The Washington Huskies had their annual Spring Preview Saturday afternoon in front of about 800 fans on a beautiful day at Husky Stadium.
Although it wasn’t a traditional spring game as many fans have been accustomed to over the decades, the Huskies did an offense vs. defense scrimmage. With a scoring system that gave points to the offense via scoring and for the defense via turnovers and stops. The offense ended up coming back and winning 34-29. Here are a few notes and observations from the scrimmage.
– Jaxson Kirkland who is still waiting to here from the NCAA on whether he will be eligible for a sixth season at Washington was seen on the sideline wearing his white UW jersey. Mike Martin has more on this story here.
– Sam Huard had the best day of all Washington quarterbacks. Huard looked comfortable all day and led the Huskies on two touchdown drives. The highlight of the day for Huard was a 10-yard TD pass to Lonyatta Alexander Jr. Huard threw a nice fade in the back of the end zone that was brought in by the 6-foot-1 200-pound transfer WR.
– Zion Tupuola-Fetui made his presence known early. In two out of the the first three plays No. 58 had two tackles. One was a chase down sideline tackle. The other, he stopped Michael Penix Jr. in his tracks for a 5-yard loss. It was nice to see a healthy Tupuola-Fetui back on the field.
– The run defense looked really good today. Washington couldn’t stop the run to save their lives last year and it is definitely a point of emphasis heading into 2022. It’s just spring ball but it was nice to see some push from the defensive front.
– Washington used a lot more tempo on offense in recent years. I thought Sam Huard really benefited the most from this. Anytime you have a young QB that has less time to think it’s ideal.
– The highlight of the day came from transfer wide receiver Lonyatta Alexander Jr. Alexander Jr made an incredible one-handed catch caught by our very own Evan Feather.
Amazing catch by @LonyattaJr on the long throw from @samhuard11 @Realdawg2022 pic.twitter.com/O0zyBiisoa
— Evan Feather (@evanfeather42) April 30, 2022
–Michael Penix Jr. did not have his best day today. Penix Jr. threw two interceptions and didn’t seem to be very comfortable. He did however end his day on a high note – throwing a 40-yard TD to Rome Odunze.
– Dylan Morris had an average day today. Nothing really serious of note happened. Morris wasn’t bad by any means but there weren’t many highlights from him.
Overall, it was a solid end to the spring for Washington. The Huskies still have major question marks at running back. The QB situation is still undecided as well. I do think the Huskies need to improve in the running game. They should look better in fall camp when they get more healthy. Defensively, Washington’s run defense looked great. The passing defense looked a little shaky at times. But that’s to be expected considering the departures in the secondary.
Stay tuned into to Realdawg.com as we will have plenty of more to report on today’s spring preview.
