Jacob Eason needed one yard. He got much more than that.
With 3:53 remaining in the first quarter of the 112th Apple Cup on Friday, Washington’s 6-foot-6, 227-pound quarterback huddled under center at the Cougar 3-yard line. On third-and-1, he took a snap, lowered his shoulder and burrowed to purple turf. His offensive line pulverized an overmatched enemy front, and Eason tumbled three yards deep in the end zone.
This was a literal and figurative breakthrough for the sputtering home state signal caller. It was therapy disguised as a quarterback sneak — an adrenaline-pumping catharsis.