Jonah Coleman rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns as Washington opened its season with a 35-3 victory against Weber State in a non-conference game Saturday night in Seattle.
Will Rogers, a transfer from Mississippi State, completed 20 of 26 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown for the Huskies. Giles Jackson made 10 receptions for 98 yards and Denzel Boston had six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Damon Bankston led Weber State, ranked No. 22 in the preseason Football Championship Subdivision poll, with 105 yards rushing. The Wildcats struggled through the air, with Richie Munoz completing just 11 of 32 passes for 98 yards.
Coleman, who followed coach Jedd Fisch from Arizona, made an immediate impact for the Huskies. He rushed for 25 yards on Washington’s first play from scrimmage and went around right end for 44 yards and reached the end zone on the second, though that play was called back by a holding penalty.
Coleman opened the scoring on a 5-yard run up the middle with 12:15 left in the second quarter, capping a seven-play, 65-yard drive.
The Huskies scored again two possessions later, using their hurry-up offense to go 72 yards in four plays. Rogers faked a handoff to a receiver on a jet sweep and hit wide-open tight end Decker DeGraaf on a 33-yard scoring strike down the right sideline with 2:53 left in the first half.
Washington’s Keith Reynolds returned the second-half kickoff 70 yards, but that was nullified by a block in the back. It didn’t matter, as the Huskies marched 90 yards in 12 plays, with Coleman scoring from 5 yards to make it 21-0.
Coleman scored on a 1-yard run on Washington’s next possession with 3:50 left in the third.
The Wildcats avoided a shutout on Kyle Thompson’s 28-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining in the third.
Huskies backup quarterback Demond Williams Jr. led a seven-play, 74-yard TD drive early in the fourth quarter, capping it with a 6-yard scoring strike to Boston.
–Field Level Media
