Where has this team been for the last two weeks? The Washington offense came out on fire against Arkansas State, and went into the half with a 28-0 lead, with Dylan Morris throwing for 294 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. The defense looked strong, and while they didn’t record a turnover or sack in the first half, they were getting pressure, and forcing Arkansas State’s quarterback James Blackman into some tough throws and awkward spots.

The biggest story of the first half was wide receiver Jalen McMillan. McMillan, who came into Saturday’s contest with just one career catch exploded for seven catches, 152 yards, and a touchdown on the Red Wolves defense in just the first half. The redshirt freshman who missed the first game of the year with a hand injury, and then played just two snaps against Michigan proved why he was such a highly-touted recruit out of high school. McMillan finished the game with 10 catches, 175 yards, and the one touchdown after being the first Pac-12 player since John Ross against Cal in 2016 to record 150+ yards receiving in the first half of a game.

While the passing numbers are great to see, what’s even better was the way the offense attacked the defense. Arkansas State lined their safeties up within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage on every single play, basically daring Morris to beat them over the top, so he did just that. He finished the day with 367 passing yards.

The offense took a slight dip in the second half, but was still able to hit on some explosive plays. At the start of the fourth quarter, Morris found Terrell Bynum for a 42-yard score. The passing game was in perfect sync on Saturday, even without Cade Otton, who recorded two catches for 23 yards and a touchdown

The biggest news of the second half was that Trent McDuffie was escorted to the locker room after a punt return early on in the third quarter, and he didn’t return to the game. Elise Woodward reported that McDuffie did return to the sidelines in full uniform, with his left ankle heavily taped up. Mishael Powell took his place on the field and played very well. While this doesn’t seem to be anything more than a rolled ankle for Washington’s best defender, it’s something to monitor going forward.

Noteworthy nuggets

The Huskies forced their first turnover the season, with Kyler Gordon forcing a fumble that was then recovered by Brendan Radley-Hiles. Even after that, the Huskies have a -3 turnover differential after their first three games.

The defense was able to record three sacks, and two came from defensive backs. One came from Radley-Hiles, and the other from Jacobe Covington. The third came from Faatui Tuitele, who also forced the ball loose, which Bralen Trice took 68 yards for a touchdown.

Offensive coordinator John Donovan spent this game in the booth rather than on the sidelines. Does this mean much? Only time will tell, but Seahawks fans seemed to think that it was a huge benefit for offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer during the 2020 season…

Daniel Heimuli and Faatui Tuitele both started over Edefuan Ulofoshio and Tuli Letuligasenoa respectively. Both upperclassmen still saw a lot of snaps and work with the second-team defense, but it was a shocking announcement nonetheless for Husky fans. Ulofoshio might be dealing with a minor injury, as Jimmy Lake said after the game, “guys are dealing with minor nicks as the season goes along, and Eddie’s still our starter,” so staff was definitely playing it safe with two of their best on defense.

Sam Huard saw his first snaps at quarterback in a Husky uniform, and finished his day 2/5 with 31 yards passing.