Caple on UW Huskies: Notes on Jonah Coleman, Quentin Moore, O-line

Nov 4, 2024, 4:03 PM

Jonah Coleman and Justin Tauanuu of the UW Huskies celebrate a touchdown against USC. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

UW Huskies Insider

UW Huskies coach Jedd Fisch met with reporters on Monday to look back at his team’s 26-21 victory over USC, and ahead to Saturday’s game at No. 6 Penn State.

Huskies’ bend-but-don’t-break defense comes up big against USC

Here’s what to know.

Moore unlikely to return

As you might have assumed by now, it doesn’t sound like senior tight end Quentin Moore is expected to return this season. Fisch said Moore, who sustained a knee injury in the second quarter of UW’s season-opening victory over Weber State, still hasn’t been medically cleared, and the coach does not believe he will be cleared before the end of the season.

There is some good news, however: Fisch said he expects Moore will seek and receive an injury waiver to return for a seventh year of eligibility in 2025. Such waivers are never a sure thing, but, Fisch said, “I feel pretty confident that they (NCAA) don’t like to take a person’s year away with an injury that happened so early in the season.”

Moore played only 22 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, before Weber State linebacker Garrett Beck hit him low on a second-quarter catch — after Beck had run onto the field from the sideline, apparently upon realizing his team had only 10 players on the field and that he was supposed to have stayed in the game — and caused what Fisch said was a “substantial” injury to Moore’s MCL.

Moore, originally from Kenmore, Wash., joined UW as a JUCO transfer ahead of the 2021 season. He served mostly as a backup, and in a blocking role, until this season, after the departures of Devin Culp and Jack Westover created an opportunity atop the depth chart. Moore spent the spring and training camp as UW’s No. 1 tight end, and figured to play a more prominent role in the passing game than he ever had.

Without him, senior transfer Keleki Latu has taken on an expanded role, and true freshman Decker DeGraaf has been the backup.

UW Huskies O-line shuffle

Redshirt freshman Kahlee Tafai made his first career start at left tackle against USC, and Fisch said Tafai will start there again at Penn State.

Fisch said he thought Tafai “did a good job” in his 55 snaps. Fellow redshirt freshman Soane Faasolo, himself a four-game starter this year, rotated in for 16 snaps.

“One of the goals for the week last week was to eliminate negative plays, with all the pressure package that USC brings,” Fisch said. “We ended up having, out of 73 snaps, only four plays that were negative, and we had zero sacks.”

Maximus McCree, a junior who also had started four games at left tackle before dislocating his thumb against Iowa on Oct. 5, was suited up Saturday but wore a large cast on his hand and did not play.

McCree is available as an emergency option, Fisch said, but “you’re just not going to be able to accomplish everything you want to accomplish when you’re wearing a cast, and he’ll be in that hand cast the rest of the year. He’s certainly available for emergency situations, but right now, I don’t imagine any change in who’s starting.”

Another usual starter, right guard Enokk Vimahi, played only 29 snaps off the bench on Saturday as he worked through an injury of his own. Sophomore Landen Hatchett made his first start of the season at right guard in Vimahi’s place.

A bigger load for Coleman

Prior to Saturday, UW tailback Jonah Coleman had carried more than 20 times in a game just once, in a triple-overtime loss at USC last season while playing for Arizona (22 carries, 143 yards).

Against the Trojans this year, Coleman set a career high with 23 carries, tallying 104 yards and two touchdowns. That came one week after he’d carried a then-season-high 19 times at Indiana.

“We talked about, after the bye week, we felt like Jonah was getting fresher and fresher,” Fisch said. “We felt like we needed that bye week for Jonah to get back to as healthy as he can be in a season.”

Coleman’s workload, Fisch said, is “really based upon the volume that he could handle. … We felt as if where Jonah was physically, where he’s at right now, overall, how he’s feeling, that he could handle all (23) carries.”

This column from UW Huskies football insider Christian Caple is exclusive to Seattle Sports. Subscribe to OnMontlake.com for full access to Caple’s in-depth Husky coverage.