SEATTLE – With a handful of recruits, and significantly more fans in the stands, UW held its first Spring Game under head coach Jimmy Lake on Saturday.
Purple and Gold each made a few roster tweaks prior to kickoff so that the two teams could have somewhat of a balanced matchup. Sophomore quarterback Dylan Morris took his first snap from senior center Corey Luciano, who isn’t expected to be the man over the ball this fall for UW.
That said, it gave the coaching staff an opportunity to provide a four-quarter game in front of a 9,000-capacity crowd at Husky Stadium for the first time in 519 days. Fans were able to claim tickets in advance of the Spring Game and the weather held out for more than half to show up.
Lake took the time before kickoff to thank those in the stands – he even made sure to get himself a kickoff return during the game – and made sure they got to see what they came for.
“The city of Seattle is a football city and the goal is every single spring I just want to pack more people in here to come out to a huge event. Get to watch a game. Get to watch the new team and see what’s in store for the fall. I’m hoping this is a huge annual event that everybody would love to come to and get to enjoy an actual game” Lake said on Saturday.
From 2014-19 under Chris Petersen the program held at most a bona fide practice for the fifteenth and final day each spring, which Lake understood. After not having spring football in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year left no doubt that it would be the first of many.
As with most spring games across college football the rules for the game did have a couple modifications. No kickoffs or punt returns were live, and the quarterbacks were untouchable.
Similar to the other 14 practices this spring Lake and the staff do count sacks and other intricate stats. Even if the defender doesn’t actually touch the quarterback – as most do on any given Saturday in the fall – the coaches see and chart it.
Junior defensive lineman Sam Taimani recorded a sack on the first play of the game against Patrick O’Brien and the Gold team, and from there the Purple team never really looked back.
Morris completed seven of his first eight pass attempts on his first two drives, with his second drive capped off by a 7-yard touchdown to senior tight end Cade Otton to get Purple on the board with 3:13 left in the first quarter.
Otton spent the rest of the game on the sideline after catching all three of the passes thrown his way for a total of 26 yards. Junior Devin Culp was the most targeted tight end, catching four of the five passes thrown his way for a game high 55 yards.
Culp had a pair of big catches, one for 22 yards and another for 20 yards. Senior running back is the only other player to record a 20-yard catch Saturday, which he did on the final series of the game on a dump-off pass from O’Brien.
The only target Culp didn’t haul in was intercepted.
Freshman cornerback Elijah Jackson played the underneath route and broke perfectly to pick off O’Brien on his second drive of the game. The turnover led to the Otton 7-yard touchdown.
“He’s very intuitive and wants to always learn the next thing,” Lake said of Jackson, before drawing a comparison to former second-round pick Sidney Jones and his impact as a freshman.
“I’m very excited about his speed, his agility. The way he’s playing faster now. He still has to play faster. But I really believe he will end up being one of our next corners. After those two starters, Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon, and you’ll see him mixing in there in that battle.”
Jackson recorded the only official interception of the spring game, though several other defenders came close to notching one. Junior safety Julius Irvin, graduate transfer Brendan Radley-Hiles and sophomore linebacker Josh Calvert each came within a hair of a pick.
Taimani was one of six sacks recorded by UW defenders on Saturday.
Sophomore outside linebacker Bralen Trice, freshman cornerback Jacobe Covington, junior inside linebacker Ben Hines, junior defensive lineman Tuli Letuligasenoa and sophomore linebacker Ruperake Fuavai each recorded one sack in the game.
Junior running back Richard Newton had the longest touchdown of the game. Newton capped off an 11-play drive, led by O’Brien, with a 15-yard run to score the first touchdown for Gold and tie the game at 10-10 with 8:18 left in the third quarter.
It was the closest Gold got to securing the victory.
Senior center Corey Luciano snapped the ball over freshman quarterback Sam Huard which resulted in a safety for Purple to retake the lead 12-10 at the 8:07 mark in the third.
Senior running back Kamari Pleasant scored the final touchdown of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter. Pleasant finished off an eight-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to give Purple the 19-10 lead.
Senior kicker Peyton Henry and junior Tim Horn each converted a field goal in the fourth quarter with Purple winning the first Lake era Spring Game 22-13.
Final stats:
Passing
Dylan Morris: 18 of 28, 125 yards, 1 TD 0 INT
Patrick O’Brien: 11 of 18 for 106 yards, 0 TD 1 INT
Sam Huard: 7 of 13 for 74 yards, 0 TD 0 INT
Rushing
Jay’Veon Sunday: 10 carries, 34 yards
Sean McGrew: 8 carries, 31 yards
Richard Newton: 6 carries, 48 yards 1 TD
Cameron Davis: 6 carries, 17 yards
Caleb Berry: 3 carries, 6 yards
Kamari Pleasant: 2 carries, 0 yards 1 TD
Capassio Cherry: 3 carries
Christian Galvan: 3 carries
Receiving
Taj Davis: 9 targets, 5 receptions for 24 yards
Rome Odunze: 9 targets, 4 receptions for 31 yards
Jalen McMillan: 6 targets, 3 receptions for 21 yards
Nick Juran: 5 targets, 3 receptions for 29 yards
Devin Culp: 5 targets, 4 receptions for 55 yards
Cade Otton: 3 targets, 3 receptions for 26 yards 1 TD
Sean McGrew: 3 targets, 3 receptions for 40 yards
Terrell Bynum: 3 targets, 2 receptions for 25 yards
Sawyer Racanelli: 3 targets, 2 receptions for 16 yards
Cameron Davis: 2 targets, 2 receptions for 13 yards
Kamari Pleasant: 2 targets, 2 receptions for 16 yards
Zeke Pelluer: 1 target, 1 reception for 7 yards
Caleb Berry: 1 target, 1 reception for 2 yards
Jay’Veon Sunday: 1 target, 0 receptions
