Football notebook: ASJ sits, Cooper returns, defense shuts it down

ASJ sits As was reported by The Seattle Times on Thursday, UW starting tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins did not play Saturday night. Head coach Steve Sarkisian confirmed that Seferian-Jenkins was serving a one-game suspension after his guilty plea to a DUI charge, saying after the game, there was some “disciplinary action” to attend to. Sarkisian had been keeping Seferian-Jenkins’ punishment secret prior to the report from the Times. The tight end suffered a broken pinky finger in practice Aug. 12, and it was not known whether he would play until the UW announced its starting lineup before the game. Sarkisian said the tight end will play against Illinois on Sept. 14, after the UW’s bye week. Wide receiver Kasen Williams, who also was cited for a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge this offseason, was not announced as a starter for the Huskies, but was still on the field for the first offensive play. He ended up catching three passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Cooper makes triumphant return It’s been a long, hard road for Deontae Cooper. A highly rated prospect coming out of Citrus Hill High School in Perris, Calif., Cooper was expected to make a quick impact at the UW. But then the injuries hit. In his first camp, Cooper tore his left ACL. After redshirting, he promptly did it again in the 2011 camp. In 2012, when it finally looked like he was healthy and ready to go, Cooper tore his right ACL, and was forced to sit out a third consecutive season. Saturday night was finally the night for Cooper. After rehabbing all offseason, Cooper finally saw the field for the first time at the UW. He received a nice ovation after his first carry, which was wiped out by a penalty, but he then converted a third down run and earned another large cheer. “It reminded me of why I love this game,” Cooper said of being back on the field healthy. “Coming out here with my teammates, college atmosphere, it was a blessing to be able to take part of something like this for the first time.” Cooper finished the night with eight yards on six carries, but that was not the main story for a man who has battled through so much to get onto the field. Simply being out there was enough for this week. Price becomes UW’s all-time pass TD leader Keith Price entered the season with 54 career passing touchdowns, one behind the UW’s all-time leader, Cody Pickett. It took him a while, but Price was able to tie and break Pickett’s record with two third quarter touchdown tosses. Price first found Williams for a 19-yard strike in the corner of the end zone early in the third to tie the record. Then, six minutes later, Price found tight end Josh Perkins in the back of the end zone while rolling to his left and throwing across his body to break the record. It was Perkins’ first career catch, and it showcased the mobility and arm strength Price displayed in 2011. “He made good decisions tonight,” Sarkisian said. “I thought he was efficient and threw the ball well down the field, which is something we wanted to do. He played like a point guard tonight, and in this system I thought he was shooting the ball really well.” After opening the game with an interception on his first throw, Price recovered well. He finished the evening 23-of-31 for 324 yards and his two touchdown passes. He also drew compliments from Sarkisian with his mobility and ability to throw from outside the pocket. Ross makes presence known One new face made a major impact on the game for the Huskies. Freshman receiver John Ross started the game for the UW and had four catches for 39 yards. A threat in the return game as well, Ross returned a kick off 33 yards early in the second half to give the UW good field position, which it would take advantage of. Sarkisian got him involved in the offense early and often. Price’s first two completions were both to Ross, and he was targeted a few other times early as well. “He’s fast,” Sarkisian said with a chuckle after the game. “He’s a very fast football player. We got a little glimpse of him on a couple of plays, and I think he has a bright future.” Defense slows down Broncos A major theme of the UW’s offseason was moving quickly, both offensively and defensively. The offense’s transition to the no-huddle worked like a charm, with the Huskies racking up 592 yards of total offense. But, just as importantly, UW defense was prepared for the no-huddle after practicing against it all summer, and it showed. With Boise State moving the ball quickly and using primarily no-huddle sets, the Huskies bent, but never broke. They held the Bronco offense to 346 yards on 88 plays, an average of 3.9 yards a play. Thanks to their strong performance on third downs (the Broncos converted eight of 19 attempts), the Huskies were able to hold the Broncos to just two field goals despite the yardage numbers. “Since our offense runs the no huddle and we see it every day, it’s nothing new to us,” safety Sean Parker said. “We just trusted our preparation and knew what they were doing, and capitalized on their mistakes.” The preparation worked, with the Huskies holding the Broncos to their lowest point total since 1997. After having so much trouble slowing down the no-huddle in losses to Oregon and Arizona last season (giving up 52 points in both games), they were able to shut down a Bronco attack that was moving almost as fast as the Huskies’ offense. “We started fast, and we were able to play fast the whole game,” linebacker Shaq Thompson said. “We executed very well.”

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