LAS VEGAS _ Jimmy Lake spent the first two weeks of December on the road, and in the air, criss-crossing the west coast to personally reassure Washington's 2020 verbal commits. He was a constant in the living room, alongside the Christmas tree. He said in a signing day teleconference last week that "there was a lot of phone calls and a lot of text messages as well, every single day to all of our (committed) guys and all of their families." He traveled a lot, slept a little and celebrated his 43rd birthday somewhere in between.
Oh, and there was one more thing:
Amidst the convoluted recruiting chaos, Washington's soon-to-be head coach devised a game play to dominate Boise State.
UW's defense certainly did that in the first half on Saturday, and the Huskies held on to send Chris Petersen out with a 38-7 win over his former team in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Lake's defense was particularly deadly in the first half inside Sam Boyd Stadium, limiting the Broncos to 96 total yards and 3.6 yards per play. Freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier completed 9 of 17 passes for 75 yards and an interception. The Broncos rushed for a grand total of 21 yards and 2.1 yards per carry. They punted in four consecutive drives.
It was the first time Boise State has been shut out in the first half of a game since Sept. 27, 2014, against Air Force.
Junior nickelback Elijah Molden added his fourth interception of the season in Boise State's first drive of the second half, before sprinting up the sideline for a 31-yard return. He finished with a team-high eight tackles, as well as the aforementioned interception.
At times, it looked like the Broncos didn't have an offensive coordinator on Saturday.
And that makes sense, because they don't. Zak Hill accepted the same position at Arizona State last week and opted not to coach in the Broncos' bowl game.
But UW's oft-inconsistent offense made enough plays as well. In what could be his final game at Washington, redshirt junior quarterback Jacob Eason completed 21 of 31 passes, throwing for 198 yards with a touchdown and zero interceptions. Senior wide receiver Andre Baccellia bolted through several tackles on a slant for a 17-yard score. Behind an offensive line missing left tackle Trey Adams and right guard Jaxson Kirkland, Salvon Ahmed tallied two rushing scores while Richard Newton added a rushing touchdown as well.
And, speaking of Newton, the bruising redshirt freshman (literally) showed off his right arm as well. Early in the fourth quarter, the 6-foot, 210-pounder took a wildcat snap from Boise State's 13-yard line, rolled to his right and lofted a touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Terrell Bynum to extend the Huskies' lead to 31-7.
As he was mobbed by the Husky masses, Newton held up the aforementioned right arm with his left, presenting it in all its glory like a trophy to his teammates.
Appropriately, Washington sealed Petersen's final win with a trick-play touchdown. Ahmed added another 12-yard rushing score for good measure to push the lead to 38-7 late in the fourth quarter.
But the Huskies excelled in some understated areas as well. Race Porter and Joel Whitford landed back-to-back first half punts at the 4- and 1-yard lines, respectively. UW remarkably went the first three quarters without a penalty.
At the end of an underwhelming 8-5 campaign, Washington produced a complete performance. The Huskies left Las Vegas with their first bowl win in the last four seasons.
Not to mention, a new head coach.
