While the score might not fully reflect the energy and entertainment around the events of the day, Washington truly ushered in the Jimmy Lake era with Saturday’s spring game. It was competitive, fun, and exactly what Lake wanted to display in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down everything in March of 2020.
After the game, Jimmy Lake addressed all the fans in attendance, promising to “Show the country what Husky football is all about.” He went on to thank Husky fans and talked about his plans to have a full stadium this fall, and at every spring game going forward.
With a final score of 22-13, the Purple team, led by captain Cade Otton and starting quarterback Dylan Morris cruised to a victory over the Gold squad. The best thing about this spring game is that everyone was evenly divided among the two teams, so there were plenty of reps to go around. And some names that Husky fans have been waiting to hear for a long time had a great Saturday.
Noteworthy names
The following players all recorded a “sack” during the game, Sam Taimani, Jacobe Covington, Tuli Letuligasenoa, and Bralen Trice. The plays by both interior defensive tackles were made solely by themselves, and if that continues into the regular season, this front four will make national headlines.
Covington made an excellent play on a corner blitz, but Trice’s sack was by far the most exciting. The former four-star recruit has received some very high praise this spring, and came up the middle untouched on a stunt and probably would’ve forced a fumble in a real game.
One player that truly stood out is Bookie Radley-Hiles. The Oklahoma transfer is going to have a huge season under the guidance of Washington’s staff, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he produces similarly to Elijah Molden during the 2019 season at the nickel position. Once Radley-Hiles gets his hands on a receiver, they’re completely taken out of the play.
Devin Culp showed some nice flashes as both a blocker and a receiver, with his biggest play of the day being a 20-yard grab on a back-shoulder fade from Patrick O’Brien. With his size and athleticism, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Culp utilized in the slot this season as a mismatch weapon.
One of the standouts of the day was inside linebacker Josh Calvert, who was all over the field. Even though he had an interception go through his hands, he was in on pretty much every play, and made an impact off the edge as well.
Cade Otton is the best tight end in the country, and there are no ifs, and’s, or buts about it. He was very clearly Dylan Morris’ favorite target, and made an incredible one-handed catch for a touchdown to open up the scoring.
Sam Huard showed flashes of brilliance on Saturday, with his best throw being a beauty to Terrell Bynum in the corner of the end zone, but Bynum wasn’t able to get his feet down before being pushed out of bounds. The true freshman showed a lot of poise, along with the arm talent that made him a five-star talent coming out of high school.
Speaking of true freshman, another player who showed flashes of greatness was defensive tackle Voi Tunuufi. While his name won’t show up in the stat sheet, he showed a lot of impressive potential, along with the ability to single-handedly collapse the pocket. If he gets any run later in games this year, he’ll be a fun guy to keep an eye on.
It looks like it’s all coming together for receivers Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze, who both put together great days. Their route running was exceptional, and Odunze especially showed off great balance and strength after the catch, rarely going down on first contact.
Finally, it wasn’t the best day statistically for running back Jay’Veon Sunday, but it was very apparent why the coaching staff is so high on him. If he has a season similar to Richard Newton in 2019, that shouldn’t come as a shocker.
