Husky Highlights: Vegas Bowl Victory

On the opening possession for Boise State, Trent McDuffie came on a corner blitz for the first time all season catching the Broncos off guard. His inexperience in that position showed as he failed to wrap up on a sure sack but QB Hank Bachmeier got flustered and threw into blanket coverage leading to a Myles Bryant interception and run back.

It took Washington a ton of plays but they slowly worked their way down field before getting into this 3rd and 6 in the red zone. Jacob Eason hits Andre Baccellia surrounded by 3 Broncos and luckily only one attempts a real tackle and even that was of the two-hand touch variety. Baccellia races around the defenders and into the end zone for the first Husky score.

Richard Newton got the majority of the ball-carrying work in this game but Salvon Ahmed still performed near the goal line. Washington runs a toss play to the right and it looks like Boise State has the play bottled up for a loss. But Ahmed is probably the fastest running back the Boise defenders have faced all season and he gets the edge and races into the end zone to make it 14-0.

Washington got the ball just outside Boise territory with 23 seconds left in the half and decided they weren’t going to be conservative with a 2-TD lead. Eason gets good protection and finds Marquis Spiker uncovering over the middle of the field for a 26-yard gain. Washington would eventually kick a 32-yard FG and head into the half up by 17.

Washington went 3 and out on their first possession of the 2nd half and it looked like Boise State was driving. Until Elijah Molden showed off some nice reflexes to intercept a slightly errant screen pass and give possession back to the UW offense (and BSU’s QB probably should’ve gotten a late hit penalty tacked on as well).

As we’ve seen him do all season Richard Newton has a nose for the end zone. He takes the handoff up the middle and is met by a pair of Boise defenders but absorbs the contact and lunges backwards to secure the touchdown and put the Huskies up 24-0.

It appears Washington saves this for their bowl game every year. Last season the Huskies got their final score in the Rose Bowl on a Myles Gaskin jump pass out of the wildcat. Here Richard Newton takes the direct snap and runs parallel to the line of scrimmage waiting for Terrell Bynum to uncover downfield. His defender falls down trying to turn and it’s an easy pitch and catch for 7 from Newton to Bynum. 31-7 Washington.

After leaving the game with an injury in the first half it looked like Salvon Ahmed’s night might be done. But he returned in the second half and takes it up the middle where he finally found a hole after getting swarmed there in the first few quarters. Boise’s linebacker rushes in and tries to make an ankles tackle but Ahmed steps out of it and with the DBs in man coverage there’s no one else waiting for him before he reaches the end zone. Huskies go up by the final margin of 38-7.

Textbook execution here by members of the offensive line handling that Gatorade bucket. Side note: Julius Buelow is a large human being. There’s no better way to send out a coach in his final bowl game with the team than soaked in sports drink. Thank you Coach Pete!