Elijhah Badger, One-Time Husky Beater, Passes on UW for Florida

The former Arizona State wide receiver beat Kalen DeBoer's team in 2022 with a late TD catch.

Dan Raley | May 17, 2024

ASU wide receiver Elijah Badger stretches to try and catch this pass. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

Former Arizona State standout Elijhah Badger beat the University of Washington football team with a late touchdown catch two years and on Friday he resisted efforts to bring him to Seattle by choosing Florida over Arizona and the Huskies.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Badger, originally from Sacramento, California, and Folsom High School, decided against joining a UW receiving corps that broke spring camp with sophomore Denzel Boston, California transfer Jeremiah Hunter and sixth-year senior Giles Jackson running as the starters. Had he joined Jedd Fisch's team, it would have been interesting to see which of these four would have been the odd man out as a starter.

Badger heads to the SEC after playing in 35 games and starting 23 for the Sun Devils. His best outing came against Washington in 2022, when he caught 7 passes for 53 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the late game-winning score in ASU's 45-38 upset win.

ASU quarterback Trenton Bourguet (16) throws a pass for a cutting Elijah Badger (2) against the UW in 2022. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY

On that day in Tempe, Badger hauled in a 10-yard scoring pass from Trenton Bourguet with 8:57 left in the. third quarter to give the Sun Devils a 31-17 lead.

Once the Huskies bounced back to tie the game at 38 in the fourth quarter, ASU came back down the field and Badger turned UW cornerback Davon Banks completely around in the end zone and had an easy time securing a game-winning 7-yard pass with 7:27 left to play.

For the Sun Devils, Badger finished with 143 career catches -- matching Hunter's total at Cal -- for 1,640 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also rushed 23 times for 108 yards and 3 scores. He was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention each of the past two seasons.

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

Published May 17, 2024

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.