View Full Version : #20 Washington Upset By Montana (13-7): UCLA Upsets #16 LSU (38-27)


Old School
09-05-2021, 01:06 PM
Box Score https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401309839


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Video Description: Montana vs #20 Washington Football Game Highlights


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Video Description: UW Coach Lake Post Game Presser


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Video Description: Montana Post Game Presser


UW Dawg Pound https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2021/9/4/22657887/huskies-stifled-by-montana-in-13-7-defeat

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Next week, the Washington Huskies play against the Michigan Wolverines in a game that seemingly was going to act as an opportunity for the program to get past their big-game woes. But as they set their sights on Michigan they actively managed to overlook Montana and suffered a flat-out embarrassing 13-7 defeat on Saturday night because of it.

Let’s face it, even if Montana has been a solid team at the FCS level - this was not a game that was ever supposed to scare the Huskies. In the last few seasons, Montana has not only been far from a national championship contender but they’ve also been unable to win the Big Sky. Yet still, they were able to march into Husky Stadium and come away victorious.

When the game kicked off, there was a thick layer of confidence in the crisp Seattle air. That confidence only skyrocketed when Washington went 78 yards in 9 plays on their opening drive to gift them a 7-0 lead. The touchdown was by way of redshirt freshman quarterback Dylan Morris who snuck the ball in after a couple of bruising runs by sophomore tailback Richard Newton.

Montana then responded with 8 play, 66-yard drive that at one point looked as if it’d end with a touchdown but instead was capped off by a field goal and from that point on, the struggle ensued.

Throughout the rest of the half, the Huskies found themselves in a defensive battle with Montana. Their final five drives after the Morris score were a punt, another punt, a missed field goal from 50 yards, an interception, and then the half ended after they ran out the clock.

There was reason to be concerned but it felt as if this would just be another situation where there’s an upset scare but only a temporary one. Instead, Montana was a headache that cold water and Tylenol couldn’t fix for Jimmy Lake and Co.

In the second half, the Huskies were pretty much the same versions of their first-half post-touchdown selves. They were bland on offense, they executed poorly, gifted their foe with another interception all while Montana’s defensive line continued to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, the Husky defense was largely still doing their part but as the half carried on they eventually began to breathe harder and step slower which allowed Montana to get deep into Husky territory and tack on a touchdown and another field goal to give them a 13-7 advantage over UW.

But even through all of the struggles Dylan Morris and the Husky offense still had opportunities to win the game. The first came with 2:54 left in the fourth after the Grizzlies' final score of the night, but after just 6 plays the Huskies had turned the ball over on downs. The Montana offense came back onto the field with 1:33 left but the Washington defense again played savior by forcing the pesky Grizzlies into a long, 50-yard field goal which was no good.

So the UW offense again trotted back on the field and perhaps this time, they’d help resuscitate Husky nation by allowing them to breathe a monstrous sigh of relief.

Washington took the field, ran six plays, and saw their world come crashing down when Morris threw his third pick of the night, sealing what most will refer to as the worst loss in the program’s recent history.

Defensively, the Huskies did just about all you could ask for. They only mustered 232 yards total with 105 of them coming through the air and the other 127 on the ground. They forced Montana into going 2-13 on 3rd down and 0-1 on 4th but in the end it just wasn’t enough.

The Husky offense on the other hand had their struggles, to say the least. Morris went 27/46 for 226 through the air along with the three interceptions and rushing touchdown. Newton had 17 carries for 62 yards and the leading receiver for the Huskies was junior tight end Cade Otton, he hauled in 8 catches for 82 yards. The Huskies had 291 total yards, went 4-14 on 3rd down, 1-3 on 4th, and scored just the lone opening drive touchdown.

This is a loss that will feel sorry for the (0-1) Huskies but they have a chance to silence all of the noise in next Saturday’s clash against (1-0) Michigan on ABC.

Old School
09-05-2021, 01:14 PM
Box Score https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401281948


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Video Description: UCLA vs LSU Full Game Highlights


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Video Description: LSU Coach Orgeron Post Game Presser


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Video Description: UCLA Coach Kelly Post Game Presser


LA Times https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2021-09-04/ucla-lsu-chip-kelly-ed-orgeron-rose-bowl

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The bamboo sprouted on a sweltering September evening at the Rose Bowl, after so much waiting, so many doubts.

It was the realization of one of Chip Kelly’s favorite motivational mantras involving the giant timber bamboo. If you water the bamboo in the first year, nothing happens. If you water it in the second year, nothing happens. If you water it in the third year, nothing happens. If you water it in the fourth year, it grows 90 feet in six weeks.

In Kelly’s fourth year at UCLA, after a whole lot of nothing, the bamboo was visible throughout the Bruins’ 38-27 victory over No. 16 Louisiana State.

It could be seen in the playmaking of tight end Greg Dulcich, whose fancy footwork led to one touchdown after he juked a defender and nearly another when he converted a crucial third down and was stopped just short of the end zone.

It could be seen in a defense that continually stifled the Tigers, pressuring their quarterback and making them all but abandon a rushing attack that mostly ran in place.

It could be seen in the coach who stuck with his one-day-at-a-time vision amid a mountain of losses and criticism, Kelly’s team having a really good Saturday after so many fall flops.

“It’s good to have wet hair on Saturday night,” Kelly said after getting doused by spraying water bottles in the locker room. “That means that we did something good.”

The Bruins (2-0) provided their beleaguered coach with a signature victory that could catapult them into the national rankings for the first time since 2017 while likely knocking out the Tigers (0-1).

“Overrated!” chants could be heard from the crowd of 68,123 over the final minutes after most of the large throng of purple and gold had headed for the exits.

After the final second ran off the clock, UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson heaved the ball high into the air as teammates poured onto the field and confetti rained over them.

There was reason to rejoice. Dulcich caught three passes for 117 yards and running back Zach Charbonnet showed he wasn’t a one-game wonder, running for 117 yards and a touchdown in 11 carries to top 100 yards for the second consecutive week.

The fourth quarter was one extended celebration after a new LED display flashed from light banks high above the stadium, UCLA players bopping on the sideline to Tupac Shakur’s “California Love.”

Fans held up lights inside the momentarily darkened stadium, the festive mood heightened by the Bruins’ 24-20 lead heading into the final 15 minutes.

Things would only get a lot more fun.

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Bruins coach Chip Kelly discusses the victory over LSU on Sept. 4, 2021, at the Rose Bowl.

Dulcich helped extend the advantage when he converted a third down with a 19-yard catch that he took to the one-yard line. Running back Brittain Brown scored on the next play, extending his team’s cushion to 31-20 with 12:28 left.

UCLA wide receiver Kyle Philips provided the exclamation point when he caught a pass and outmaneuvered two defenders near the sideline as part of a 45-yard touchdown that removed any remaining drama.

Not even a 45-yard touchdown pass from LSU quarterback Max Johnson to receiver Kayshon Boutte with four minutes left could dampen the mood.

UCLA’s defense held LSU to 48 yards rushing and 1.9 yards per rush, forcing the Tigers to try to beat them with their passing game. They couldn’t. Johnson completed 26 of 46 passes for 330 yards with three touchdowns and one interception while being harassed into a bevy of bad decisions.

One of Johnson’s touchdowns required an unlikely assist midway through the third quarter. A referee stood between Bruins defensive back Jay Shaw and Boutte, screening Shaw as Boutte hauled in a short pass and ran for a 44-yard touchdown that pulled LSU to within 21-17.

It was as close as the Tigers could get while intensifying doubts about the direction of the program in the wake of a .500 season that followed their 2019 national championship.

UCLA’s trajectory needle is headed straight up thanks in large part to a running game that generated 215 yards and features more than Charbonnet. Brown ran for 96 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries, his legs constantly churning for difficult yards after contact.

Dulcich provided the game’s most improbable play when he cut across the field and took a short pass before appearing as if he might get tackled around LSU’s 37-yard line. That’s when he generated even bigger roars by sidestepping a defender and rambling ahead, finally tumbling into the end zone while being dragged down at the end of a 75-yard catch.

Dulcich said he was embodying the mindset of tight ends coach Derek Sage, who tells his players to think first down or touchdown after catches.

“I kind of think touchdown or first down,” Dulcich said.

Thompson-Robinson shook off some early indecisiveness to complete nine of 16 passes for 260 yards with three touchdowns and one interception while engineering a triumph that he hoped was a prelude to greater things.

“We don’t want to beat LSU,” Thompson-Robinson said, “we want to win the Pac-12 championship.”

UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond provided an emotional assist in the fourth quarter when he took a microphone and implored fans to get on their feet. After the game, Jarmond was the last person off the field, hugging coaches and players whose patient approach was finally rewarded.

“They understand if you embrace the process,” Kelly said, “the process will embrace you back.”