I was able to attend Washington football’s season opener against Eastern Washington, and this team looks like it’ll be the best team Washington has had in a while
Washington football trounced Eastern Washington 47-14 on Saturday, and it was an all-around dominant performance for the Huskies. Jacob Eason was dominant, and the defense looked as fast and physical as its ever been. If the way they played against Eastern was any indication of how they’ll look for the rest of the season, Husky fans are going to be in for a very fun year.
This team is GIANT
This is the most physically impressive Washington team I’ve ever seen. They’re big, strong, and very physical. They look like an SEC team the way they’re able to dominate up front offensively and defensively. The five sacks they recorded were the most since the 2017 Apple Cup, and they could’ve easily recorded more if it weren’t for the experience of Eastern’s offensive line (they had three fifth-year starters and two sixth years). Quarterback Eric Barriere was also incredibly slippery, and this was without Joe Tryon, who was neutralized during the limited action he saw.
All about Eason
Eason couldn’t have looked more impressive during his debut in purple and gold. Even some of his incompletions were glorious to watch. Hunter Bryant showed that he’s going to be a great weapon for Eason, and Aaron Fuller looks primed for a big year. The offense totally opens up when you have a quarterback with elite arm talent who can sling the ball 50-60 yards downfield like Eason can.
Talent is starting to win out over seniority
We saw how much the classes of 2018 and 2019 were starting to break through when we saw the original two-deep depth chart, and that showed on the field. There were true and redshirt freshmen all over the field on Saturday, and Chris Petersen gave us an early sign of who might not redshirt from the class of 2019.
Puka Nacua was out there for the second play of the game, and we saw him play more later when the score got a little more lopsided, but that’s a sign that Petersen wants to use him more. We saw a lot of Laiatu Latu in the second half, and he was able to record Washington’s first safety since 2013. I’m purposely avoiding Cam Williams and Tim Horn because they’re both starting and it’s pretty obvious they’re burning their redshirts. Corey Luciano got some time on the field too at tight end towards the end of the game.
We also saw some of Faatui Tuitele, I’m pretty sure I saw Jacob Bandes, Trent McDuffie, and Asa Turner on defense. The latter two will probably burn their redshirts because they were able to crack the two-deep, and should see a decent amount of playing time in sub packages, we also saw McDuffie a lot on special teams, so he’ll probably burn his redshirt too.
You never know how the season will play out with injuries, but as of right now expect 4-5 freshmen to burn their redshirts. This Washington team looks to be the most talented in a long time, and they have a very high ceiling.