The Huskies were able to pull it off in overtime against the USC Trojans. After the game, the Peacock sideline reporter grabbed Danny Sprinkle to ask about his team. While he was being bombarded by his players, with towels being draped over his head, he pointed out how proud he was of his team. Yet, in the process, he also subtly called out Desmond Claude.
Sprinkle was answering a question about what he has learned about his team in this game and this season. "This is a high-character team, and adversity hasn't defined us all year. We've had guys quit, we've had guys get hurt, and this team keeps battling."
Desmond Claude left the team earlier in the season after posting about a lingering injury
Related: Danny Sprinkle's explanation of the final seconds of the Oregon loss falls flat
There's only one player who can be categorized as quitting on the team: Desmond Claude. That whole situation was weird, and Sprinkle never really got into it and kept deflecting what really happened. Claude publicized that he was injured and was playing through injury, but decided to step away from the team to heal.
Sprinkle wouldn't fully commit to Claude being injured and said things like "yes, that's what Desmond said." And even flipping the narrative to how great the University of Washington is in healthcare. How do they help players who need it and seek it out?
The Washington head coach would never fully say that Claude quit the team, but it always felt implied. After the USC game, he may have fully revealed it. In Sprinkle's mind, Claude quit the team because that statement would apply to none of the other players.
Everyone else was injured, and the Huskies are still dealing with a ton of injuries. There were seven players who were injured for the USC game, and that may be the future for the Dawgs for as long as they can stay alive in the postseason.
The next game is tomorrow against the red-hot Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers throttled them earlier this season, so it's a revenge game for the banged-up Huskies. You can watch it at 11:30 am on the Big Ten Network.