flop in basketball, one that now gets penalized with a technical foul — with various national and local media types who watched the game on the national TV broadcast calling it blatantly fabricated. 

On Wednesday, Hutson even admitted to Oregon media members that his injury was fake and by design.

No-nonsense UW co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell, showed his obvious displeasure with the ploy simply by refusing to offer a public opinion.

"No comment," Morrell said. "I don't think I can say anything about that. I'll give you my true feelings on it someday."

DeBoer, always gracious in his coaching comments, acknowledged maybe things weren't exactly as they appeared on that next-to-last play of the Huskies' 37-34 victory in Eugene, which led to an incomplete pass and a snap that otherwise might not have been possible.

"That's what we see, too," he said of the questionable clock stoppage. "It's just one of those things of what can you do? The officials have to acknowledge [the possible health issue] and I don't want to be insensitive. If there's an injury, those things happen."

Pressed if he would ask the Pac-12 to review the matter, DeBoer suggested the conference likely would look at the game as a regular order of business. He was ready to move on. 

"Just the timing of it is hard because you know the clock would have started," DeBoer said. "It is what it is. Fortunately, we're on the right end of it. We're sitting here today with a victory."

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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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