Will Rogers overcomes slow start, throws 4 touchdowns for Washington Huskies

It’s a really good thing that the Washington Husky offense ended up being much better than the way it started. And it’s a good thing that the Washington Huskies were able to get Will Rogers routinely connecting with his wide receivers, which really helped the Huskies overcome that slow start.

When the Huskies got started Saturday afternoon, it seemed like the Huskies (and Rogers) had to shake off some rust. Things were not moving for the Huskies and their first two drives stalled as UW looked out of sync.

Eastern Michigan claimed an early 3-0 lead, but Rogers was able to eventually find a rhythm and get the Huskies moving on offense. And that made a world of difference for Washington Saturday afternoon. While it wasn’t great that it took some time for Rogers and the Huskies to get settled in, the experienced signal caller looked really impressive at times from the second quarter on.

In the second quarter, Rogers made an impressive connection with the young tight end prodigy Decker DeGraaf for a 41-yard touchdown pass that helped quiet some of the folks who were doubting Rogers’ ability to hurl the ball downfield. And that was just the first of a solid grouping of touchdown passes for the Huskies.

Washington Huskies vs. Eastern Michigan: Will Rogers’ four touchdowns elevate UW to win over EMU

In total, Rogers completed 21 passes on 26 attempts and he managed to throw for 261 passing yards and four touchdowns all while avoiding throwing a single interception. That’s impressive and is something worth celebrating.

It’d be even more impressive if it didn’t take 15+ minutes to get the offense rolling and that’s certainly a problem for the Huskies to address (hopefully they address it sooner rather than later, because Washington State’s offense is scoring points early and often).

But, for the transfer quarterback from Mississippi State who has found the vast majority of his success in the Air Raid in Starkville, he’s starting to look pretty decent in the pro-spread system that Jedd Fisch and Brennan Carroll are operating in Seattle. 

Through the first two games on the 2024 Washington Huskies football schedule, Rogers has now completed 79 percent of his passes for 511 yards and five touchdowns while avoiding throwing a single interception along the way.

That’s not bad for a guy who is still developing chemistry with the multitude of new teammates who transferred in to Washington along with him and also when considering how this is thot the offensive system that Rogers is familiar with. And when you partner Rogers with a running back like Jonah Coleman, there’s a very real path to getting some solid wins this season.

Rogers and Coleman seem capable of leading the Huskies this season. We'll get a better idea for just how capable this duo is when they take on the Washington State Cougars in Seattle this coming week.

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