How Husky Football Transfers Fared Elsewhere This Weekend

There were modest individual victories, but no one has found a huge new opportunity.

While University of Washington football players took Saturday off during their bye week, they were able to sit and watch some of their former Husky teammates play elsewhere.

Foremost was senior strong safety Brandon McKinney, who shared in Utah's 42-26 victory over USC on Saturday in Los Angeles. He came off the bench for 5 tackles in the landmark win — the Utes' first over the Trojans in Los Angeles in 105 years. 

McKinney, primarily a special-teams player in his four seasons at the UW, was a starter for the first four games for Utah (3-2 overall, 2-0 Pac-12) before being relegated to a reserve role this past weekend. Still, he ranks tied for second on the team in tackles with 32 and has a pass break-up.

Ex-Husky Brandon McKinney has started 4 of 5 games at Utah / USA TODAY Sports

Yet the astroturf is not always greener elsewhere as lot of these Husky transfer have found so far.

Former UW linebacker Josh Calvert similarly transferred to Utah, but hasn't played this season.

Ex-Husky wide receiver Austin Osborne caught 5 passes for 35 yards for Bowling Green, which lost 35-20 at home to Akron. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior leads the Falcons (2-4 overall, 0-2 MAC) in receiving with 36 catches for 268 yards, but he hasn't scored yet. 

Osborne is the top target for Matt McDonald, his teammate from Mission Viejo High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, and the son of former USC and NFL quarterback Paul McDonald, once a Seattle Seahawks' practice-team member.

Puca Nacua caught 4 passes for 75 yards for BYU, but the Cougars lost their first game of the season in six outings to Boise State at home, getting upset 26-17. The former Husky starting wide receiver, now a 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore, ranks third on his new team with 15 catches for 276 yards and no TDs, and he's rushed the ball 4 times for 35 yards.

Puka Nacua, formerly of the UW, heads upfield for BYU against Boise State :: Rob Gray/USA TODAY Sports

For the first time since changing schools, former Husky QB Jacob Sirmon did not play on Saturday.

After starting at Central Michigan for four games and appearing in another as a reserve, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound sophomore from Bothell, Washington, only watched as his one-time backup Daniel Richardson led the Chippewas to a 30-27 victory over Ohio.

Sirmon, who got a chance to show what he could do in losses to Missouri and LSU, has completed 73 of 199 passes (61.3 percent) for 734 yards and 6 touchdowns this season, while throwing 4 interceptions, but the offense often has stalled. 

He beat out Richardson in fall camp, but relinquished the job after the other guy brought Central Michigan (3-3 overall, 1-1 MAC) back from a 27-10 deficit to topple Florida International 31-27 with 3 fourth-quarter TD passes on September 25.

Ex-Husky receiver Marquis Spiker came off the bench and had a breakout game for him with 5 catches 42 yards for Portland State, which lost a 42-35 shootout at Idaho. He has season totals of 7 receptions for 96 yards for the Vikings (2-4 overall, 1-2 Big Sky).

For UCLA, the Huskies' next opponent, one-time UW signee Ale Kaho starts for the Bruins at linebacker and he had 2 tackles in a 34-16 victory at Arizona. He's accumulated 12 tackles this season.

Former Husky quarterback Ethan Garbers held only on place-kicks for the Bruins against Arizona. He's thrown and completed a pair of passes for 18 yards for the season. Ex-UW quarterback Colson Yankoff, now a wide receiver, didn't play in Tucson for UCLA (4-2 overall, 2-1 Pac-12).

Ex-Husky QB Ethan Garbers warms up for UCLA / USA TODAY Sports

At Sacramento State, former Husky wide receiver Jordan Chin and linebacker Ariel Ngata remain on the roster, but didn't appear in the Hornets' 41-20 victory over Southern Idaho. 

At Fresno State, ex-Huskies quarterback Jake Haener and wide receiver Ty Jones took the week off, like their old team similarly saddled with a bye. It was needed.

Haener will try to bounce back from his worst outing in 12 games for the Bulldogs (4-2 overall, 1-1 Mountain West) over two seasons. In a deflating 27-24 loss at Hawaii on October 2, he completed just 28 of 50 passes (a Fresno-low 56 percent) for 388 yards and 3 scores, getting picked a career-worst 4 times. The Bulldogs blew a 24-10 lead entering the fourth quarter.

He still has glossy season totals of 164 completions in 236 attempts for 2,230 yards and 18 TDs, with 6 interceptions.

Jones caught just 1 pass for 14 yards in Hawaii, giving him modest season totals of 12 catches for 156 yards and a score.

Finally, Joey Hobert isn't a Husky, of course, but his dad was, the infamous quarterback Billy Joe Hobert for the 1991 national championship team.

Yet it should be noted that Washington State's young Hobert, a 5-foot-11, 184-pound sophomore wide receiver, came off the bench and caught his first collegiate touchdown pass, a 55-yarder in a 31-24 win over Oregon State at home.

Joey Hobert, son of former UW QB great Billy Joe Hobert, scores his first college TD for WSU / USA TODAY Sports

Hobert had 2 catches for 58 yards for the Cougars (3-3 overall, 2-2 Pac-12), 7 catches for 118 yards this season and 10 catches for 149 yards in his brief career. 

Billy Joe Hobert now lives in Pullman in order to watch his son play for WSU.

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