At 4-5, the Washington Huskies have three games to get two wins if they are to get bowl eligible, which is not the place they thought or hoped they would be back before the season started. After losing to Oregon on Saturday, the Huskies slipped to fourth in the Pac-12 North behind the Ducks, in-state rival Washington State, and Oregon State.
Those struggles this season have led to head coach Jimmy Lake finding himself squarely on the hot seat. Not helping his case for why he should keep his job were his actions on the sideline on Saturday night, when he hit a player in the helmet and shoved him aggressively after a rather mild altercation with an Oregon player that seemed to be all but completely diffused when Lake came in.
Jimmy Lake pops Ruperake Fuavai in the helmet and shoves him for getting into it with Jaylon Redd on the sideline pic.twitter.com/7AdSuugGe3
— Ralph Amsden (@ralphamsden) November 7, 2021
That clip became quite the talking point over the weekend, and the school announced it was looking into the situation on Sunday. Shortly after, the team announced on Monday that Lake was suspended without pay for the week and would not coach against Arizona State on Saturday in a game the Huskies need badly to keep bowl dreams alive with Colorado and Washington State to follow.
Jimmy Lake has been suspended for this weeks game against Arizona State. pic.twitter.com/K3lEW0vrBs
— Tim Booth (@ByTimBooth) November 8, 2021
As the team’s statement notes, Lake will be away from the team for the whole week of prep, with defensive coordinator Bob Gregory taking over as acting head coach in his absence. Along with Lake’s suspension, the team already fired offensive coordinator John Donovan on Sunday, meaning the team will be going into their game against the Sun Devils with a new playcaller as well, as Donovan became the first casualty of the last effort from Lake to salvage his job.