Husky O-Line Took Pounding Before and During Iowa Game

Max McCree lasted just a few plays at left tackle before dislocating his thumb.
Iowa’s Xavier Nwankpa (1) tackles Washington Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston (12) with the help of two teammates..
Iowa’s Xavier Nwankpa (1) tackles Washington Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston (12) with the help of two teammates.. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A few plays into Saturday's Iowa-Washington football game, starting Husky left tackle Max McCree was done. The junior-college transfer and former Maryland player dislocated a thumb, left the field and wasn't readily spotted on the sideline the rest of the way.

This was after Landen Hatchett replaced Gaard Memmelaar as the starting left guard and made his first UW start.

And this was after No. 1 center D'Angalo Titialii was listed as questionable in the Big Ten availability report prior to the game.

A Husky offensive line that initially appeared to survive a physical mismatch the weekend before with Michigan ended up further patched together for the game against the Hawkeyes

Before the 40-16 defeat was over, coach Jedd Fisch staff had to replace McCree with redshirt freshman Soane Faasolo, who started the first three games but was banged up, and then send redshirt freshman Kahlee Tafai in for Faasolo at the end.

"We used three left tackles," Fisch confirmed.

As for the 6-foot-6, 295-pound McCree, who started the past four games, the Husky coach couldn't say how long he might be out.

"It's always a little challenging," Fisch said of the multiple position changes. "Certainly it wasn't over the left tackle that caused us to have some issues in protection today."

Hatchett, considered the Husky center of the future, drew his first UW start at left offensive guard for Memmelaar, who's been dealing with an unspecified injury and played briefly against the Hawkeyes.

Titialii, with a heavy brace on his left arm, ended up playing the entire game, even though he was less than 100 percent.

With what happened at Kinnick Stadium, it probably didn't matter who was out there for the Huskies, who got pushed around at times.

"They're a physical football team -- we knew that," the UW coach said. "We need to get healthy."

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington


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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.