Mishael Powell Upstages Asa Turner in UW DB Reunion in Florida

One safety comes up with 67-yard interception return while the other gets hurt.

Mishael Powell returned this interception 89 yards for a touchdown against Arizona State in 2023. / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Swamp?

Mishael Powell and his new Miami teammates turned Florida's vaunted football stadium into a harmless wading pool by taking a 41-17 victory in what was a reunion of former University of Washington starting defensive backs on national TV.

Powell, the onetime Husky nickelback and now a safety for the Hurricanes, conjured up memories of his interception heroics last year in Montlake when he stepped in from of a Gators pass at his 5-yard line and returned the ball 67 yards before getting pushed out of bounds deep in Florida territory by the last defender who had an angle on him.

A year ago, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Powell went 89 yards with a pick-six to rescue a game against Arizona State at Husky Stadium. This time, he drifted back in coverage and stole a pass delivered over the middle by Florida quarterback Graham Mertz, who was sandwiched by two defenders on a fierce pass rush, left woozy and had to come out of the contest with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Miami-Florida matchup provided an immediate football reunion for Powell and Gators safety Asa Turner, who eight months earlier were Husky starters in the CFP national championship game against Michigan and played five seasons together at the UW.

Turner similarly had a flashback to last season in Saturday's game, only it was a painful one.

In the first minute and a half of the third quarter, Turner twisted his knee awkwardly when he got beat on a Cam Ward pass play and went down. He had to be helped off the field and didn't play again.

Ward, of course, was the former Washington State quarterback and he had a big day in his Miami debut, completing 26 of 35 passes for 385 yards and 3 scores.

A year ago, Turner suffered a hand injury early in the Huskies' second game against Tulsa and missed the next three games, and eight outings overall in the regular season, before returning for the postseason run.

This game in Florida marked the second college outing in two days matching former UW players. On Friday night in Palo Alto, California, edge rusher Cooper McDonald started for TCU and finished with 5 tackles and a half sack in the Horned Frogs' 34-27 win over Stanford. Jaivion Green opened for the Cardinal at cornerback and came up with 7 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Those two players were never teammates, with McDonald playing the 2020 and 2021 seasons for the Huskies and Green spending the past two seasons at the UW.

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