Huskies Serve Up Boston TD Party Against Northwestern

The sophomore pass-catcher gets his team moving with a pair of first-half scoring grabs.

Denzel Boston catches a first-quarter touchdown pass against the Northwestern Wildcats at Husky Stadium. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The University of Washington football team had to come out of its first Big Ten Conference game as a member thinking, hey, this wasn't so tough, this was manageable.

Without having to go through much of an initiation, the UW needed an offensive series to work out the kinks -- namely break in a new starting left tackle in Max McCree -- and then proceeded to gently manhandle Northwestern thereafter, taking a 24-5 victory over their Midwest visitors on a pleasant afternoon and early evening at Husky Stadium.

Of course, this wasn't Michigan or Ohio State flexing and preening on the other side of the line of scrimmage, rather a low-energy Wildcats outfit all dressed in white that has never had any luck facing the UW, losing for the fourth time in as many tries.

What was different, again, was this one went straight into the conference standings, as in a W for the UW (3-1 overall, 1-0 in Big Ten), in a debut well spent.

Husky coach Jedd Fisch marked this milestone victory by handing a game ball to athletic director Pat Chun in the locker room afterward.

"We're so excited about being in the conference and we understand the responsibility of being in this conference," Fisch said. "The Big Ten, top to bottom, are really good teams. We've got to be ready to go."

Northwestern (2-2) might have been a little confused about the travel itinerary after leaving the Chicago area for Seattle and maybe thinking it had taken a wrong turn somewhere -- all these guys heard over the public-address system early on was Boston.

That wasn't a destination, though, rather it was the Huskies' Denzel Boston, a 6-foot-4, 209-pound sophomore wide receiver who caught a touchdown pass in each of the first two quarters to get things rolling.

Midway through the opening quarter, Boston ran a post pattern and quarterback Will Rogers delivered a looping 46-yard scoring strike to him. Boston beat a pair of defensive backs to the ball, leaping above Theran Johnson and Coco Azema, and leaving them seated in the end zone and looking a little dazed by what happened. With the clock showing 7:57, the UW led 7-0.

"It was just an open shot and we took it and we hit it," Boston said.

Early in the second quarter, the Huskies went up 10-0 when their long drive from their own 8 stalled out at the Northwestern 4 and they settled for Grady Gross' 21-yard field, his sixth make in as many attempts. Just 59 seconds of the period had been played.

Huskies quarterback Will Roger, getting protection by new left tackle Max McCree (77), looks for a receiver against Northwestern. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

With his team forcing a 3-and-out, Boston did double duty on the coming possession.

First, he returned the Wildcats punt 25 yards to the Northwestern 31, giving the Huskies a short field. Four plays later, Roger found Boston open again in the end zone, likewise covered by a pair of defensive backs in Evan Smith and Azema to no avail. He got his hands on a 13-yard TD pass. With 10:12 left in the second quarter, the UW led 17-0.

Boston finished with 7 receptions for 121 yards and his fourth and fifth Husky touchdowns, good for the team lead. Rogers completed 20 of 28 passes for 223 yards and those 2 TD throws.

Northwestern finally put something on the scoreboard when Rogers, under pressure while throwing out of his end zone, tossed the ball out of bounds, intentional grounding was called and a safety was awarded to the visitors. The home team was up 17-2 at the break.

The UW was a little flat coming out of intermission, fumbling the ball away on its second series and on its own 34, a miscue that led to Jack Olsen's 19-yard field goal to cut the lead to 17-5.

Running back Jonah Coleman seemed to pick everyone up on the final play of the third quarter when he leaped over Northwestern's Smith, broke a 16-yard run and put the ball on the opposing 16. Into the next quarter and three plays later, Coleman scored on an 8-yard run up the middle -- for the first rushing TD permitted by the Wildcats in four games. With 14:02 left in this one, the UW was ahead 24-5.

Coleman finished with 67 yards rushing on 15 carries.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Huskies had a major special-teams breakdown as Joseph Himon II caught the ball on his 2 and returned to the UW 2, covering 96 yards in all, before Elijah Jackson made a valient saving tackle. Incredibly, the Wildcats couldn't score on four downs, picking up just a yard. Linebacker Bryun Parham, making his first Husky start, knocked away a fourth-down pass at the goal line.

"That was amazing," UW edge rusher Isaiah Ward said. "That was good little play by our defense to stand up and stop them."

The Huskies went without starting edge rusher Zach Durfee, who wore a protective boot on his left foot, and brought two other banged-up first-teamers, linebacker Carson Bruener and left offensive tackle Soane Faasolo, off the bench.

Freshman linebacker Khmori House comes up to meet Northwestern running back Caleb Komolafe on Saturday in Husky Stadium. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Bruener ended up playing a lot and seemed OK -- he led the Huskies in tackles with 6 and intercepted a pass near the end of the opening half and returned it 24 yards.

"He was like our leader," Ward said. "Seeing him bounce back from that injury and play his butt off, and play really good, looking at that I want to be like that guy if I'm hurt -- keep going."

Faasolo, who same as Bruener coming in was listed as questionable, was inserted near the end of the first half and played a couple of series. He came back in the fourth quarter when McCree was shaken up and had to leave.

With one game in the books, the Huskies' Big Ten competition only gets tougher, with the UW traveling to Rutgers for a Friday night game in Piscataway, New Jersey.

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