/ Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest file
To the surprise of no one who witnessed the injury, WR Chico McClatcher is done for the season after breaking his left ankle in Washington’s 37-10 win over Colorado Saturday in Boulder. Huskies coach Chris Petersen said Monday that surgery is likely.
“Chico had a really good demeanor after the game,” Petersen said. “I kinda shook my head. I wished I could be that positive.
“I just feel really bad, we all do, for Chico. Guys are playing well, and have worked so hard, but that’s part of football. “They’ve just got to stay positive.”
Petersen thought the 5-7, 181-pound junior from Federal Way High School had “a really good chance” to get a medical redshirt season. Since McClatcher missed the Fresno State game with a different injury, he has played just three games, the maximum allowable by NCAA rules for redshirt consideration.
McClatcher was second on the team with 10 catches for 128 yards, including four for 44 yards Saturday. He also had a rush for 15 yards on a jet sweep. He was injured late in the third quarter on a five-yard run by RB Myles Gaskin when a blocked defender rolled up on him from behind.
In 2016, he started three games and played in 13 of 14, finishing with 34 receptions for 574 yards and five touchdowns, and was the winner of the team’s Tough Husky award as voted by players.
His spot is likely to be filled by one among sophomores Andre Baccellia, Quentin Pounds and Aaron Fuller, and junior Brayden Lenius.
McClatcher’s injury absence was the second of the past week among Huskies’ starters. Freshman CB Byron Murphy broke a bone in a foot during practice and is likely to miss five to six weeks, although Petersen declined, per his policy, to disclose injuries among players whose returns are determined to be week to week.
The sixth-ranked Huskies (4-0) travel to Corvallis Saturday to play Oregon State (1-3). The Beavers are 29-point underdogs.