The Huskies took the kickoff, and Cyler Miles and the UW offense got straight to work, starting things off with a flea-flicker that was ultimately completed to Kasen Williams, and the offense just kept clicking. Miles used his legs to keep the chains moving, and after the Dawgs converted a 4th and 1 in the red zone, Miles waltzed into the endozone on a keeper.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles fumbled, and the Dawgs recovered back in business in scoring position. A quick drive ended with a Lavon Coleman touchdown and the Dawgs up 14-0, and looking every bit like the team we all expected to see coming into the season.
The Eagles came out on their first possession and were greeted by a nasty Dawg defense. The Huskies sacked Vernon Adams, and EWU had to punt after losing 4 yards on its first 3 plays. Danny Shelton recorded his 3rd sack of the year, and Shaq Thompson kocked the spit out of Adams on 2nd down.
The next series saw Shaq Thompson in at running back for the first time on the season. He got three straight carries, and took the third one up the gut to the house 56 yards. The Huskies were up 21-0 with only half of the first quarter gone.
Eastern got its offense moving a bit, with Adams taking care of things with his legs. Thanks to a late hit on Keishawn Bierria EWU moved into Husky territory, and a deep toss from Adams to Cooper Kupp connected in the end zone to cut UW's lead to 21-7.
The Husky offense hiccuped a bit, with a throw for a loss to John Ross, and a drop by Jaydon Mickens. Miles took a scramble to just short of the sticks, but a (fortunate and generous) late hit gave the Huskies a first down. A screen pass to Deontae Cooper went big up the sideline to get the Huskies near the red zone, A 4th and 4 prompted a field goal try by Cameron Van Winkle, which he knocked through to put the Huskies back up 3 scores at 24-7.
The Eastern offense was back in its groove, moving the ball again and getting across midfield with the aid of a hands to the face penalty on Jarrett Finau. Another deep pass from Adams into the endzone pulled EWU ever closer, 24-14.
The quarter ended as UW went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Eagles.