Huskies best Boise State in LA Bowl
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 months, 1 week AGO
Huskies quarterback Desmond Williams Jr holds up the LA Bowl belt with host Rob Gronkowski, former NFL tight end, cheering on the side after UW’s win over the Broncos. The
COURTESY PHOTO/UW ATHLETICS
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The University of Washington Huskies football team (9-4) earned a 38-10 victory over the Boise State Broncos in the LA Bowl over the weekend to officially close out their season.
“Fantastic game ... Really proud of our team, they treated the game just as we asked them to, which was a championship game, championship opportunity and as we’re sitting here with nine wins, really proud of our players,” said Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch in a postgame press conference.
UW entered with a full roster as the team had no players opt out of bowl participation from their Big Ten roster. Going into the first quarter had both teams started out on even footing, with each team putting up a field goal.
The Huskies then went on to dominate in the third quarter with quarterback Desmond Williams Jr throwing three touchdowns. The first would come from Denzel Boston’s 78-yard TD catch, which was followed by touchdowns from Dezmen Roebuck and Raiden Vines Bright.
Broncos quarterback Maddux Mansen threw two interceptions in the first half before sitting down for the Broncos due to injury and the Broncos would bring in Max Cutforth.
In the third quarter, the Huskies would score again with a catch by Quentin Moore for a 32-yarder and again in the fourth quarter with a touchdown run from Jonah Coleman. The Broncos would score their first touchdown of the game late in the fourth quarter when Cutforth found Matt Lauter for an eight-yard reception, but it would come too late and the game would end with a Huskies victory.
The Huskies' defense would be the greatest challenge for the Broncos as they threw five interceptions, which would be converted into 14 points by UW.
“It was amazing,” said Xe’ree Alexander, linebacker for the Huskies. “Defense dominated, we did our job and it’s just amazing to win.”
Alexander would earn the title of defensive MVP of the LA Bowl, where he led the team with seven tackles and had a sack, two pass breakups and an interception in the victory.
Williams passed for 214 yards while throwing four TD passes in a bowl game for the second time. Williams did it last December in the Sun Bowl. Coleman rushed for a total of 86 yards in his final game at Washington, while Boston had six catches for 125 yards in what could be the junior star’s final season on the team.
“Proud of those guys and excited about what the future entails,” said Fisch.
The Huskies had a large group of freshman players this season and the coach said these young players were making big plays both at the bowl game and throughout the season. As UW enters the offseason, it will be important to return as many of these players as possible.
“I think our guys know that we’ve got a great season coming ahead of us, we’ve got a great team and they’re led by an elite player,” he said. “When you’ve got an elite quarterback, you’ve got a great opportunity to win a lot of games.”
BOX SCORE:
UW: 3-21-7-7: 38
BST: 3-0-0-7: 10
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